By Jim Field
On the weekend of June 17-19, the Sea Ya Bea and the Fields--Captain Jim and Andrew--had a special treat attributable to two developments. First, we had the opportunity to fish with the Ebners, Dylan and dad Steve. Dylan has been Andrew's long-time friend, among his closest of pals; Diane and I love Dylan--he's a great kid, easy going and with a good sense of humor. Steve is a high school teacher and lacrosse and football coach at Andrew's school, and we've known Steve over the years in his "dad of Dylan" capacity. Turns out, however, in inviting Dylan to Hatteras and talking with Steve about details of the trip, Steve became more-and-more interested in coming along himself, recognizing Hatteras to be a special place. Steve's family harks from and still lives on Martha's Vineyard, and he grew up fishing around the island with buddies and relatives--still has an uncle in the oyster business. Steve loves to fish. We love to fish. So Steve rearranged his calendar and then there were four. The best part for the Fields is that we finally had a chance to spend dedicated time with Steve--uncloned from Dylan--and become acquainted with him--something we really enjoyed!
Part II of the special treat has to do with the fishing itself--but more on this later. (Hint: billfish onboard.)
We departed Alexandria Friday afternoon and had an uneventful ride to Hatteras. Sunlight departed when we crossed onto Hatteras Island at Oregon Inlet, which meant Steve would have to wait until the return ride home to see the barrier island topography and sights (he was really excited to scope the place out). We checked into rooms at the Breakwater Inn and ate breakfast at Sonny's, shoving off from the pier at around 7:30 am. The forecast called for 10-15 knot winds from the NE and 2-4 foot seas. We set course for the 280 Rocks with the intention of trolling, and later on in the day, when conditions were expected to settle down, shifting to bottom fishing on the Rockpile. The water temperature was immediately warm out of the inlet, climbing to 76 degrees on the transit. We entered the Gulf Stream and its beautiful blue water without a noticeable temperature break, the gauge steadily rising to 82 degrees. We found ourselves in the company of perhaps 6-8charter boats; they were further east in the deep water hunting for billfish. There was a real possibility of catching tuna--they were in our spot only a few days before--so we concentrated on them. However, silence on the VHF radio suggested little was being caught, which turned out to largely characterize the day for all the boats. In addition, weather conditions turned out to be rougher than we hoped, the wind definitely notching up to 15-20 knots and the seas rising to 3-4 feet, 4-5 seconds apart--so not easy conditions to work with. We were probably on the troll for 4-5 hours with nothing to show for our work. We had 3-4 knockdowns--something was stripping the ballies cleaning off our hooks. We ran into random weed and so stayed busy managing the baits.
Then, all of a sudden, the lovely sound of line peeling off a reel came to our ears. Steve, being our guest, took the rod and joined the fight. The fish had hit the shotgun rig--the blue/white Ilander way back. I looked aft and saw a fish leap hugely out of the water--I assumed we had a mahi. Steve worked the fish to the transom and to our utter surprise, we had caught a sailfish, an absolutely beautiful creature to see. We brought him to the port side, I grabbed the leader and positioned the fish at the waterline, grabbed its bill, and with a pliers removed the hook from its bill. A clean catch and release was executed. Once on its own, the fish remained stationary a foot below the water, and then kicked in its jets and darted out of site. (In my concern to release the fish safely, we didn't take the time to get a photo. Sorry Steve!).
Buoyed by our good fortune, we set course SSW for the Rockpile (10 miles distant) with the intent to troll our way there. About an hour later, we ran into mahi-mahis and eventually caught five. Steve landed a large, beautiful bull (see below). Dylan worked on two, and Andrew brought in his first personal start-to-finish mahi. Steve had never seen mahis in the water before--their neon-electric blue, yellow, and green colors. Each time we hooked one up and reeled it to the boat, others would gather and follow it to the boat. A really cool experience. Turns out nearly every boat landed/released a sail, with only one standout boat going 4 for 4.
Eventually, around 4:00 pm, we arrived at the Rockpile and attempted to bottomfish, which proved unmanageable given the current and steepness of the waves. We picked up and headed in, and managed to snap a 50 rod (first time) on a piling while backing into the slip. By the time we cleaned the boat and fish, it was past 9:00 pm, the witching hour when EVERY restaurant shuts down in the Village. We had planned to sleep on the boat, but being hot, dirty, and salty from a day on the water, we elected instead to find rooms, landing the last available units at each of two establishments. Hitting rock bottom, we trolled for food at the Red & White grocery and took our treats to our respective rooms. (How could we miss the restaurant payoff--good seafood, cold beer, etc.--for hard work safely accomplished!) The next morning we hit Sonny's again, and as per tradition, climbed Cape Hatteras lighthouse on the trip North. We also doubled-down on history and stopped at the Wright Brothers site in Kill Devils Hills.
For me, the trip was a huge success. We had gone out and caught fish. We landed a billfish and released it safely. We got Steve, Andrew, and Dylan their first mahis. We had returned safely. The four of us--dads and sons--spent time together doing something few people get to do--experiencing a day on the ocean surrounded by mother nature in all its beauty, dealing with its many challenges. Lastly, I got to know Steve, who is welcome to come along any time down to Hatteras. He's a great companion, a true guy's guy. Heck, he loves to fish; we love to fish. Say no more.
The adventurers moments before departing Alexandria
(left to right: Dylan Ebner, Steve Ebner, Captain Jim, Andrew Field)
Selecting a movie to watch--are we there yet?
The boys at the helm. Next lesson for Andrew: steering by the compass rose. Dylan holding VHF mike, preparing to hassle surrounding Captains
The sailfish as it appeared on the shotgun (i.e., way-back) blue/white Ilander lure
(Not my photo)
Tribute to the Atlantic sailfish--a spectacular creature.
Steve with his 19 pound bull mahi-mahi. This is a really nice fish!
Andrew and his first personal mahi catch. Congratulations!
Andrew and Dylan atop the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. Diamond Shoals between them stretching to horizon.
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