Last weekend was like a bonus weekend tacked on to the long holiday week off from work. Working with the land is slow this time of year, so I had Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. We fished hard all three days.

With all that time on our hands, we were able to explore, look for elusive fish, and try new lures and tactics. That extra time allowed us to find great concentrations of rockfish in places we have never even tried before.

For many years we have caught rockfish in the wintertime on the lower Tar and upper Pamlico Rivers. There used to be just a few places we could troll and vertical jig to catch these fish during the dead of winter.

Over the years we have added a place or two that has been productive. Now there are at least a dozen places on the rivers where we feel like we can fool a hungry rockfish with an artificial lure.

Wintertime fishing can be so unpredictable. Weather plays a major role. Some days the rockfish seem to be just everywhere and will bite almost any kind of bait. Other days, it is hit or miss. On occasion, you cannot catch a rockfish if you throw the whole tackle box at them.

We experienced all three of these kinds of fishing days on the rivers last weekend. There were reasons the fish responded by biting the way they did.

Friday was one of those picture perfect days. The weather pattern was calm and tranquil. The wind was out of the southwest and light. By mid-afternoon, the rockfish went into a pure feeding frenzy.

We caught them trolling and vertical jigging until our arms were sore. Once we had our limit of four fish, we caught them and released them just for fun.

Most of the fish on Friday were in the slot between 22 and 27 inches. They were the most reproductively viable females of the species. We took a lot of good pictures, then released them with care, so they could continue their journey upstream and spawn this spring. Most of those fish would weigh about nine pounds.

Saturday was one of those so-so days.

The rockfish fed heavily the day before, so they really did not care if they snacked or not. We fished in the same places as the day before, but with only a few of those vicious strikes.

A day like that is excellent for exploring.

We tried new places, but it was harder to find fish. We caught one here and one there, but there was no real pattern.

The weather had changed a bit on Saturday.

The stronger southwest wind had pushed the water out of the rivers and it was a foot lower than on Friday. The fish did not like this low tide, but we did manage a few good keepers.

Sunday the weather really changed.

A cold front pushed through, changed the wind to the northeast, and brought us a few showers. The water returned to normal levels, but the rockfish did not like the wind killing all the current in the river.

The fish had returned to the same places we caught them on Friday. We saw them on the fish finder screen, but they were very finicky about biting. I have never liked a northeast wind for fresh water fishing, but it beats the heck out of staying at home and raking up sweetgum balls.

We experienced the whole gamut of fishing last weekend.

We had one super great day, one good day, and one poor day.

Mix them all together, and I would not trade last weekend for anything in the world.

King