Top Water Charters Fishing Reports and News Beaufort Morehead City Atlantic Beach Pamlico Sound: December 2009

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Dec 30 Black Sea Bass and Spiny Dogfish

Chris and his Dad joined me today and the battle plan was for the Cape Lookout Rocks, the Shoals, the Eastside, and to be bailed out by the AB ARs if all else failed. The Rock Jetty was dead. The Shoals were a little too hostile and the water was dirty and the sun wasn't shining. The Eastside wasn't cool for a "responsible Captain" on a center console in freezing weather and high seas. So that left the At Beach ARs, so we made the frigid run back to the west. Our first stop wasn't good at all. Just a few real small Black Sea Bass. Then we made the run down to 320 and I guess we made a day down there. I wish it could've been better, but at least it was fishy! Black Sea Bass and Spiny Dogfish made our day. A few Pelicans added to the fun. Chris managed a first on Top Water Charters. He actually caught 2 Pelicans on a bottom rig, and I mean he hooked, fought, and landed 2 Pelicans at the same time. Wow! When it was over, Chris had an ice bag full on keeper Black Sea Bass and he and I both kept a Dog Shark to try. Total Catch for the Day: 35 Black Sea Bass up to 13", 10 Spiny Dogfish, 1 Gag Grouper, 3 Spottail Pinfish, and 2 Scup ***3015 Total Fish in 2009***

Dec 29 Tony is Gone

Today we buried the person that I was closest to out of everybody in the entire world from about 1974 until about 1988. My friend and cousin, Tony Englehardt. Tony will never, ever be forgotten by his friends in Beaufort and he will be a constant reminder of how a perfect life can fall apart due to excesses. Nobody could help Tony or even slow him down. Everybody tried. Hopefully lots of people learned a valuable lesson from Tony's experience. Too Much. Too Fast. Too Young. Tony was my fishing partner in my early days. We learned alot together. Nobody showed us anything. But, he grew away from fishing and he and I grew apart. Now he's gone and there is another hole in my life. My best friend from High School did the same thing and he was bigger and stronger than Tony. Ty was 42. Tony was 46. I am 44, what more do I need to see.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Dec 12 Manns Harbor Casting

Perfect conditions. Overcast. Lots of Current. Lots of Bait. Chris and I cast to the Old Manns Harbor Bridge pilings for 5 hours with jigs and eels and never got a bite. Of all the boats we talked to, nobody else did any better. Zeros for the Fleet. Unbelievable. I should've went to the Hatteras Christmas Parade, but I went fishing instead. Total Catch for the Day: ZERO

Dec 9 and 12 Incredible Squid Fishing

Its the same old story and if you read about once, there's nothing else to learn or hear, but the numbers were unreal. On the 9th, I had 2 Squid frenzys that lasted 20 minutes each. On one drop, I caught 3 Squid on one Jig. The morning of the 10th, I cleaned 80 Squid and bagged 83 Squid to give away. That's 163 Squid. These Squid were small ones, from 2" to 10" each. On the 12th the big boys showed up and I torched them. I'm pretty much over cleaning them so I gave them all away. I never counted these Squid, but 7 people got more than they wanted. It was way up a 5 gallon bucket. I guess 75 Squid. These were 12" to 20" Squid. Nice ones. Total Catch for the 2 Nights: 238 Squid

Monday, December 7, 2009

Dec 7 Small Trout, Sea Bass, and Blow Toads

Nice weather today. Nice high tide cycle. Nice baitwell full of shrimp and mud minnows. All we needed was some nice Speckled Trout, but once again, we were thwarted in our efforts. Small Trout after small Trout at the Cape Lookout Rock Jetty. Numbers were good, but the fish box stayed empty. When we left the Jetty, we had probably released 50 Speckled and Gray Trout and we had 4 in the cooler. Next, we went searching for Gray Trout and Sea Mullet among the sink netters and found lots of small Grays and Croakers. Then we headed to the west a little farther and made our day with the craziest collection of fish that I've seen in a quite a while. I reckon I'd call in Blowtoad fishing since Northern Puffers made up the majority of the catch. Black Sea Bass up to 15", Pinfish up to 14", Smooth Dogfish up to 20 lbs and a 17" Gray Trout were the headliners. All these fish were caught jigging speck rigs in 40-50 feet of water. When it was all said and done, we had a nice cooler full of fish, and we had caught 18 different species and released over 130 fish. We never did find the elusive 20" Speckled Trout. Back to Hatteras for me tommorrow so I'm sure the fishing will improve! Total Catch for the Day: 45 Speckled Trout, 25 Gray Trout, 30 Bluefish, 17 Northern Puffers, 15 Black Sea Bass, 3 Summer Flounder, 6 Croaker, 2 Pinfish, 3 Spottail Pinfish, 4 Smooth Dogfish, 1 At Sharpnose Shark, 6 Rock Sea Bass, 1 Bank Sea Bass, 3 Hogfish, 2 Scup, 1 Oyster Toadfish, 2 Leopard Sea Robin and 1 Clearnosed Skate

