July 30 Barracuda, Grouper, Shark, Mackerel & Waterspouts

Ryan and Sabrina fished a very enjoyable day with me, despite dark clouds, rain, wind, and waterspouts..... Fishing was challenging, but rewarding. We raced to a Wreck and hooked up 3 Barracudas. Unfortunately, we only landed one of them and then a dive boat showed up and pushed us away from those potential Jacks and Groupers. Never fear, we relocated and Ryan caught a nice Gag Grouper and released a 250 lb Sand Tiger. Yeah that's right, an 8 ft Sand Tiger. That was a handful. Unfortunately, with rain and wind and a GIANT SHARK,  I never pulled my camera out. Hopefully Sabrina will emeil a pic.... After that, the wind picked up, the skys darkened, and a water spout put on a little show. We called it quits and headed back across the Shoals. Once on the west side, out of the misty rain appeared a tiny flock of terns that were dipping and wheeling over a small place of breaking fish. Tossing metal lures and this quickly turned into a very good bite. Pretty much a Spanish Mackerel or a Crevalle Jack on every cast. It was great, but we were wet and cold so we pulled the plug pretty quick on the casting and we ran home. We did make a bad move to end the day by striking out on Blacknose  Sharks in Beaufort Inlet.... Total Catch for the Day: 1 Gag Grouper at 12 lbs, 1 Sand Tiger at 250 lbs, 1 Barracuda at 20 lbs, 16 Spanish Mackerel up to 2 lbs and 7 Crevalle Jack up to 1 lb

July 27 Blacknose Sharks Biting Good

This was a weird day. The Ocean was rough this morning. The wind was blowing and it was gray and dreary. We caught 4 dozen live Menhaden and ran to Cape Lookout. We turned the corner and headed to my "second home".... Everyone knows I got a mailbox on Shark Island! Unfortunately, it was completely hostile and the water was muddy. Now I was "in trouble". So we ran all the way back to Beaufort Inlet and had a great session on Blacknose Sharks. We had 14 strikes and released 7 Sharks. Lots of action to make up for a woeful percentage. Sharks are fun, but you can't release them all day! After we left the Sharks, nothing else really worked. All my plans failed. We did catch lots of fish at AR-315, just not anything exciting... I am sorry for running east early and then west! If we would've done it the other way, the day would've turned out better. Anyway, it was still a very interesting day on the water. Total Catch for the Day: 7 Blacknose Sharks up to 25 lbs, 1 infant Blacktip Shark, 25 Croaker, 2 Gray Trout, 1 Bluefish, 1 Pinfish, 3 Hogfish, 1 Inshore Lizardfish, 1 Spottail Pinfish and 14 Black Sea Bass that were all too small.

July 26 Shark Fishing with Duncan

We are leaving at 1 pm and the forecast is GREAT SHARK FISHING.....  Well, my fishing trip with Duncan ended and in a word, "It Sucked". I hate fishing trips that start in the afternoon. Very seldom, it seems, do they work out. We had no choice though, cause the Boys had sailing class and didn't get out until lunch time. Anyway, here's what happened..... We left the dock at 1215 and we went to look for Menhaden. It took a while to find them but when we did, we socked it to them. One cast and filled the livewell and the cooler. Being in the eastern half of Back Sound, I decided to run to Cape Lookout. I thought we could set up where I did yesterday and we could surely get at least one bite from a quality fish! WRONG. In 90 minutes we got ZERO bites. We packed it in and rode all over The Bight and we saw one lonely Blacktip Shark. Not seeing anything worth fishing on, we made the long run back to Beaufort Inlet where we wasted another hour and caught nothing. The only bites we had all day were the Blacktips that were born last night probably. The 10" mini-mite version of their parents. Voracious, but........ Anyhow, our biggest problem was the 20 kt south winds and fishing the very top of the tide and then the falling tide. Didn't matter where we were, the falling tide was creating terrible fishing conditions because it was absolute opposition to the relentless south wind. It's always something to complain about... The wind.... I am just better at articulating it now. This morning with a rising tide and south winds would've been perfect. oh well, all must good streaks must end. My fishing streak just did! Total Catch for the Day: Nothing

