Topsail Island NC, Week in review!!! 6/4 - 6/12

[dantheman2929]

My wife, Daughter and I took our yearly trip to NC. This year we went a little further south past the OBX to Topsail. First let me say it is a beautiful place with great friendly people. Now to the fishing/crabbing!!!

We arrived at about 12:30 pm Friday the 4th and were ready to hit soundside park by 4 pm. Started crabbing around 4:30pm - about 8:30pm. Only 6 keepers about 5" - 6". June 5th was my Birthday. My wife asked what i wanted and I told her I just want to crab and fish Got to the park at about 5am and crabbed til' about 8am - 8:30am. Only picked up another 3 keepers. Tons and Tons of 3 and 4 - 4 1/2 inch crabs in there. Spent the rest of the day with the family then headed back around 6:30pm or so. Crabbed until abour 8:45pm. Finally got enough to get me over a Doz and to take back home to eat! Headed home and cooked them up. While i was there in the evening i caught a nice 20"+ Blue.

Sunday was the Lords day so we headed to SC to visit a friends church and then we spent the rest of the day in Myrtle Beach.

I went out Monday early and bought a cast net to try my luck with shrimp and man I am glad i did. I went to another little family area on the island to check it out and there were reds running a school of shrimp. I caught 203 in 10 casts! That was enough of a catch for one day lol.

Went to Jolly Rogers Pier on Tuesday. Caught some Flounder, Sheepshead, Blues, Spanish Mak's, Tons of Pin fish and almost got my first Cobia

Wend. was a beach day ( as were most of the Afternoons we were there )

Thursday early morning i decided to give crabbing another shot. I finally figured the little buggers out this time. I got there at about 4:15am and had my 4 traps in the water by 4:30am First pull yielded 3 keepers 2 of which were 7" or better.The next trap 2 more keepers. then one in each of the last . So 8 total on my "first run " lol Let them soak another 5 or so minutes then hit them again. First pull 2 keepers, 2nd pull 2 keepers and so on and so on.  My 2nd run gave me 7 more keepers. I ended the morning at 8 am with 27 keepers. Odd thing is when the sun came up the big crabs stopped feeding. Not sure if they moved into deeper water as it was very shallow there or what. But it was like someone turned the a light off. I did not catch as many throw backs that day but man i got me some nice jimmies! I would say half or more were 6 1/2" + and the rest 5 1/2" - 6 1/2".


All in all a good trip. Next year is our annual "Family" trip and they all want to go down to Topsail instead of the OBX.  

[dantheman2929]

My wife would not let me take the Camera ( that i bought her ) to the water as she feared I would drop it in   I do however have alot of pics from the house of the shrimp dinner she made and the crabs that i caught! But I am unable to put them on here as the web site will not let me.

[tattoo]

Thanks for the GREAT report . sounds like you had a wonderful time . you probably have to downsize the pictures to be able to post them . 

[dantheman2929]

Thanks for the GREAT report . sounds like you had a wonderful time . you probably have to downsize the pictures to be able to post them . 

I am sure that is what it is. I am just not to savy when it comes to those things. I will have my wife look at it!

[yorkpacrabber]

Been down to Topsail the last 4 years, awesome place. Hopefully the oil stays away til I get there August 14th. Did you do all your crabbing from the docks, I usually take my boat down to do some crabbing and take the kids tubing, but usually only get a few crabs each time back on the intercoastal highway. Did you happen to visit the sea turtle animal hospital? Pretty neat to check out at least once. But anyway, sounds like your vacation was a success.

[dantheman2929]

Yea, all the crabbing was from the docks. It is indeed a beautiful place. Quite and not crowded at all! we will be going down with my wifes family next year. I found the crabs were hitting best in the extremly early morning hours. Seen DMF ALOT down there. They would come out and tell me to take every crab i caught lol they hate them down there! They told me no one ( locals ) really crabs for them and the tourist just buy a few ring traps to throw out for a few hours while the kids play so the crab population is crazy down there! I tried to fish from the pier at the 210 bridge ( soundside park ) and the crabs would have the bait within 2 - 3 minutes of it hitting the water. That made for some frustrating fishing but other than that it was fun! Being that you go down in mid August you should take/buy a cast net and catch some shrimp. You chould have some great success especially if you have a boat! I caught ALOT but they most were pretty small then  biggest being about 5 - 6 inches. August they should be some big ones swimming around!

