Special Fishing Trips---TIGER SHARKS

Here is something new..... Starting last year and continuing this year, there have been a large number of medium and large sized Tiger Sharks in our area... Just so everyone understands, the "medium sized" Tiger Shark I'm talking about will be 150-300 lbs! The large ones, like the one that swam around our boat last September, will weigh up to 1200 lbs... They are so numerous in a few areas on the East Side, I am going to offer trips to catch and release these contradicting Monsters.... I call them this because they appear slow and very gentle when they approach the Boat, but they are one of the great predators on Planet Earth and along with Great White Sharks and Bull Sharks, Tiger Sharks are probably in the Top 3 in the "Man-eater" Department... Thats off the top of my head and I have no documented facts to back that statement... I know they have dined on lots of humans throughout history and at various places in the World... Anyway, if anyone is interested in trying to catch a release a Tiger Shark, please let me know. I am absolutely stoked about this and I will definitely spend some of my own time trying to catch a Tiger Shark. I will be baiting up with huge chunks of Barracuda, Amberjack, or Albacore. One on the bottom and one on a float rig... I think its going to be pretty easy if the other Sharks leave us alone....  Tiger Shark Fishing will be availiable for $500 and I will offer this through October or until the first Hurricane slams the breaks on the fishing.....

July 30 BACK to WORK

I am headed back to work this morning..... And of course the Atlantic Ocean is absolutely Flat..... Just my luck.

Next week when I get home I expect the GIANT RED DRUM FISHING to be great. I also expect the King Mackerel Livebait Fishing to be picking up momentum.... Finally, on the obscure side, I expect the Ladyfish to be on a solid rampage in Taylor's Creek.... If anyone is interested in any of these thing, call me at 252-241-8350.... I think I have available:

Thursday August 8th afternoon/night 
Sunday August 11th morning half day

July 29 Spanish Mackerel Saved The Day

Another day of things going wrong. Today it was a low oil alarm and I added oil last night, so there was a problem somewhere.... Since it is a BOAT, I can't figure it out. We added 2 quarts of oil and took off.... Caught bait pretty quickly.... Seeing the light winds were blowing 15-17 knots from the SW (big suprize) and the 2-4 ft seas were really 4 foot seas.... All plans went out the window. We made it to the Trawler Bouy, chasing month old Amberjacks.... We caught one Shark there and that wasn't worth it. Then we ran back towards Beaufort Inlet where Hunter caught a 3 lb Spanish Mackerel on a live bait.... Then we hit the doldrums.... I was thinking "what on Earth can I do to save this day"....... Suddenly some Terns started dipping and screaming..... The water came to life with Spanish Mackerel cartwheeling and Anchovies flying in all directions..... For 25 minutes it was a donnybrook..... Metal lures flying..... Blood splattering...... Spanish Mackerel were hitting the deck..... Unfortunately, a big black cloud was descending on us as well... Lightning flashed, ground strokes.... The wind picked up and the temperature dropped 10 degrees.... We ran for home..... Sterling and the boys had caught a really nice bucket full of Spanish Mackerel. Many were over 2 lbs... First good casting session of the summer... Finally. Total Catch for the Day: 17 Spanish Mackerel up to 3 lbs and a 8 lb Sharpnose Shark

July 28 Fly Fishing for Beaufort Bass

Jalen tied me a Wooly Booger and he wanted me to give it a try... He was passing through town today about 4pm, so he and I planned to head out to some local ponds...... I only had a small window. My lovely bride, Jennifer, was due home from Pennsylvania and I really needed to be home and not ankle deep in a mud hole... Oh well, y'all know me. Jalen and I passed her 50 feet from my driveway and I sheepishly headed off to the Ponds anyway.... Sacrificing personal happiness and normalcy for a stunted Largemouth Bass on fly??? Leave it to Capt Marty..... Making a short story shorter.... Jalen got a Bass quickly on his wooly booger.... I got a Bass on mine at the next Pond. Then I lost my wooly booger in a treetop. I then tied on a popping bug and nailed 3 quick Largemouth Bass.... After that, I ran for home to see THE LOVE OF MY LIFE..... Not sure what else Jalen caught.... Total Catch up to that Point: 5 Largemouth Bass

The Whitebone Porgy

Since Chris made a comment...... And I did get a picture of the Whitebone Porgy.... Here it is..... Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of the huge Pinfish.... Yesterday's true trophies were the 30+ pound Barracudas and Stacy's 2+ pound Pinfish.... Honestly, the Giant Pinfish is less common than the large Barracudas.... Anyway, here is Mr. Whitebone Porgy.....

