2014 Aquasport Octoberfest Reunion

[RickK]

You guys must be really hung over  
 Usually you have the pics up by now  :rabbit:

[gran398]

We didn't have time to take pics or drink we were so busy catching fish

[seabob4]

Melanie and I had an excellent time.
We arrived about dusk on Thursday.


Headed to our Inn.
We stay at the Captain Newton Inn.
It is right on Moore street and they are awesome folks running the inn.

We were a little tired so we walked down to Provisions.


A great casual restaurant there in Southport.
Had a great meal, huge Shrimp and crab cakes.


Yes, it was excellent food.
For those who do not know.
Melanie and I have been together over 25 years.
We celebrated 21 years of marriage on the 10th Oct. We had the double hook up of King Fish on Scott's Boat.
I am a very lucky guy for sure.

Went back to the inn after a little walk around the beach area.


We went to bed and got s good night sleep.
Woke up to this sunrise


Grabbed a little Cheesegrits and went to the launch.
Have some launch photos but here is the fishing.

Melanie getting peeled off on a screamer.


Scotty is next on a bendo rod.


Color finally


Up to the boat for a release


More action







This one peeled 100 yards or more, we had to go chase her down



More action


And, more action


Scotty to the rescue

I believe JD's boat and Jon and Ronda's



The ride back in, after an awesome non stop day.



The guys catch next to us at the dock.
I think Scotty would agree, we did much better than this size for the whole day.



The last working shrimp boat in Southport.


Had a lay over in Atlanta.
Grabbed some dinner at PF Chang's.
We both got a back massage and hopped the flight to LAX


We were home by 11 pm Pacific Time, got some needed rest.
All in all, an awesome 2 days in Southport.
Great fun, good friends and excellent food.
We are very fortunate to be a part of this.

[Capt. Bob]

Had to look twice there SB...

Thought you lost your hair, started eatin' too many cheese burgers and shrunk a bit.

Thanks for postin'. 8)

[seabob4]

Cheebuger, cheebuger, peepsi, no coke...

[Rhojo]

What an awesome gathering this year! My hat is off to the whole crew! We had a fantastic time again this year and this time the whole fleet caught fish. I don't just mean we caught a couple of fish, I mean that we caught fish from the time we got bait until 4 p.m. when we were just too exhausted to continue! I'll let some of the veteran anglers chime in about the conditions and the bite but suffice it to say that the "Bite was on!"

No matter what I say here in these few words it will not do justice to what actually happened.

We got about 25 or so bait fish from the great net toss by Gran and started fishing with two lines. By the time I got the second one in and started on the third line we were hooked up. The reel was screaming and the chase was on. From that point forward there was never a dull moment except for when we stopped fishing to eat our sandwiches!

Our first fish was about a 24" Spanish that pulled the hook once I got him up alongside the boat. No biggie, Spanish was not what we were there for. He was a pretty fish though. Our next hook up and the two after that broke the line, never even saw the fish. The next hook up was a strike that JD and his buddy, Jamie actually got to see the King breech! It was incredible they said. I fought that fish for a solid 20-30 minutes, taking my time trying not to break the line again. As we got the fish closer and then finally saw color it took my breath away. This fish was HUGE, I mean well over 4 feet long. I had no idea we had something that big on the line. I wondered how we were going to get something that big into the boat. It seemed an impossible task at that point.  As I continued to work him closer to the boat and the Admiral got the gaff ready we looked at each other and tried to contain our emotions. As I dropped the tip of the rod too much and Rhonda went to gaff him he squirmed just a bit, enough to make the gaff try bounce off and the second gaff attempt was at the tail, it missed and the fish shook the hook off and he was gone! We were devastated, absolutely devastated! With encouraging words from Gran we picked ourselves up and kept at it. The very next line in the water turned out to be the one! No sooner than the second line went in did the first one start screaming. Bingo, hooked up again! So we fought and reeled, fought and reeled for another 20-30 mins. I saw color and again new we had a big fish on the line. Rhonda and I looked at each other again and we knew what we were going to do. Once I got the fish alongside the boat Rhonda and I switched up and I took the gaff and she held the line, I scrambled to get my hand on the gaff and stick him as fast as I could and as sure-handed as I could be, not really knowing what it would feel like when he had the gaff in him and squirmed. The gaff stuck right by the head, in the gill area and he didn't really flinch. I looked at Rhonda and said, "Look out, he's coming in now!" and I heaved this beast over the rail and onto the deck! He was in the boat!

