Two Promises: An OBX Adventure

On our drive to the beach, that early November morning, my friend and fishing mentor, Dick,made me two promises: One, I would catch a lot of fish and, two, I would catch a big fish. After a couple hours in the truck, most of which was spent fighting Dick’s lab, Ernie, for the front seat, the terrain began to flatten and I could tell we were getting closer to our destination, the Outer Banks. My adrenaline began to flow as my excitement grew. Little did I know how soon the fun would begin.
Crossing the Hebert C Bonner Bridge, our discussion turned to acquiring bait and I quickly spotted a large crowd of people. As it turns out they were fishing along a rock jetty and each person was catching fish on nearly every cast. We were good on time so we decided to check out the fun. After rigging a couple rods, Dick and I began casting our lines. An immediate hookup proved this to be a prudent stop and after an hour or so we had caught enough bait for the week. In fact, I caught fish until my arms were about to fall off. We caught a lot of fish, and Dick kept promise number one.
The next day we got up around 5am and headed out to Cape Point. Since most of my angling experience involved bass fishing it took some time to get used to the ten foot heavers used on the Point. The fishing proved to be slow, or maybe it was me whipping the water into a froth throwing the required 4 oz. sinkers and bait into the surf. Finally, at about ten, while I was watching some buddies fool around on the beach, IT happened. I felt a bump, set the hook and line started streaming off my reel. It took a couple minutes to slow him down and reel in the line that I’d lost. When he was five yards from the surf I reeled in as much line as possible and began backing up the beach, bringing the largest fish of my life ashore. The red drum measured twenty-seven and one-half inches. After several photos, we tagged and released him into the Atlantic. I still smile as I think about that day. I caught a large fish and Dick kept promise number two.