Oct 30- Tugwell Mackerel Massacre

Tuggwell collecting Pink Slips

180 lbs of gutted King Mackerels. Great Catch in less than 150 minutes of Fishing

Capt Tuggwell came racing to town this morning to get in on this Fall's epic King Mackerel bite before the weather goes to crap this weekend. Facing rough seas with wind and seas set to increase into the afternoon, it was important that we get this done quickly. Also, with the Top Water Boat down again, the smaller, quicker FlyN Fish was perfect for this task. I recruited hard core fish killer, Stacy to join us..... Departing at 7am, we had bait at 730am, and we were beating our way out there by 8am.... Once at NWP, first menhaden in the water got crushed and we were in for another incredible day of fishing! I aint got much time, so I'll give the short version.... Tuggwell, Stacy, and I fished in sloppy and wet conditions. It wasn't a camera day. We pretty much fished from 9am until 1130am. We never went 5 minutes without a hook-up. We fished 2 rods. Tuggwell held a rod and I held a rod. Stacy held the wheel and the gaff.... We missed very few bites. We caught 9 King Mackerel. We had 5 over 30 lbs. Tuggwell caught 2 twins that weighed 36 lbs each. We also caught a pair of Albacore, the second one had us thinking "Blackfin Tuna"..... That really was our only disappointment. If the size of King Mackerel ratchets up like it usually does when this fishery shifts to the East Side in November..... WATCH OUT  Total Catch for the Day: 9 King Mackerel including 36 lb King, 36 lb King, 34 lb King, 31 lb King, 31 lb King, 28 lb King, and 2 Albacore at 15 lbs and 16 lbs

Oct 29- Greatest Show on the Water

John Boy's first career King Mackerel

Kings were chewing. It was hard to get more than 2 lines in the water

Pesky Albacore moved in late in the day

As we were counting our catch, we dropped a live double-header in the pile

Our last couple of Kings were released to fight another day!

JohnBoy and I went King Mackerel Fishing and it was out of this world. For the first 3 hours, we never got more than 2 lines out...... Fishing was not only great, it was also spectacular as nearly every King Mackerel leaped out of the water on the strike..... We saw so many beautiful jumps it's hard to recall them all..... One particular is etched in my mind. It was a King that we missed! A 30-35 lb King that leaped upward in a classic pose.... Arched body..... Just like s Traditional Mount. Then he slowly turned his head down and entered the water prettier than Greg Louganis ever did in the 1984 Olympics.... It was one to remember, that's for sure. JohnBoy picked a great day to go King Mackerel Fishing for the first time. JohnBoy caught 3 King Mackerel that were large enough for a NC Citation. Unfortunately, the King Mackerel were biting so quickly and the action was so fast that I did a poor job taking pictures of all the fish. I got JohnBoy's first King with "live colors" but I never took another good King picture..... In my defense, it was very rough out there today and there was alot of boat's fishing in the area...... We ended up with a 135 lb limit of King Mackerel and 2 Albacore at 13 and 15 lbs. JohnBoy caught King Mackerel weighing 32 lbs, 30 lbs, and 30 lbs...... Congratulations JohnBoy and you're ready to tackle this on your 23 ft Parker next summer....... Total Catch for the Day: 11 King Mackerel from 12 to 32 lbs and 2 Albacore at 13 lbs and 15 lbs

HALLOWEEN FISHING----TRICK or TREAT

Traditionally, if the Weather is Good-----The Fishing is GREAT

Furthermore, if the Weather is Great-----THE FISHING CAN BE BEYOND YOUR WILDEST BELIEF

Halloween 2005---- Top Water Charters catch with 1 Angler:

6 King Mackerel 12-20 lbs
2 Amberjack 35 lbs
2 Gag Grouper 10-12 lbs
7 Albacore released
30 Bluefish 2-4 lbs
16 Southern Flounder 20" to 24"
4 Red Drum from 25" to 30"

Come getcha some of that!!!!!!

