Monday, October 31, 2016

Oct 30- Striped Bass Again


No sad stories.... No big Fish either... Caught several Striped Bass on fly and only lost a couple. Most fish were caught by slow titching a damn Fly that is a famous Atlantic Salmon Fly called a Silver Doctor. My Fly collection is getting used up in all this heavy structure! Total Catch for the Night: 8 Striped Bass from 10" to 14'

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Oct 28- The Wolfpack of Fishing

No, I aint talking about Club Championships in Collegiate Bass Fishing! I am talking about me, hooking 7 Striped Bass on Fly and losing every damn one of them. Couldn't finish a game. Lost every battle. Is Coach Dave Doeren my "Fly Fishing Coach" all the sudden? Then THIS happened......

After moving to a different dock, this one has a narrow window between a Rock Jetty and a huge Tripod that holds one side of a Ferry Ramp. 40 feet out is the edge of the lights that hold the fish. So, Im casting parallel to a Rock Wall to my left and plenty of huge structures to my right. Now, all summer and fall I have hooked and landed 12" to 20" Striped and White Bass in this narrow avenue. No problem....... Tonight, I was 0 for 7 on Striped Bass and walked over to the Dock for a quick try before conceding defeat..... My first cast landed 35 feet out and I let it sink for 6 seconds. Strip strip strip Ka-Boom. A bite. Suddenly the fly line was ripped from my hands. This was different! Luckily, he ran straight offshore and missed all the pilings. Quickly this fish got into my backing. That is a first for me since last November's NY Chinnok Salmon! Suddenly this big fish did a 180 degree turn and raced back towards the spot it was hooked. I furiously reeled to regain control. All the sudden the quiet 3am darkness and silence was shattered by a huge Striped Bass leaping out of the water and it landed in about 6" of water on top of the Rocks. As I came tight again, I couldnt believe what I was seeing thrashing white water on top of the Rocks. A 40" to 45" Striped Bass. Im guessing 25 to 35 pounds. It was hard to decifer in total darkness and app 10 feet away. In the next 10 seconds, he flopped and fought his way back over the edge into deep water. Still stunned, I had just started to process and plan to land this fish. The Seawall and Dock was a good 5-6 feet high, so it was probably gonna be impossible, especially on the 5wt Fly Rod. In the end, it didnt matter. When the big Striped Bass made it back to deep water, he left my fly line wrapped around a boulder. As I worked different angles to free my line, for the first 30 seconds, the fish was thrashing on the surface 2 different times. I will never forget his massive tail waving out of the water, slinging phospherous lit white water. Then the leader popped and eventually I even had to break the fly line to free it. End of Story. End of the Nights Fishing (no more leader material) SUCKS, but I wouldn't trade that experience for nothing! Total Catch for the Night: Nothing Zilch 0 for 8

Friday, October 28, 2016

Oct 27- Striped Bass on the Fly at Night

Once again, at my secret Southern Pamlico Sound location, I noticed lots of activity under a shoreside light. One toss of a blue/white/mylar fly and....... BOOM! Fish On! In the brief flurry that followed, I landed 3 Striped Bass and missed about 5 strikes. It all ended when 2 Otters wandered into the area. My largest Striper was 20". I only photoed the first one which was quite smaller. Always fun on the Fly Rod. It doesnt look like I will make it to the Mountains this fall, so any Fly action I can find is a plus. Total Catch for the Night: 3 Striped Bass up to 20"

Monday, October 24, 2016

Oct 23- Late Night Trout

A decent Trout caught on a Mirrorlure

Let this One go and he slowly swam away

Little Trout attack Mirrorlures too
Made the midnight hike again! This time the fishing wasn't nearly as productive. Smaller Trout hit the baits better. I released nearly 40 undersized Speckled Trout. Only 2 keepers were captured. Not worth it! Total Catch for the Night: 42 Speckled Trout up to 18"

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Oct 23- Continuing Trout Story

Not a huge fan of eating Speckled Trout......

