June 30 Groupers, Amberjacks and a Barracuda

Kevin took his son and dad fishing today and it was a great day... Too much wind and sea, but the fish were cooperative! First bait in the water was eat up by an Amberjack. After that, half the drops produced fish or hang ups.... That's wreck fishing.... Kaleb caught the day's top Grouper at 13 lbs. Kevin got the jackpot with his 23 lb Amberjack... Everyone caught at least 3 fish... Caleb got a 20 lb Barracuda on a live shad. Back in before lunch. Long morning for me.... I was up all night sensing a change headed my way! Total Catch for the Day: 4 Gag Grouper up to 13 lbs, 3 Amberjacks up to 23 lbs and a 20 lb Barracuda

NEW CAMERA

My brother just gave me a sweet, slightly used camera.... Back in the Game, Baby! Gotta trip in the morning! Hope the Bait Catching and the Fish Catching holds up..... I see the wind is howling out of the Southwest.... Its supposed to be "bearable"....... Fingers Crossed, lets keep this momentum going!!! 

June 28 More Groupers & Amberjacks

Chris and Chris went on a half day Grouper collecting trip.... The weather was much better than yesterday, but the fish were trickier.... Lots escaped back into their lairs... The Amberjacks were all small ones too. It was a little disappointing, but really it was a perfect fishing trip. One throw with a cast net and we had 3 dozen perfect baits.... 90 minutes of fishing.... We were out of 8 oz egg weights and out of bait.... Total Catch for the Day: 7 Gag Grouper up to 12 lbs, 4 Amberjacks up to 18 lbs and a 6 lb Sharpnose Shark

June 27 Grouper, Cobia and Amberjack Chewing again

I got no camera.... Now, I got no cell phone.... Light N winds became 15-18 kts out of the NE.... Chris and I were headed Dolphin Fishing.... Five miles out of Beaufort Inlet, we changed heading and went Grouper/Amberjack fishing inshore instead... We got our asses kicked.... 4-6 foot seas at our spot, but the fish were chewing.... Every drift, we'd get one drop... Every drift we'd each get a bite.... After 90 minutes of fishing, we started a long, long ride home. An hour out there was 150 minutes back... The fishing was excellent though. We each got a Cobia. I decimated the Amberjacks, keeping the smallest two at 17 and 19 pounds.... We each released a big Amberjack though. We each did well on Grouper, Chris got the biggest at 14 lbs... We saw a 200 lb Dusky Shark that gave us the eye and swam away...... That was it. I'm tired. Total Catch for the Day: 2 Cobia at 18 lbs each, 8 Gag Grouper up to 14 lbs, 12 Amberjack from 17lbs to 50" released  and a 6 lb Sharpnose Shark

June 26 Flyrod Bass

Just got home from Hatteras...... I still need a new camera.... This week's project: Buy a camera! Meanwhile, today it was blowing and I slept in. Tomorrow it's show time. We'll see if its going to be a good summer or a bad summer. Time to build some momentum..... Today I joined Korey and the Largemouth Bass and Bluegill were definitely taking a fly.... Not sure what Korey's count was, but I know he had double digits, including a 2lb Munghole trophy Largemouth Bass.... Total Catch for the Day: 16 Largemouth Bass and 6 Bluegill

**Updated** Mid Week Hatteras Report

Here goes from my shrinking mental notebook:

*Had grilled Amberjack wed night. Delicious
*Had blackened Amberjack thur night. Delicious
*Had fried Amberjack and Shrimp friday for lunch. Delicious
*Going Surf Fishing tomorrow morning with FISHING LEGEND  FOG RADKE
*Wednesday June 19th was 6 months since the night Robin left
*Friday June 22nd will be the 1st Anniversary of my First Date with Robin
*Why am I still worried about these things
*Because I miss her (Duh)
*Lots of OPEN DATES when I get home: June 27, 28, July 1, and July 2
*My Back feels great and the weakness in my foot is GONE
*My Engine Room Co-Worker this week has made me feel fortunate and lucky
*Being Captain Marty Moore is a Nice Job.

