Answer for March 17th Thomas

I dont have a really good answer for you Thomas. I can tell you that I will try my hardest. That cant be measured so at the end of the day you can form your own opinion.... What you can measure is this: I can guarantee you that I will RUN FARTHER and FISH LONGER than any of the high profile guides around here with funny costumes and their names plastered all over their shirts. (I can assure you that I know who I am and I dont need Capt Marty embroidered above my pocket) I can absolutely promise you that 80% of the time most of these dudes DO NOT want to compare catches with me at the end of the Day. Another thing I don't need or desire is to see my name in print or plastered all over local fishing literary paper dumps. These "professionals" pay a couple hundred dollars a month and these fishing rags print "Glorified Articles" explaining their great fishing prowess and endless virtues.... Meanwhile the true fishermen dont want to be seen. They keep their methods and fishing spots a secret as long as possible. Now, in todays "internet world" fishing pictures go a long ways to drum up business. So I do like to publish fishing pictures to raise interest in my business. Also, I will tell anybody anything if they ask, But you DAMN SURE wont be reading about it in a regional fishing "fish wrapper." And yes, I am a part time guide. Other guides hate me. I dont care. I fish and I have fished between 150-200 days per year EVERY YEAR since at least 1992. I WILL BE FISHING whether I have a charter or not. So, Thomas, call me if you want to try me out, if not, Good Luck with your alternative choice. There are some Great Fishing Guides out there... And there are some dudes that are some great entertainers. Great Conversationalists. There are some Con Men out there. There are some PURE T IDIOTS that are complete rip offs. I don't fit any of those categories. You can ask me in private and I'll tell you what I think about individual fishing Guides. As for me, I have good days. I have bad days. Some times I Go The Wrong Direction. However, I am confident that I will always be able to find something to catch and something to "make our day" catching..... I think my past record (approaching 1000 NC Fishing Citations), my equipment, and my Boat make me a pretty good choice for a day of fishing.... Anyway, End of Rant. Hope that helps, Thomas......

March 22 Casting for Shad

Will, Matt, and I made the trip to Pitch Kettle today and we figured it would be more productive than watching the NCAA Tournament on our couches! I'm not sure what we missed on the hardwood, but we did experience a beautiful but chilly day on the River. The fishing was more challenging than a couple of days ago. We fished really hard to catch 25 Hickory Shad. We caught more Roe Shad than on Tuesday, but the numerous and athletic Bucks that Tuggy and I encountered were missing in action. That combined with a large number of missed strikes and bumps kept our numbers down. I did catch another 17" Hickory Shad that weighed over 2 lbs. But even that one had a less developed Roe. Personally, I think they are nearly "spawned out"... Time to fish for White Shad at least once... Then it will be time to turn to the "SALT".... Total Catch for the Day: 25 Hickory Shad up to 2+ lbs

March 19 Hickory Shad Fishing

Capt Tuggy took my up Pitch Kettle Creek today for some World Renowned Light Tackle Fishing. Tuggy has been fishing the River, the Creek, and the Swamp for 25+ years and he knows every Cypress Knob and Stump. It was amazing for him to point to a spot and guarantee a bite. Then I would cast and, BINGO, a bite would happen. Tuggy really is the Master of Pitch Kettle! Overall the fishing was a little slow, but steady. Between the 2 of us we caught 52 Hickory Shad including a couple of monsters. We had 12 fish that were 14" and larger that were big enough for a NC Freshwater Citation. My largest fish was 17" and weighed 2 lb 9 oz. Tuggy's biggest was 17" and 2 lb 7 oz. Tuggy also released a Largemouth Bass. The first I've seen caught while Shad fishing. Total Catch for the Day: 52 Hickory Shad up to 2 lb 9 oz and 1 Largemouth Bass

