Monday, March 30, 2009

Right Around the Corner











April and May are two of my favorite months to fish. Honestly, the fishing is usually as inconsistent as the weather, but when it's good it can be very good. A day spent fishing in the Spring when the weather is good is a refreshing experience. It is a time when nature starts over and it is the beginning of a new fishing season. My favorite thing to do in April and early May are casting metal lures for Atlantic Bonito, Albacore, and Bluefish. Vertical jigging for Gray Trout can also be excellent. Bonito also love a deep jig once their early morning surface frenzy subsides. I also love to hunt shallow water for Adult Red Drum and Adult Bluefish. Two of the most thrilling things that happen all year are casting bucktails to 30-50 pound Red Drum and casting top water plugs to schools of 8-15 pound Bluefish. I am Open for Charter and highly recommending this type of Fishing on April 21-27. Also May 10-11 and May 19-25

March 30 Bluegills and Bass on the Fly


Poor fishing today, or I am a very, very poor Fly Fisherman. Probably some of both. I wanted to show off for Chris and I pretty much made a fool out of myself! When it was over, we had fished 3 Urban Mung Holes and finally found some cooperative Bream in a secluded Rainwater Run-off Puddle. Many times my popping bug got popped, but only a few times did I hook up. Total Catch for the Day: 4 Bluegill and 1 Largemouth Bass.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

March 29 Largemouth Bassing in Beaufort


What else would I be doing on a windy day. Fishing. In 30 minutes of throwing a plastic worm, I caught 2 Largemouth Bass out of 4 bites. These Bass were a little bigger than the ones I normally catch out of this small Pond. It was hard to feel what was going on at the other end of my line because of the 25 kt wind, but I did get in my daily fishing ration. Total Catch for the Day: 2 Largemouth Bass.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

March 28 Bluegills on Popping Bugs


I had a near miss this morning. As I was playing around in a Morehead Mung Hole, a huge shadow materialized under a Plastic Frog I was tossing. Before my eyes, in crystal clear water, the shadow slowly rose to just under my bait. One quick twitch of my rod tip and suddenly an 7-8 pound Largemouth Bass rolled up and grabbed my Frog by one hind leg and disappeared in a massive swirl. I knew the single hook was not in this fish's mouth. As she swam away, I prayed that this "Queen of the Mung Hole" would swallow her meal. After a few seconds, I set the hook and a 1 legged-plastic frog popped out of the water a flew towards my face. I had missed. Fishing at Wal-Mart will never be the same. The Queen had eaten a plastic frog leg and I know where she lives! Later, I tossed a fly in a Beaufort Mung Hole and caught 4 Bluegills. I found 1 spot that was stacked with Largemouth Bass, but they refused my bugs. They saw yellow, white, and black. They refused them all. Total Catch for the Day: 4 Bluegills

A Great Website and A Downeast Fishing Contest


Tagging of Pacific Predators. http://www.topp.org/ I know that this for that other Ocean, but this is one of the best websites that I have ever visited. I highly, highly recommend looking at this thing and look around because there is a lot of neat facts and illustrations. Also, the Davis Shore Provisions General Store is doing 3 little Fishing Contests this year. You can win some money for Speckled Trout and Flounder. Check it out and throw $10.00 in the pot! Click on the Entry Form to see a larger version. By the way, this true for all my pictures.

Friday, March 27, 2009

March 27 Red Drum and Fly Rod Action











This morning was my first chance to use a new 3 wt Fly Rod and Reel that I recently got. I had a blast at a small Pond here in Beaufort. My first cast with a popping bug got a nice flash underneath my fly and my second cast got hammered by a chunky little Bass. After 30 minutes I left with 4 Largemouth Bass and 4 Bluegills released. This afternoon I went for a Downeast Flatbottom Jet-powered thrill ride with Capt. Kyle Brown and after looking around for a while we finally found a few Red Drum that were sitting up on a sunken wreck (sunk in the mud) in about a foot of water. I caught 5 Red Drum while Kyle dug Oysters out of the mud. Total Catch for the Day: 5 Red Drum, 4 Largemouth Bass, and 4 Bluegill.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

March 24-25 1000 Casts, 500 Miles, 0 Shad




In the last 2 days we have fished the Roanoke River, the Neuse River, the Cape Fear River, and the Northeast Cape Fear River and we haven't caught a single Hickory Shad or American Shad. I'm over it. All the Rivers in the State are High and Dirty and the fishing for Shad has been horrible. After several trips to the Neuse that were busts, I desperately wanted to make a trip to the Cape Fear for American Shad this year. I should've known this River would be no different than the others. Fishing was a waste of time. And with 3 days of Rain in the forecast, I have complete confidence in my decision to give up on Shad Fishing in 2009. In addition, we also soaked bait in Catfish Lake and the Black River and we haven't had a good bite yet. A couple of nibblers that got away with it. That's it! We have seen many Deer and Wild Turkeys in our travels. We even saw a Bald Eagle and a Yellowthroated Vireo in the Croatan yesterday. But no fish. Starting on April 7th all this Freshwater non-sense will come to an end. Bring on the SALT! Total Catch for the Day: Nothing

