Nov 30- Specked Trout Numbers, not size

Pete booked this day a while back.... We patiently watched the weather... As of Thursday, the forecast was 5-10 and beautiful... Then it fell apart. This morning it was 20 kts NE. A worst case scenario. We tried Radio Island from the channel. The fish were there but the tide and wind made it impossible to anchor. We caught 8-10 Trout there and left for Cape Lookout. Conditions were brutal up there but we spent 4-5 hours up there and blasted the Trout. Unfortunately, none were keepers. None. We dabbled with a bottom rig and shrimp and caught some other stuff, including the largest Northern Puffer that has ever been caught on my Boat!  Interesting for sure... Around 2 pm we ran all the way down to AR-315 and that was a waste of time. We ended up behind Carrot Island and we released one more Trout and called it quits.... Lots of fish. Horrible weather. It was disappointing.... Total Catch for the Day: 85 Speckled Trout from. 8" to 13", 8 bluefish, 1 Summer Flounder, 1 Southern Flounder, 1 Black Sea Bass, 1 Southern Sea Mullet, 1 Spot, and a 1 lb 8oz Northern Puffer

Nov 29- Cold Wind, Dirty Water, and Poor Fishing

Special Thanks to the NOAA Marine Weather Forecast...... Not!  They had a 5-10 kt wind forecast  up last night for Coastal Waters this morning...... Yeah right.. I guess they changed it in the middle of the night..... Bright and early it was blowing 15-20 knots NE and it lasted most of the day. TOO MUCH WIND PLUS THE WORST POSSIBLE WIND DIRECTION! It made for a poor catch. At least it was on a day when it was nice just to get out of the house and get on the water.... Too bad the catch suffered. The water was dirty and that ain't good for Speckled Trout fishing. The sad reality is, we probably could've done much better on foot at Radio Island. The Boat ride was cold and there wasn't any "magic place" to go where the wind wasn't blowing, the water was clean, and the Trout were large and hungry! The Cape Lookout Rock Jetty and the Fort Macon Rock Jetty both sucked. I had Jalen and his brother and father with me and I really wanted to turn those guys onto a Red Drum or Albacore. Especially on Fly Tackle. But, even a decent Speckled Trout bite would've been okay.... But, it wasn't to be. The Weather Guys keep pushing that pretty weather back. Now they are actually calling for Blow Its Ass Off Tomorrow..... Maybe the wind will fallout by Sunday.... I don't believe it. More like Tuesday.... Thanks Weather Guys. My apologies to Jalen and crew. I hate North East Wind. I hate Wind over 15 knots. I hate dirty water. I used to love November Fishing. Here lately, not so much. Radio Island is fun, but it wasn't that long ago that I used to not even smile at a 20" Speckled Trout. Thanksgiving meant 26" Trout and larger. Limits of 6-7 lb Trout, back when the limit was 10.... Where have ALL the GOOD TIMES GONE? The Trout must've watched the weather... They weren't ready for the wind.... They got blown away.... Just like us. Thanks, weather guy. Total Catch for the Day: 17 Speckled Trout from 7" to 15"

Nov 28- Thanksgiving Trout Fishing

Jalen and Josh are in Carteret County for Thanksgiving so along with their dad, Wes, we all made the cold walk this morning down Radio Island to the "trout hole".... A little different than the Tuckasegee River where Jalen definitely is 1000 times superior to me! This is my turf and on my first cast, I caught a 17" Speckled Trout. Jalen's brother Josh picked up this fishing really quick and was smoking them after tying on a 3/8 oz leadhead. The action seemed to slow down at low tide and we were reay to call it quits after about 2 hours of fishing in the cold wind anyway.... Josh and I did well. We probably caught 65 Trout between the two of us. I had my keeper and Josh had a 15" Speckled Trout. I had two other Trout that were borderline keepers. I guess everyone knows the Speckled Trout Regs are 4 per day and a 14" minimum length.... Jalen and Wes struggled a little. There seemed to be a little friendly family competition going on.... I know in the old days, a friendly family fishing competition with my cousins would've ended in a fist fight and a bloodbath. Fish to win and then fight to the death. Those were the good ole days! Total Catch for the Day: 75 Speckled Trout from 8" to 17"