Fished on the beach at Hatteras on 6/21 from 630am until 800am with living legend Foghorn Radke...  I've seen old black and white photos of Fog from the 70's down at Jupiter Florida where a teenaged Fog brought home a station wagon full of 25lb Snook.... 20+ "SNOOK OF A LIFETIME" in one night... Also, enough Fishing Violations to land you in the electric chair in the 21st century.... The young Fog surely did his part in the exploitation of the Ocean..... AS HE SHOULD HAVE, I WOULD'VE BEEN RIGHT THERE WITH HIM.... I seriously doubt that one single flake of that delicious meat was wasted....  Anyway, Fog and I fished hard and we each missed a couple of "Surf Wahoos" as Fog calls the Jumbo Sea Mullets like the 7 NC Citation Sea Mullets he caught on 6/18. What we did catch was Calico Crabs. They surely do love Sand Fleas... Hell, I even ate some Sand Flea Roe this morning myself..... Total Catch for the Day: NOTHING

June 18 Grouper and Amberjack Chewing

I just spent 30 minutes doing this report and the computer dropped it..... I aint doing it again..... Chris and I had an epic day. The weather was great, finally... We caught bait, we went looking for Grouper. We found Amberjacks.... We caught all we wanted, We jigged up some small bottom fish on speck rigs. Then we finally found a ledge that wasn't covered with Jacks... We caught Gag Groupers from 20" to 14 lbs until a 12 ft Hammerhead Shark shut that bite off. Oh well, it was an epic day. Total Catch for the Day: 20 Gag Groupers up to 14 lbs, 8 Amberjacks from 40-45 lbs, 13 lb Little Tunny, 7 lb Sharpnose Shark, 1 Black Sea Bass, 15 Tomtate and 3 Spottail Pinfish

June 17 Slow Fishing & Windy

This was probably the toughest day of the year for me, personally.... Things just ARE NOT GOING MY WAY.... I had a great crew on board, Randy and gang from Greensboro and Winston Salem... I really wanted to catch them a big fish! Will and I went out in front of Harker's Island and caught a huge cast net full of Menhaden... And.......................... That was the highlight of the day... We picked up my fishing crew at 1pm and it was Struggle City... When it was over, we had caught an unusual Bullet Mackerel that we spent an hour chasing and casting to..... I've seen a few Bullet Mackerel, Frigate Mackerel, and Chub Mackerel in North Carolina waters, but they are an unusual catch... Its hilarious to me to hear all the local guides and resisdent "experts" brag about all the "baby Albacore" in the Cape Lookout Bight! Oh well, everyone isn't a "fish idiot" like me... I literally learned how to read with Fishing Books and Field Guides..... Other than the Mackerel, we snagged a At Thread Herring and a Menhaden..... We fished bait on the bottom in 3 different spots, we cast to a bait ball in the Ocean, and we rode out to the Shoals... The wind was terrible... I am SO SORRY GUYS.....They really did a helluva lot better on their own boat before they jumped on mine... That was a definite NC Citation Pompano, a real trophy fish!  Total Catch for the Day: 1 Bullet Mackerel, 1 Atlantic Thread Herring and 1 Menhaden

June 16 BIG ROCK NEWS----Joey Bell coming to the Scales

As predicted in my June 9th comments section!!! Joey Bell, long time Top Water friend and sometimes client, is headed to the scales and is looking to pull out a last second victory. the mystery is..... What is Capt Brower and Joey bell up to? They boated their Blue Marlin at 923am and continued to fish.. I'm betting that they are skirting the 400 lb minimum weight and they made the decision to keep fishing... But who knows? We will all find out at 530pm when the "Fishing Partner" arrives at the scales!