Friday, December 4, 2009

Dec 4 Speckled Trout and Gray Trout

This morning the tide was right, the water was dirty, the wind was okay, and there was a huge ground swell. Two of the 4 helped the fishing and 2 of the 4 hurt the fishing. How was the Fishing? I guess my expectations are too high. This time of the year we should be smoking the 2-3 pound Trout. This time of the year should produce great days with 7 pounders occasionally. This year is different though and I was pretty disappointed with today's catch. I did get a 24" 5 pound Speckled Trout. That was a freak that ate a live shrimp at dead high tide on the Radio Island Rocks. I also got 4 more keeper Speckled Trout between 15" and 18". I killed a 10 fish limit of Gray Trout that ranged from 13" to 17". All the Gray Trout came from the Cape Lookout Rock Jetty. I also released 2 Gray Trout and 30 Speckled Trout that were too small. Every fish I caught today was caught on live shrimp or mud minnows. The Shoals were too unfriendly to cross this morning to search for larger game. This afternoon I was too disgusted to even attempt it. Total Catch for the Day: 35 Speckled Trout and 12 Gray Trout

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Dec 3 Speckled Trout Bite

The Wind has been blowing and the Rain has been falling. What else is new? This afternoon things started to look a little better, so C-bo and I decided to take a little walk out to the Radio Island Rock Jetty. Fishing was pretty good even though the Speckled Trout were mostly too small. During the last 30 minutes of the falling tide, we were averaging a strike on every other cast. That will keep your attention. Between the two of us, we caught 25 Speckled Trout and I had a 15" Trout and a 16" Trout. All the other Speckled Trout were released and measured between 11" and 13". All things considered, I called that a pretty good little fishing rally. Total Catch for the Day: 25 Speckled Trout **2532 Total Fish in 2009**

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Nov 28-30 Squid Blitz

On the 28th I got into the biggest school of Squid that I've seen in a couple of years. For a 20 minute stretch, I flat out bailed Squid. As fast as I could. I had to run and get a bucket and that took some time. Afterwards, I had 53 Squid in the bucket and I really don't remember not catching one on any drop. All I had to do was drop the jig, twitch the jig, and flip up a Squid. I couldn't miss. When it was over, I was covered with black ink. The following 2 nights were completely different. No schools. Just flipping the Squid Jig around the lights and I managed to catch 11 Squid one night and 8 Squid the next. Not too bad, but nothing like the blitz on the 28th. Total Catch for the Nights: 72 Squid and 3 Rainwater Killifish

Nov 25 Manns Harbor Striped Bass

I caught a ride with Chris today and we planned on giving some Striped Bass a hard time around Oregon Inlet. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great weather day, so we scrapped our Inlet plans and headed back to the Mann's Harbor Bridge. We were thinking numbers, not size. Too bad for us because we really didn't find either. We did manage to scrap up a few bites on plastic jigs. Unfortunately, Chris and I each lost our biggest Stripers of the day. The ones we caught were 16" to 20" and we released them all looking for a 10 pounder. I really was fun though, I hadn't fished the Bridge since 1999. We also carried some eels with us but we couldn't buy a bite on the live bait. I also caught a Blue Catfish. I guess that shows how much rain we've had. The last fish of the day was drop dead crazy! We were chasing "the only birds of the day" and had ran way inshore on the Manteo side when I picked up a pretty nice Sturgeon. I say "pretty nice" because I have no reference for comparison. I have seen a few jump off the Cape Lookout Shoals in winter and that's about it. For a big fish, I'd guess 15 pounds, he didn't have much fight. I guess he had already made a nice migration just to get where he was and he was pretty worn out. Still an impressive fish and it was nice to get my hands on one. Total Catch for the Day: 6 Striped Bass, 1 Blue Catfish and 1 Atlantic Sturgeon