July 25 Ladyfish BLITZ

This report can't be lumped under "The Dock Tally". This was One Great Fishing Session.... So after 11pm, I went down to check on my boat and heard the familiar splashing out in the inky blackness of night. They were close and they were "getting off"!!!!  There was definitely a nice run of Shrimp last night and the Ladyfish were there to take full advantage. Every few minutes a shrimp in close to the dock lights would come jumping in where I could see them and the Ladyfish were hot on it. Glowing with phosphorous, they looked like glowing hot missiles flashing below the jumping Shrimp and it always ended in a violent explosion that was not "shrimp friendly"....... So I tied on a popping plug and the first cast was flung at 12 midnight on the dot. Exactly 90 minutes later and 4 nice popping plugs later, I was done. Here is what I estimated: Probably around 70 casts, close to 50 water busting, scintillating surface strikes on the plugs. Approximately 80 spine tingling leaps and hurls into the black sky. Lots of screaming drags and turbo charged runs. Mind boggling changes of directions and direction changing somersalts. When I said "damn I WAS TIRED and I did NEED TO GO TO BED", when it was over, I had 4 dead Ladyfish that were hooked too deeply to revive. I released 6 healthy ones. I had 2 break off on violent, gill rattling leaps. Ladyfish have highly abrasive and razor sharp gill plates and are hell on light tackle. Only the 30# leader held up to the violence of the popping plug induced head shaking gravity defying leaps of freedom. Plugs tied straight to the 10# mono had NO CHANCE. These Ladyfish weighed 2-4+ pounds each. I did lose one that smoked 75 yards of line down current and broke off in the neighboring dock pilings. I have never had one take me a staight away drag strip like run like that one did. Was it a Ladyfish? I dont know, if so it was a big one. I guess you guys sense my enthusiasm for this short fishery! Two years ago, I remember a similar post....Total Catch for the Night: 10 Ladyfish up to 3 lb 8 oz    Pictures of Dead Ladyfish tomorrow

July 25-30 Taylor's Creek Dock Fishing

Once again, I'll just keep a running tally. I will be fishing here quite often this week. Jennifer is out of town, my boat is getting a workout on Charters, and fishing at the Dock is great. So why not.

Wednesday (7-25) in 10 minutes, fishing with a white gulp, I caught 2 Red Drum and a Southern Flounder. One of the Red Drum was too small while the other Red Drum was too large at 30". He was a "stud" for the dock on 10# mono..... My Southern Flounder was a killer at 19" and well over 2 lbs. I did not go get my camera... My Flounder is on ice and I'd imagine that I'll get many more photo ops moving forward.... More on 7-25 in the Ladyfish Blitz Post!

On Thursday (7-26) fishing with live Finger Mullet was great. I tried it once in the afternoon and once in the evening, all together I probably fished for 60 minutes. I caught a Black Sea Bass and a Inshore Lizardfish. All the other bites were Red Drum or Flounder. I had 7 Flounders. Two were to small and the other 5 were 2lb+ keepers. I caught 6 Red Drum that were little guys. Seems like a wonderful crop of little 7" to 10" Red Drum around this summer. Great Fishing! Those Flounder fillets on Friday Night made for great eating. Dammit, I'll be glad when my Girlfriend would comes home!


Marcus R "The Rouser" Rouse joined me this afternoon (7-28) for a 30 minute Dock Expedition. Fishing was red hot, but burned out quickly as we "caught em up". I got a 16" Southern Flounder and 5 Red Drum, four of the little pups and a 3lb 8oz keeper. Marcus got a Red Drum and flirted with a bruiser that escaped. We each got a garbage fish or two also. AND, it's time to be happy because JENNIFER IS HOME....

Today (7-29) was a Flounder day on the Dock. After I came in from my trip, I fished for 20 minutes and caught 3 Southern Flounders from 15" to 18". Nice.

