July 31 Red Drum

I still haven't been in the Boat. Nearly all the things that I like to do are impossible on a 25 kt SW wind. There were Bluefish and Spanish Mackerel in the Inlet, but I wasn't loving that idea, so I stayed on shore. I did make my way down to the Dock on Taylor's Creek this afternoon for the incoming tide. Conditions were horrible but I did manage something other than a few Pinfish bites. I actually caught 4 of the smallest Red Drum that I have ever caught. These Drum were around 7" each. I could've caught more, but the last one had my hook through his eye and it made me feel terrible. I hope he recovers and I see him again at Cedar Island in about 12 years. Something tells me "No" though. Too bad, that little fish played on my emotions and I quit fishing. Total Catch for the Day: 4 Red Drum

READY TO FISH...........FINALLY

Everything is great. My Dad and My Boat are both ready for action! Seriously, I am finally ready to resume my Fishing Operations. My skills must be pretty sharp since I managed to catch 8 Sheepshead Citations last week. Unfortunately, the weather forecast doesn't look all that good. I do expect the fish to be co-operative. Chris and I might check things out tommorrow, depends on the wind and the sky. I can hear the Sharks, the Flounders, and the Drum calling! If the wind would lay down by Monday, I might even find a 30 lb Crevalle Jack to eat a Top Water Plug. Also, here is the NC State Record Spadefish Update: After I was in Chapel Hill and Hatteras for 20+ days, then Chris was in Louisiana for 21 days, we will finally sign and deliver all the forms tommorrow and the 11 pound 3 ounce Spadefish should officially become the New Record. The Sheepshead in picture above is Fish #1000 for me in 2009!!

July 21-27 Hatteras Fishing Report

It was an epic week for Sheepsheads! I knew when I left Hatteras on June 29th the Sheepsheads were there "in force." I had no idea that it would be this good! 10 Sheepsheads over 5 pounds on 7/21. Five Citations at 9 lb 14 oz, 9 lb 13 oz, 8 lb 14 oz, 8 lb 12 oz, and 8 lb 6 oz. Then we were rained out on the 22nd. After that it was 6 Sheepsheads on 7/23 over 4 pounds. Biggest 7 lb 4 oz. Then 7 Sheepsheads on 7/24 all over 5 pounds. Citations at 8 lb 14 oz, 8 lb 8 oz, and 8 lb 10 oz. Then 2 Sheepheads on 7/25 and one was a Citation winner at 10 lb 8 oz. The last 2 nights (26th and 27th) we couldn't reach the best fishing spot. (ATTN: Kayakers--150 foot paddle to the Spot in Sheltered waters with Zero Current) The fishing was much slower with only a few bites and I caught a couple of 5 pounders. I caught 8 Citations and I helped a crewmate catch another one at 8 lbs 10 oz. Way to go Tina! Tina caught 3 others over 5 pounds and Mark caught 2 at 7 pounds each. The smallest Sheepshead of the week was a 4 pounder that I released. These numbers were incredible, but the fish were tough to catch. We probably hooked half of our bites. It ain't going to get much better than this for Sheepsheads. EVER. Total Catch for the Week: 30 Sheepsheads 4 lb to 10lb 8oz each

July 20 Red Drum and Flounder

It's been a pretty hectic stretch of 10-12 days for me and tommorrow I start a new shift up at Hatteras, after that I will be traveling back up to Chapel Hill for a follow-up appointment. Therefore, I will not be able to get back into my Boat until August 30th at the earliest. That will make it 25 days between Fishing Trips (not including Docks and Ponds) My salt water fishing has pretty much ground to a halt. But this afternoon I got a break, had my chores done and my bags packed, and pretty much had nothing to do around 5 pm. I also knew the tide was flooding, which is good in Taylor's Creek. So I went down to the Dock for 30 minutes of Fishing. The Pinfish were too aggressive and that made it difficult, but I did manage a 19" Southern Flounder and a 20" Red Drum. Both of these were caught on white Gulps. I also caught a Hogfish, a Pinfish, and the first Inshore Lizardfish of the season. Yea! I can feel it in the air, the fishing is good. I can't wait to get home next week. I'll be fishing every day, Charter or No Charter! This week at Hatteras should produce some Flounder and Sheepheads for me. It's time to get some momentum headed into the Fall Season. Total Catch for the Day: 1 Red Drum, 1 Southern Flounder, 1 Hogfish, 1 Pinfish, and 1 Inshore Lizardfish

July 18 Back Home

Another "No Fishing--Fishing Report". Hopefully this will be my last one for 2009! I am back home. Everything is going good and now I need to get a few things fixed on my Boat. I will not be fishing this weekend and on Monday I'll be headed back to Hatteras. I hope to be "In Business" again on Wednesday July 29th. I did find a Pond in Chapel Hill that I was able to make a few casts in on Thursday the 16th. It was similar to my Beaufort Mung Holes and the catch was nearly identical. Total catch for that Day: 4 Largemouth Bass and 4 Bluegills

NO FISHING

I will be out of town for 7-10 days. I can be reached on my cell phone #252-241-8350. Hopefully I will be fishing again by Friday the 17th.

