The locals go nuts over a little fish called "spots,", and the long anticipated spot run finally came and went. Spots turned up in great numbers on October 12th, and for about 6 days merry mayhem ruled on the pier. Anglers stood shoulder to shoulder, lead weights and spot rigs flying through the air. Absolutely everyone caught spots, whether these were fishing for them or not. One number of 5 fishermen proudly boasted catching over 700 spots between them, and individual anglers who grumbled that they only caught a couple of realized too late that those big catches came to those that were standing in the right location on the pier where in fact the huge schools of spots happened to be at a given time.
Meanwhile, back at pier "central," that will be the bait and tackle shop at the front of the pier, a dauntless but harried, efficient but tired pier crew answered over 300 telephone calls per day in this period, with nearly each call you start with," Would be the spots biting yet?" Always the same question, too! A few of the callers included demands for weather predictions, wind direction, specific time predictions for the very first spot to latch onto a hook, and so on. One caller even asked Ronnie how the fish were biting the other day, exactly when these were expected to bite a few weeks, and which specific dates he, the caller, should arrange for his vacation so he might be certain to catch fish. Ronnie's answer, perfected as time passes, suited the caller: "Mr., the other day is history. A few weeks is a secret, and if I really could answer your third question, I will be in Las Vegas right now." From then on busy week, the spots had managed to move on, and spot catching was not so prolific-none of the record numbers that we saw the last week. However, what makes angling, certainly life at Cherry Grove Pier, exciting is that there is a constant know from 1 day to the next what will happen. Just the moment the spots stopped biting, they started again. Earlier this Saturday became one of many busiest with record-number catches exceeding the last numbers. Based on previous history with fishing for spots, we could expect another many weeks to end up like these past two-lively, then slow again. You simply never know! We have seen some nice catches beyond spots, too-king mackerel, black drum, red drum, blue fish, and some Spanish mackerel. At the same time that the spots kept the anglers hopping, Saturday, October 25th brought our adults and kids for the "Take a Kid Fishing" Tournament, hosted by the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce. Held from 8 am to 12 noon, the function saw a sizable attendance orvis, despite the damp, windy weather. Each child received a goody bag with a "Take a Kid Fishing" tee shirt and many other things donated by area merchants, plus at mid-morning each received a snack, soft drinks, and water. Even though fish tended to stay in the water rather than allow themselves to be caught, the children had fun, and the adults delighted in assisting kids go through the joys of fishing. Incidentally, the Cherry Grove Pier features a resident celebrity: Pete the Pelican! Because he has discovered the luxury of receiving free fishy hand-outs from people fishing across the pier, he has adopted the pier as his "turf," so to speak. He usually sits near the finish of the pier and enjoys posting for pictures for the customers and even allows being touched now and then if the daring human agrees to maneuver slowly. Fast movements cause the pelican to peck the offending hand. Just the moment the fishing weather moves from a balmy breeze to raw bone-piercing chill, we will likely see this self-appointed pier monitor drift off together with his pelican mates to find warmer shores and wait to go back to Cherry Grove next spring.
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