From Stripes to Specks! And some Flatties too... :)

As a guy who has grown accustomed to spending most of the year freshwater fishing... This past spring and summer has been a real treat. If you've been following my blog lately, you've probably noticed that I've actually spent a decent amount of time saltwater fishing this year--something I haven't really done much of since moving back to PA from Maryland four years ago. That is why I am psyched to have yet another saltwater entry to share with you...

Just this past week, Marianne and I returned home from a wonderful week-long family vacation to the OBX where we stayed with my parents and my sister and brother-in-law and my two nephews. The house we stayed in was a beautiful three story rental home in the town of Rodanthe, that was just about a hundred yards from the beach. This place had some amazing views, and it was a special treat to be able to wake up every morning and look out over the Atlantic as you were sipping your breakfast coffee.While this trip was way more than just a fishing vacation, we did spend a good bit of time with a line in the water. In fact, we covered a nice long stretch of ground--hitting a plethora of spots from the sound in Nags Head; on south, to the beachfront in Buxton.

While I had fished the Outer Banks before and had become somewhat familiar with the area in years past, the majority of my time spent there had been in the colder months--targeting mainly stripers. On this trip we spent a lot of time poking around different spots looking for flounder, specks, and reds (and the whole host of other species that inhabit these warmer waters)... I have to say that it was very nice to spend a lot of time in shorts and flip flops on this trip--wet wading, tossing jig heads w/ gulp, and kayaking out some large baits with hopes of a shark or two from the beach. These are the memories that will come back to me when it is freezing cold this coming winter and all I can think about is warm water, sand, sun, and summer time.
As far as the fishing goes, it wasn't "great" by OBX standards, but there were plenty of fish around to keep things interesting. We caught quite a few different species (I have pictures of most of them) and we only missed a couple from our list of hopefuls--including sharks and reds unfortunately. Still, the big southern sting rays provided plenty of pullage for our heavy beach outfits...enough to keep our arms tired and our knots tied true. The flounder also proved themselves to be fairly cooperative on this trip, at least cooperative enough that my wonderful wife Marianne was able to catch her first couple of flatties--earning her new nickname: "The Flounder Pounder"... Make sure to call her that when you see her, she'll appreciate it... :)
All in all, it was an absolutely wonderful trip... The weather was good, the food even better, and it was great time spent well with our family--memories that will last a lifetime. It doesn't get much better than that! I hope you guys enjoy the pics... :)