Oct 28- The King Mackerel and Bluefish

First Fish of the Day

Girls Gone Wild

Capt Tugwell's secret Love Child

Everybody caught a King Mackerel and these were a nice class of fish

I finally got a beautiful day to go fishing! I had a great crew! My problem was..... I didn't get off work at Cape Hatteras until 1030pm..... So I drove nearly 5 hours to get home, got my boat ready, and met my crew at 10am. We were supposed to go out on Wednesday, but with great Fishing and Weather forecasted, I knew this crew needed to go fishing on This Day! So we pulled it off...... The King Mackerel Fishing was the "big deal"..... Unfortunately, this crew didn't really care about catching Kings.... So, when everyone caught a King, we left the King Bite and ran to the Shoals to search for something different.... What we found was absolutely amazing! THE MOST BLUEFISH that I've seen in 10 years! Miles and Miles of Bluefish. Millions of 2-4 lb Bluefish. The crew caught all they wanted and then I went searched for some  Red Drum. I actually found a nice school of 50-70 Red Drum cruising among the Blue Horde.... I made a cast with a Gulp and immediately hooked up. Then something unbelievable happened. From my perch 15 feet high, I watched this happen.... As the hooked Drum broke away from the school about 20 Bluefish suddenly raced in his direction. Then right before my eyes the Bluefish ran up to the Drum and started biting the gulp that was protruding from the Drums mouth. Very quickly the Bluefish managed to bite my jighead off and the Drum swam away..... Afterwards, I searched for the School for 30 minutes until I gave up... A great day, then we had a shaky ending...... Three miles from Beaufort Inlet, I had the same old gas problems that had me tied up earlier..... We finally got the Top Water Boat moving after an hour delay.... I think I will use the FlyN Fish for the rest of my weeks fishing and there is a BLOWWWWWW coming so I will have some time to work on my boat! Total Catch for the Day: 3 King Mackerel at 28 lbs, 25 lbs, and 24 lbs, 1 Albacore at 13 lbs, and 12 Bluefish from 2-4 lbs

Oct 19- Pigfish and Pinfish

Before I pulled my Boat out of the water, Jennifer and I went fishing. Unfortunately, the wind was howling and we really didn't need any Spots. Joe was kind enough to give me 15 nice Spots the day before..... The Bluefish in Beaufort Inlet were in a life threatening rip created by the Ground Swell, the Tide, and the Wind.... In other words, our options were limited. Besides, all I had was a box of Squid. So....... We fished for 60 minutes in Gallant's Channel and even though the catch sounds puny, it was fun watching TLOML pull in some fish..... Jennifer and I actually tied in the "Top Fish" department. We each caught a jumbo Hogfish.... We also caught lots of Pinfish, Hogfish, and Black Sea Bass... I caught a Lizardfish, locally known as a "Preacher's Prick".... I also caught a rare little guy called a Rock Sea Bass..... Closely related to Black Sea Bass and the lesser known Bank Sea Bass.... The Rock Sea Bass is much smaller and rarer than its two cousins..... Total Catch for the Day: 12 Pinfish, 8 Hogfish, 4 Black Sea Bass, 1 Rock Sea Bass, and 1 Inshore Lizardfish

Oct 18- Scary Good Bluefish and Spot Fishing

Joe with a Double Header

Gulf Flounder

At this point we started giving Spots away!

More Ground Swell. Too much WSW wind. Tides that were too low. Dirty water...... Capt Marty the complaining, excuse machine, overturned suckage box!!!! But alas, Joe was happy just getting out and being on the water..... As a matter of fact, Joe's great attitude made everything better. It was a miracle! The Inlet Bluefish doubled in size overnight and yesterday's One Spot became today's Fifty Spots!!!! What a difference a day made! A couple of things that I tried did not work. Two different Speckled Trout ideas fizzled..... However, the Bluefish in Beaufort Inlet was great in the morning and the bottom fishing for Spot was outstanding! Also of interest, one old guy beside us caught a very very nice Flounder on a bottom rig. Probably a 6 lb Flounder. I wish it was on my boat! Total Catch for the Day: 50 Spot up to 12oz, 24 Bluefish up to 2 lbs, 7 Gray Trout up to 14", 1 Gulf Flounder, 15 Hogfish, 8 Black Sea Bass, 30 Pinfish, and 4 Inshore Lizardfish