Total Catch for the Period: 14 Red Drum up to 10 lbs, 12 Southern Flounder at 2 lb 12 oz, 2 Black Sea Bass, 5 Inshore Lizardfish, 1 Hogfish and 2 Pinfish up to 14oz

July 25 Nice Blacktip Shark

Corey's fishing trip was today and this morning was unsettled and the wind was 18 kts out of the NW. the Menhaden that had been so easy, were "much harder".... But we found them and I was not sure where to go. I knew the Cape Lookout Shoals would be "closed out" like Bell's Beach in my favorite movie "Point Break", and I didn't feel like Brody.. So we ended up in the Cape Lookout Bight swimming a few shad on a shallow sandy shoal and an adjacent slough. After Corey caught a 60 lb Southern Stingray and we missed a Shark bite, Paul commented "we need to feed 16 people". Okay, is that all. We needed a nice Blacktip Shark because it was blowing and the weather was very unsettled, I didnt have much faith in catching enough of anything else to fill a baby food jar! Suddenly, just like magic, a reel went off. It exploded and dumped 300 yards of 20# mono in seconds. We dropped anchor and the chase was ON. Over an hour later, Corey and I dropped Paul's big Blacktip Shark on the deck. After that, the weather had changed and the wind had fell out, but regardless, every plan failed. Cape Shoals, NC Port, and others..... We managed a couple of Bluefish and a sweet Ladyfish but that was it. Total Catch for the Day: 105 lb Blacktip Shark, 60 lb Southern Stingray, 3 Bluefish, and a 3 lb Ladyfish

Weird Stuff and Info Tidbits From Hatteras

Pictures one, two, and three is a Mantis Shrimp. Interesting little Critter. Pictures four and five demonstrate the difference between a Silverside and an Anchovy. Both common bait species and most everyone calls them "shiners". Picture six and of a few of the Squid that I was trying to use as live bait for Flounder. Unsuccessfully..... Picture seven is a rare (for Hatteras) White Sea Urchin. Picture Eight make me wonder...... "Of all damn places TWEETY BIRD, why the hell would you try to sleep in a spot that Ferry's are coming in and out of every hour and then Idiots are taking pictures, catching Urchins, throwing cast nets and dropping baits all around you. All night. Fly away you fool!!!!

July 17-24 Hatteras Fishing Tally

The first night (7-17) was a good one for Frank and I. I caught 5 Flounders and Frank netted up 50 lbs of Jumping Mullets. The oddity of the night was my juvenile Conger Eel. Once again, bait was hard to catch. Last night's best option proved to be a big Silversides and they aren't quite big enough for the cast net. I could throw on 100 Silversides and only 1 or 2 would get entangled. Lack of quality bait made my Flounder fishing extremely difficult.  Interestingly, 2 of tonights Flounders were actually Summer Flounders, my first 2 of the year... Well, I've got the grill lit and a couple of Mullet fillets are getting ready to get cooked.....

The second night (7-18) the fishing was slower. Bait wasn't a problem. I caught 25 Silversides in one throw! I also captured a few Squid and a Mantis Shrimp. Neat little monster. I also saw a swimming Nudibranch, which is always cool.... With the rid and reel, I caught 2 Southern Flounders and 2 big Oyster Toadfish.

On Thursday Night (7-19) I didn't really fish as I had a VIP visitor from Carteret County. I did make one cast with a live Bluefish and left the rod unattended. Ten minutes later, I caught my rod racing down the side of the Ferry. When I reached it, The line was pinned under the boat and line was rapidly coming off the spool. I lifted the rod and tightened the drag. The fish never slowed. I watched 200 yards of 30# test evaporate off the spool. Had to be a Giant Stingray. At the end of the game, I locked down the drag and broke the line.... This battle would've been fun, but the "fight" occurred under the Ferry. Suckfest!

No fishing on Friday Night (7-20) but I did snag a 5lb 8oz Jumping Mullet on a string of treble hooks. Great fight. Great Fish. No time to brag.....