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Fishy Things in Baltimore
















Mike and I had a great time in Baltimore and DC. Since this is a Fishing Blog, these are a few "fishy" things we found in Baltimore's Lexington Market. We ate some "Steakfish" which evidently "sounds" more appealing than than it's real name White Hake. I also found another Hake species, the Silver Hake, being pawned off under the name of "Lake Trout." Still another family member, the Red Hake was labeled "Oyster Trout." These cousins of the coveted Atlantic Cod get absolutely no respect! By the way, the "Steakfish" is awesome. I highly recommend it. I also ate a Haddock sandwhich at Faidley's Seafood that was killer! Haddock is another of the "Cod Clan" but it must have a repectable name! Finally, it has been 20 years since I traded my ham sandwich for a Racoon sandwich with Tony Richardson while working in Durham. Seeing it on the Board brought back some memories. Greasy ones. We passed on the fried Coon and Muskrat. Lexington Market is a blast. Go there and you will be amazed by the things you see and smell. You will eat good if you ain't scared.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Capt Marty with Obama


Never fear, Capt Marty has enlightened THE PRESIDENT on the Economy and Light Tackle Fishing. 2009 looks to be a year of great fishing and a slow economic turnaround. Brighter days ahead. In addition to my meeting with President Obama, my trip to Baltimore and DC was productive and fun. However, rainy weather saved the fish of the Potomac River and Baltimore Harbor from the perils of my spinning rod. I did find a great place to go fishing while searching Georgetown for the "Exorcist Stairs". Can't wait to give it a try one day.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Baltimore and Washington DC

Tommorrow I'm headed to Baltimore to re-new my Captain's License. We will be spending Friday night in Baltimore and then heading to Washington DC to spend Saturday night. I will carry a fishing rod. I really want to make a few casts into the Reflecting Pool. Also, it looks like the fully-grown Red Drum have showed up in and near Ocracoke Inlet. I would love to do some sight casting up there for 30-60 pound Red Drum. If anyone is interested, send me an email or call me.

March 12 Hickory Shad Fishing







Chris and I went to the Cow Pen Landing today hoping the Neuse River was back to normal. Unfortunately, the level was still high, the current was running hard, and the water was still dirty. It was nice on the North shore, with the wind at our backs and there were a few fish around. We also fished Pelican Landing and Spring Garden. Between the two of us, we probably made 500 casts. I had 8 strikes, lost a 3-4 lb. White Shad that I nearly had my hands on, and landed 5 Hickory Shad. Chris caught 4 Hickory Shad and missed a couple. We soaked a cut bait for an hour and never had a bite. All the Hickory Shad that we caught were females loaded with roe and they all weighed over a pound. There is nothing like that first Shad of the year, mine smoked a silver spoon right at my feet and make 4 somersalts in about 10 seconds. It was awesome! To sum it up, it wasn't great fishing, but it was still fun. We also had a close encounter with a Wild Turkey. It walked right up to us. Chris, who hunts, said he had a 8-10" beard. That's a nice one, I reckon. Total Catch for the Day: 9 Hickory Shad

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

March 11 Green Sunfish




I wanted to go look for a Salt Water Fish today, but I figured it was a little too windy, a little too cloudy, and the risk of getting shut-out was a little too great. So I met Meredith for lunch instead. After lunch, I headed to Wal-Mart to go fishing. The fishing at Wal-Mart has crashed, but I did manage to catch something I haven't caught in years. A Green Sunfish. One of my old favorites from the Barrow Pits out by Greenville Marine on Hwy 264. The summer of 1986. Back then I could catch 15 Greenies a day out of a Creek that flowed into one of the Barrow Pits. I even caught a "trophy" Green Sunfish and got a NC Freshwater Citation. Evidently a 10" Green Sunfish is a Giant One! The one I caught today was definitely not a trophy, more like a 4" baby with a big appetite. By the way, I also got 2 more NC Freshwater Citations back in the 80's for odd-ball Bream. I got one for a 9" Flyer and one for a 12" Pumpkinseed. Total Catch for the Day: 1 Green Sunfish

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

March 10 Bluegill Frenzy







I woke up this morning and didn't have to go to work and the sun was shining so........I went fishing. Too bad that it was a little windy for the boat and the Rivers have been too high for Shad fishing. So I went Pond Fishing instead. Actually I went twice. The first trip it took me a while to find the fish, then I caught them pretty good. 3 Largemouth Bass and 2 Bluegills in about 10 minutes. After running a few errands, I came back and tried it again. This time the Bream were chewing. In less than an hour, I caught 14 Bluegills, 2 Pumpkinseeds, and 3 Largemouth Bass.. Everything was caught on ultra light spin with 2# mono and Roostertail spinners. I caught a Largemoth Bass that was close to 2 pounds and it put up a great fight with 5-6 jumps. Total Catch for the Day: 16 Bluegills, 6 Largemouth Bass, and 2 Pumpkinseeds.