Oct 17- Best Pinfishing On Earth

Kay and Stacy teamed up to catch a pair of Speckled Trout

I admit, I was torn...... Should I say, "Capt Marty unlocks key to secret Speckled Trout Fishery" or "Top Water Crew bombards Pinfish like the Nixon Bombed Hanoi on Christmas Day in 1972"???? Tough decision. And since the Speckled Trout will probably be a fluke catch...... And since the Pinfish will probably be repeated a 1000 times over...... I went with the Pinfish Title.... Seriously, Stacy and Kay joined up with me today and my personal goal was to catch my Dad 8 damn Spots.... After yesterday, I figured we'd kill them. The Top Water Boat was definitely en fuego on the Spot yesterday.... Today, it was a different result. Totally.  First problem was that every damn boat was anchored up and I couldn't get a suitable drift. Yesterday, there was probably 90% anchored boat rate. However, I had a perfect drift path and nobody got in my way, and more importantly, no one could really see our results..... A damn nice pile of Spots and I saw more Spot caught on my boat than the other 50 boats combined..... On the other hand, today we caught ONE SPOT in 60 minutes of effort. We had to anchor up with the rest of the fleet and we probably weren't patient enough either.... We left as the peak tide was approaching. Honestly after we caught 85 Pinfish to our ONE SPOT enough was enough..... Upon leaving the "Spot spot" we did bumble into a pair of beautiful Speckled Trout. One was over 2 lbs and I swear I saw a 6 lb Speckled Trout flash by off my bow.... Check in tomorrow to see if this was Real or just a Fantasy..... Anyone remember Aldo Nova? Total Catch for the Day: 2 Speckled Trout at 24oz and 40oz, 1 Spot, 85 Pinfish, 8 Hogfish, and 7 Black Sea Bass

Oct 16- Good Fishing in Tough Conditions

Good Eating Right Here

Another Small Sample of our Nice Catch

More Spot More Spot and More Spot

The Ground Swell killed the fishing! I take it that there's a Hurricane or Tropical Storm out there somewhere. Huge and annoying Ground Swell ruined my best 2 options. The Cape Lookout Shoals were totally covered with whitewater and breaking waves. Low tide in the morning didn't help.... The worst part was that we could see an incredible bird and fish event taking place on the Eastern Edge. Too bad, some very dangerous conditions layed between us and the action.... So, low tide and bright sunshine in October usually means a really good chance to find Red Drum schools, pods, and even single fish in the Shackleford Banks surf.... So I crawled up top and we went looking... Unfortunately, the same SW groundswell closed out the Beach and fishing and finding fish were impossible... So, I guess so far things ain't looking good..... But, to the contrary, Matt and Tony left my boat very very happy.... These guys fish and they understood the problems we faced.... They also sat out their surf fishing down at Emerald Isle yesterday and watched the rain and wind.... I think they had pretty low expectations! Fortunately, first thing this morning the guys caught small Bluefish on nearly every cast in a very tough tide rip in Beaufort Inlet.... Then we missed on the Shoals and the Beach..... Needing some fish and some action, I headed back inside Beaufort Inlet, broke out some bottom rigs and shrimp, and we did really well on the "much sought after" Spot.... Nice Spot. I told the guys that, even though I rarely fish for Spot nowadays, that today was MY BEST SPOT DAY SINCE 2001.... Bottom fishing was wide open.... Every drop... Pinfish, Spot, Hogfish, Gray Trout, and others... Bites came quick. It left a good taste in our mouths and a "feel good feeling".... On the way home I tried to ruin the "feel good" by hitting the Taylor's Creek docks for Red Drum... It was a fail, fail, fail endeavor. With rising winds and raging tide, the Top Water Boat is not a Dock Hopper... Too big, too bulky.... Great day through, we out-fished every boat in our vicinity.... The crew was great. Atlanta boys.... Hot Spots in grease. Yum. Total Catch for the Day: 24 Bluefish up to 24oz, 24 Spot up to 12oz, 2 Gray Trout up to 24oz, 3 Inshore Lizardfish up to 15", 40 Pinfish, 8 Black Sea Bass, 24 Hogfish up to 16oz, 1 Northern Puffer, and 1 Scup