So far on Saturday (7-21) Jennifer and I went for a romantic walk on the Beach which I pretty much destroyed the moment by pulling a Sand Flea Trap and a Spinning Rod out of my magical cap.... To make matters worse the now mythical Sea Mullets & Pompano that abound in the Hatteras Surf once again pitched a Shut Out against the Capt Marty All-Stars.....


Sunday night (7-22) was stormy and rainy and the fishing crew got some much needed rest. I drowned a Sea Urchin and had no bites at 420am.... 


Total Catch for the Week: 5 Southern Flounder up to 16", 2 Summer Flounders up to 16", 5lb 8oz Jumping Mullet, 3 Black Sea Bass, 2 Oyster toadfish up to 3 lbs and 1 Conger Eel

July 16 All Great Things Must Come To An End

I have had THE BEST WEEK of my adult life! Unfortunately, tommorrow it will come to an end. Darn It! It's time to go back to Hatteras and start another week on the Hatteras Inlet Ferry. Once again I have the night run and I'd expect to catch lots of nice Flounder. I am expecting to fish the Beach a couple of times and I will definitely be looking for a slammer Sea Mullet or Pompano.... Believe it or not, I have been searching for that Pompano since July 4, 2001.... Did I say Bigfoot? A Unicorn? Yeti? No, a damn Pompano. It's not supposed to be this difficult. When I get back home, I am availiable on July 26, 27 and 28. 

July 15 Groupers, Red Drum, Sharks, Barracudas

Ryan, Ellie, and Chad fished with me today and every idea I had was a challenge. We started out racing a Dive Boat to a Wreck and we were held-up by a fuel problem, which allowed the Dive Boat to beat us to the spot and effectively cost us a chance at the resident Amberjacks, Groupers, and possibly an African Pompano.... Damn. We were left with the Barracuda on the perimeter. Chad got the first one at 24 lbs, Ryan and Ellie got the next one at 30 lbs. Long Fight. Great Fight. After that, we ran back inshore to a smaller wreck where we battled and lost time and time again with 50 to 200 lb Sand Tigers. We did manage to land 2 Gag Grouper, including Ryan's 11 pounder. We also caught Black Sea Bass and Bluefish, and other bottom riff raff........ Looking to end what seemed like a busy but mediocre day of fishing, I headed to my Honey Hole, The Cape Lookout Shoals. Once there, I figured we could work over some Blacktip Sharks and also smash a school of Red Drum that I found the day before. Once there, we were in for a BIG SUPRIZE. We found a parade of 120 lb Tarpon with a few small ones crossing the Shoals. WOW. We actually made beautiful casts with fresh dead Menhaden and had them window shopping. But, unfortunately, none of them were buying! It was very intense for a few minutes on the Top Water Boat. After that, we sightcasted to lots of big Blacktips and they were very hungry. Lots of surface smashing strikes, spinning leaps, screamimg drags. Ryan released 3 and lost a few others. As our day came to an end, we found our Red Drum sitting in a very dangerous spot. I put us in a whirling, swirling tempest of 3 foot breakers in 18" of water, and even then, it was barely close enough. Ryan connected at the very end of a Long Cast and Chad did not. Ryan pulled out a 10 lb Red Drum and we headed home. Shew, what a day. Total Catch for the Day: 15 Bluefish up to 2 lbs, 2 Barracuda at 24 & 30 lbs, 3 Blacktip Sharks up to 75 lbs, 2 Gag Grouper at 11 & 7 lbs, 3 Black Sea Bass up to 14", 1 Red Drum at 10 lbs, 1 Scup, and 2 Pinfish

July 14 Red Drum

Jennifer and I went out fishing this afternoon. I couldn't wait for her to see ALL THE FISH...... Guess what? She had to wait!  All the thousands of Bluefish and hundreds of Sharks were not really in their usual haunts..... Fortunately, I did find 250 Red Drum in a very tight spot and I managed a long cast with a Storm Chug Bug, and lo and behold, a 27" Red Drum ate it.... Minutes later I had a very silvery 7 lb 8 oz Red Drum onboard..... Total Catch for the Day: 1 Red Drum at 7lb 8oz