We did not get to the turtle hospital. It opened up the week after we were leaving. We were told though that if we caught alot of Blues, or other species of fish we could donate it to the hospital! That was cool. We will probably do that when we go back next year!

[genecrabman]

Dang.. What a shame to kill a bluefish to save a Turtle.........Turtles are over abundant,and they eat our crabpots up..And Blue fish taste good too..

[dantheman2929]

I thought that the sea turtles down there were scarce, thats why they are so protected ?

[genecrabman]

I thought that the sea turtles down there were scarce, thats why they are so protected ?

Thats what they say.........I just got off the phone with a Crab Potter buddy of mine.. The Turtles hit his pots over the weekend and destroyed several beyond repair...They are everywhere...But the State gets Federal funding to help "PROTECT" them..All Politics my Friend...

[dantheman2929]

I am sure it is all about politics. But its a lose win/win lose situation i guess. Guys like your self get hit hard ( just like farmers with deer ) and cannot win so it is a loss for you and other crabbers. But for the state, tourist like to look at the cute turtles, and that brings money! so it is a win for them. Guess we all have to take the good with the bad .... If we could just train those critters to eat small crabs and leave the big ones ofr us

[queue3]

I thought that the sea turtles down there were scarce, thats why they are so protected ?

Sea Turtles are all over the place down here. The only marine creature that is truly endangered is the commercial fisherman.

As long as sea turtles are perceived to be endangered, nut cases like Jean Beasley can continue their power trip and animal rights agenda and the "Avid Anglers" will have more ammunition in their fight for a total net ban.

Happy rainbows, unicorns and sea turtles to all.

[genecrabman]

I am sure it is all about politics. But its a lose win/win lose situation i guess. Guys like your self get hit hard ( just like farmers with deer ) and cannot win so it is a loss for you and other crabbers. But for the state, tourist like to look at the cute turtles, and that brings money! so it is a win for them. Guess we all have to take the good with the bad .... If we could just train those critters to eat small crabs and leave the big ones ofr us

LMAO... I'd rather train the Crabs to eat ALL The cute little & BIG  Turtles...
We have closed areas we can't fish in because of turtles, Closed Beach areas because of turtles..I wish more people ate em......


BTW  I HATE SEA TURTLES.........

[jack1747]

If it makes ya feel better Gene, The crabs won in one of my pots a week or so ago...  They dinned on fresh turtle.. 

[tattoo]

 

[genecrabman]

If it makes ya feel better Gene, The crabs won in one of my pots a week or so ago...  They dinned on fresh turtle.. 

I use to love snapping turtle.. Never had a Sea turtle ...YET!!

[dantheman2929]

Maybe that is why i did so well at night when crabbing lol Turtles could not find them in the shallows!

[yorkpacrabber]

Yea, all the crabbing was from the docks. It is indeed a beautiful place. Quite and not crowded at all! we will be going down with my wifes family next year. I found the crabs were hitting best in the extremly early morning hours. Seen DMF ALOT down there. They would come out and tell me to take every crab i caught lol they hate them down there! They told me no one ( locals ) really crabs for them and the tourist just buy a few ring traps to throw out for a few hours while the kids play so the crab population is crazy down there! I tried to fish from the pier at the 210 bridge ( soundside park ) and the crabs would have the bait within 2 - 3 minutes of it hitting the water. That made for some frustrating fishing but other than that it was fun! Being that you go down in mid August you should take/buy a cast net and catch some shrimp. You chould have some great success especially if you have a boat! I caught ALOT but they most were pretty small then  biggest being about 5 - 6 inches. August they should be some big ones swimming around!

The house we rented last year, I had a private boat launch and dock, this year we will be staying beach side and I'll just put the boat in at the 210 bridge. I did buy a throw net last year, but all I could catch with it was little fish, so I just started stuffing the crab pots with them and catching crabs off the dock behind the house. The boat was mostly used for taking the kids tubing. Which leads me to a question .... we went tubing through alligator bay, the locals told me as long as we stay out in the middle we'd be fine, but stay away from the marsh, has anyone ever seen any alligators down their???

