June 30- WAHOOOOOO on a Skiff

Me and Cbo and Ryno..... Offshore Fishing while inshore on a 18 ft Skiff..... Pretty work, boys. Well, actually, it was very frustrating..... We lost Dolphin after Dolphin. Then, the last fish of the day was a 30 lb Wahoo. I got a little more time now than I did last night.... The Wahoo bite and fight was very, very cool. Cbo had a planer tied off to the stern and it was running about 6 feet down and about 25 ft behind the boat. The Wahoo attacked the planer bait and got itself hooked. It immediately came to the top and busted the water on top pretty violently. While not "a jump" it really looked like something a Sailfish would do.... It then reversed field, smoked about 50 yards of line and did it again. Still, no one saw it good enough to identify it.... I was still guessing Sailfish...... Cbo then walked around the portside of the boat and reeled his fish in to the bow. Here we got our first look. A beautiful "lit up" Wahoo. Nearly black on top with radiant blue stripes, while pulsing purple. From a "dead in the water" Skiff, it was an incredible sight. I've never in all my years been able to "study" a live Wahoo like I did this one. Since, I was the gaff man, I was right on his every move.... Stressful at the time, but wonderful in hindsight, this Wahoo made 3 streaking, zippy runs from "just out of reach" to 50 yards out. Each time Cbo reeled him back in. Finally, I sunk the gaff in his upper shoulder and the game was over.....Very Nice. Total Catch for the Day: 6 Dolphin up to 6 lbs, a 15 lb Albacore, and a 30 lb Wahoo

June 29- Angels-N-Camo Fishing Trip

Jacob is a special kid that has responded well to Horse Therapy. So when Lisa and her Foundation got ahold of him, he had 2 requests. Having heard of Carteret County's two wild pony herds, he wanted to go catch some fish where he could see wild Ponies grazing ..... Of course, y'all know me... Headed east in a hurry, "Look Jacob, there's the Ponies, now hold on so we can pound our way to the Shoals so we can cast to Blues, Reds, and Spanish Mackos".. Well, with the east wind puffing 15-17 kts, the Shoals weren't as calm as we needed for this "very non-traditional" fishing group..... So we pulled up and were forced to pull out the 2 hook bottom rigs.... Y'all know that's not my game! But today I did what I felt necessary and we made our day. Lots of bites, lots of variety, lots of action. I apologize that my gang didn't have anything to take home with them. In reality, me and Lisa's son, Austin, caught a nice pile of very nice, fat Black Sea Bass that just weren't quite long enough. We also caught 4-5 Hogfish that, with the Sea Bass, would've made a nice meal... Oh well, I certainly hope Jacob found his way to a big plate of Seafood somewhere along the way..... In the end, we fished in 4 or 5 different places and caught nearly 100 fish. Jacob saw quite a few Shackleford Banks Ponys. Jacob also drove the boat like a Pro and learned about Gilligan and Wake Forest Baptist Hospital and Bisquits and Bait and Buffets and Black Sea Bass and too much East Wind..... Total Catch for the Day: 25 Black Sea Bass up to 11", 35 Hogfish, 28 Pinfish, 2 Summer Flounder, 2 Smooth Dogfish, and 2 Inshore Lizardfish

June 27- The Drive Home and Smallmouth Bass Quest

Figures I'd pick "The Worst Day of Traffic in the History of I-95 South. Traffic was Stop-N-Roll from the Delaware Line to Frederick, Va..... But I aint gonna talk about that! First I stopped at Sandy Lake, Pa and fished a Lake I found.... Hoping for a Smallmouth Bass or a Musky! All I found were Bluegill. A Bluegill Frenzy though.... Cruched them on the 3wt Fly Rod and a Popping Bug.... After I left, I read up on this Lake and it is basically over run with Carp. Great. Never had Smallmouth Bass at all. Plenty of Largemouth Bass in the old days..... Oh well, wasted an hour! Later, I found myself back at Hancock, Md. Same as on the way up.... Only this time I got 2 baby Smallmouth Bass to eat a Wooly Boogar. I also caught another beautiful Longear Sunfish. I also hit the C O Canal again and released 5 Green Sunfish..... Memorable day for the Traffic Jam, but I'll never forget those little Smallmouth Bass that came from a tiny stream feeding the Potomac River... No idea what the name of that Stream is.... Total Catch for the Day: 12 Bluegill, 5 Green Sunfish, 2 Smallmouth Bass, and 1 Longear Sunfish 