July 13 Dock Fishing

I was out cleaning Bluefish this morning, and I saw a Red Drum swim by. I went down to my boat and got a spinning rod with a white gulp. In 10 minutes of effort, I caught 3 Southern Flounder from 15" to 18" and 3 Inshore Lizardfish.... I went back and fished around high tide and the last hour of moving water was superb.... I caught 8 Flounders up to 18", I caught 4 small Red Drum. I saw 2 Red Drum pushing 10 lbs, but both times I had a Flounder eat mt]y bait before the Drum could grab it... I saw Black Drum, Sheepsheads, huge Stingrays, Puffers, and hundreds of Pinfish in the crystal clear water. It really was a good session of fishing.. Everything today has been caught on a white jighead and a white gulp. I'm not finished there for the day so I'll keep a running tally on my total catch.........  Total Catch for the Day: 11 Southern Flounder up to 18", 4 Red Drum, and 5 Inshore Lizardfish

July 12 Good Bluefish Bite

Ryan, Matthew, and I went out on an afternoon scouting trip to the Cape Lookout Shoals. We messed around with a few bait balls while treking to the East. I swear I saw a Tarpon in one of the Schools of Menhaden... No bite though.... Lots of Blacktip Sharks around.... On the Shoals, we found the Bluefish and captured 15 of them from 1-3 lbs. Not a great day but it was nice to get back out. The weather is great and I'm hoping for a couple of slammer trips this weekend! Total Catch for the Day: 15 Bluefish up to 3 lbs 

Coming Up NIGHT FISHING for GIANT RED DRUM

In August and September I will be availiable for Night Time Fishing for Red Drum down at Cedar Island... These fish typically run from 20 to 50 pounds. My boat record is an 83 lb Red Drum that I landed in August of 2000 and weighed on IGFA Certified Scales.... Since my first trip to Cedar Island in 1998, my success rate is close to 90% and the average catch has been 6 releases with a top trip at 44 releases in 4 hours of fishing.... Hopefully 2012 will be a great season for Red Drum Fishing....

Red Drum dates: Aug 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26.... Sept 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9

July 4-9 Ferry Dock & Beach Fishing

I have the Night Run at Cape Hatteras and the water is full of fish and all my distractions are a thing of the past! My problem is there is an awful tide cycle working against me late at night... This report will be a running tally of my total catch for the Night Time Ferry Dock fishing and any Beach Fishing that I might happen to do..... Other than that, My Life is absolutely Great Right Now...... So Wed Night, bait was scarce. I caught 5 servicable live baits. On those 5, I caught 2 keeper Flounders and a chunky little Black Sea Bass.... Thurs night was even worse with 1 keeper Flounder and a nice Black Sea Bass... The highlight was the Sea Horse that I caught in the cast net....Fishing kind of went out the window as I had a special guest visit.... Capt Marty is a happy camper... The last couple nights the fishing picked up with much less effort. Nothing to brag about, I did collect a few more Southern Flounders and Black Sea Bass.... Total Catch for the Week: 8 Southern Flounder up to 16", 5 Black Sea Bass, 8 Pinfish and 3 Oyster Toadfish

July 4 Happy Birthday America

I'll not be spending this holiday where I'd rather be, but I will be making the best of it at Cape Hatteras Ferry Ops.... As soon as I finish typing this sentence, I'll be headed out on the Beach for a while to see if I can find me a large Pompano. Then its back to the State House to grill up some Amberjack... Then its off to work for Night Run.... Happy 4th of July every one!

July 2 Beaufort Pond Grand Slam on Fly

Five minutes with my 3 wt Fly Rod and a popping bug produced 3 bites. 3 catches. 3 species. And another incredible Beaufort Freshwater Fly Rod Grand Slam.... Went back to catch some minnows to feed Little Sid and Oscar de LaHoya and caught more Bass and more Bream on the fly!!!  Total Catch for the Day: 4 Largemouth Bass, 3 Pumpkinseed and 3 Bluegill