What’s In Your Tackle Box?
Part I

by Joyce Deaton

Fishing in the Cape Fear waters is a sport of almost endless variety. Every fisherman has a favorite target fish or two, along with strongly held opinions on where and how to catch his prey. With wonderfully rich inshore, near-shore and offshore fishing opportunities, fishermen in our area can keep fishing – and learning about fishing – for a lifetime.

To aid the novice fisherman, Pilot is launching a three-part series on fishing tackle recommended by the experts. Our first installment looks at what you need for fishing in inshore waters and just off the beach – out to about 10 miles. We went to the proprietors of two Wilmington tackle shops to see how they’d outfit a beginning fisherman for this kind of adventure: Tex Grissom, owner of Tex’s Tackle Shop, and Trey Summers, owner of Reel Bait and Tackle. Both are lifelong fishermen themselves, with great respect for the sport and their own personal favorite gear. Here’s what they’d put in your tackle box – with a little fishing advice and homegrown philosophy thrown in, too.

Tex’s Tackle Box

Grissom first put together an inshore tackle box with a good, basic setup for bottom fishing for flounder, spot, bluefish, croaker, drum and other fish. He recommends an assortment of standard J-style hooks in three to four sizes for various size fish. “You need a variety because the fish you expect may not be the ones biting, or they may be bigger or smaller than what you expected,” he explains. He’d also carry an assortment of flounder-style hooks in at least two sizes. These are a different style from the J-hooks because the flounder’s mouth will be lying side-to-side on the bottom instead of up and down.

Grissom also includes sinkers in two or three styles – from ¼-ounce to 2-ounce. “Egg sinkers are good for flounder because they roll around on the bottom, and most flounders don’t move a lot,” he says. A bank or pyramid sinker will hold your bait in one particular spot, which is better for a roaming fish such as bluefish or drum. The weight you’ll need depends on the depth and current of the water, so it’s good to have choices.

He recommends leader material in 20- to 30-pound test to resist abrasion from rocks and oysters or bites from fish. The heavier line holds up better than the line you’ll use in your reel. You can also use this leader material for making your own rigs. “Lots of fishermen enjoy making their own,” says Grissom. “They get an idea of what might work and create it. People do this for the satisfaction of catching something on a rig they created, and also to save money.” If this appeals to you, ask experts at a tackle shop for advice about materials and techniques. Even so, you’ll also need some ready-made rigs – flounder type and two types of drop rigs. The flounder rigs roll on the bottom, while drop-types are stationary.

Grissom also includes a variety of lures for casting and retrieving. You’ll need two sizes of lead head jigs – 1/4-ounce and 3/8-ounce. These are made of lead with the hook made into them. You put your bait or lure on the jig, and the lead makes them heavier and more accurate for casting. You’ll want to get these in two to three colors to start, because various colors work better in different types of water. “The basic rule is to use light colors for clear water and dark colors for dark water, but fishermen have definite preferences,” says Grissom. “I like orange, red and white, in that order.”

You’ll also need an assortment of soft plastic tails for use on the lead heads. Buy two to three colors to start. There are literally hundreds of thousands of styles and colors. Start with curly tails and shrimp shapes in four to five colors, says Grissom. “The idea is to try different ones and see. If you’re not catching anything, try a different color.”

Hard baits are another tactic to try on the fish. These are hard plastic lures with hooks on the outside. Again, there are many styles and colors. Start with a few and you’ll develop your own preferences.

For your rod and reel, Grissom recommends a 6 ½- to 7-foot medium-action spinning rod with matching reel and 10- to 12-pound test line.

Live bait is a good idea if you have a net for catching it and a live well on your boat or a good bait bucket for keeping it alive. You’ll want to catch minnows, mullet and shrimp. “Most people catch bait as they go with a cast net,” says Grissom. “Or you can simply buy bait. Live is a little harder to work with, and you have to keep it alive, so some people just buy cut bait from a tackle shop. If you do this, buy squid, mullet and shrimp.”

Besides the cast net, you’ll need a good landing net for hauling in your fish. “You don’t need anything too big for inshore fishing, and remember you have to stow it somewhere on your boat,” he says.

Hankering for deeper waters? Here’s what’s in Grissom’s tackle box for fishing just offshore – out to about 10 miles. “Trolling is your best method because you can cover a lot of area and find where good schools of bait and fish are,” he says. “This is likely to be more satisfying than just going somewhere and sitting and waiting for the fish to come to you.”