June 26- Lake Erie Adventure and Walleye Slaughter

Not sure what you've heard about The Great Lakes. Or Lake Erie in particular. But, I can tell you this, they have a Great Great Great Fishery up there..... The Walleye Fishery is outstanding. From the looks of it, the Yellow Perch and White Bass Fishing can be very, very good as well.... My crew is an outstanding Walleye crew.... I was merely a "Boat Dummy".... The Planer Boards and Worm Harnesses are out of my comfort zone. I got a good look at how all this works though and I can promise you that, while complicated, it is effective as hell and a fine tuned crew can keep you reeling in Walleye until your arms and wrists are tired. Fish Cleaning at the end of the day becomes a CHORE..... Today, we started trolling at 11am and fished until 3pm. We landed 14 Walleyes from 5 to 9 lbs each. We caught several more "Ohio Trophy Fish". We also caught Yellow Perch and White Bass. In two days of fishing with these guys, I personally reeled in 10 Walleye. I caught 3 that were at least 28" that were trophy sized. I caught 4 Freshwater Drum, one of which was a trophy. I also caught 8 White Bass and I lost a Smallmouth Bass.... Ouch. That hurt. I am taking home some great memories and a bag of great Walleye fillets..... Time to get home and get back out in the Ocean. Time to Go! Total Catch for the Day: 14 Walleye from 5 to 9 lbs, 8 Yellow Perch up to 1 lb, and 8 White Bass up to 24 oz 

June 25- Lake Erie Walleye Slaughter

I don't know much about it, so I don't know what to say..... Apparently, the State of Ohio gives "Fish Awards" for Trophy sized Freshwater Fish..... A 28" Walleye is deemed a Trophy by The State of Ohio. Under their guidelines, today I caught 2 Walleye that were award winners. I caught another that missed it by 1". The total catch by my crew consisted of at least 4 Trophy Walleye. My largest Walleye was 9 lbs. My other 28" Walleye weighed in at 8 lbs 8 oz. All together we had 18 Walleye, of which 15 were 6-9 lbs. The other 3 were around 3 lbs. We also caught Freshwater Drum. Once again, according to the State of Ohio, I caught 2 Drum that were "award winners"... We also caught White Bass and Rock Bass... It's nearly time to eat fried Walleye Fillets so I'm going to finish this up quickly.... I will add, I hooked a Smallmouth Bass but it got away before I could land it..... Dammit Failure! Oh well, there is another day. More great Lake Erie Fishing to come. Total Catch for the Day: 18 Walleye up to 9 lbs, 10 Freshwater Drum up to 8 lbs, 3 White Bass up to 1 lb, and 1 Rock Bass 

June 24- Driving to the Walleye Grounds

So I left Hatteras at 1030pm and hauled ass for Ohio..... By 7am, I was at a place called Hancock, Maryland. The Potomac River runs through town. Its nothing like the Potomac that rolls trough the Chocolate City.... It is shallow and rocky... And get this..... It has Walleyes.... And Smallmouth Bass..... And Muskellunge.... So I waded out there with my fly rod and started frapping.... This was the first time in my life that I have "shared the water" with any of those great gamefish! Unfortunately, my Potomac Adventure was a losing proposition.... After missing about 25 hits on the popping bug, I finally hit paydirt in the form of a 4" Green Sunfish...... After visions of Muskys and Smallmouths faded away, I walked back to my truck..... Without a big history lesson (deserved) but Hancock is also home to the C & O Canal.... A pretty dirty, shallow body of water that I had to try...... And the Green Sunfish were chewing.... But at 3-4 inches, they didn't hold my attention too long..... So after a while, I hit the road. Headed out of town I crossed a small bridge, Glancing out my window...... Holy Shit, waist deep, running cold water. Boulders. Downed Timber.... I'm thinking Smallmouth and Muskie..... Again. Well, an hour later, I had lost a dozen flies, I had cussed 50 innocent passersbys..... I had cussed rocks, trees, power lines, limbs.... I even cussed myself.... All I had to show for it was my career first Longear Sunfish... Tomorrow IS MY DAY! Ohio Citation Walleye, here I am.... Total Catch for the Day: 7 Green Sunfish and 1 Longear Sunfish 