Also, I had a last second cancellation due to winds ON A DAY THAT 5,000 OTHER BOATS ARE FISHING... This was NOT my decision and events like this are going to force me to abandon my long-time casual policy towards deposits and non-refundable deposits when its not the Capt's decision and there is no emergency issue to cause the cancellation...

A lot of work went into this morning's fishing trip and seeing my boat sit in my driveway all day is a dose.... Especially since I let the day's fishing charter dictate the way my night went last night..... By staying home last night, I might have missed my chance to land Miss Blue Marlin that could've changed my life. Ha Ha

June 14 100lb Nurse Shark and Too Much Wind

Vinnie and Jennifer joined me on a half day of fishing when, once again...... The WIND dictated our every move.. Too much NW wind that became too much N wind and finally settled in as too much NE wind... I reality, too much wind from any direction is a pain in the rear... The North wind suspends sediment in our nearshore water and greatly reduces visibility. We all know that any wind from the East hurts fishing... Why? I have No Answer for that question.... In my opinion, on my boat, any wind 10 knots or less is great... North or East, any wind from 11-15 knots is OK. anything over 15 knts from the North or East sucks.... Winds from the South and West, I can put up with a little more. I'd say 11-20kts is OK, and anything over 20Kts sucks...... So yesterday was 20-25kts from the Northwest to Northeast, any way you cut it, it was too much. However, all this wind does not make it UNFISHABLE, it just greatly restricts my options as a Captain as to where and how we are able to fish...... so, how did we do? First, we caught a net full of Menhaden, so off to Cape Lookout we went. Anchoring up inside the Bight at Cape Lookout would get us out of the wind, but the tide would make things difficult...  Our fishing was interesting with lots of bites, runs, bite-offs, and releases... The fish of the Day was Vinnie's 100lb Nurse Shark. We also released other Sharks and Rays and we lost a 75lb Sandbar Shark that showed himself before escaping...,. We also lost a monster mystery fish that ran off 250 yards of line on the first run..... Over all, interesting but poor fishing.. Total Catch for the Day: 100 lb Nurse Shark, 8 lb Sharpnose Shark, 4 Southern Stingrays 20-75 lbs each   No Pics until Jennifer sends my a Nurse Shark Pic

June 13 Popping Bug Action

Get the real action started tomorrow.... So today I went over to the Mung Hole to catch some guppys for Little Sid and Jeremy, and while I was over there I tossing a rubber spider around for a few minutes.... Fishing was fast and furious at the first stop. I caught 5 Largemouth Bass and a Bluegill and missed many blow ups and swirls.... Over at the next spot, the guppys were plentiful, but the fish didn't cooperate. Back at my House, the Boys are getting big. They devoured 20 guppys in a minute and splashed a half gallon of water out of my aquarium. Tonight they got 20 more guppys and a monsterific insect larvae to munch on..... Total Catch for the Day: 5 Largemouth Bass and 1 Bluegill

Ferry Dock Fishing

So far, I've seen 1 Sheepshead in the 6-7lb range that I didn't catch... I caught a 2lb Tautog that ate a fat red Sea Urchin... The Sea Urchins have exploded in Hatteras so hopefully there will be a Sheepshead explosion soon to follow! Time will tell.. Hatteras is also having a population explosion, as tourist season hits its stride.... All those bikinis, are definitely a distraction when trying to catch the "speedy nibblers"  like Sheepsheads and Tautogs....... While playing with other baits like conch and hermit crabs, I have also managed to catch a few Black Sea Bass.... Total Catch for the Week: 1 Tautog and 8 Black Sea Bass 

June 5 Venus Over Hatteras

I guess Venus over Hatteras is an understatement...... I guess it was over all of us! My buddy, Steve Bittman, is an amateur star, planet, and space watcher, so he was up early to take this beautiful picture......... And I share it with the Top Water Nation! How corny was that?