Grissom specifies two to four lightweight trolling rods with 20-pound test line and reels. Ask your tackle shop about reels, since there are so many choices. You’ll need trolling spoons – a type of lure that looks like a spoon – for Spanish and king mackerel. You’ll also need a few deep diving lures. These have a plastic lip on the front, and when you tie them on and pull them they dive under the water by themselves. They don’t require a weight.

In case the fish don’t go for your deep diving lures and you need to go deeper, you’ll also need some small lead trolling weights – 1 to 6 ounces – or small planers. The faster you go when trolling, the more the weight of the water holds your lure up. The weights help hold it down; the planers will take a bigger bait even deeper. For big fish like mackerel that you want to kill and eat, you’ll need a gaff – 4 to 6 feet long with a two-inch hook.

Grissom also recommends a few king mackerel rigs and a box of frozen cigar minnows for use with the kings and other fish. For bottom fishing, you’ll need some 4- to 8-ounce sinkers and some live or cut bait – squid or mullet.

“Bottom fishing is a good, rewarding type of fishing for beginners,” says Grissom. “It’s perfect for kids. There are so many types of fish on the bottom, so something is always biting – sea bass, grouper, flounder. For a child to get interested in fishing, his first trip has got to have a lot of action, and he needs to come home with something. With bottom fishing, he probably will.”

Whatever you’re fishing for, you’ll need a few basic tools. Grissom recommends needle-nose pliers made with wire cutters, a bait knife, a fillet knife, scales for weighing and scissors for cutting line.

“The whole idea with fishing is to try one thing and if it doesn’t work, try something else,” Grissom adds. “That’s why you need a variety of pre-made lures and different types of bait. They’re all just different strategies to present to the fish. Mix types and colors of lures and lines, try different baits and see what works. You need a variety of weapons to try before you give up and move to another spot.”

Trey’s Tackle Box

“This time of year, you’ll find flounder, trout and drum inshore,” says Summers. “A lot of people like to use live bait. If you’re not equipped to catch and keep them, you can buy mud minnows at your local tackle shop. You can also use Gulp baits. These are soft plastic baits that look like rubber worms or shrimps. Use these on a 3/8- to ½-ounce jig head and work the bottom.”

Other good choices for inland fish are hard bait such as mirror lures or Rapala lures that stay on top of the water – called “twitch bait.” Summers also recommends an assortment of weights and leader material, swivels and hooks. He likes Kahle hooks or wide bin hooks on any fish using live bait – number 4 to 1-0 hooks, depending on the size of the bait. Weights should range from ½-ounce to 2 ounces depending on the current in the creek or inlet, says Summers. Leader material should be from 20- to 40-pound test.

Just offshore, you’ll find bonito and Spanish mackerel. For Spanish mackerel, Summers likes Clark spoons or Yo-Zuri rigs for trolling behind the boat. For the best luck, go early in the morning or late in the evening, just behind the breakers.

You can catch bonito with the same equipment, and also by casting with Maria jigs. “You’ll find them around artificial reefs, such as sunken ships or dumped loads of concrete,” he says. “The reefs attract bait fish, and the big fish follow.” Marked with buoys, reefs are located from one mile to 20 miles offshore. You can map them out before your trip through the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries web site (www.ncfisheries.net).

Bluefish are another good target near the shore. For these, Summers recommends casting with the same rigs, and also with Gotcha lures. For sight casting, use a 7-foot medium to medium-heavy action rod with a 4000-size reel and about 12-pound test line. “This is for fish you see breaking on the surface,” he explains. “Typically, you’ll sit in the boat outside a school of fish and cast into the center.”

You can use the same rod and reel for trolling for Spanish mackerel and for many other types of fishing, he adds. But for king mackerel, go to a heavier outfit – a 7-foot rod with 12- to 20-pound test line. “Most people prefer to troll with live bait and a rod with a flexible, loose tip for lots of action,” says Summers. “Use a reel with a high-speed retrieve so you can keep up with the fish.” Besides live baits, you can use dead cigar minnows or Yo-Zuri hard plastic baits. For king, you’ll need a gaff, he says, while for everything else, a good landing net works fine.

For catching bait, most people use 3/8-inch mesh for the cast net so it doesn’t gill the bait and kill it. For shrimp, use a smaller mesh. Most people catching bait for king and flounder like to catch menhaden, and the 3/8-inch works well for this.

“Structures are the key to good fishing – piers, docks, artificial reefs that attract bait fish and a variety of fish that feed on them,” says Summers. “When you’re offshore, look for the birds diving for bait. Usually there’s something else there, too. The birds tell you a lot.

“I’ve been fishing all my life, and there’s always something new to learn,” he says with a smile. “It’s a challenging sport. That’s why we call it fishing – and not catching.”