Happy Thanksgiving

I'll be away from the computer for 7 days while Ferrying Pilgrams from Swan Quarter to Ocracoke so I wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Hopefully the Trout and Striped Bass will be hungry when I get home on Dec. 2nd. By the way, when I went down to the dock this morning to clean yesterday's Trout, I found a huge school of Roe Mullet swimming around in 3 feet of water. I couldn't resist taking a shot at point blank range with a 10 foot cast net. Unfortunately, I threw an egg and still managed to catch 3 Mullets up to 4 pounds. Marcus R will be chewing on grilled Mullets along with his fried Trout and Tog.

Nov 23 Speckled Trout and Tautog

Fishing was very interesting today. This morning, in the dark, the Speckled Trout were biting and we didn't have to go far from home! A nice 20 fish limit of 2-3 pounders with only a few small ones mixed in. These fish were hammering white jerk shad in 18 feet of water. Thanks for the ride Tracy, it's always nice for me to jump on somebody else's Boat...... I was back to the ramp by 7am and then came the frustrations of round #2. After I picked Marcus R up and we loaded the boat with live shrimp, we were set for a "Sow Trout" killing! Our first stop was where we left them biting this morning, but the tide had changed, the current was ripping, and the fleet was there. After wasting 10 minutes, we decided to "head east". On the way to Cape Lookout, however, we decided to check the Beach to see if we could find a school of Red Drum. What we found was staggering and utterly disappointing. School after school of 4-8 pound Speckled Trout in crystal clear water that would not bite. Not even a live shrimp. Thousands of Trout. School after school. The netters were having a field day while our baits went un-touched..... Later in the day, we managed to catch quite a few much smaller Speckled Trout at Cape Lookout and Radio Island, but the shock of seeing all those huge Trout never left our thoughts. Marc and I also caught lots of small Tautog, including my first ever. In the end, the keeping a small Tautog cursed us and we ran out of luck after we had caught 11 Speckled Trout in the 17" to 18" range. Total Catch for the Day: 45 Speckled Trout up to 20", 6 Tautog, 1 Red Drum, and 1 Black Sea Bass.

Nov 22 Late Afternoon Speckled Trout

"Take a knee." Yeah Right......Late this afternoon I made the hike down to the Fishing Hole to get my daily fix. I didn't stay long, but I did catch 18 Speckled Trout on 25 casts. Pretty good. My biggest fish was 15". I also talked to one of my friends that was "in the area" and he had 15 Speckled Trout over 4 pounds and the bite was ON. Looks like my plan of attack for tommorrow morning has been set! My Total Catch for the Day: 15 Speckled Trout up to 15"

Nov 21 The Weather Sucks

Right when I figure out (thanks to Dontcatchmany) a new trend that could help me and my anglers catch a few 5-6 pound Speckled Trout......It's blowing 25kts and snowing again. Re-shuffle the Deck. I'm headed out the door to buy a new camera and possibly try a couple of places out of the wind.......I did manage to catch 1 Speckled Trout today and it was a nice one!

Nov 20 Elusive Big Speckled Trout

Another day of hard fishing. Todd joined me and his perferred target was a 5 lb. Speckled Trout. Keeping with tradition, I was greeted by a 20+ knot west wind this morning which eliminated my first 2 choices of where to go fishing. By the end of the day we had ran 45 miles and we were still looking for the 5 pounder. Unfortunately, our first stop and our last stop would've been the Perfect Place except the bigger class of Speckled Trout had jumped the Rocks and we were fishing "on the wrong side". Very disturbing. For the trip, Todd and I caught and released app. 25 Speckled Trout from 7" to 15". After dropping Todd off, I journeyed back out and was "hard-headed" enough to anchor up in the same place. I caught plenty of small Speckled Trout up to 15", Bluefish, and Sheepsheads while I watched others catch 5+pounders. I finally I joined the crowd and caught me a fat 24" Speckled Trout that weighed 5 lb. 4 oz. that will qualify for an NC Fishing Citation. I also caught a 18" Speckled Trout and a 18" Gray Trout. Congrats to the Boats that had them "cornered". Hooray for me and I'm sorry to Todd. Those Big Trout weren't supposed to be there...Final Total Catch for the Day: 40 Speckled Trout up to 24", 1 Gray Trout, 5 Bluefish, and 3 Sheepsheads.