Hatteras Fishing (Not Much)

It ain't much but I did go Pompano Fishing. Conditions weren't great, as usual..... The tide was stagnant and the water was dingy. I did manage to catch a  few tiny Pompano out of my Sand Flea Trap! That seems to be the only that I can catch one nowadays. One of these days, I'm going to hit it just right and catch me a couple of Pompano and when I do, they will be 4 pounders! NC Citation winners.....

I also pulled off a weird-ball catch Friday night.... While blindcasting a clouser, I hooked into a powerful little mystery fish! After a short battle, I pulled a baby Bullnose Ray into view. Crazy. Some crazy way, the little Ray got snagged in the wing by the Clouser fly. Not what Mr. Bob Clouser had in mind when he invented this famous and very useful Fly! Total Catch for the Week: 1 Bullnose Ray

This Weekend-- A Look Back

Well folks, this weekend should be interesting for Top Water Charters.. As everyone knows, I am up at Hatteras working and will not be home for another week. I am getting so many calls though, I finally asked Capt Tuggy if he was interested in taking another trip for me..... Well, he was and he is! The FV Tugwell sails tomorrow morning in search of Dolphins, Kings, and Amberjacks! Good Luck Capt Tuggy.....

Also, I got a guy Sunday that wants to do a short half day trip. I asked Capt Tuggy and he couldn't do it. So, I got to thinking. ?... Hell, if Tuggy can do it, why can't Chris? Capt Cbo has a USCG Master's License and he's been "on a roll" lately catching fish. Capt Cbo has really done well with the "small boat" inshore Dolphin! Chris is my protege'. He hated fishing. I created a fisherman out of an "out of season" hunter..... Nowadays Chris is a force to be reckoned with! Anyway, Sunday will be his first day of work as a Glamorous Fishing Guide.............

What a disaster! Poor Tuggy had a Boat Trailer Failure at 5am near Vanceboro while pulling his boat to Beaufort.... Unhooked his truck, left his rig broke down on the side of Hwy 43, and raced to Beaufort to grab the Top Water Boat..... Once he launched my boat, it wouldn't start! Charter Over. Two broke down Boats. No $600 pay day. Disaster. Tuggy called Cbo and the two of them managed to reload my boat on my trailer. Tuggy then hauled the Top Water Boat over to Portside Marina for repairs. Note--- As of Sunday Morning: My Boat and Tuggy's Trailer are both fixed. Shheeeeeessshhhh

On Sunday, Capt Cbo took a couple out on a 3 hour charter and caught Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, and Bullet Mackerel. Chris reported great casting action and 2 happy clients! So, it started out as a disaster and it ended up pretty good.

