Harkers Report
Thank you for reading this Harkers Report. Wow, did we (Walt Jennings and I) walk into some yucky weather!
We got to Harkers Island Saturday evening. We were sharing a rental house with members of the Virginia Coastal Fly Anglers. What a great bunch of people! Walt knew them. I did not. But they made me feel most welcome, and by week’s end we were all friends. If there’s one thing I need, it’s more friends! So this was a good trip for me, regardless of how the fishing went.
The fishing did not go so well. We went out in Walt’s boat on Sunday. Bill Seemueller came out with us. There were a few tunny breaking in the Lookout Bight. Unfortunately, there were more boats than fish. We went out onto the Atlantic. There were no breaking fish there. We got behind shrimp boats. Bill managed to get four tunny, while I got a big skunkaroo. Walt never made a cast. Bill had a sinking line while I had a floater. Maybe I need a sinking head???
It was snotty out there, big swells with a solid chop. Fortunately, the longer we stayed out, the worse it got. The point came where we were the only boat out there, and decided that in spite of the hot fishing, it was time to call it.
Monday was cold, in the 40s. Wind was over 20 with higher gusts. We crazily went out anyway, four quasi-morons trying to fly fish in a gale, staying in the sound. Bill came again, and Mark Loewus rounded out the crew. We finally found some snapper blues, and Mark and Bill caught them steadily for an hour or so. Neither Walt nor I touched a rod. We may have been the smarter of the four of us, I’m not sure. Anyway, we quit shortly after lunch.
Near where we were fishing there was a barge moored, the Dongbang Giant No. 2. No, I am not making it up.
Tuesday it was colder and windier. We did not fish.
Wednesday it was a little warmer, but still windier. Again, we did not fish. We did go shopping in Morehead City, at the marine supply store and Capt. Joe Shute’s Cape Lookout Fly Shop. He’s closing the shop. We picked scraps off the carcass, buying fly-tying materials, fly lines, even a fly rod. Congratulations, Joe, it was a hell of a run!
Thursday, cabin fever infecting us, we went out in spite of the cold and wind. We saw no fish in Lookout Bight, so went out into the swells and worked our way all the way to Beaufort Inlet, where we got behind some shrimp boats. We saw no fish, touched no fish. The water temperature had dropped eleven degrees, so the lack of fish was not surprising. The skunk was total.
Friday, with hope springing eternal, we tried again. Reread Thursday’s result. This trip did not remotely live up to my fishing fantasies. That having been said, the social aspect was outstanding. I made a bunch of new friends, and the people you spend time with while fishing are more important than the fish you did, or didn’t, catch. So with the exception of the fishing, it was a great trip.
Thank you, Virginia Coastal Fly Anglers!
That’s the Harkers Report. Sorry it wasn’t better! Thanks for reading!
Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Go walking! Stay active!
John Kumiski
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