Nov 24-26 Hatteras Squid Fishing

Night Run at Hatteras in late November gives me 2 different options. Look for Squid all night or rest at night and fish the Beach during the day. I chose the Squid fishing. The first 3 nights produced decent Squid Fishing for short periods of time. The good thing was that the Squid were consistently large ones. Most were in the 12" to 18" range. The biggest Squid was 22". Those are good eating size. I caught 13 Squid on the 24th and 20 Squid on the 26th. I also caught a few Black Sea Bass, but they were hard to land on the barbless Squid Jigs. I also caught a crazy new species for me! A 14" Southern Stargazer. I saw this weird fish that kept swimming around on top under the lights and I bounced my jig off him about 5 times, but he wasn't interested. However, when I dropped a strip of squid in front of him, it was a different story. He slurped it off the surface and a minute later I was trying to figure out how to unhook him. What an impressive fish! Total Catch for the Nights: 33 Squid, 4 Black Sea Bass and 1 Southern Stargazer

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Big Fish on Light Tackle

Top Water Charters and Capt. Marty Moore is one of North Carolina's Premier Nearshore and Inshore Big Fish on Light Tackle Fishing Guides. Consistently producing Fish that earn NC Citations is my trademark. Since 1988, I have personally landed 846 NC Citation winning Fish for 34 Different Species. A few of my Personal Top Fish are 10 lb 11 oz and 10 lb 6 oz Flounders, a 83 lb Red Drum, 94 and 83 lb Cobias, a 83 lb Yellowfin Tuna, 96, 85, and 83 lb Wahoos, a 66 lb Amberjack, a 67 lb Black Drum, a 9 lb 6 oz Speckled Trout, a 53 lb King Mackerel, a 33 lb Permit, a 12 lb 8 oz Sheepshead, a 19 lb 4 oz False Albacore, a 11 lb Spadefish, a 12lb 4 oz Bonefish, a 4 lb 8 oz Ladyfish, a 2 lb 14 oz Sea Mullet, a 140 lb Tarpon, a 66 lb Swordfish and a 380 lb Bluefin Tuna.

A few of my Best Light Tackle Catches are a 240 lb Bluefin Tuna caught on a 20# live bait tackle, a 350 lb Blue Marlin caught on a 30# trolling tackle, a 50 lb Yellowfin Tuna caught on 10# spinning tackle, a 34 lb 8 oz King Mackerel caught from the Beach on 10# spinning tackle, 75 lb Cobia caught on 15# spinning gear, 73 lb Cobia caught on 20# spinning tackle, 61 lb Cobia caught on 10# spinning tackle, a 60+ lb Red Drum caught on 10# spinning tackle, 83 lb, 85 lb, and 96 lb Wahoos all caught on 20# livebait tackle, a 46 lb Red Drum caught on 8# conventional tackle, a 39 lb Red Drum caught on a 7wt fly rod, a 7 lb Largemouth Bass caught on a 3wt fly rod and a 135 lb Sandbar Shark caught on 12# spinning tackle.

I also caught a 37 lb 4 oz King Mackerel in 2001 that was worth $52,000 in the Snead's Ferry King Mackerel Tournament

My Clients and Guests have landed over 500 NC Citations since 1998 with Standout Fish like the N.C. State Record 11 lb 3oz Spadefish, a 68 lb Wahoo, a 67 lb Wahoo, a 92 lb Cobia, a 85 lb Cobia, a 84 lb Cobia, a 82 lb Cobia, a 81 lb Cobia, a 85 lb Amberjack, a 83 lb Amberjack, a 80 lb Amberjack, a 375 lb Bluefin Tuna, a 500 lb Great Hammerhead Shark, a 200 lb Sand Tiger Shark, a 62 lb Black Drum, a 24 lb False Albacore, a 15 lb Sheepshead, a 10 lb 8 oz Speckled Trout, 47 lb Striped Bass and too many Red Drum and Flounders to count.