July 27 Great Barracuda...... The Name Says It All

Today was not my best day. I had a rough night and this morning I was........SLOW. And I ran aground and got us stuck in a very bad way in a very bad spot.... Lennoxville Point. I've only been in and out of there 75-100 times this year. I didn't care how shallow it is or that it is unmarked.... I've done it time and time again. This morning I was blinking sleep out of my eyes, I was running my mouth, I was not concentrating and as I watched my track lines fade to the east, I turned slightly to the west.

WRONG MOVE

So we bumped once and came to a sudden stop. I short while later a Good Samaritan in the World's Strongest Carolina Skiff pulled us off.... After that episode, my confidence was shattered and the crew that senses the Captains weakness soon turned into a mutinous mob.... I was forced into the lifeboat with my loyal crew member, Jalen, and we sailed a dingy half way around the World.... Fletcher Christain and his supporters went back to Tahiti and grabbed all the pretty Island Girls and sailed to Pitcairn Island, where their descendants still live today..... Oh, wrong story!     Here's our story: The Amberjacks bit really good and they were larger than the one's we've been catching. Barracudas put on a great show. Swimming around the boat and hitting our baits like bolts of lightning. Smoking line off the reel and leaping high into the sky.... Reminding me as to why Great Barracudas are ONE of my Top 5 All-Time Favorite Gamefish! It was all good until our only Grouper got chomped in two.... "Danggone Barracuda, please leave us alone!" Then a suicidal Dolphin ate one of our baits.. He put on another good aerial performance. Lots of action... Stacy caught a solid 2 lb Pinfish that I didn't get a picture of. Dammit... Once again, the crew let my mate, Jalen reel in a few fish. He got a NC Citation winning 50" Barracuda and a pretty Almaco Jack.Thanks again to a very, very nice group. Bobby was first class and I am truly sorry that I made a few mistakes. Later in the day, the Top Water Boat wasn't acting right and I decided that we could not safely fish on the Cape Lookout Shoals in the manner that I am used too... Once again, I apologize to Bobby and his crew and despite a "big catch", I feel like I let the Crew down. I am very  sorrry....... Total Catch for the Day: 7 Amberjacks up to 33 lbs. 2 Great Barracuda at 50"+ each, 1 Almaco Jack at 15 lbs, 1 Gag Grouper at 9 lbs, 1 Dolphin at 10 lbs, 18 Black Sea Bass up to 16", 1 Pinfish at 2 lbs, 1 Whitebone Porgy at 1 lb 8oz, 1 small Tomtate, 2 Spottail Pinfish up to 1 lb 8oz, and 10 Sharpnose Sharks from 7-12 lbs each

July 25 Jim and Phil's Kayak Adventure

Everything early today was very difficult.... The Menhaden, while popping everywhere, were very difficult to catch.... The NE wind was definitely not blowing 5-10.... It was more like 14-16 knots and the seas were very choppy and confused as we approached our fishing grounds..... The guys were apprehensive and I don't blame them. Don't be confused by my pictures, it was rough as a cobb when we first got out there.... The SE Ground Swell sometimes hooks around the tip of the Cape Lookout Shoals and when it meets the north running longshore current, the waves tighten up and stack up. Toss in the building 2 foot windchop from a totally different direction and SHAZAM---you have conditions similar to being inside a GIANT WASHING MACHINE... Annoying in a 25 foot boat, but pretty damn scary in a Kayak I'd guess...... Anyway, I decided to "check it out" from my boat. And we hit "Rock Bottom". My first 2 drops got hung in the bottom and broke off. Rats.Then to make matters worse, my third drop resulted in country mile of 80# PowerPro wrapped up in my propeller. Nightmare... No one's fault but Capt Martys!!!! We were about to abort the mission and head inshore.... And then Jim said "get busy living or get busy dying" and sailed over the side into his Kayak and it was GAME ON.... Shortly afterwards, the wind and seas actually improved and the sun came out.... And the fish came out too.. Jim and Phil each caught multiple Amberjacks from the kayaks. Jim also lost a monster mystery fish that was dragging him into the wind and sea.... Meanwhile, back aboard my boat, my mate Jalen even caught a couple Amberjacks when we got a chance.... All in all, it was a very interesting day on the Top Water Boat.... Check out Jim and his friends in the NC Kayak Fishing Association.... Look up "NCKFA" on google if interested in this type of Fishing or Just Plain Fun appeals to you!  Total Catch for the Day: 10 Amberjack up to 30 lbs 