Thanksgiving, The Weather, and The Fishing

First of all, I want to wish everyone a Happy and Save Thanksgiving Holiday. Hopefully everyone will enjoy their Turkey and Football Games.... Once Thursday is over, it looks like the weather should be improving with fairly light winds and manageable sea conditions. Hopefully, there will be some Albacore and Red Drum around to go with the nearly certain Speckled Trout. Just as importantly, I could use a few Anglers to book me for a day of Fishing. Christmas is coming and a little bonus income is always nice. In return, I promise my clients a 100% effort, as always... My half days are LONG and I am not not afraid to Run and Gun if need be. I promise everyone this:  NOBODY. No Bod E wants to catch FISH as bad as me. I want the first one. I want the biggest one. I want to catch the most. I want to catch the last one. My personal DRIVE carries over to how I conduct my Guide Business... So if anyone out there needs or wants to go fishing, please call me at 252-241-8350 and LET'S GO FISHING....

Friday open, Sunday open, Monday open

Speckled Trout, Gray Trout, Red Drum, Black Drum, Albacore, Sea Mullet

Nov 27- The Other Trout

I got home from the Mountains just in time to "ride out" Hurricane November, which hit last night and socked it to Morehead City. I drove 550 miles yesterday. We left Cherokee in the Mountains at 1130am in a steady rain and the farther east we drove, the worse the weather got. Honestly, there was not a 100 yard segment of our 550 mile drive yesterday that wasn't raining! We saw probably 80-100 wrecked cars on I-40 and I-85 yesterday. Mostly between Asheville and Durham..... Anyway, by the time we were 5 miles from Home on Hwy 101, it was blowing 60 and raining like Hurricane Floyd. No Joke. No Shit, if that's more dramatic for you... So, this is a Fishing Blog, so who cares? Well, sometimes the passage of Large Fronts and Heavy Rainfall this time of the year can really change fishing patterns... Next month, and beyond, they can actually put an end to inshore fishing until April... So this morning, I was wondering about the Radio Island Trout Fishery. So around lunch time Emma and I walked out there..... My first cast found nothing. "Oh God No, could it be over?"........ My second cast-----bump  bump. Set the hook. Roll and throb..... Hello, Mr Speckled Trout was home! Thank Goodness. It ain't over yet. I caught 5 Speckled Trout in 7 casts. Then I had to leave, but I found out what I needed to know. By 3pm, I made it back out there. This time I casted for 100 minutes. It wasn't "every cast", but it was good enough. A brisk crossing wind made it difficult. You had to pay attention to the Rod Tip. The Trout were down closer to the Fence. They were trapped. Fishing in a Barrel. Total Catch for the Day: 50 Speckled Trout from 8" to 14"

Nov 25- Awesome Brook Trout Fishing

We decided to keep some Trout to eat today, so our best bet was to head over to Cherokee and fish the Tribal Waters where there is a very liberal limit. You pay for a daily license and you can keep some fish.... Sounds good to me and the Rainbow Trout Fishing is supposed to be excellent... So, off we went and at first, the fishing seemed slow. Nothing would work. Spinners, Gulps, natural baits.... Finally, I tried Jalen's trusty peach colored Wooly Booger on my trusty 3wt Fly Rod and on the first cast.. KA--BOOM!  I caught a nice Brook Trout. Way more colorful than the ones in the Tuckasegee River... I didn't see that coming. I expected Rainbow Trout. Ninety minutes later, I had caught a two dozen Brook Trout and a freak Brown Trout... But no Rainbows.... Now I needed a Rainbow Trout for another Grand Slam.... Back at our Motel in Sylva and supposedly the Creek out back is loaded with Rainbows... It is actually called Scott Creek and it is a pretty well known and action packed fishery! Anyway, right at sunset I tried a quick casting session. 30 casts with a Mepps in-line spinner. One strike.... In the dark, I finally get a bite. Land it in the dark... What is it? Turn on my camera's flash.... Damn it's a 9" Brook Trout.... Total Catch for the Day: 25 Brook Trout 8" to 13", and 1 Brown Trout at 10"