then I tried smothering Trout filets with grated cheese and......HELLO!!!!
Capt Tuggy is in town with Lauren, his beautiful wife. They are celebrating their 1st Anniversary. I guess that means, one year ago today, I was up at Lake Ontario catching 13 and 16 pound Brown Trouts and Chinook Salmon. My first hint of knee problems too....... Anyway, the three of us walked out to Radio Island this morning. Lauren was a tad too short, so that to reach the "Trout Water" she would've had to go in over her waders..... Tuggwell and I each landed 2 Speckled Trout. One of mine was the big fish at 21 1/2 inches and just under 4 lbs. Tuggy and I have a Fishing Mission tentatively planned for 12 midnight....... As for the stealing ass low life punk that stole the cooler out of my Truck last night,,,,,, Hey Faggot, if you need that Cooler that bad, I hope you enjoy it. And when BAD THINGS start happening to you as a result of your sin, I hope you can handle it. Total Catch for the Day: 4 Speckled Trout up to 3 lb 8oz

Oct 22- TROUT OF A LIFETIME

Catchy title  there, Captain Marty! Wonder where this is headed? I must say, it sounds good...... But, unfortunately, everyone whose "sarcasm meter" is "pinging" is correct. This Trout of a Lifetime ain't about size. That's only real concern. Bragging.... That ain't me. Who listens to a crippled, washed up Captain any more? Emma? Hell, Jennifer has dog-napped her to New Bern.....  No and even though the Trout I caught were beauties, perhaps the #1 Stringer that I ever hauled off Radio Island. Solid 3 pound fish. Four of them and many releases...... But, But, But....... They WILL COST MY DUMB ASS and THEY WILL COST ME DEARLY.... See, while I was down the Beach Fishing, 3 punks that I briefly encountered in the Parking Lot in all likelihood STOLE THE YETI COOLER out of the back of my Truck...... See, I was fishing from 12 midnight until 130am. I had the WHOLE DAMN PLACE to myself......  In the meantime, down the Beach, as the thieves were pillaging my Truck, I was GIVING THOSE DAMN TROUT THE BUSINESS!!! Roughing them up. Keeping the 20+" fish that weigh over 3 lbs. Released many and all those Fish were 18" and 19". Ready for this to get worse? As if that $259 Yeti Cooler wasn't bad enough, somehow, saltwater penetrated my "LIFEPROOF" Phone Case and entered my Samsung Galaxy 4 and...,.,.,.,.,..,appearantly, the Damn Phone has shorted out as well..... so, Capt Marty gets the poor little Trout. As the, petty, punkass, pill addicted faggots steal my cooler. Finally, corporate America gets ti perform one more colonostomy on me as I struggle to buy and set up ANOTHER NEW CELL PHONE.......and all this shit keeps happening to me. You know, physically, I FEEL GOOD. You guys will have to be patient with me again. I have Lost All My contacts again..... "Trout of a LIfetime" according to my Title...... Well I figured, $260 (Yeti) plus another $300 for a (new Phone) and I am looking at a nearly a $600 STRINGER tonight..... Brutal.........OH shit on it, its 3am   Total Catch for the Night- 24 Speckled Trout up to 21"




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Friday, October 21, 2016

Oct 21- Captain Marty visits the NC STATE FAIR

Well today I said to myself.... (No one listens anyway)

I have FISHED SO MUCH since 1986, I haven't been to the State Fair. Hardly any College Football and Basketball games..... Hell, I haven't been anywhere and done anything...... Except Fish and Fish and Fish....... So, anyway, this morning, I said to hell with it, I'm going to the State Fair. Period.

Headed home now. Mission Accomplished. Al's French Fries, Hill's Corn on the Cobb, a Footlong Hot Dog from the Cary Stop......

Hope the Fish had a good day

Oct 20- All Good Things Must Come To An End

Due to my incredible politeness and correctness, ha ha, I attempted to take a friend fishing at Radio Island. "Great Fishing awaits I promised him"....... Then from 230pm until 345pm I watched him go through a procession of searching for rods and reels, a cooler, bottom rigs..... Locked himself out.....Had to shit....... One damn thing after another. I could've made 2 trips and caught 4 limits before he finally annouced, "I'm ready"..... So instead of walking out there at 245 like I did 5 of the past 6 days, (and caught limits of Speckled Trout), this time I scurried out there after 4 o'clock. Walking out there, I passed plenty of guys walking in with their limits and all the guys still out there were all just standing around and no one was catching anything. So, I finally made it out there at dead low tide. Got disgusted, made a dozen casts, caught nothing, and went home. My fault. Lone Wolf Fishing Operation. And my Pal will have to find his own way out there next time.. ..  Total Catch for the Day: Nothing

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Oct 18- Another Big Day of Speckled Trout Fishing