Now, when I say that we were excited it doesn't really convey the emotions we both felt. Rhonda and I have been boaters and wanna-be fishermen for about 5 years now and sure we've caught a few fish, flounder, catfish, blah, blah. None of those fish prepared us for the emotion we felt at this point. We hooted and hollered as loud as we could over and over. It was amazing, just absolutely amazing. We had done it, caught a big, I mean BIG fish.




It won't fit in the cooler!


As it turned out, this was the biggest keeper! Weighed in at 28 lbs.


Team Rhojo - Capt. Jon & Admiral Rhonda

I just can't thank everyone enough. We would have never done this without the help of our good friends here on the boards. It was an amazing feeling to get this done. It was an amazing day of fishing,  a 9.5 out of 10 was said more than once.

 I have to say "thank you" to my wife, Admiral Rhonda, for doing a fantastic job at the helm all day and putting up with me and this crazy notion of boating and fishing that we began just a few years ago and all the work and money we have put into the boat. It has been a lot of work and I am certain that will continue but it was worth it for this time with great friends and people we consider family!

[gran398]

Well done Team Rhojo!!! Congrats on winning the Tourney!!!!

Take a pic of your hat and special award!!!    

Great post too! When Mr. Big came aboard.....we were all feelin' de love mon!!!!  

Awesome!!! What a weekend, one we'll never forget!    

[gran398]

Don't look now.....but Team Aquasport Octoberfest would have placed three boats in last weekend's Fall Brawl King Classic!!


This is a partial listing....they paid through fifty places....



                                                2014 Yellowfin / Yamaha

                                                       Fall Brawl King Classic

                                                      Ocean Isle Fishing Center

                                                            ALL Fish    

                                                                         

 

 10/12/14  19:20:09     King Mackerel               Day Range 1 to 3                                            page     1

================================================================================================================================

      Wt/pts   Date  Time  B#      Angler                  Boat Name               City/State               L   TWTs

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

King Mackerel

  1     39.65  10/11 15:59  76  Austin T Eubank        Clearly Hooked          Wilmington, NC              23 A.C..    L 1    

  2     38.25  10/11 16:09 191  Corey Durako           Blew By U!              Wilmington, NC              23 ABC..            

  3     36.85  10/12 16:59 157  Alan Holden            Hold'n On               Holden Beach, NC            23 .....     S      

  4     35.30  10/11 16:38  65  Chad R Morris          Seahorse Fishing        Troy, NC                    36 AB...    L      

  5     34.75  10/11 17:11 156  Thomas Bellamy         Choice of Two           Sunset Beach, NC            35 AB...    L      

  6     34.10  10/11 16:42  16  Ben L Rucker           Team Uno Mas            Raleigh, NC                 23 .....     S      

  7     33.65  10/11 16:05  29  Joshua Timbers         90 Minutes              Erie, CO                    19 ABC..    L      

  8     33.45  10/11 16:57 122  Tim C Gray             Beeracuda/AM            Wilmington, NC              23 A.C..    L      

  9     33.35  10/11 15:03  59  Jeff Cunningham        Scale Bound             Myrtle Beach, SC            27 A....    L      

 10     33.15  10/11 16:59  95  Mark W Phillips        Another Hobby           Leland, NC                  22 A.C..            

 11     32.05  10/11 16:45 163  Mike Miller            Man O War/AM            Ocean Isle Beach, NC        31 .....            

 12     31.30  10/12 16:11  67  Billy Joe Noble        Pack Man                Shallotte, NC               23 ABC..            

 13     30.10  10/12 17:00 147  Tres Kirkland          Carolina Saltwater      Ocean Isle Beach, NC        27 A....            

 14     29.80  10/11 15:17  18  John Sims              Nauti Hooker            Vass, NC                    23 ..C..     S1    

 15     29.50  10/11 17:03  34  Brett A Barnes         Hot Rod                 Wilmington, NC              25 .B...    L      

 16     29.45  10/11 16:04 114  Mike Kennerly          The Blue Pearl          Ocean Isle Beach, NC        31 A....     S      

 17     29.45  10/11 16:15 151  Eris Jones             Back-Lash               Sneads Ferry, NC            21 ABC..     S1    

 18     29.10  10/11 14:59 112  Joe Vasil              Shinn Dig               Fort Mill, SC               22 ..C..     S      

 19     28.95  10/11 16:34  24  Chip Nifong            Reel Buzz               Hampstead, NC               23 A.C..            

 20     28.90  10/12 16:45 188  Brian Aycock           Hail Yeah / OIFC        Shallotte, NC               23 ABC..   J        

 21     28.35  10/11 17:15  56  Joe Winslow            Hooligan                Sunset Beach, NC            34 A....            