Nov 24- Mountain Trout Grand Slam

I got my Mountain Trout Grand Slam today, finally. Fished the Tuckasegee River this morning and within 5 minutes I had released a Brook Trout and 3 Rainbow Trout. The next 2 hours were a steady stream of Rainbows in very tough conditions. Casting was hard because of ice forming in the rod's guides. After 2 frigid hours, Jalen and I climbed out of the River and took a short break..... We climbed back in a couple hundred yards upstream. I immediately started catching Rainbows and really pretty Brookies.... Then I hooked a fish that looked a little darker. I figured it was a Brook Trout with some spawning colors.... Nope, I was wrong. It was a Brown Trout! My first Brown Trout of my career and Mission Accomplished.... Grand Slam! I went on to catch many more Rainbow Trout and a few more Brook Trout.. Jalen caught 2 great Trout. First he caught a serious stud Brook Trout. Probably 16" but it was just a magnificent speciman..... Then, Jalen caught a trophy Rainbow Trout. Probably 21" and definitely over 4 pounds. Massive! We quit on that one. Jennifer had waited patiently for me for 4 hours, it was cold as hell, I got my Grand Slam, and Jalen got his Trophy! Jalen's skill in this River, his mastery of the Fly Rod, and his enthusiasm has had a significant impact on my life.... As a person that LOVES FISHING, loves the variety and challenge of learning Fly Fishing for Trout, Jalen is definitely The Most Important Person (as a Fishing influence) that I've met in a long time. Jalen will be working as a Fishing Guide on the Tuckasegee River in the very near future and I strongly recommend him. He is 100% the real deal.... Skilled. Patient. Insightful. Fun. Intelligent. Generous. Likeable...... In 3 trips to the Tuckasegee River, as an experienced fisherman with ABSOLUTELY NO SKILL or INSIGHT into this specific fishery OR this entire Fishing Concept, Jalen has personally"guided" me to approximately 110 Mountain Trout with all 3 species represented and a NC Citation Brook Trout..... All that in probably less than 10 hours of actual fishing time....Total Catch for the Day: 45 Rainbow Trout up to 4+ pounds, 15 Brook Trout from 8" to 14", and 1 Brown Trout

In the Mountains

Jennifer and I are on our belated "honeymoon" and in following Capt Marty operating procedures, I have managed to arrange a way to fit a "little fishing " into this romantic mountain getaway! So as my beautiful wife slumbered peacefully in our Mountain Love Nest, I've been up sneaking around threading my fly rods and tying on tapered leaders and sorting through a few wooly boogers..... Hopefully tomorrow Jennifer will succumb to my pleas to hike an area that...... "Damn honey look, there's the daggone Tuckasegee River! Wow. Do you mind if I try it? Just happen to have a Fly Rod. (or two) in the toolbox"........ If that ain't suspicious enough..... "Look baby, is that Jalen? You remember Jalen? From last summer"...  Well, anyway, hopefully tomorrow I will get me a Grand Slam. A Rainbow Trout, a Brook Trout, and  a Brown Trout. I love it. I love my wife. I love my life! Stay tuned and see how it turns out!