March 17 Worst Drop in the History of Fishing

Twenty five miles from where I stood beside a OBX Pond yesterday, 200-400 lb Bluefin Tuna busted top water plugs cast on spinning tackle. Arguably the GREATEST FISHING on PLANET EARTH right now is occurring right off Hatteras and Oregon Inlet. As a side note, the charterboat Godspeed, off Hatteras, dropped jigs into a subtle mark on their Fish Finder. A short time later, the crew marveled at their catch. Golden Tilefish. One Golden Tile is a fish of a lifetime. On this day, the Godspeed boat hit the motherlode and brought in 6 Golden Tiles. They weighed 30-40 pounds each. All of this knowledge weighed heavily on my jealous mind yesterday. While "fish of a lifetime" were being hooked like Goldfish in a Shot Glass, I stood by "fishless" Ponds and tossed pitiful baits to non-existent fish. Dammit..... So I geared up for a BIG COMEBACK last night. I was gonna get a SIGNIFICANT FISH last night or at least I was going all out with effort. Realistically, I had visions of a trophy Tautog, or even a strange trophy. In the past, I have seen such oddities as Monkfish and Atlantic Torpedos swimming around the Ferry Docks in late winter. I was going to get something out of the ordinary. I could feel it... So I baited up with fresh Menhaden and quickly had.... Nothing. I leaned my rod against the rail and wandered off. An hour later, I picked up my slack line. I gently pulled tight. The line was alive between my fingers. It pulsed. Once. Twice. I quickly picked up my rod. Tightened my drag. Reeled down and sharply set the hook. My rod bowed deeply. I could feel my 80# powerpro popping off snags. The weight was incredible. The rod tip bounced deeply. It hung in concrete pilings and scattered rock. One last pop and my line was free. The fish surged heavily. Reluctantly it rose. Peering into the brown, windswept water I saw length. Nice. Then my fish broke the water. I reeled down and in one quick, smooth motion I lifted my quarry over the rail and onto the Ramp....... Then I knew. I had gone into my personal record book. The worst drop ever. On the top hook was a 5 lb Conger Eel. ON the bottom hook was a medium large Oyster Toadfish. Incredible in its Badness. Double Negative. Bluefin Tunas and Golden Tilefish this was not.... Later I caught another of each. Total Catch for the Night: 2 Conger Eels up to 5 lbs and 2 Oyster Toadfish

March 16 OBX Freshwater--Beautiful Ponds--No Fish

Boredom consumed me today... So I ventured out and fished 4 different ponds in Avon and Buxton. I never had a bite. Honestly, I can't say whether or not there were any fish in any of the Ponds that I fished. All these freshwater bodies of water that I fished today are subject to flooding during Hurricanes and Northeasters.... I'm pretty sure that these were flooded both last year and the year before. I used to see Largemouth Bass and Carp along the shoreline. Today I saw nothing, I felt nothing, and I expect that the freshwater fish up here have suffered. With that said, a land-locked Red Drum or Flounder would've been nice. But it didn't happen. A big ZERO. Total Catch for the Day: Nothing

MOST EXCITING TIME of the YEAR

Time is flying by! Before you know it, it will be late April and May. We will be doing lots of fun things... Among these fun things:

1. Searching for and Casting to COBIA. Riding around in crystal clear water, looking for huge brown shapes swimming solo or in small groups. Fish up to 100 pounds are possible any day we spend looking for them. Also searching for Manta Rays, Leatherback Turtles, and huge schools of Menhaden.  Any of these could create unbelievable fishing opportunities.

2. Searching for and Casting to Huge, CHOPPER BLUEFISH. Normally we find large schools or small packs of roving, voracious Choppers in very shallow water. Casting a large top water plug anywhere in the vicinity results in a spectacular, water busting surface strike. One word---SAVAGE.

3. Searching for and Casting to Incredibly Strong, Unbelievably Fast, and Absolutely Delicious Eating ATLANTIC BONITO. These inshore cruise missiles pop up, ravage schools of minnows, quickly disappear and move on.... We chase them and cast to them and when your metal lure or plug cast lands in the right place, you are in for an awesome and memorable fight. They're fight is very similar to Albacore, maybe they slug it out a little deeper and mabe they're stamina is slightly less, but when you get your hands on a Bonito, you basically have a "mini Yellowfin Tuna" for your plate. Sushi, Sashimi, grilled, salad. Whatever.

4. Searching for and Casting to GIANT RED DRUM. The past 4-5 years we have had huge schools of 30-50 lb Red Drum on the Shoals at Cape Lookout. Easy to find if they are there. Easy to catch if they are found. Sight casting to huge schools of Giant Red Drum is one of the greatest experiences they I can offer in the Spring near Beaufort Inlet.

5. Searching for and Casting to __________ ! Fill in the blank.  In the past 5 years, on different days, as a bonus to the other 4 fish listed above.... We have found vast schools of 40-80 lb BLACK DRUM in 4 feet of water on the Shoals.... We have found numerous schools of shifty and hard to get ahead of 20-25 lb BLACKFIN TUNA right up against the shore off Atlantic Beach..... Very numerous hunter-killer packs of 25-75 lb THRESHER SHARKS right off Atlantic Beach.... We quite often find schools or scattered 2-4 lb GRAY TROUT on the bottom at this time of the year. Always nice to pick up a couple of them to eat when you get home!