Nov 19 Speckled Trout on Every Cast

I must apologize to Dave Phiefer, an avid fisherman and Smallmouth Guide that I met on the Beach today. If I would have only tried 1 cast with a slow retrieve, he could've caught all the Trout he wanted. But he was there for Albacore and so was I and after a long walk and fishing discussion we finally found something interesting. Flocks of dipping and screaming gulls right on the Beach. But, no Albacore. I made about 10 casts with metal while Dave watched. Then I walked back to the beach and we talked for a while longer. Then he headed off and I headed back in the water, this time looking for Trout with a green grub. My first cast was successful. I looked up the hill and Dave was gone. An hour later I was standing in the middle of a Speckled Trout blitz, screaming gulls and showering shrimp! Solid Speckled Trout, 30 feet away and they formed a horseshoe around me. Enough Trout in 4-5 feet of water to turn it dark. Every cast ain't good enough of a discription. If I lost one, another would grab it, lose it, another would grab it. I was pitching my bait 15 feet and they were biting it. Twice I caught 2 fish at a time on a mirrorlure. Every Speckled Trout that I caught had 2-6 Shrimp antennae hanging out of their mouth and their stomachs were bulging. I don't think my numbers were astronomical because I was calling everybody on my cell phone and bragging. I was throwing junk that I'd never tie on. Anybait. Every cast. Of course, these Trout ran small. I didn't keep any but I could've got a limit if 13" to 15". I came out of the water at 4 pm and I left them biting. My guess for the Total Catch for the Day: 75 Speckled Trout from 9" to 15".

Nov 18 Wow--Speckled Trout in the Snow

Unbelievable. This afternoon I went fishing where the Trout were biting 8 days ago and as I was putting my waders on....And it started Snowing. Then I hit the Beach and I was met by a perfect school of Albacore. At least 10 fish, that stayed in 1 place for 30+ seconds, 100 feet off the Beach, and in 4-5 feet of water. And I messed it up! No strikes, 1 good follow and swirl right off my rod tip. After that I chased them around until my socks were balled up in the toe of my waders. I probably got 20-25 casts into the melee and couldn't draw a strike. I needed metal! I gave up but it was still an adrenaline rush. Albacore on foot is always a challenge and that was my first good shot in several years. Then I found some Bluefish and Lizardfish, and I sacrificed a bag of gulps. Finally, around 2:45 the Speckled Trout bite started and in 30 minutes I released 14 Speckled Trout in the 10" to 12" range. I feel better about the weather now. Albacore are inside the Inlet and the Speckled Trout are still hungry. Total Catch for the Day: 12 Speckled Trout, 5 Bluefish, and 5 Lizardfish.

Nov 18 I'm Home and the Wind is Blowing

Same old story. Gale Warnings are up. The last part of my week at Hatteras was a bust. I hooked 2 fish. A 3 lb Flounder and a huge Ribbonfish. Both escaped. A co-worker caught 100 pounds of Roe Mullet on Sunday, but I forgot my net. Monday night I watched a big Octopus swim around for a few minutes and that's the whole story! Looks like a Rock Jetty Speckled Trout window might open by Thursday. Otherwise, it looks like I'll be hammering the surf. Maybe. Oh yeah, special thanks to a few guys at Hatteras that accepted the challenge of building me the ultimate Landing Net. A 25" aluminum hoop welded on a 15 foot telescopic handle. This thing is so sweet, landing those 15 pound Hatteras Sheepsheads and 12 pound Hatteras Flounders just got alot easier. Now if I can just hook them!

Nov 11-13 Hatteras Night Fishing

This week at Hatteras so far has been a little disappointing. The weather has been unsettled, but it hasn't been as bad as forecasted, which has actually kept a lot of Boats off the water when they could've been fishing! The nights around the Full Moon have been beautiful, but I've been working all night. This has limited my chances, but I've still had a few shots at nice fish. Tuesday night I had an 8+ pound Gray Trout twice follow a mirrorlure right to my feet, but it wouldn't eat it! Wednesday night I had "the biggest Squid I've ever seen in person" do the same thing. This Squid was at least 30" long not counting it's whips! On a positive note, I have caught a 19" Striped Bass that was quite a battle on my Trout rod. I've also caught 3 Summer Flounders up to 14" and 40 Black Sea Bass up to 13" on gulps. Wednesday night I walked 2 miles of Hatteras Inlet's south shoreline under perfect conditions and a bright moon. I threw a mirrorlure 500 times and never had a bite!