July 8 Bass After Bass After Bass

Since I'm leaving very early tommorrow morning for Chapel Hill, I let the boat sit this morning. The weather was great and I wished I was fishing. Eventually the pull got too strong so I ventured back to the Forbidden Pond with the Fly Rod. For Beaufort Pond Fishing it was an epic. I once went 6 straight casts with a Largemouth Bass. The water has gotten low in this Pond and it has been seperated into 2 different Ponds. A small "Black Water" hole and a large "Clear Water" hole. At one stretch I was standing on a muddy land bridge and I was catching Largemouth Bass out of both spots. The Bass were so active, I didn't catch a single Bream until I had caught 14 Largemouth Bass. I caught an 18" Largemouth Bass that weighed over 2 pounds. I also popped the leader on a big Bass that got wrapped up in a dead tree. After breaking off this 2 pound Bass continued to free jump every 5 minutes for the next 30 minutes. After the Bass frenzy slowed down I started catching lots of Bluegills and Pumpkinseeds. This Pond is also great for Reptiles. Today I saw 3 Snapping Turtles, 1 Water Moccasin, and dozens of Painted Turtles and Frogs. This Pond is definitely the liveliest water Hole in Beaufort that I know about. Total Catch for the Day: 24 Largemouth Bass, 8 Bluegill, and 2 Pumpkinseed **27 more Fish to 1000 in 2009**

July 7 Part Two--Bream on Bugs

Fished the 3 Wt Fly Rod and popping bugs again this afternoon. I did mix it up a little by swimming a small Bluegill under a float for a Largemouth Bass but got no strikes. Maybe I'm getting burned out on it because today I was crushing the Bluegills and all the sudden I wondered: "What the hell are you doing?" I got in my Truck and went home. I did have an idea though. Most of the Bluegills that I've been catching are from Ponds that are over run with small Bream. I do know of a large Pond in Beaufort that is barren of fish. A Hurricane flooded it a few years back and it has been slow to recover. The fishing in that Pond is horrible. I should've been moving some fish over there all along. Total Catch for the Afternoon: 20 Bluegills and 1 Green Sunfish

July 7 Part One--Red Drum, Speckled Trout, and Croaker

My fishing trip got cancelled this morning due to a sudden illness. This was going to be my last trip for a while because my family and I will be headed back up to Chapel Hill to hopefully take care of a pretty serious medical problem. Right now my best guess would be that I'll be off the water until around July 17th, possibly as long as July 29th before I'll be availiable for Charter. Like the previous post said: This is a Fishing Blog. So once I got the "No Fishing" call, I headed down to Taylor's Creek to catch the end of the incoming tide. I was fishing a dock that I've been fishing for 33 years and I came away this morning with 2 news worthy items. First, I caught the first 2 Speckled Trout that I've ever caught in this location this morning. I had a buddy that caught one about 4 years ago, but I had never caught one, peroid. And 33 years is a long time. Enough time to catch probably 1500 Flounder and 1000 Red Drum. So I got 2 Speckled Trout around 16"each on gulps. I also caught a 13" Croaker and 2 Red Drum at 18" each. Fishing was okay, but it could've been better. Why? News worthy item #2: The Pinfish at the dock were the most numerous and aggressive that I've seen in years. One cast with a gulp and it was gone. A dollar a cast, thanks to the Pinfish. Total Catch for the Morning: 2 Speckled Trout, 2 Red Drum, 1 Croaker, and 3 Pinfish

July 6 Red Drum on Fly

I wasn't going to fish today. I had to go to Wal-Mart. I grabbed my Fly Rod and took it with me. While in Wal-Mart, I was buying some popping bugs, I ran into BJ Swain of Ocracoke Island. BJ is with the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Dept and was standing 75 feet from the Fireworks Truck that exploded on July 4. So BJ and I went over to a Wal Mart Pond and made about 5 casts before the bottom fell out. We had caught 1 Bluegill. Then we rode back to Beaufort and in a short break in the rain, we went to the Forbidden Pond. I caught 2 more Bluegills. Mary picked up BJ and I headed down to Taylor's Creek where I got a 18" Red Drum to eat a white feather in 3 feet of water by an Oyster Rock. I'm hooked. Total Catch for the Day: 3 Bluegill and 1 Red Drum (All on Fly Tackle)

