. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. A day wit Captain Tony Tillett guided his 53-foot Carolinian through the rough surf at Oregon Inlet at 6:30 on a mid-November morning. The sun was just peeking from behind the horizon. "We're late," he said. "Everybody else has already ; About half a mile offshore, fishermen on eight other boats had already set out their nets for bait fish. Along with the others, Tillett and mate Charlie Dunn were commercial fishing for king mackerel. They had finished their charter season a couple
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. A day wit Captain Tony Tillett guided his 53-foot Carolinian through the rough surf at Oregon Inlet at 6:30 on a mid-November morning. The sun was just peeking from behind the horizon. "We're late," he said. "Everybody else has already ; About half a mile offshore, fishermen on eight other boats had already set out their nets for bait fish. Along with the others, Tillett and mate Charlie Dunn were commercial fishing for king mackerel. They had finished their charter season a couple of weeks earlier. Now, whatever they caught was theirs, and it had to be enough to pay for their expenses in fuel, equipment, bait and ice. Tillett descended from his perch on the bridge where he was guiding the boat. The two men set out a gill net, let the boat drift away, then returned to the net several minutes later. No, the mackerel weren't this close to shore, Dunn said. They were fishing for "fatbacks. You know, men- haden," he said. As soon as the fishermen emptied their nets, moved the boat and set them out again, Dunn began preparing the bait. Eviscerated fish would stay fresher longer, he said. "And I the kings the fresher the bait, the better the chance to catch ; As the other boats pulled in one last netful of bait fish, a neighboring fisherman pulled his boat alongside the Caro- linian and donated an extra bucketful. "We all work together out here," explained Tillett. In all, Tillett and Dunn began fishing with about 30 pounds of bait. Dunn hauled in the nets, and they set off for what Tillett had determined to be the day's fishing grounds, an area of water about 10 to 15 miles offshore. Around the docks, some folks say Tillett is one of the best fishermen in northeastern North Carolina. Dunn agrees, but Tillett is more modest. No matter how much you know about fishing, he said, there will still be days when you pull your boat i
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionunclibra, booksubjectoceanography