Nov 10 Trout Fishing Part 2

Fishing in slowly improving conditions sucks when you don't really have enough time to take advantage of the improving conditions. Understand? Brent and Mark fished in a tough NW wind this morning and in dirty Ocean water and it was a struggle. By afternoon, the wind had layed out and conditions were alot better, but our day was shot. We fished both east and west and covered 50+ miles. We had a couple of good shots at Albacore down off Atlantic Beach and failed to connect. Finally, I personally had a terrible day. I lost my camera after it fell out of my electronics box, then bounced off my head, and fell in the Ocean. Great. No Pictures of Fish! Then to make matters worse, as I was cleaning up my Boat, I discovered a Rod and Reel was missing. I don't have a clue, but I'm sure it's laying out there somewhere in the Ocean between Cape Lookout and Salter Path. When it was over Our Total Catch was: 5 Speckled Trout up to 3 lb.s, 5 Gray Trout up to 1 lb. 8 oz., 1 Red Drum, 1 Black Sea Bass, 5 Bluefish, 1 Oyster Toadfish, and 2 Menhaden. FYI, the picture is of a Mummichog, which is a minnow. This represents a "not so great" day of fishing. I would've loved to post a picture of Mark with 2 of his large Speckled Trout but I am camera-less.

Nov 10 4am Trout Trip

Chris and I went on a early morning run to the "secret spot" and were met by a little too much NW wind. It made fishing in the dark tough. When it was over I caught 3 Speckled Trout up to 3 lb.s and 2 Gray Trout up to 2 lb.s and Chris caught the Rocks about 4 times. Oh well, what a difference a day makes. Bad news gets worse. See part 2.

Nov 9 Tough Fishing--Albacore and Trout

Tough fishing today. Too much ground swell, too much SW wind, and dirty water plagued the fishing. I wasted half the day by running east. A 40 mile trip to "nowhere" and when we made it back to Beaufort Inlet the wind was blowing and the water was dirty. Sorry guys. Highlights for the day were: Walt had a nice battle with a 14 lb. Albacore. Leonard caught a 3 lb+ Speckled Trout, and Will was top-hook on Gray Trout. Total Catch for this Trip: 14 Gray Trout, 6 Speckled Trout, 6 Bluefish, 1 Albacore, 1 Red Drum, 1 Northern Puffer, and 1 Lizardfish.

Nov 9 The 4am Bite

I couldn't sleep.....So I launched at 3:30 am and went to a "secret spot" and caught 10 Speckled Trout and 8 Gray Trout in 90 minutes. These Speckled Trout weighed up to 3 lb.s. It was a blast in pitch darkness and there was not a breath of wind. Perfect conditions. All these fish were caught on Mirrorlures and white jerk shad. Total for this solo mission: 10 Speckled Trout up to 3 lbs and 8 Gray Trout up to 2 lb.s.

Nov 8 Gray Trout on Every Cast

This morning was a complete bust at Radio Island. In 2 hours of casting, I caught 2 Bluefish and a Lizardfish. To make matters worse, I lost 2 Mirrorlures and 2 Halos. Special Thanks to the One Boat that destroyed the Beach fishing for everybody this morning. This afternoon was a completely different story. After the sunset a slow bite turned on a dime. It was a Gray Trout on nearly every cast. These Gray Trout ranged from 14" to 18" each. There were a few Speckled Trout and Bluefish mixed in too. My Final Catch for Day was 20 Gray Trout up to 2 lb.s, 4 Speckled Trout, 4 Bluefish, and 2 Inshore Lizardfish.

Nov 7 Gray Trout and Speckled Trout

Fishing must be pretty good when I'm completely disappointed to be catching a 16" to 18" Trout on every cast. That's the way it was this morning at Cape Lookout. Two problems, they were all Gray Trout and I had my limit in 10 minutes, and I thought today was going to be "my Citation Speckled Trout Day". I was loaded with a full array of baits for grown Speckled Trout, and the Gray Trout devoured everything I had. In 2 hours of fishing, I caught 35 Gray Trout that were all between 1 lb. 8 oz. to 2 pounds. Session number 2 was a treat. I fished a small, very well known spot very close to Beaufort Inlet and caught 15 Speckled Trout very quickly. The best thing was that I had 2 that weighed 3 pounds and 4 others that weighed over 2 pounds. I lost 2 really nice Speckled Trout also. In this same spot I caught 5 Bluefish, including a suprizing 4 pounder. I'm dying to fish again before midnight, but I probably will not. As it stands now, My Total Catch for the Day: 35 Gray Trout up to 2 lb.s, 15 Speckled Trout up to 3 lb.s, and 5 Bluefish up to 4 pounds.

