Tuesday, November 29, 2005
North Carolina Fishing History
 After reading Carlson's book Hatteras Blues last month, we've been meaning to share a few of the great insights he provides into the history of fishing in North Carolina. Below are a few of our favorites...Most of the Outer Banks used to be one large island until a huge hurricane on September 7th and 8th in 1846 opened Oregon Inlet and Hatteras Inlet in just two days. Oregon Inlet was then named for the first ship to successfully navigate it. The first offshore Gulf Stream fishing trip off the NC coast was in the early 1920's when a wealthy tobacco executive named Tom Eaton was able to convince Captain Bill Gaskill of Ocracoke to make the treacherous trip. Gaskill deferred the trip to his son Thurston since he viewed this as a waste of his commercial fishing time, and therefore money. They went out Ocracoke Inlet, fished the Gulf Stream, got a little lost, and then finally made it home through Hatteras Inlet with 6 huge Mahi Mahi. Eaton loved the Outer Banks so much he later was the primary force behind electricity to Hatteras Island and the first ice plant for fishermen. Ernal and Bill Foster, captains of the Albatross Fleet out of Hatteras Village, are the main reason Hatteras Village is known as the "Billfish Capital of the World". They landed the first blue marlin for a paying customer, the first white marlin, the first sailfish, the first Grand Slam, the world record blue marlin at 810 pounds in 1962, the first catch and release blue marlin on the East Coast, and helped the first woman land a blue marlin. Almost all of these firsts were done with braided linen line and bamboo poles. Archive Link 0 Comments Tell a Friend |