 Last week I returned to work with a bang! This week it looks like a fizzle..... I did bring my castnet, my bait bucket, my landing net, and my Sheepshead/Flounder Combo.... Is the old Capt Marty really back. Time will tell...... I hear that Korey went out and bought a fly rod.... Can't wait to get home and check out his progress!

Open next week. I'm going fishing regardless..... Join me. The Fish will bite.... June 13, 17, 18

June 3 Cobias, Groupers, Triggers & more

Geoffry, Sarah, Phil, and Hans finally helped me break out of a fishing slump.... It was another slow morning of Rays and Turtles and I decided, even though the wind and seas were really a little too brisk, to head offshore to a wreck in the middle of the day.. Really the tide and wind were combining at Cape Lookout to make bad fishing really miserable. The boat was swinging back and forth and Will and I were trying to be entertaining and constantly tending to slack lines... I was readty to quit! So I decided to go riding.... And an hour later, we were somewhere we didn't need to be! However, Phil quickly hooked up a 33" Cobia on a stingsilver and light spinning tackle. Meanwhile, everyone else was bringing up a steady stream of Black Sea Bass, Spottail Pinfish, Gray Triggerfish, and Tautog... The fishing was quickly getting fun. I dropped a live shad down and immediately got a bite. I handed the rod to Hans, and he quickly dispatched 24" Gag Grouper.... And thats how it went for the next 90 minutes. When it was over, we had 2 Cobia and a nice box full of Grouper, Triggers, and a Tautog.... After that, we went back inshore and tried again for a bigger Cobia.. All we got was another Turtle and a couple of big Southern Stingrays... Total Catch for the Day: 2 Cobia, 6 Gag Grouper, 2 Gray Triggerfish, 4 Spottatil Pinfish, 1 Tautog, 4 Southern Stingray up to 90lbs, 12 Bluefish, 3 Atlantic Thread Herring and 1 Hogfish

June 2 Struggle City

I picked my crew up at Calico Jacks this morning and unfortunately, there wasn't a Menhaden to be found in the eastern half of Carteret County..... Meanwhile 15-18 miles to the west, the Shad were flippin away. A two hour round trip from where we were..... So, we went looking all over the area where we were and ended up baitless for the first part of the trip! Then we searched for the Big Bluefish but they weren't in their usual places..... Then we looked for smaller Bluefish and Spanish Mackerel, but the lingering effects from Tropical Storm Beryl made fishing miserable. Dirty water and too much wind. Nice size ground swell with gnarley wind chop headed the opposite direction made the Ocean into a nasty cess pool of slop.... Our fishing sucked.. Inshore sucked. Nearshore sucked... The whole day sucked. Beat up and wet, for nothing.... Finally after lunch the wind subsided and the sun came out.. We ran back inside and caught a solid net full of Menhaden, the perfect Cobia baits. The tide was perfect. we ran back out to Cape Lookout and set up for Cobia Fishing.... And the crew had to go home! What a let down! Wil Grant and I fished for a few minutes down at Beaufort Inlet and caught a 7 ft Tiger Shark, Loggerhead Turtle, and a Southern Stingray. Total Catch for the Day: 15 Black Sea Bass, 1 Hogfish, 2 Rock Sea Bass, 3 Southern Sting Rays and a 150 lb Tiger Shark

June 1 Nasty Day & Great Fly Fishing

I had a trip cancel out this morning. Good for them, it was a gray nasty day with wind steady at 25 kts from the SW. I went for a very short and wet boat ride and it was NO FUN and NO BAIT and Miserable... A little later, Korey and I went to a couple of Ponds and fishing popping bugs on the fly rod and roostertail spinners on light spin I racked up numbers of Bass and Bream... In the meantime, Korey fished a plastic worm and live Bream and he caught fewer, but larger Bass... I'd call it a great session of freshwater fishing! Total Catch for the Day: 25 Largemouth Bass up to 3 lbs, 15 Bluegill and 1 Pumpkinseed