UPCOMING BEST FISHING

In the Boxes that follow are the types of FISHING and varieties of FISH that Capt Marty recommends fishing for! I try to keep this pretty current as we move forward through the calendar year. As the seasons change the Fish available and the methods of Fishing change. I will do my best to accommodate my Clients wishes, but I will also be completely honest about our chances if a Client wants to Fish for a specific type of Fish. I will always recommend what I believe is our "best bet for success" based on the weather, the time of year, and what happened yesterday! This is how I fish and it's based on 30+ years of Experience and Learning the Hard Way

So what's happening NOW or what's coming soon..... Look Below and Keep Reading

Live Bait Fishing for King Mackerel

Live Bait Fishing for King Mackerel is usually done with 20# mono on light rods and small conventional reels. We fish with very light drags and small treble hooks. When a King Mackerel strikes, usually a live Menhaden, you have no idea whether you have 2 treble hooks stuck in the jaw and throat of the King Mackerel, or you could also have 1 prong of one hook snagged into the Mackerel's skin. Therefore, the idea is to let the King burn off line versus a light drag. After withstanding the initial blistering run, we move the angler to the bow of the boat and we track him down! Without a doubt, on pretty days in October and November, this is what we "need" to be doing.... Since I took up this fishery seriously, back in 1988, in addition to the targetted King Mackerel, the potential bycatch is staggering... Wahoo, Yellowfin Tuna, Blackfin Tuna, Bluefin Tuna, Sailfish, Barracuda, Amberjack, Crevalle Jack, Spanish Mackerel, Cobia, Red Drum, Red Snapper, Grouper, a dozen Shark species, False Albacore, Houndfish, Gafftopsail Catfish, Tarpon have all been hooked and/or landed onboard Boats that I was personally fishing aboard..... Oh yeah, back in 1998 during the Hardee's Atlantic Beach KMT we hooked up 4 Billfish at one time. Two pulled off, and we released a Sailfish and I tried my best to release my catch... Because it was caught on a ribbonfish, it had 4 treble hooks in it. By the time I got him unhooked, he had expired! What was it? It was a 44", 8 lb SPEARFISH! So yeah, when Live Bait Fishing for King Mackerel, anything is possible

Run and Gun Casting.... Spring Summer & Fall

Casting Metal Lures, Top Water Plugs, and Flys in the Spring, Summer, and Fall is one of my all-time favorite fisheries. Our main targets are Albacore, Spanish Mackerel, Red Drum, Atlantic Bonito, and Bluefish. The Red Drum are usually found on the Shoals at Cape Lookout and generally, we are casting into huge schools of fish in crystal clear water. These Drum schools are a year-round possibility. The Atlantic Bonito is a special fish for a few reasons. They are a handsome fish that also happens to be a rugged fighter. Very similar to Albacore, but there's one major difference. The Atlantic Bonito is delicious on the table, it prepares and eats just like Yellowfin Tuna. No Joke! Another thing that makes the Atlantic Bonito so special is that they are usually only around for about a month and on a day to day basis, they are usually only worth fishing for about 2 hours every morning. We really need to be sitting on the spot at first light. Atlantic Bonito are one of the few fish that are worth this kind of trouble! Adult or "Chopper" Bluefish also provide many thrills in the Spring. Finding vast schools of 8-12 pound Bluefish in 2-3 foot of water guarrantees a great day of fishing. Great jumpers and surface strikers, these Chopper Bluefish aren't really that good to eat, however I'd never pass up an opportunity to catch a couple of them! Smaller Bluefish can usually be found at various places and at various sizes throughout much of the year. The 1-4 lb class of Bluefish is often a trip saver from April through November. These smaller Bluefish are still great fighters, but are also very tasty. Spanish Mackererel are very reliable from May through October. These Mackerel are beautiful, sporty, and great eating. Spanish Mackerel tend to get progressively larger throughout their season, and large numbers of 5-7 lb fish are sometimes common. They are a very popular fish. Albacore are a good possibility in the Spring, great in September, and keep right getting better right through November! Albacore are lengendary fighters and they are definitely the best game in town on many windy, cold mornings in the Fall when fishing is impossible for anything else!

Cobia Fishing

Cobia Fishing is one of the most exciting inshore Fisheries that we have here in NC. It offers the inshore angler a chance at catching a tough fighting, great eating gamefish that averages 30 pounds and grows to weights over 100 pounds. Fishing for Cobia is availiable by 2 completetly different methods. The "old way" is to fish with bait on the bottom and wait for a Cobia to find you. This method can produce great fishing at times and there is usually enough bycatch (Bluefish, Sharks, and Rays) to keep you busy. The other method is far more exciting, but can be limited by the weather. In this fishery, we ride around and search for Cobias and cast to them. This is probably the most exciting and suspenseful inshore fishery that we have going right now. Delivering a bucktail to a cruising 50+ pound Cobia is very exciting. This method also allows us to fish with much lighter tackle since there is usually no anchor lines and other boats in the immediate vicinity. By either method, catching a big Cobia is a fish that will always be worth bragging about and provide lots of great fish dinners.

