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Longhauling

Almost like it was yesterday, I can still see the white longhaul boats on the water of Pamlico Sound. The Pamlico is one of the largest estuaries in the United States, and the longhaulers look for massive schools of fish that inhabit those waters near Rodanthe every Summer.

Nowadays this method of fishing is not as prevalent as it once was, but in 1980, I went out with a crew from Avon. The owners of that haul seine fishing rig were brothers, Collins and Belton Gray. Known as “the Gray boys”, they were dedicated, hard workers. You would not meet finer people anywhere. And they knew how to catch fish.

Dawn shines on Pamlico Sound as the Gray boys look for fish. Belton Gray operates the run boat as Charles Farrow sits in the net skiff.

Charles tends the net, as it begins to go overboard into the water.

Collins Gray steers the run boat using a bridle adjustment tied to the end of the net, as Belton Gray Jr. assists. Meanwhile, more net goes out as the other run boat pulls the net skiff farther away.

With a few thousand yards of net out, Collins watches as it is pulled in a big “U” shape along the shallow bottom. The “U” is then closed and tightened, encircling the fish.

Collins signals that it’s getting time to close the net, begin hauling it back into the skiff, and “bunting up”,  putting all the fish in a neat little pocket, before bailing the catch into the boat.

The crew hauls the net back in the skiff.

This had already been a long day and the hard work was just beginning. With most of the net back in the skiff, Belton (center) was ready to bunt up and bail fish. Belton Jr. handles the staff on the end of the net.

Stay tuned for the catch of the day.

Longnet Rigs

One of my most memorable impressions upon moving to Hatteras Island was to see locals earning their living as commercial fishermen. I had never seen anything like it before, and harvesting a bounty from the sea seemed a miracle. In the northern villages where I lived, the focal point of fishing activity was at the harbor in Rodanthe, known as “the creek”.

I used to hang out at the fish houses where the boats came in to pack out their daily catch. It amazed me to see them returning with hundreds of pounds of bluefish, trout, croakers and a myriad of other species.

When the longhaul rigs came in, they had catches in thousands of pounds. Longhauling, also referred to as longnetting, is a haul seine technique utilizing a huge length of net, sometimes a mile long. A longnet rig consists of three boats, two engine powered boats and a net skiff. At times, there would be four or five rigs working out of Rodanthe at the same time.

Two boats from a crew that came down from Colington, 1982.

Note the beautiful upward sheer line of the shad boat on the left, 1982.

Another rig from Colington, photographed in 1990.

Mac Midgett’s longnet rig at the creek, 1977.

View from atop Dale Midgett’s fish house, June 1982.

Sailing shad boats, converted to motor power, were preferred for their load carrying capabilities.

The Gray Boys rig from Avon, tied up at the fish house across the harbor, 1982.





Sign of Spring

On Hatteras, we have our expected signs of Spring. Snapping turtles emerge from the marsh, new plant growth sprouts, birds and fish migrating, not to mention the unstable weather changes taking place. But now as the Outer Banks becomes much more popular, another aspect has been added in the past several years…… bike week. The last one just ended this Easter.

I’m referring to motorcycles. In my formative years, motorcycles meant gangs, hell raisers, independent spirits and outcasts. I loved seeing them from our family car riding by. Something in my imagination wanted to be like Marlon Brando in The Wild Ones.

Bikers today are a completely different breed. They are more of a cross section of society. Doctors, lawyers, construction workers, and who knows what else comprise bikers of the new age. And I think some of the outcasts are even still there.

A year ago during bike week, I had a chance to ride the ferry to Ocracoke with a load of bikers, and it made for a fun photo op.

I hope you enjoyed the free ferry ride…

The Mojon

Harry Midgett was Irvin’s father. He was one of those locals that had the ocean in his blood. He was a commercial fisherman as long as I knew him. I remember him mostly through his boat called the Mojon.

Mojon sat at the creek in Rodanthe for two or three years. If he wasn’t out fishing in the sound, he was working on that old wooden trawler. I was fascinated with the array of fishing gear, lines, outriggers and nets. To my eye, the equipment looked chaotic. But to the fisherman that used it, each piece had a function, and putting it in order could turn chaos into a livelihood.

Irvin and Robin on Mojon at the Rodanthe Creek, 1977.

The deck of Mojon shot with my large format camera.

This shot was taken looking south, through the rigging of Mojon at the Rodanthe Creek. Collins and Belton Gray’s longhaul boats sit rafted across the harbor.

Harry Midgett in 1977.

Harry moved Mojon from Rodanthe to Ocracoke. He was down there shrimping. The boat was tied up at the Park Service docks. My recollection is that the dockage was free for two weeks at a time. At the end of that time, he’d untie her and depart for sea. Then he returned, and tied up for a couple more weeks. He and Mojon were quite a hit with tourists looking for some local color.

Harry eventually took Mojon into the Gulf of Mexico were he continued to fish until his passing 15 or so years ago.

Home Boys

Back in the seventies there was hardly anybody surfing the waves of Rodanthe. Nearly everyone coming to Hatteras Island to surf, drove right through Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo, and continued straight to the jetty at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The waves at the lighthouse were refined and legendary. So it was a the premier, sought-after surf spot.

The waves of the tri-village area however, were mostly overlooked by the masses, so naturally they were less crowded. It became my home, and I began to surf with the locals that grew up there.

Back then, Asa Gray was one of the locals, and was still in high school. Known as “Buddy”, he also worked as a commercial fisherman. Being big in stature, his surfing was powerful, and he went for it. He knew the water, and was fearless, even in the big, crunchy shorebreak which has now made Rodanthe  so popular on the surfing scene. Buddy doesn’t surf any more, but is still actively fishing and running his campground.

Buddy Gray on a nice right at the Salvo Shipwreck back around 1974.

Asa’s powerful style is seen in this backside off the lip at S-Curve in 1978.

Irvin Midgett was a home boy that surfed, and also a commercial fisherman. He was a smaller guy, but had a go-for-it style in the waves. He still surfs as a goofey foot, which means he’s a lefty. Irvin contnues fishing, and coincidentally also runs his own campground.

Irvin riding his Plastic Fantastic in 1977.

Irvin Midgett riding high on a nice glassy face just north of the Rodanthe pier.

more Home Boys later….