Nov 6 The Unofficial World Record Lizardfish and 60 Speckled Trout

The size of the Speckled Trout biting was much better for the first half of today. My first 2 casts this morning caught Speckled Trout that weighed 3 lb.s and 2 lb. 12 oz. Then the boats came with their noisy outboards and poorly placed anchors. Ouch. It killed the fishing. Twenty minutes later, I caught 2 more 2 pounders. That was it for the nice Trout and there was a slow pick on the smaller Trout after that. The morning total was 10 Speckled Trout and 4 Bluefish. This afternoon it was the same ole story. From 3:30 until 5:15 it was nearly every cast. The numbers were amazing. The thing that made today amazing was the number of people standing shoulder to shoulder, and everyone was catching Speckled Trout. The most noteworthy thing I saw today and nobody will care, was the Inshore Lizardfish that I released. The 2008 IGFA Yearbook shows the All-Tackle World Record stands at 2 lb. 8oz. I released one today that swallowed a 13" Speckled Trout. This Lizardfish was over 30" and weighed over 4 pounds. Other than the massive Lizardfish, this afternoon I caught 50 Speckled Trout and 2 Bluefish. My Total Catch for the Day: 60 Speckled Trout up to 3 pounds, 6 Bluefish, and the Unofficial World Record Inshore Lizardfish! That's 200 Speckled Trout that I've caught in the last 3 days.

Nov 5 Speckled Trout

Tried it again this morning on the rising tide and the fishing was much slower. I still caught 20 Speckled Trout from 10" to 14", but it was nothing like yesterday. The highlight of the morning was when I caught a Sheepshead on a mirrorlure. This afternoon things were much better. I figured the Trout were biting better because they were over the "shock of the election". The fishing went from a steady bite to every cast as the tide fell. Nearly all these Speckled Trout were in the 11" to 13" range. I did see one caught that was 18" long. When I quit fishing at 4:40pm, it was a wide open bite. For the afternoon, I guess I caught 50 Speckled Trout in 2 hours. I kept 10 Trout this afternoon to give away. My Total catch for the Day: 70* Speckled Trout, 15 Bluefish, and 1 Sheepshead.

Nov 4 Election Day Speckled Trout Chewing

What they lacked in size, they made up for with numbers. It was a Speckled Trout on nearly every cast from 3pm until 5:15pm. I had 1 stretch where I caught a Speckled Trout on 12 straight casts and another run of 15 straight casts. In 135 minutes of casting, I never went more than 3 casts without a bite! All these Speckled Trout were caught while wading in the rain and on the falling tide. Gulps, grubs, and mirrorlures. Every fish that I caught was released. Total for the Day: 70* Speckled Trout from 10" to 14" and 15 Bluefish.

More Bad Weather and Cancellations

Looks like we're going to get another Front blowing through here for the next 3 days. Hopefully the fishing will be just as good when it passes. The way it looks right now, I'll be looking to get back on the water by Thursday November 6th. I am open for business from November 6-9.

Nov 2 BEST DAY OF THE YEAR

I had no charter today, so I called Columbo and we went looking for Red Drum. After yesterday, I had a good idea of where to look! Before we got to the Drum spot, we stopped and caught 20 Bluefish in the 2-3 pound class. It was "every cast" and that would be a re-occurring theme later in the day. Once we got in the Red Drum area, I think we found our first school and we had our first double hook-up by 8:30. AND we stayed hooked up, DOUBLE, until 3 pm. The only break we got was when we stumbled on a school of Black Drum. After we had released 50 Red Drum, we decided to go for 100. By this point we were actually catching Red Drum on bare jig-heads! By 2 pm we were at 100 releases and then we found a school of of bigger Red Drum from 30" and up. We stuck it out for another hour with the bigger fish and finished up with 110 releases and a pair of 25" Red Drum on ice. We got 4 Black Drum that weighed 7, 5, 4, and 3 pounds. Chris caught 2 Speckled Trout. I caught a Cownose Ray. Every once in a while a Bluefish would dart ahead of a Drum and get hooked up and we probably released 20 additional Bluefish throughout the day. I know better than anybody that this sounds too good to be true, but the Total catch for today was : 112 Red Drum, 40 Bluefish, 4 Black Drum, 2 Speckled Trout, and 1 Cownose Ray.

Nov 1 Red Drum and Bluefish

I didn't think the Red Drum fishing could get any better. But it did. The never ending supply of small Drum off Shackleford Banks finally ran dry this morning. We went looking in a few other places and what we found was incredible. Two huge schools of upper-slot and bigger Red Drum and they acted like they hadn't eaten anything in a week. Double, triple, and quadruple hook-ups. All we had to do was "hit the water". Edward and his Dad caught all the Red Drum they wanted and Chris and I caught several too. My guess was around 25 Drum, with only "one small fish" around 18" and all the rest from 23" to 30". The 8-10 pound Drum were a great battle on the 8# tackle. The guys also caught 40+ Bluefish on metal and kept 30 in the 2-3 pound class. Total for the Day: 25 Red Drum, 1 Summer Flounder, and 40 Bluefish. I also threw a 10 foot cast net one time and caught about 150 Jumping Mullets.