Ready for Something New

I am headed north in a few days. I'm going to sample some "New" Water for the first time in a long, long time. I fished extensively in the Gulf of Mexico back in October and November of 2001 while spending a month down in South Padre Island, Texas. Other than a few vacations to the Florida Keys, I haven't fished anywhere except an area whose borders would run from Southport, NC to Cape Charles, Va. That's one reason that I'm so excited...... By the way, I am headed to Conneaut, Ohio to fish in Lake Erie. The very thought of it excites me. Lake Erie. One of the Great Lakes. New Waters and New Experiences! I will be targetting fish that I've never fished for. I will catch new species. I should catch my first Walleye and my first Smallmouth Bass. Two of the Greatest Freshwater Fish on the Planet. Perhaps I will catch Freshwater Drum and Steelhead. There's a good chance that I will catch a mix of Yellow Perch, White Perch, and White Bass as well. I find all of this very exciting. Tom Cheseboro will become Capt Tom. Capt Marty will become "Marty the Boat Dummy".... Honestly, I can't wait. This will all be SO NEW, I will probably lose my sea legs and puke my guts up..... I'll ask 10,000 stupid questions. I will backlash Tom's reels. I will do something IGNORANT to lose a Trophy Walleye. Towards the end of the second day I will "get the hang of it". I will catch a big Walleye. A 10 lb Walleye that will get me wanting to come back.... I see this every day, but usually I see it from the other perspective...... Basically, I am really looking forward to this opportunity Tom has provided me. I only wish that m lovely wife, Jennifer, was able to ride up there with me. After 7 long days at Hatteras, I am ready to go home to see my wife. I miss her. I once went 15 years without her and it makes me appreciate her sooooo much. I really truly am thankful that she gave me her blessing to leave Hatteras and drive up to Ohio.... To catch a fish. Thank you so much, Jennifer. I love you and I will make it up to you.... Thank you Tom. For giving me the opportunity to experience a new Area, a new Water, and a new Fish. And to have someone take me and show me who has been there before and done this before. I can't wait.... I can't wait to feel a Walleye's fight. To feel a Walleye in my hands. To clean a Walleye and look inside it. Finally, to taste a Walleye and "see what the BIG DEAL is all about"... Then, I can't wait to bring home some Walleye Fillets and fry them up for Jennifer and my Daddy... Hopefully they will be good enough to justify (in their eyes) my trip.... They might not understand my "New Water and New Fish Longings"

To be continued.......

Cobia Season Final Score- 35 Cobias

It really reads like a GOOD DAY of Fishing for Capt Aaron Kelly on the Rock Solid out of Oregon Inlet.... Aaron is the #1 Cobia Captain in the USA. He catches between 100-200 Cobia per year. I remember either last year or the year before, he had an 80(?) fish day.... He would laugh at my "CITATION COUNT".... Like I said, my Season Total reads like a good day for him.... But, Fishing is a little different here in the Central part of the NC Coast..... Plus, I did my best, and don't forget, I have to work HALF THE TIME...... Anyway, this year I caught 35 Cobia. Down from last year's TOTAL of 50 Cobia. I did have a good, if not great year for Heavyweight Cobia. Thanks especially to Capt Tuggwell's keen vision I landed Cobias weighing 85, 82, 75, 73, 71, 55, and 45 lbs this season.... I would guess that we'd encounter a few random Cobias on the Wrecks or King Mackerel Fishing later this season, but as far as "Cobia Fishing" goes....... It's over this year. Thanks to everyone that went Cobia Fishing with me this year and I apologize to those that did not succeed.