[crabman00]

Glad you had a good time. Be careful where you are shrimping and how many you keep. Closed areas you are only allowed 100/day.

[bigE]

LMAO... I'd rather train the Crabs to eat ALL The cute little & BIG  Turtles...
We have closed areas we can't fish in because of turtles, Closed Beach areas because of turtles..I wish more people ate em......


BTW  I HATE SEA TURTLES.........

Gene, I agree 100%. These turtle people have their heads in the clouds. There was a guy who came down to the local landing that all the fishermen use to launch his jet ski (my second most hated water creature) and I noticed that his license plate was a vanity plate with the words "turtlestoo" on it. I didn't say anything to him but I thought to myself that it was akin to parking a truck with KKK stickers on it in Compton. I personally would have been scared to leave my vehicle in that lot with that message flying on the back but this guy was obviously oblivious to his folly. My buddy left him a note that let him know that this mentality is killing coastal communities and fishing villages that have been around for hundreds of years. If the unregulated fishing of 50 years ago when it was the wild west and anything goes didn't kill them off, we certainly wont make even a small dent while working within the set boundries of the law today. I'm with you, we need to start a campaign to promote the eating of turtles. I bet the asian folks would buy them up even if no one else would.

[dantheman2929]

Gene, I agree 100%. These turtle people have their heads in the clouds. There was a guy who came down to the local landing that all the fishermen use to launch his jet ski (my second most hated water creature) and I noticed that his license plate was a vanity plate with the words "turtlestoo" on it. I didn't say anything to him but I thought to myself that it was akin to parking a truck with KKK stickers on it in Compton. I personally would have been scared to leave my vehicle in that lot with that message flying on the back but this guy was obviously oblivious to his folly. My buddy left him a note that let him know that this mentality is killing coastal communities and fishing villages that have been around for hundreds of years. If the unregulated fishing of 50 years ago when it was the wild west and anything goes didn't kill them off, we certainly wont make even a small dent while working within the set boundries of the law today. I'm with you, we need to start a campaign to promote the eating of turtles. I bet the asian folks would buy them up even if no one else would.

I did not realize they were such a problem. All we hear up this way is that they are cute, cuddly and scarce..... save the turtles is the plea here in the north. Although i love watching them and believe they are beautiful creatures I also feel for the waterman. I cannot say i can relate to you but I know how the crab population has taken a hit here in MD due to the lack of knoledge about skates ( bull nose rays ) here in the bay. I guess we all learn something new all the time!

[LooWho]

Topsail is a great place.  next time head north a little and there is a development not finished yet with tons of mullet in the creeks.

[raventerp85]

The house we rented last year, I had a private boat launch and dock, this year we will be staying beach side and I'll just put the boat in at the 210 bridge. I did buy a throw net last year, but all I could catch with it was little fish, so I just started stuffing the crab pots with them and catching crabs off the dock behind the house. The boat was mostly used for taking the kids tubing. Which leads me to a question .... we went tubing through alligator bay, the locals told me as long as we stay out in the middle we'd be fine, but stay away from the marsh, has anyone ever seen any alligators down their???

Going down next week to Topsail Beach and will be bringing my boat as well.  Any ideas about where to crab?  What water depth works the best down there?  I'm used to crabbing in the tidal rivers off the Chesapeake Bay in MD and I usually look for about 10 feet of water to lay my traps.

[yorkpacrabber]

I've crabbed down near Surf City with the boat and several different spots up through the intercoastal Highway towards the Northern 210 Bridge, but had better luck just going to the public pier down at Surf City, it's a very nice pier and we caught tons of crabs off of it. You can also take a throw net along and catch shrimp in between pulling traps.

[raventerp85]

Tried crabbing several places in various depths of water between the inlet and the entrance to the ICW.  Did not have much luck.  Caught a bunch of hermit crabs and a very weird looking spider crab, but not many blue crabs.  Decided to just put our traps in along the pier where we kept our boat at Topsail Beach and caught about 10 each morning.  Kept them in a live box and steamed them up on the 3rd day.  Small but tasty!