Nov 22- The Speckled Trout Show

Made the hike again. Beautiful Weather. My old pal Clifford showed up. Emma had a wonderful time. The Speckled Trout fishing was not nearly as good as the past 2 days. But, by any other standard, the fishing was great. By Radio Island standards, the fishing was OK. I'd guess I caught a Speckled Trout on 1 out of every 7 casts.... I was running my mouth and trying to keep Emma in my area. I could've done better and others did better. But, it wasn't great..... I started about 1130am and I quit around 4pm. So, I got my casts in! Tommorrow, Jennifer and I are headed WEST. I'm looking for a Brown Trout. We are getting away and we are excited! Total Catch for the Day: 75 Speckled Trout from 8" to 13" and 2 Bluefish 

Nov 21- Trout after Trout after Trout

I was going for 300 Speckled Trout releases today..... The morning was great. It was a morning of 20 cast-in-a-row streaks.... I started "outside the box"..... Over on the west side. Close to the old Aviation Fuel Docks.... I thought maybe, just maybe, I'd hit a big Speckled Trout or even a Gray Trout or a Black Drum..... Nope. Just the same ole 11" to 13" Speckled Trout. About 1 in 10 would be a borderline keeper. I really didn't care, I'm not looking for a fish dinner.... Anyway, at 707am I caught my first Speckled Trout. At 1230pm I caught #170..... I left the Island for lunch and to run errands.... My intentions were to be back into the water at 230pm to go for 300.... I never made it back. So, maybe tomorrow. If you are addicted to fishing, like me, it is hard to beat this kind of "catching". It is fun. It is easy. It is cheap. It's even good exercise.... The Boat sits in the yard and YES, I want to go to the Cape Lookout Rock Jetty for the 20" Trout.... I want to scour the Beach and Shoals for schools of Red Drum.... I want to chase Albacore and/or King Mackerels.... All that costs $$$$$..... The Radio Island Trout are the Best Bargain in Fishing! I can pretty much promise you that I'm going for 300 tommorrow! Total Catch for the Day: 170 Speckled Trout from 11" to 14", 5 Bluefish, and 1 Inshore Lizardfish

Nov 20- Fishing in the Wind Tunnel

Stupidity got the best of me this morning! Fairly floated down the Radio Island Beach this morning. Float like a butterfly, wind at my back.... Got down there and Holy Mackerel, the NE Wind at 25 right in my face. Ultra high tide too. Had to go right to the top of my waders to get my green grub in the Trout Zone. They were there too. Caught 14 Speckled Trout in 25 minutes. Had to whip it into the wind. A bad cast (short) and you'd catch nothing. Water was cold. Wind was cold. Air wasn't warm. Then I said "to hell with this"..... Had to walk back up the Beach into the wind. Now, the light weight waders weighed a ton. It was all I could do to get back to the truck.... Am I dumb enough to go back this afternoon???? Yeap, Korey and I went back this afternoon and caught them on really good.... Had lots of 4-5 cast streaks. Caught a fair share of legal Specked Trout too... As soon as I said, "Hey Korey you want to keep a few?" We never caught another Trout over 13"..... Go figure! And the NE wind continues to blow...... Total Catch for the Day: 80 Speckled Trout from 10" to 15" and 3 Bluefish

Nov 19- Every Cast Speckled Trout

This afternoon I made the walk down the Radio Island Beach and at 245 pm I made my first cast. Bite. Pull. Released a Speckled Trout. First 21 casts, same exact thing. Then I missed one. Next cast started a new streak. That's how it went until 430pm when I left. I had Emma along so she was entertaining and a pain in the ass at the same time. She took up a little of my time, so my catch could've been higher number of releases. Who cares? I did release 2 Speckled Trout that I guessed were 15". Solid keepers. Probably 4 others were borderline. I released a Bluefish too. I fished with a white 4" gulp shrimp and I fished with green grubs and white grubs..... The bait made NO DIFFERENCE and gulp was simply a waste of money. Emma devoured half of a Trout and buried the rest for later. Total Catch for the Day: 48 Speckled Trout from 12" to 15" and 1 Bluefish

The Week Ahead

Its time for me to go back to Hatteras.....

But I'm on vacation! I aint going anywhere..... And wouldn't you know it, THE WEATHER FORECAST SUCKS..... Supposed to be WINDY all week. Here is the NOAA Marine Forecast as copied and pasted by your's truly:

Small Craft Advisory

...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON......

