Me and my Drum

A few years ago I was teaching and decided to take a chance on volunteering to assist a local guide on his boat (Greggofish.com). At the time, he had two 60lbs anchors that he was glad to let me assist him with. After a summer of doing so, we have remained good friends and have enjoyed many trips together, but none quite like this. Being in North Carolina, Greg has expanded his fishing from strictly the inland reservoirs surrounding Raleigh, NC to both Striper and Red Drum trips during their prime seasons in the Roanoke River and the Neuse River/Pamlico Sound. After a couple of years joining Greg on the Roanoke and hearing about the Red Drum trips being even better, I had to see for myself and what better trip to take for my first saltwater experience than one with the possibility of a 40" fish or bigger? So, on September 13th, at 2:40am our adventure began as I picked up the rest of the crew on our way from Raleigh, NC to the coast. Once we arrived, Greg greeted us and we were on the water by 6:15am. With a cold front having moved through as we drove, the skies were cloudy and drizzling at times, the temperatures were more comfortable as the heat had lifted and we had a favorable wind from the WNW. Once we reached our destination for the day, we set out six rods and waited, but not for long! Within 15 minutes, we were hooked up. As the battle ended, we had our first Ray. Not the targeted species, but a fun fight none the less. Shortly after, another rod goes with the reel's drag singing that ever so sweet tune of "Big fish." With the first Red Drum landed, the bite remained steady with some bursts of fish and some temporary lulls, and repeat. At one point, one of those bursts included all four of us being hooked up with 3 Red Drum and 1 Ray coming from the set. In our 5.5 hour session, we never had to move and ended up boating 13 Drum and a handful of Rays and Skates. 9 out of our 13 fish were 40+inches earning all aboard their first Citation Red Drum. With the smallest fish being around 35 inches and the largest being 47, we all set new personal bests. If you have never had the opportunity to take a trip like this, I can't recommend it enough! With a guide like Greg, you are sure to have a world class experience on a world class body of water. -Mark