UPDATE---- TIME TO FISH

This is a VERY IMPORTANT FISH on the NC Coast in the Fall

Been fighting computers, Google, etc etc etc

Working off IPhone for now. I have no idea how to do pictures to my blog via this device

Sorry Guys...... Let's just go fishing

Booked: Thursday and Saturday

Open: Friday, Sunday, and Monday

Come on, Kings, Spots, Trout, Drum, Albacore

Computer Failure

First, not sure how or why, but several people have told me that my old website is now "in Spanish"..... I honestly haven't worked on that thing since 2008 so I have no idea how that happened..... Number two, my laptop is so infected with adware, malware, virus, whatever... That I simply can no longer use it..... Pictures and Fishing Reports have temporarily ground to a halt..... In fisherman's terms: My Laptop is like a kid fishing with 10# test over a wreck and hooks up a 75 lb Amberjack. In other words, it ain't gonna work. Plus, I'm at Hatteras and I damn sure can't do anything about any of my problems up here on this Sandspit.....

Oct 6- What Went Wrong ??????

THE BIG ZERO

Beautiful weather. October. Light Winds. Cooling Ocean Temperatures. This sounds like a can't miss fishing day! Well, we missed. The cast net failed. The throttle failed. The Captain failed. The Angler failed..... No King Mackerel bites. And then with "hot info" about a 10,000 fish school of Red Drum two miles away, my grumpy, distracted Angler mumbled,  "I've had a belly full, take me home"........ Well, on one hand, I can't say I blamed him..... But on the other hand, for someone that used to fish 40-50 days per year, someone that hasn't fished but 6-7 times in all of 2014, for someone that's caught  1 ( that's ONE) Red Drum in his entire life, on the prettiest day of the year, and getting ready to drag their tired ass back to Rawlee....... I can not figure out to save my ass why my angler didn't want to go "catch a Red Drum on every cast"....... Oh well, everybody's different I reckon. In hindsight, I should've just ran to the Eastside first thing.... Go with what you know...... Chasing a bite that's 48 hours old sucks sometimes .... Total Catch for the Day: Nothing

Oct. 3- Interesting King Mackerel Fishing

Alex with the first bite of the day

Pretty cool, a baby Hammerhead Shark

45 lb Hammerhead Shark.... If left alone this monster could top 2000 lbs one day

10 lb King Mackerel for Alex

The Fire Drill

Alex scores a 12 lb King Mackerel

Alex pretty much lets everybody hold one of his Kings!

They told me yesterday was EPIC.... Poor Capt Marty was hanging out with his Dad and taking part in a high level financial summit...... Can't catch them all, right? So today, Rob and his son Alex and their friends were with me for a day of whatever. I suggested King Mackerel! The guys agreed and off we went. We quickly caught our bait and made the 18 mile run to where the Kings chewed yesterday! Once there, fishing was good. Lots to see on a half day trip. Big Sharks and King Mackerel were jumping in all directions. We landed 2 Sharks right off the bat. The second one was a 45 lb Hammerhead Shark. Awesome. After that it was a King Mackerel rally, only interrupted once. This time it was a Houndfish. These monster Needlefish are affectionally known as "Raleigh Sailfish".... As far as the King Mackerels went, it was bittersweet. We hooked 7 and landed 4. Not bad for a "half day charter".... The problem was, our 4 caught King Mackerel were cookie-cutter 10-12 pounders.... The 3 we lost were absolute "smokers"..... Dumping my Shimano Speedmasters of 300-350 yards of 25# test mono! Two broke the wire. The other separated the 30# flourocarbon shock leader.... DO WHAT!!!! Never in my Life have I experienced more than ONE of these events a YEAR.... NOW THREE IN ONE DAY!!!! To make matters slightly worse, we also missed 4-5 aerial strikes from nice King Mackerel. The great thing about this group was that they didn't care to kill or keep anything.... All those missed strikes were still enjoyable visual, spectacular events..... The lost fish, while they had Capt Marty in a suicidal state of mind, the crew's spirits were great...... Great Day. Lots of Action. Very very interesting Half Day of Fishing...... Total Catch for the Day: 4 King Mackerel from 10-12 lbs, 45 lb Hammerhead Shark, 8 lb Sharpnosed Shark, and a 48" Houndfish