From the looks of the crowds along the Intracoastal, the Spots are running.  We weren’t looking for a lot of Spots or a lot of neighboring boats.

We just wanted to catch a few spots for dinner and enjoy a peaceful afternoon on the river.

The afternoon took a while to get started since had a Lobster Lunch at Saint Francis by the Sea Episcopal Church in Salter Path.  By the time we got home from that and got the boat loaded, it was a little after three.

We headed out on an incoming tide and actually only went about five or ten minutes from the house before decided to anchor with Swansboro not far in the distance.

The water was a little choppy but not too bad.  I got a few spots, lots of small croakers and a few pesky pinfish.  The spots and one pigfish that I caught were just enough for dinner.

We rarely keep any fish that we catch, but wife had never had spots, so I thought it was a good time to try them.

I fried them up this evening, and we had a great meal.  It would be pretty hard to get any fish fresher than that.   They were swimming in the river between three and four, and then were in a frying pan by seven pm.