NIGHT (and Day) FISHING for GIANT RED DRUM

In August and September we have a very reliable and outstanding fishery in the Southern Pamlico Sound and Neuse River for Trophy Red Drum. These fish will average from 30 to 50 lbs. My personal best came in August of 2000. Caught just a couple hundred yards off the Beach at Cedar Island, this huge Red Drum was 59" long and weighed 83 lbs. I started fishing for these Red Drum in the Cedar Island area back in 1997 and since that year, my success rate has hovered around the 90% mark. Catches of 20-30 Red Drum per night isn't all that uncommon.... I offer this type of fishing from mid-August through September. I fish out of Cedar Island, right by the NC Ferry Operation. The hours for this trip are usually 6pm until midnight. Cost is $350

In addition, Red Drum commonly "turn up" in the Ocean as I run my regular trips out of Beaufort Inlet. Sight casting when conditions are good and fish are avaliable is a Fantastic Fishing Experience! If I had to generalize, I'd say March through June is our best bet for sight casting to Large Red Drum. Then I would guess that August through December are mt best months to find schools of Slot-sized (18" to 27"). Red Drum also turn up while fishing for other fish. They are a distinct possibility 12 months of the year!

Sight Casting to Red Drum

This is why I bought the Tower! I feel like for the first time, I will be able to consistently sight cast to schools of Red Drum in the Ocean nearly year round. These Drum will average from 7 to 15 pounds and when we find them it will be a very memorable fishing experience. I expect that I will be able to target these Red Drum consistently from April through May and again from August through mid-November. Possibly even on into January and beyond! Finding schools of Giant Red Drum is also becoming more common at Cape Lookout! Sight Casting for Red Drum is something that we can easily combine with other types of Fishing trips such as Cobia, Albacore or Speckled Trout. It would usually only take an hour or so to determine if the schools of Drum that I like to target are availiable.

Wreck Fishing

Wreck Fishing is a great way to spend a day on the water. Two of my all-time favorites, Amberjack and Barracuda, are very exciting and fun fish to catch. Amberjacks can be caught on Top Water Plugs, Bucktails, Metal Jigs, or Live Bait. Top Water Plugs draw awesome surface strikes and provide a great visual experience. Live Bait would be my second choice. Watching a pack of aggressive Jacks chase a 2 pound Bluefish down is incredible. Either way most people who haven't fished a Wreck before have never experienced seeing dozens of "big" fish swimming around the boat. Amberjacks frequently do this! Barracudas are another great fish. They respond best to live baits and tube lures. They are awesome jumpers for both height and distance, easily out-performing King Mackerels and Wahoos in this department. They have blinding speed and are also rugged fighters. Bigger Cudas fall for live baits more frequently, but the ones that chase down and bite tube baits are amazing too. You simply CAN NOT reel these baits too fast. It is impossible. Other Wreck Fish include: Flounders, King Mackerel, Spanish Mackerel, Spadefish, Crevalle Jacks, Cobia, Sea Bass, Sharks, and others. Anything is possible on a Wreck off Beaufort Inlet!

Dolphin Fishing

The traditional "Big 3" of the offshore meat fishing world is Wahoo, Dolphin, and Tuna. Of these 3, Dolphin are the most common and readily accessible to the Small Boat, Center Console Fleet. From early summer until mid-October I am able to target for Dolphin with some degree of consistency from Boat and I can usually do this within 25 miles of land. Wahoo and Tuna are also possible, especially later in the season. Giant Wahoo actually are fairly common catches among the small boat fleet in late October and early November. My 3 career largest Wahoos all came within 10 miles of land and were all caught close to Halloween. I would never claim to compete with the regular Charter Boat Fleets in the offshore trolling game, but I do offer this type of Fishing at half their price and lots of "hands on action" for my clients. Of course, great weather is absolutely necessary!

