Report:
EI/BI Report 22 Sep 98 9/19-21/97 Weather: Sultry, summery humid, partly sunny highs in the mid 80's. Surf: Near clear and calm to moderate, still 82 degrees in the surf, 84 off shore. Compare: surf temps at 80 degrees on 9/19/97, 72 degrees on 9/21/96. High tide 8:00, low 2:00. Sunrise: 6:56-argh, sunset 7:10. Moonrise 6:44 AM, moonset 7:23 PM. Next full moon, Oct. 5th. First day of FALLfallFALL Wednesday- (9/23/98). Last year, same time same place we had a mullet blow which brought the fish into the surf in quantity. This year the blow will come later in the week, but we are already overrun in biomass. Finger and jumping mullet, shad, glass minnows, menhaden and ballyhoo galore. You could almost walk on water. With the water still pretty warm, the biomass is feeding the improvement of fishing. Red drum are showing in the surf and around the inlet, 3-4 lb pups and bigger ones up the 27 lbs have been reported. There are plenty of blues in the 1-3 lb range and a nice show of spanish. All can be taken on live or fresh bait or plugs. Mark and Jim (from PA) hooked into some nice spanish on mullet--pics to follow. I got some good action on my Spook surface plug and Kastmaster as well. There are also reports of good flounder action and specks starting to show in the surf. When you see the appearance such massive amounts of fish/biomass in the surf, you really get a feel for the importance of the health of the estuaries from whence they come. Every time I see this fall migration I am each and every time truly amazed. Another visitor feasting on the mullet et al. was a beautiful Osprey. He was working the inlet area over the weekend. Pier Pressure: Spots (in waves), spanish and blues. First week in Oct._Annual Bogue Inlet King Mackerel Tournament. Bogus Notes: 1) It's 4x4 time on Emerald Isle-get your stickers at the EIPD, price $40. Access is currently closed at the point access at Bogue Inlet. It looks like they are working on the access, hopefully it will open soon, but I couldn't get a definite date from the EIPD. Even if it does open up, you can only practically get on/off when the tide is out. Black Skimmer is open but very rugged-steep, soft and a ditch just below the wooden slats, farther East the Ocean Drive access is not as steep and has harder sand. 2) Watch for my BI photo story. A pictorial of the migration of Bogue Inlet 1995-98. 3) NCOIF logo T-shirts are now available. Support the arts, look cool, catch more fish. If interested, ask Dr. Bogus for details. 4) Check out our news flash under "What's New" on new red drum regs. Effective Oct. 22, 1998; ONE FISH PER DAY 18-27 INCHES. 5) Reports of sharks along Bogue Inlet Pier are true. Several have been seen in close over the past few weeks near the feeding (cleaning) table. 5) Tip of the week. Mullet are in the surf-stock up and freeze now for when they are NOT in!! Richard Ehrenkaufer, Ph.D. Radiology/PET Center Wake Forest University School of Medicine Medical Center Blvd. Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1061 voice (336) 716-5633 fax (336) 716-5639 ricardo@pet.wfubmc.edu <`)))>>< <`)))>>< <`)))>>< <`)))>>< <`)))>>< ><<)))^>

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