The MOST AMAZING PART of all this is that we could possibly DO ALL OF THIS IN ONE DAY. Call me. Book a Day. Lets Go Fishing.... 252-241-8350 All my APRIL and MAY Open Dates are Posted

March 12 NO FISHING

Here I sit, back at Hatteras for another 7 days... Last week sucked. I fished my way home and caught 4 Shad. Then I caught 1 Bass. The weather sucked. When it didn't suck, My boat motor is in a 1000 pieces. Here it is Winter/Spring again and I DON'T have a "River Boat". Shad fishing and Speckled Trout fishing would be very possible if I had a little Boat for it. Columbo was out of action with a "sore mouth". My other friends are not "into fishing enough to sacrifice sleep in winter". My parents are also fighting little battles that require my attention, even though I haven't done enough, it kept me from driving off and fishing the riverbank this week. Likely a waste of time and money anyway.... Well, there you have it, my "NO FISHING EXCUSE RANT for March of 2013". Seems like the past 3-4 years that I've had lots of those rants.... Now I'm at Hatteras again and I'm working the Night Run. My fishing options are: 1. Talk Tuggy into launching a Bluefin Tuna excursion. 2. Jump on a Charterboat "Make-up" trip out of Hatteras 3. Fish the Ferry Ramp and it is usually dead, day and night, in March..... I guess I should add that its pouring down rain and blowing a gale. Oh well, NO FISHING might last another damn week..... For fishing excitement, I have been following the Fishing Report out of Bud N Mary's Marina in Islamorada, Fl. Great reading and gives me hope for April! www.budnmarysblog.com     I also miss and love Jennifer. Thanks for making my miserable week one of the best times of my life. Wink

March 10 Beaufort Bass

Out to catch some minnows for Little Sid.... Made a quick cast with a white beetlespin.... Smack..... Caught a chunky little Largemouth Bass in an under-fished Mung Hole... That's it. Total Catch for the Day: 1 Largemouth Bass

March 5 A Fish of a 1000 Casts?

Muskellunge? I wish, but not in Eastern North Carolina...... Never before will you hear Hickory Shad described that way..... Hopefully, never again. Today was THAT DAY and a couple of factors contributed to it.... First, the weather was beautiful and the forecast for the next 2-3 days is beyond rotten. Bad enough to mess up the fishing for an entire week and that just so happens to be my "fishing window of opportunity". A week..... Therefore today was MY day to FISH. However, we were casting for Hickory Shad, not trolling the Great Barrier Reef for 1200 pound Black Marlin. Nor were we drifting live lobsters off Key Largo for 85 lb Cubera Snapper! The second factor that added to everyone's immense patience was that there was a very fun and interesting group of guys fishing at Spring Garden today. Dudes that were from all over eastern NC and all walks of life. After the first hour and approximately 60 empty casts, it was almost as if we were all "long lost friends" that had just reunited.... It was really neat. And the fishing was agonizingly slow. I estimate that I casted between 600-700 times and I caught 4 Hickory Shad and had one swirl behind my spoon. Pretty bad when we fondly remember a "swirl".... Anyhow, I caught 2 little Bucks and 2 big fat powerful Roe Shad. I kept one Shad and gave one away. I released the 2 small ones. Both of my keepers were well over the 13" minimum for an NC Freshwater Citation. As a matter of fact, the one in my cooler is a 16" and 2 lb 9 oz beauty..... Well, high winds, rain, and cold weather due in tomorrow. Just what I expect. Total Catch for the Day: 4 Hickory Shad up to 16"

March 1 & 2 Bad to Worse Fishing

Fishing around the Ferry Dock can be spectacular from July until October. Huge numbers on citation sized Sheepsheads and Flounders... Most other months can be good as well. April , May, and June are good. November, December, and January are inconsistent, but can bring great fishing. Especially fishing for Squid and an occasional Tautog. In case no one noticed, February and March didn't get mentioned.... Because Ferry Dock, Beach, and Shore fishing nearly always sucks during the "Dead of Winter"! Anyway, the last few nights of February were interestingly horrible. Unfortunately, the first couple nights of March were positively, absolutely pathetic. I was actually shut out on March 1. NO FISH, NO BITES, NO NOTHING. It was really too damn cold to go "all out", but I tried for 30 minutes and I froze my ass off for NOTHING! I thought, "There is NO STREAK to continue, so WHY am I torturing myself?" Tonight (March 2) it wasn't nearly as cold and I quickly corralled a lonely, cold Black Sea Bass...... Meanwhile just over the horizon, Bluefin Tuna are thick off the OBX. Lots of Sharks, Tilefish,  Jumbo Sea Bass are chewing as well..... Why am I sitting on this Ferry? Oh we'll, I LOVE MY GIRLFRIEND (I know Jennifer will be checking out my blog). At least that part of my life is  Better than ever! Total Catch for the Period: 1 Black Sea Bass