Bottom Fishing

Bottom Fishing or Jigging with Metal Jigs or Bucktails off Beaufort Inlet is a great way to spend a day on the water. This is a Year Round fishery, only affected by NMFS closures. On pretty days, it is possible to fish farther offshore in deeper water and catch a variety of Groupers, Snappers, Amberjacks, Porgys, Black Sea Bass, Grunts, and Sharks. This type of Fishing is for Full Days only and very weather dependant on my 25 foot Center console for obvious reasons, but the fishing can be awesome when conditions are favorable.

A totally different fishing experience can be had by bottom fishing or jigging speck rigs much closer to the Beach. This fishery is best during Fall and Winter. Staying within 3-4 miles of shore allows me to fish many more days with type of weather that is common in winter. Fishing can be excellent for Black Sea Bass, Bluefish, Gray Trout, Sea Mullet, Black Drum, Croaker, Hogfish, Dog Sharks, and many other varieties.

Bottom Fishing in the Sounds and Inland Waterways can be fantastic from September through November. This is a great way to introduce children to fishing. Our most commonly targetted fish is the small, but tasty Spot. If we can find a Spot we jusy might find a cooler full! Other fish caught while "Spot Fishing" include Croakers, Sea Mullet, Gray Trout, Bluefish, Flounder, Black Drum, Red Drum, Hogish and more.

Capt Marty's Top 15 Catches

1. 50 lb. Yellowfin Tuna (my 1st Tuna) caught on 10# and a stingsilver while casting to Albacore 5 miles off the Beach on 9-19-1988. Amazing.
2. 240 lb Bluefin Tuna caught on 20# and a cigar minnow light line while Grouper fishing on 11-28-1997. I fought this fish for 4 hours and covered 7 miles.
3. 83 lb. Wahoo caught while King Mackerel fishing by myself out of a huge fleet of Carteret County's best fishermen on 11-8-1995. This story is too long to tell here...
4. 66 lb. Amberjack caught on a #00 Clark Spoon on 6-24-1988. The Amberjack swallowed a 2 lb. Mackerel I was reeling in. This fish really got me "HOOKED".
5. 96 lb. Wahoo caught on 15# and a boston mackerel on a light line while Grouper fishing on 10-2-2001. I hooked this one seconds after Gerald Currin had decked a 67 pound Wahoo and was still "bragging".
6. 10 lb. 11 oz Flounder caught in Taylor's Creek on a windy day on 10-18-2003. My career largest Flounder was caught in a place I'd ignored during 20 years of Flounder Fishing!
7. 83 lb. Cobia caught off Cape Lookout while fishing by myself on 5-15-2002. I hate to admit this, I actually tried to break this one off because I was convinced it was a Stingray!
8. 350 lb. Blue Marlin caught on 30# while Dolphin fishing off Ocracoke on 5-20-2001. I rigged the baits, set out the lines, hooked the fish, fought the fish, wired the fish, tagged the fish, and released the fish!
9. 7 lb. 4 oz. Largemouth Bass that I caught on 5-2-09 on a 3 wt fly rod and a tiny rubber-legged spider. I hooked a tiny Bream that the Bass swallowed. I knew when she jumped, she'd throw the Bream... When she did, as the Bass re-entered the water, line started to peel off my reel again. the tiny fly was somehow lodged in the Bass's lip! Caught in a tiny pond at MHC Wal-Mart. Unbelievable!
10. 3 lb 8oz Spanish Mackerel caught on the Morehead Ocean Pier in August of 1974. My first "REAL" fish. I turned down a trip to the movies so I could stay out on the Pier that afternoon.
11. 37 lb. 4 oz. King Mackerel (combined with a 30 lb.4 oz the day before) that won $52,900 in the Snead's Ferry KMT on 8-12-2000
12. 34 lb. 8 oz King Mackerel caught from the Shackleford Banks surf on a peanut shad rigged up on a Penn 440SS (small spinning reel) with 8# on 7-14-2001.
13. 12 lb. 8 oz Sheepshead that ended a 10 year quest to catch a Citation Sheepshead on 8-12-2007.
14. 24 lb Blackfin Tuna that ate a stingsilver one mile off Atlantic Beach on 5-6-2010. I was casting for Bonito with a 10# spinning rod and had chased some Albacore inshore of AR-315. The Tuna was a blind strike and took an hour to land!
15. 67 lb. Black Drum caught on 5-3-2011 that outweighed my previous best Black Drum by 62 lbs and made me actually believe (for the first time) that I might actually accomplish my life's mission of collecting all the NC Citations!