July 24 Beaufort Fly Fishing

I invited Jalen into town today for some Freshwater Flyfishing.... Pre-Payment for all the Brown Trout he's going to point me towards this fall in the Mountains! Fishing was decent, as I knew it would be..... As soon as we got there, the Largemouth Bass were back-flippin after dragonflies! Pretty ccol... At the first Pond, I caught a Beaufort Freshwater Grand Slam on Fly while Jalen was stunned that anything would actually live in such a small Pond. Before we left, we each caught a couple more Bass, and we saw many, many more that wouldn't bite... At the next Pond, Jalen's superior fly rod skills took over and he caught 4 or 5 Largemouth Bass while I caught only one... Anyway, it was a nice 90 minute fishing session and it nice watching someone cast that knew what he was doing. Jalen did not catch a Pumpkinseed so he missed his Grand Slam.... Oh well, there's always next time! Total Catch for the Day: 10 Largemouth Bass, 4 Bluegill, and 1 Pumpkinseed

Ready To Go FISHING

I'm back in Beaufort and ready to go.... Tomorrow is a big day. I am hauling a couple of Kayaks out to the where the Amberjacks are and my clients are planning to go on a "Beaufort Inlet Sleigh Ride".... Its going to be fun....

Fishing should be great with Bluefish, Spanish Mackerel, King Mackerel, Amberjack and Shark chewing..... Plenty of other stuff available too....

TOP WATER GIRLS

These Top Water Girls have a lot going for them. Beauty. Brains. Charm. Wit. Humor. The Fish or the Fishermen will never get the best of them. They are on their way to greatness!

July 18 Top Water Amberjacks

Keith and I made a little excursion out to a Wreck 5 miles off Hatteras Inlet. He and I are working the Night Shift together and he brought his boat down from Kill Devil Hills. If there was ever a day for a 21 foot Carolina Skiff to go out in the Atlantic Ocean this was it! We were hoping for a Dolphin.... We found Amberjacks..... A lot of them. Keith also got a 16 lb King Mackerel. I pulled the hooks on a Barracuda that swiped at a top water plug. I also broke off a monster Blue Runner. Other than that, we caught Amberjacks on top water plugs. Beautiful day... Total Catch for the Day: 4 Amberjacks up to 20 lbs and a 16 lb King Mackerel

July 17-22 Night Shift at Hatteras

These Pics are of a Massive School of Red Drum and Sharks off the Outer Banks three summers ago. It just goes to show you how: Off the North Carolina Coast, anything can happen at any time. The Ocean is an amazing place and Fishing is an Amazing Way of Life.... Go Fishing and keep your eyes open. Don't Miss the Action!

A few years ago, a Night Shift in July or August would mean multiple Citation-Sized Sheepsheads. I think it peaked in 2009 when I got 17 Sheepsheads over 8 lbs. Most were over 10. Quite a few were 12 pounders..... Then we got all of our Clusters and Pilings replaced. Brand new stuff and the Sheepshead Fishing fell apart. Anyhow, I will be trying for a Sheepshead. I will be looking for a Flounder also. I may even "hit the Beach" for a couple of Jumbo Sea Mullet and/or Pompano... Here lately I go through this drill but I never seem to catch anything up here anymore..... It's very depressing. On a positive note, even if the fishing sucks, I will still be ecstatic if I can talk my stunningly beautiful, sneakily gorgeous, absolutely adorable (also smart, funny, witty, nerdy) bride, Jennifer, to come up to Hatteras for a visit.... 

More importantly, when I get home I am availiable July 24-28.... Im getting lots of inquiries, but nobody has "pulled the trigger" yet... I've got a feeling that someone is gonna get left out. Call now and reserve your day. The fishing is going to be good.... Just wait and see... Give me blue water and light wind and we are going to see some great action next week!