 22     28.00  10/11 17:14 100  Jesse P Fisher         Chasin Tail             Murrells Inlet, SC          32 AB...     S      

 23     28.00  10/11 17:26  37  David Gore             Top Choice              Wilmington, NC              31 AB...    L

At least 15 out of the top 20 placing fish were caught near the Cape Fear Sea Buoy or at Lighthouse Rocks.

[slvrlng]

Video of running down the beach at Oak Island. You can see the Cape Fear Lighthouse on the island.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgRrx0T ... e=youtu.be

[slvrlng]

Greats sunsets! Great friends! Great fishing! What more can I say!

[GoneFission]

Yes - we had a great time!     Thursday night we had a cloud shaped like a King Mackerel - you know that means you're gonna catch fish!

 

We believe in rolling out the welcome mat!

 

Hats off to all who came!



John Dupree lookin'  good  running Ocean Potion for some bait:



Scott's showboat Miss D with Iceman Bryan and Melanie on board:

 

Jon with his winning King and LillyPad in the background - now a member of the Legion of King Mackerel!  

 

Bryan and Melanie earned the right to fly a King Mackerel flag:

 

Group pic of most of our crew:

 

Bridget and Lewis left their boat at home, but she did her cheesegrits magic again for breakfast - yummy!

 

This nice little Azimut was docked at the marina when we came in - we caught a lot more fish than they did...

 

And a pretty amazing sunset to finish of a fun event:

[seabob4]

John, beautiful pics!!!  But you shot them all to hell by throwing that butt ugly Azimut in there...

[GoneFission]

John, beautiful pics!!!  But you shot them all to hell by throwing that butt ugly Azimut in there...

We just call them "Muts"  

[RickK]

Looks like you all had a ball    
The kings looked like fun - did you eat them?  When they run down here they are fun to catch and eat (an acquired taste).
The weather look perfect for a burly bunch to catch some fun and spend some time together ('cept the wimmen weren't burly )

That's what gatherings are all about.

Thanks for sharing

[gran398]

Great pics Jon, Lew, and John!

The sunsets were absolutely fabulous this year!

SB, you should have seen what was strutting on that Mut. I've seen more cotton on top of an aspirin bottle

Fearless Leader, I don't eat them, my license to sell expired long ago, so we released ours. When I used to put them in the boat, the conversation with the folks I wanted to give them to went something like this:

Hey you want some fish?

Is it flounder?

Nope

Is it grouper?

Nope

Its king mackerel.

Ummmm....ummm....that's okay. We had fish the other night

Or some other reason.

So, Friday was the first time I ever released them. And even though most were foul-hooked, they were tough to get the hooks out of. And it was amazing when you did get them free, they didn't have the energy to swim off. They were shot. But what a neat feeling to not kill them just because. Let them go to live their lives. That was even better than catching them.

Want to tell ya'll how the day went. We threw the net once and it took two of us to get it in. Supplied four boats with fresh pogies PTL. Made the decision as a group to try a hole 9 miles off called Lighthouse Rocks. Straight offshore of the lighthouse shown in Lew's video.

The ocean was beautiful. One foot slow swell, just enough ripple to hide the hooks. We all ran good to the fishing grounds and got there a little after 10am.

There was a medium size cargo ship anchored a little west of the hole. Which was good, we could get lined up on it as a visual reference to where the bite was at a given point in time.

So we start fishing. It was SLOW the first thirty minutes. No strikes, no sharks, nothing. Then WHAM. All heck breaks loose.

MACK ATTACK. You catch one, throw the next bait in the water, they were on. Or put out the rod, start rigging the second rod, wham. Fish on. We couldn't stop to eat, go to the bathroom, nothing. We called JD and Rhojo to come on over, then we all hung together, banging them hard.  Gone Fission had stayed on the beach, they had seen fish jumping. Before we got into them was thinking hard about heading back to the beach. But they came on out around lunch and we were all fishing together

Went on like that the rest of the day. Sometimes you'd have a 15 to 25 minute lull. Basically the school was moving. You just scanned the rest of the fleet and looked for bent rods, get over there and hook up. These fish were skyrocketing on the baits. Free-jumping all over, and in all directions. Most memorable moment was reeling in a bait to check it, lift the bait from the water, and out leaps a king hauling azz. Missed jumping in the boat by about three feet. Mouth wide open with all those teeth, head shaking, black eyes moving looking for that bait. Lands in the water a foot off the transom corner and zips under the boat still doing 20 mph. Kinda freaked me out, that big head and teeth up in the air coming straight at you

Best KM bite I've experienced in ten years. A solid nine-plus!!  And Rhojo caught their first King ever! 28 pounds! What a way to start!!!    You go Rhojo!