Capt Marty's Personal NC Saltwater Citation Tally

All Fish caught by Capt Marty on Rod n Reel
Starting with a 66 lb Amberjack caught on June 24, 1988 in Beaufort Inlet
Species / # Citations / Largest Wt
1. Red Drum / 363/ 83 lbs
2. Flounder / 70 / 10 lb 11oz
3. Speckled Trout / 68 / 9lb 6oz
4. Cobia / 67 / 94 lbs
5. Amberjack / 48 / 66 lbs
6. Sheepshead / 34 / 12lb 8oz
7. Spanish Mackerel / 31 / 9 lbs
8. King Mackerel / 30 / 53 lbs
9. Bluefin Tuna / 21 / 380 lbs
10. Wahoo / 21 / 96 lbs
11. Barracuda / 15 / 36lb 8oz
12. Shark / 8 / 241 lbs
13. Black Drum / 8 / 67 lbs
14. Sailfish / 7 / 88"
15. Striped Bass / 7 / 35lb 8oz
16. Grouper / 5 / 35 lbs
17. Florida Pompano / 5 / 2lb 9oz
18. Black Sea Bass / 5 / 4 lbs
19. Crevalle Jack / 4 / 28 lbs
20. Red Snapper / 4 / 15lb 6oz
21. Tilefish / 4 / 12lb 8oz
22. Atlantic Bonito / 3 / 25"
23. Yellowfin Tuna / 3 / 83 lbs
24. Sea Mullet / 3 / 2lb 14oz
25. Triggerfish / 3 / 7lb 15oz
26. Blackfin Tuna / 2 / 24lb 8oz
27. False Albacore / 2 / 19lb 3oz
28. Gray Trout / 2 / 6lb 2oz
29. Blue Marlin / 1 / app 400 lbs
30. White Marlin / 1 / app 60 lbs
31. Spearfish / 1 / app 8 lbs
32. Dolphin / 1 / 40 lbs
33. Spot / 1 / 1 lb
34. Porgy / 1 / 6lb 7oz
TOTAL 849
Citation Saltwater Fish from other States
Snook / 4 / 35" (Texas)
Striped Bass / 1 / 47 lbs (Virginia)

Capt Marty's Personal NC Freshwater Citation Tally

Starting with an 8" Flier caught in a Wake County Pond in July of 1982
Species / # Citations / Largest Wt
1. Hickory Shad / 38 / 2 lb 9oz
2. White Perch / 25 / 1 lb 4oz
3. Blue Catfish / 6 / 42 lbs
4. American Shad / 6 / 5 lbs
5. Rainbow Trout / 5 / 21"
6. Largemouth Bass / 3 / 8 lb 4oz
7. Bluegill / 3 / 2 lb 2oz
8. Bowfin / 2 / 33"
9. Chain Pickerel / 2 / 28"
10. Green Sunfish / 2 / 10"
11. Pumpkinseed / 2 / 11"
13. Yellow Perch / 2 / 1 lb 6oz
12. Brook Trout / 2 / 20"
14. White Catfish / 1 / 4 lbs
15. Bullhead / 1 / 2 lb 8oz
16. Redfin Pickerel / 1 / 14"
17. Flier / 1 / 8"
Total 102
Citation Freshwater Fish from other States
Brown Trout / 2 / 16 lbs (NY)
Walleye / 6 / 28 7/8" (Ohio)
Freshwater Drum / 3 / 24" (Ohio)

2001 NC Citation Count

Citation sized fish caught by Capt Marty or Top Water Clients and Guests
1. Blue Marlin 1
2. Bluefin Tuna 4
3. Cobia 4
4. Dolphin 1
5. Flounder 2
6. Grouper 1
7. Pompano 1
8. Red Drum 70
9. Red Snapper 2
10. Sailfish 2
11. Speckled Trout 7
12. Spot 1
13. Wahoo 5
Total 101
***I spent 45 days in South Padre Island, Texas from early October until Thanksgiving catching Mangrove Snapper (up to 3 lbs), King Mackerel (up to 19 lbs), Spanish Mackerel, Hardhead Catfish, Pompano, Speckled Trout (up to 3 lbs), Red Drum (up to 5 lbs), Ladyfish (up to 5 lbs), Palometa, Gulf Sea Mullet (up to 2 lbs), Little Tunny, Bluefish, Sand Sea Trout, and (finally) SNOOK (up to 9 lbs). Of course, I fished every day or night possible.***.