July 5 Sharks in the Surf

Greg, Brian, and Kim fishing with me this morning and the action was steady. Spanish Mackerel in the 1 pound class were feeding in Beaufort Inlet this morning and we caught them pretty good on metal lures and 10# spin tackle. By mid-morning, we had caught a net full of Menhaden and headed out of the Inlet to look for some larger Spanish Mackerel and King Mackerel. It was worth it. In a little over an hour we had 3 strikes and caught 2 King Mackerel around 8 pounds each. One King Mackerel skied on a bait right behind the Boat. It was an impressive strike. Brian caught that fish on 10# spinning tackle. Then we ran inside to the "Shark Shoal" unfortunately the tide was not working to our advantage and the Fishing suffered. We did manage 2 Southern Stingrays and a baby Blacknose Shark. We ended our day in the Ocean in front of Shackleford Banks sight casting for Sharks. These Sharks, which ran from 15-50 pounds, were hard to get to because they were swimming inside the breakers and we had the approaching 3 foot breaking seas and 15 kt SW winds at our backs. However, we had lots of chances and Brian finally caught and released a 30 lb. Blacktip Shark. Total Catch for the Day: 15 Spanish Mackerel, 2 King Mackerel, 1 Blacktip Shark, 1 Blacknose Shark, and 2 Southern Stingrays

July 3 Fly Fishing the Ponds

I must've lost my mind. It is a pretty day. Sharks, Kings, and jumbo Spanish Mackerel are chewing. Crevalle Jacks are here in numbers that I haven't seen since the summer of 1986. Flounder are here. In general, the Salt Water Fishing is great. So why am I casting bugs to Bream on the 3 wt Fly Rod? Somebody help me!!! The only reason I'm home right now is to get a bigger bug.....Session two is over and I'm through Pond Fishing for the day. The fishing went like this: Bluegills were active and hungry. They ate the popping bug with reckless abandon. I had several stud Bluegills today that were much bigger and healthier. Next year this Pond might actually put some meat on the table! I also caught several Bluegills today that were the ugliest little beasts I've seen in a while. They were mottled like the African Cichlids that we used to raise in our aquariums. Pumpkinseeds are on their beds now and were wishy washy. I caught some really nice Pumpkinseed today, but saw lots that would not bite. I caught the first Redear Sunfish that I've ever caught in Beaufort. It sure would be nice if that species would take over a Pond around here, but I doubt that would ever happen. Largemouth Bass were roaming in loose schools and were very curious about the Bugs and the Frog, but were not aggressive at all. Overall, I had lots of bites and caught lots of Bream. I saw lots of Bass and had a few bites. It was a blast. Total Catch for the Day: 25 Bluegill, 1 Redear Sunfish, 15 Pumpkinseed, and 7 Largemouth Bass (All on Fly Tackle)

July 1 Mackerel and Sharks

Art and the Boys had 2 parts of a 3 part plan come together in today's Big Fishing Adventure. I, personally, had a rotten day. I had a Reel break, my Life Bait Pump failed, and 4 Welded Joints on my T-Top broke. The Fishing was excellent however. First up was a pretty good Mackerel bite with nice sized Spanish and King Mackerel mixed. We started fishing around 8am and by 10:30 we pulled off with 7 King Mackerel and 5 Spanish Mackerel. After catching the first 8 or so 20# conventional, we pulled out the light spin and everybody caught at least one Mackerel on 10# spin. It was a nice battle. The Kings ranged from 8 to 17 pounds each. We had 4 Spanish Mackerel that weighed over 4 pounds. The biggest was just shy of 6 pounds. Then we went th a Wreck and found a couple of Diveboats. Things didn't work out for us and we only caught 1 Spanish Mackerel in the vicinity of the Wreck while respecting that 50 foot keep-out perimeter mandated by NC Maritime Law (Dive Flag) by a good 300 feet. We saw Amberjacks and Barracudas but we couldn't get to them. Oh well. Back to the Shoals and for a bonus we found 40 acres of 2-4 pound Bluefish and dozens of 8-12 pound Crevalle Jacks. The crew caught a few Bluefish, but it was difficult. It seemed like the middle of the day was a "bad stretch" that we couldn't shake. I figured I knew how to turn it around, so we ran back to Beaufort Inlet to look for a Shark. That part of the day worked out well. In 90 minutes both boys caught at least 5 Sharks and Art caught 2 Sharks also. Our catch was made up by Blacknose Sharks up to 35 pounds, a Dusky Shark at 40 pounds, and a Blacktip Shark at 35 pounds. We had a Blacktip Shark hooked up that was over 100 pounds, but his one jump was a good one and he crashed on the line and ppfff he was gone. Total Catch for the Day: 7 King Mackerel, 5 Spanish Mackerel, 4 Bluefish, 10 Blacknose Sharks, 1 Dusky Shark, and 1 Blacktip Shark.