June 16- Stood Up and Smacked Down

The TITLE doesn't tell the whole truth.... In reality, I was very disappointed and aggravated this morning..... Lots of confusion with 2 different groups of clients. Both from Ohio. Both staying at Emerald Isle. To make a long story short, yesterdays group got in their full day even though one guy was confused about whether we were fishing Sunday or Monday... He got left behind unfortunately. I apologize for that! Today's group, I thought was a father-son group, and I thought we were all set to fish a half day...... Therefore, I left the Top Water Boat in the water, gassed it up at 4.50 per gallon instead of the 3.60 up here at Wilco by my house. And.... I told Stacy to go home and "see you in the morning"..... In other words, I sent my help home. So then last night at 10pm, I get a text saying "We can't/ain't going tomorrow because everyone isn't here yet"...... What? I'm POed, but I understand. it's my fault. I should "firm up" these commitments and the way to do it is a $200 Deposit.... So, I get up this morning and it's the Absolute Prettiest Day in some time..... The boats in the water. Its already a hot day with plenty of sunshine and NO WIND! I've got some ice cold water in the cooler. Plenty of Ice. A bag of fresh dead Menhaden. A full tank of gas.... No clients. Just me..... It seems like a re-run. (A couple weeks ago, I shed my clients and went out and caught a 71 lb Cobia.....)  After a little debate with myself, I pulled away from the dock and headed for the Inlet. My initial plan this morning was ride out and look for the "Misquito Fleet".... The small Shrimp Trawlers that like to work east of Beaufort Inlet in July and August.... When they are out there doing daylight drags, the SHARK FISHING can be the Greatest that you'll ever see! That was my plan. Go bombard the Sharks. So I stuck my head out Beaufort Inlet and a miracle happened. To my left in the clear shallow water that WAS Shackleford Banks just a few months ago (Erosion has changed this landscape pretty damn drastically), I see a giant Leatherback Turtle struggling against the tide. Two things immediately stood out to me. One was about 50 lbs. The other was about 70 lbs. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that Mr Turtle was in place that he couldn't escape my vision. In other words, diving wasn't going to help this one, there was nowhere to go. So, I crept up there and tossed my bucktail. Amazingly, not just 2 Cobia but about 6 of them suddenly appeared. As fate would have it, the biggest one ate my bucktail and darted off to the east. I reached over and grabbed a second rod. Made a cast and hooked another. Here comes stupid, this never works out but I always try. Clamoring down on deck, I found another rod with a bucktail on it and cast it too. Nothing happened here but rod #1 quickly got my attention because the whine of the old Penn reel had stopped and I had no idea what this fish was doing.... As I picked it up and reeled frantically, I happened to notice Rod and Reel #2 was looking rather un-natural in it's bend, just as I came tight on Fish #1, I see that Rod #2 in now bucking to the same beat as my 250 HP Suzuki which was left clutched ahead. Okay, now I've got one Cobia on and another Cobia somewhere out there but his line rolling up the propeller. Great. Mr Turtle is making it to the deep water and I'm Dead in the Water. Outboard tilted up, Cobia #2 is now officially Gone and left me with at least 100 yards of line in my wheel..... Cobia #1 is now hauling ass to rejoin his Turtle Squadron.... I say "to hell with it" and put the motor down and pursue my fish.... Finally, a half mile away down off Shackleford Banks, I catch up to him, get him to the boat, and gaff him. He promptly bends my gaff, bends my hook and falls off. The fight is on, AGAIN........ Amazingly, I win again. I gaff him again and this time, just as I'm pulling him over the gunnel, he twists off the gaff and hits the water. AGAIN. Fighting again. Blood streaming from his flank. I'm going to lose this damn fish. By now, I've got 2 other boats watching my every move and blunder. I wanted to cuss someone out, but it was ALL MY FAULT. I should've had this one. I could've been headed home. Instead, I'm still cutting on my propeller seal. More and More. Deeper and Deeper. Anytime now, I expected to see a Slick Appear and my Lower Unit Lock Up! But No, she held on and the fight waged on. Now I was getting too tired to lift the damn thing. My nerves were frayed. Every thought going through my mind was negative. Then I wondered, hell, what worse could happen? In neutral with the fish straight down and the Engine died.... You ask and you shall recieve. I silently prayed and turned the ignition. Mr Suzuki fired back up thankfully. This might turn out well. Finally, the Cobia rose from the depths again. This time I gaffed him in the head and quickly hauled him over the stern. WOW. There's my MESSED UP COBIA STORY for 2014 and it had a HAPPY ENDING. Thats unusual. I cleaned up and took a quick self-portrait and ran for home.... Here it is 3 hours later and the Top Water Boat is in the yard. I pulled the prop and got a pile of mono off the shaft. Everything looked good. Amazing. The Cobia is 55" long with a 34" girth. I will get a weight later, but probably a gutted weight. (68 lbs gutted, 75 lbs) Anyway, after yesterdays "Last Second Miracle" and today's "Find a PIGGY in 5 minutes", it feels like I am on a nice little ROLL. Let's keep it going. We can't loss momentum! Total Catch for the Day: 1 Cobia at 75 lbs

