Hutaff had many moods. Calm and lovely by
morning, sudden storms could turn it wild,
fierce, and trackless by nightfall. Fishing could
be fantastic one day and frustrating the next.
sea, drawing a mix of game fish to the food-rich
outer lumps and shoals.
At certain times, tides and moon phases,
huge red drum, North Carolina’s state salt-water
fish, joined the hungry mix.
Red drum, also known as channel bass,
are known for their coppery color, distinc-tive
black tail spots, and drum-like sound
the male makes. Adult drum are magnif-icent
creatures that can live as long as 50
years and have an average weight of between
40 and 50 pounds, though some scale much
larger.
While these big game fish primarily stay
offshore, on full moons in spring and fall
they sometimes visit shoals and sloughs
around remote coastal inlets and barrier
islands, foraging in the shallows for crabs,
shrimp and finfish. The north shoal of
Hutaff Island at Elmore’s Inlet was just such
ISLANDS SUCH AS HUTAFF are
separated from the mainland by extensive
salt marsh and miles of tidal creeks inter-spersed
with wooded hammocks, home to
roosting birds, otters, minks, the occasional
deer, alligator, and other itinerant visitors.
Riddled with shoals and sloughs,
Elmore’s was a mystical, raveling passage
that weaved through a maze of cordgrass
and Spartina marsh. Laced with spectacular
reefs and bars that stretched out into the
nutrient-rich Atlantic, the area provided
an essential destination for an adventurous
band of red drum fishermen who often
camped and fished there.
The conflagration of marsh, ocean and
inlet formed a vibrant ecosystem that annu-ally
produced a swath of fish, crabs, shrimp,
oysters, clams and mussels. At falling tide
a smorgasbord of marine life flowed out to
22 september 2021
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a place. It held massive fish, many visible for
sight casting.
Getting there, however, and returning to
the mainland safely was another matter. The
island was difficult to access in anything
but a jon boat. However, shifting winds
and strong currents could render a small
boat quite vulnerable, so the voyage was
always a gamble for even the most seasoned
fishermen and lent a mysterious aura to the
island.
Hutaff had many moods. Calm and lovely
by morning, sudden storms could turn it
wild, fierce, and trackless by nightfall. Fish-ing
could be fantastic one day and frustrat-ing
the next. The inlet was so profuse with
marine life that drum had all the live bait
they wanted floating right past their noses.
Fishermen with artificial lures and day-old
mullet often found it hard to compete.