Synopsis...COOL HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN BUILD OVER THE REGION THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WORK WEEK. ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA LATE SATURDAY.

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Overnight: N winds 10 to 15 kt...increasing to 20 to 25 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft...building to 4 to 6 ft late. Dominant period 5 seconds.

Tue: N winds 20 to 25 kt...diminishing to 15 to 20 kt in the afternoon. Seas 4 to 6 ft...except 2 to 3ft near shore. Dominant period 5 seconds.

Tue Night: NE winds 15 to 20 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft...except around 2 ft near shore. Dominant period 6 seconds.

Wed: NE winds 15 to 20 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft...except 2 to 4 ft near shore. Dominant period 6 seconds. A slight chance of showers.

Wed Night: NE winds 15 to 20 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft. A slight chance of showers.

Thu: NE winds 10 to 15 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft.

Thu Night: NE winds 10 to 15 kt...becoming E 5 to 10 kt after midnight. Seas 2 to 4 ft.
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Well, regardless of the miserable sounding weather forecast, I am home and I am availiable for FISHING.....       Speckled Trout and Albacore may be the best options...   Sea Mullets, Gray Trout, Red Drum, Spot, and Hogfish are other things that might find a hook in their lip this week if they're not careful...

Call me at 252-241-8350 if interested in FISHING 

Nov 17 Slow King Mackerel Fishing

It was slow King Mackerel Fishing at the freaking Atlas Tanker with great bait, in mid November, in 67 degree water..... What!!!!!   Nearly unheard of!!!!!!   Man I needed this one too. Jason first emailed me in probably September. Not just that, he was in Afghanistan! Reading this Blog and wanting to go fishing.... Then we got cancelled twice last week..... Today looked good on paper. Pretty forecast. This morning was overcast and a little blustery on the Cape Lookout Shoals and to the East. But we battled through it. We found very cooperative Bluefish and filled the livewell. Then we made the run to the Atlas Tanker. It looked great. We missed a strike right off the bat. Then we went 70 minutes with NO BITES whatsoever. Finally we caught 2 King Mackerels back to back. A 17 lb King and a 24 lb King. Then we figured the Albacore out. The wreck was shrouded with them at 80 feet deep. Drop a stingsilver and rip it up. A strike every time. As the King bite died, the Albacore were the best game in town. We also added a fat Amberjack before we left.... We also scoured the Cape Lookout Shoals and Shackleford Beach in poor conditions for Red Drum. No luck. So, I got Jason and friends out there and it was okay. We needed 1 more King Mackerel. We wanted a trophy. But, at the end of the day, it was fun and successful.... Total Catch for the Day: 2 King Mackerel at 17 lbs and 24 lbs, 7 Albacore from 8 to 12 lbs, a 36 lb Amberjack, 35 Bluefish up to 1 lb, 2 Black Sea Bass, 1 Gag Grouper, and 1 Blue Runner

Nov 15- Good Albacore Fishing

Ron and Dennis were the two best Fly Fishermen that I've had on my Boat in a long time. Dennis was really a magician. The sound his line made when shooting through the guides was awesome. He was hot early too. First cast connected! My first cast with a stingsilver did too.... The fishing was tough but steady. The Albacore would pop up and stay up for 30-40 seconds but it was spread over an incredible distance. Miles really.... And the were 20+ boats chasing them. Patience was a virtue and everyone got their chances. Dennis and Ron hooked 9 and released 8. I released 1 Albacore on spin. I also caught some other things jigging. Around lunchtime, the Albacore disappeared. Being 12 miles offshore, our search pattern carried us inshore and we found nothing. I scoured the Beach for Red Drum and found nothing. We cut it short and called it a half day. Great morning. Total Catch for the Day: 9 Albacore up to 10 lbs, 4 Bluefish, and 2 Gray Trout