Call 252-241-8350.... Wednesday July 24 through Sunday July 28 is O P E N for now!

July 15 Best Amberjack Fishing in Years

It had been 2 weeks with no "real" fishing.... First, I got married. Then the wind blew. It also rained. Sheesh, the summer of 2013 looking like a "Summer of No Fishing"..... Captains Chris and Ryan are both home from Atlantic City (poor fellas)  Anyway, we've all been wanting to go fishing. Grouper Fishing to be exact. The day I got married was the best weather, but Jennifer was frowning at me with her beautiful big brown eyes..... So we passed on that day. Then came wind and rain and more wind.... Right down to the last day. So this morning the forecast was east wind at 10-15 with 3-5 foot seas.... I pretty much said, cancel the Grouper Fishing and we'll go the Cape Lookout Shoals and scour them for Bluefish, Red Drum, and Shark. The crew was mutinous..... We caught 7 dozen Menhaden just for the hell of it and cleared  Barden's Inlet at 7am! The water was beautiful and the seas weren't that bad, but got worse as we headed off the Beach. Too bad, we were committed not to head East or real far South or Southwest. All better fishing but the Conditions were not Optimal! So, we plodded off at 15 knots to the Southeast and we soon arrived at some "fishy looking spots" in 80 foot of water. This is where "Grouper Fishing starts"... Unfortunately, we could not catch any Grouper. Every bait was intercepted by an Amberjack. For 2 hours we caught Jack after Jack. We downsized our tackle. We ended up with the light spinning tackle. I caught a 22 lb Amberjack on 10# spin. Not great, but a 2:1 catch. I am not sure what Ryan and Chris were spooled up with, but they caught Jacks on their light stuff too.... After we'd had enough, we tried some other stuff and failed.... Once again, too much wind and sea to make a "big move" possible, so we headed in to the Shoals..... Once there we found the motherlode of Bluefish. Big black schools. Acres. It was every cast for 30 minutes. We kept enough for Jennifer's Dad to feast on..... The boat was bloodied! I had had enough. Thats a rarity.... So we headed towards Beaufort Inlet. Christopher seemed depressed. He whispered to Ryan, "What we gonna do now".... Hold on Boys, I spotted the "Capt Gunner" on the horizon with Tom Jr at the helm.... And in his wheel wash we found a light tackle utopia...... Dozens of Sharks racing back and forth. Singles. Doubles. Wolfpacks of 10-12 Sharks. 30 lb Blacknoses. 50 lb Spinners. 100 lb Blacktips..... God only knows what else..... Shark Fishing CAN NOT GET ANY BETTER. Every cast resulted in a hook-up. We were casting dead Shad and working them like Zara Spooks. But not for long, the strikes came fast and they were very explosive. It was awesome. Again the boys downsized. Catching action-packed Sharks on light spin. It was a perfect end to a perfect day.... But why was Christopher angry? He really wanted a Grouper. I am sorry old Pal...... Total Catch for the Day: 21 Amberjack up to 34 lbs, 45 Bluefish at 2 lbs each, 5 Blacktip Sharks up to 75 lbs, 3 Blacknose Sharks up to 32 lbs, 1 Spinner Shark at 33 lbs, and 7 Sharpnose Sharks up to 10 lbs  

July 10 Bluegills on the Fly Rod

The Bluegills were very active this morning in 2 of the 3 Ponds that I fished this morning... Nice ones. Small ones. All of them! They seemed to still be hanging around the Beds too. Mid-July seems a little late for bedding, but if the Chicks are hanging around dressed in their party colors, the boys will be there too, all swelled up and "purpled up"!  The Largemouth Bass, on the other hand, were quick to rise, but they all slammed on the brakes and refused to bite the popping bugs that I was throwing...... Also, I turned down a really good trip this morning too. Brandon and Chris are headed to the TOP SECRET POND, where Citation-Sized White Perch and Land-Locked Red Drum bite on nearly every cast. I'm already getting pics from Christopher rubbing it in.... I should've went.... But, I'm kinda busy this afternoon. Crazy little thing called.....

A wedding.......

I love Jennifer and this afternoon we are going to make it OFFICIAL! However, we are holding off on our "honeymoon trip" to the NC Mountains.... So, i will be available for Charter on July 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15.

Call me up and Let's Go Fishing! Total Catch for the Day: 15 Bluegills