June 15- Another Last Second Miracle

Once again...... The Weatherman said, "East Winds at 5-10, seas at 2 feet"...... In other words, the Forecast was Beautiful...... What did we get at 7am when we cleared Lennoxville Point? SMACKED in the FACE by 20 kts of NE WIND. And the whole entire Plan went flying out the window. Again. Again. And again. Forecasted to be a Beautiful Week.... Well, on the water it has been almost like I big fat lie after another. Please, just forget even giving a Marine Forecast because evidently it's impossible! With all that being said, There was no stopping the "Big Jack" Fishing Team. I couldn't fulfill my promise to cast to vast schools of feeding gamefish on the Cape Lookout Shoals, but Big Jack was patient. He waited for the right bite. He defeated all the Sharks and Rays that came along. He was ready. Finally, after 49 live baits had gone down the drain..... One last live bait..... Big Jack decks a 25 lb Cobia. Unreal. On a slow fishing day, we got a keeper Cobia. We also caught a nice bundle of Sharks and less favorable bundle of Rays. Seems like we caught something else but I can't think! Oh yeah, a Banded Rudderfish..... Total Catch for the Day: 25 lb Cobia, 11 Blacknose Shark 4 from 24 to 28 lbs (the rest babies), 1 Blacktip Shark at 25 lbs, 1 Banded Rudderfish, 1 Inshore Lizardfish, and 8 Southern Stingrays up to 75 lbs

June 14- Decent Wreck Fishing

I suspect that the fishing fell off a little bit after the full moon last night. The tide was running hard, even 10 miles off the Beach. It was also rough early. Made for tough conditions and that worked to our advantage in a weird way..... This morning, it seemed like there were 5-6 boats racing to the Hutton. Sensing that the Top Water Boat was the slowest in the bunch, I made a decision to fish at the less popular Soluide Wreck instead. It paid off handsomely. As a few others struggled, we did pretty damn good. Chris and Ryan caught the typical Amberjacks and Grouper, but they also dropped a pair of Cobia on the deck as well. Total Catch for the Day: 4 Amberjack up to 30 lbs, 2 Cobia at 33" and 20 lbs, 1 Gag Grouper at 25", 1 Blacktip Shark at 8 lbs, and 1 At Sharpnose Shark at 9 lbs

Tuggwell Jones Epic Day

Congratulations to long time friend, fishing partner, and Relief Captain Tuggy.... Today he ran his boat to Ocracoke and "on the Island of Enchanted Love" he took a knee and proposed to his darling, Lauren. She accepted and will soon be MRS TUGGY.

How will this affect his fishing success or lack of...... Only time will tell. He certainly has a very keen eye for Cobia, I suspect that Lauren is a keeper as well....

Meanwhile. the Top Water Boat sails tomorrow in search of Amberjack, Barracuda, and Cobia.

June 10- Awesome Yellowfin Tuna Fishing

The Top Water Fishing Team spent a day fishing a little north of its usual territory! And the fishing was great! Yellowfin Tuna fishing reminiscent of the way it used to be at the Big Rock back in the 1990's! We were fishing the Point off the Outer Banks. Tuna fishing is alive and well out there. Tuna recruitment comes from the east out there, I guess... They got Tuna, Pilot Whales, and cruising Hammerhead Sharks everywhere you look! Fishing itself was good. Four flurries. One Dolphin bailing party in the rain. Two Yellowfin flurries on the troll. Lastly, we bottom fished in 460 ft of water and caught some Blueline Tilefish and other bottom dwellers. Hard work that was! Stevie Bittman caught the best Dolphin at 12 lbs and the best Yellowfin Tuna at 60lbs. Billy Harris was the "King of the Bottom" with 2 Tilefish and 2 Black Sea Bass on one drop. Total Catch for the Day: 11 Yellowfin Tuna from 35 to 60 lbs, 12 Dolphin from 4 to 12 lbs, 20 Blueline Tilefish from 2-5 lbs, 14 Black Sea Bass from 10" to 14 ", and 1 Red Hake