Today I was down there at the worst possible time to be Speckled Trout Fishing. Dead Low Tide. Around 4pm. There was 40 or so people on the Beach. Lots weren't fishing. Standing around like "the bite was over".........Hmmmmm, I thought, okay, all good things must come to an end....... Then my first 3 casts were crushed by big fat aggressive Speckled Trout. Damn, there is No End to them. I must say, I did struggle today. After the first three quick ones, I lost my red back Mirrorlure in the Rocks. Then I tried a leadhead and soft plastic. I quickly caught a 17"-18" Trout. Instead of a quick exit, I decided to release this one. Then, in a classic return to "washed up Capt Marty", I lost 5 leadheads and baits in the Rocks in the next 10 minutes! I mean, I made a damn Fool out of myself. Twice I waded in, tied on a bait,  waded back out, and First Cast was into the Rocks. Geezzz, I buy expensive lead heads because I believe they make a difference. I damn sure didn't miss a single Rock today...... Eventually, I caught a couple on soft plastic before tying on another Mirrorlure and whacking them good again. Today, I gave several away, released quite a few, and actually caught one that was too small. GREAT FISHING CONTINUES. Also, I have met so many great people on that Beach the past 4 days. Its so cool when everybody is catching fish! Brings out the best in people. Total Catch for the Day: 14 Speckled Trout from 13" to 19"

Oct 17- Speckled Trout On Fire

Here is THE ONLY problem with Speckled Trout Catching at Radio Island. The Air is too hot for waders and the water is too cold to get your nuts wet. And to reach the fish, you gotta wet the satchel. So....... I wear waders.  The hike down there aint too bad. The hike back with an extra 8 to 11 lbs of Trout on a stringer is BRUTAL. I also lost my chartreuse and gold Mirorlure today in the Rocks. Put on a Red Back TT series and caught SpTs on 4 straight casts. Once again, I caught 8 Speckled Trout. I dragged four more home. Baked one in the oven tonight. Delicious. Todays fish were once again between 18" and 21". Everybody willing to walk and get a little wet were catching them. I was down there for 45 minutes. GREAT FISHING.   Total Catch for the Day: 8 Speckled Trout up to 21"

Oct 16- Speckled Trout Biting Mirrorlures

I made the hike again. I spent an hour throwing a chartreuse and gold Mirrorlure. My personal favorite. It got my four Texas Snook, up to 9 lbs, out of the South Padre Island, Tx surf back in Nov 2001. That color combo also caught me a 10 fish limit of Speckled Trout, including 4 Citations with a big fish of 5 lb 6oz out of the Hatteras Island surf in 2006. Ahhhh, when you feel "washed up" you like to reminisce. Anyway, today it caught me 8 Speckled Trout in 60 minutes. I brought four home from 18" to 20". I released a bigger one and a smaller one and gave 2 fish away. Great Fishing. I love catching them on Mirrorlures. Total Catch for the Day: 8 Speckled Trout up to 21"

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Oct 15- Speckled Trout Chew

Okay, I been busy. But there has been a very unusual Speckled Trout Event taking place since  Hurricane Matthew. Radio Island has been a very consistent producer of Speckled Trout for the past 5 to 6 years. The only problem has been that they were mostly 12" to 13" illegal to possess fish. This year, starting last tuesday, that all changed! Limits of Speckled Trout in the 18" to 22" are being captured by ALL. A couple guys released the info on Facebook, and by the time I was able to make it out there on Sat morning, there were 100+ people out there. EVERY ONE was catching them! Soft bait, Mirrorlures, all sorts of stuff...    Lots of Trout caught...  I caught mine and GOT OUT OF THERE. Total Catch for the Day: 5 Speckled Trout from 18" to 20" and 1 Lizardfish

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Oct 4- Hurricane Matthew and its Not Looking Good for the US East Coast

Just what we needed...... An October Monster. There once was a famous movie that said "Avoid the Grand Banks in October"......Well, in 2016, looks like we need to avoid Shackleford Banks too....  We still got a few days...  GO AWAY MATTHEW. TURN EAST PLEASE.

Monday, October 3, 2016

Oct 2- King Mackerel Fishing

Korey and Chris joined me for another day of live bait fishing. Chris caught a net full of Menhaden, and away we went. A few hours later, we had our bites, but we didnt take full advantage of them..... As it was, counting a couple of undersized Kings, we tallied 6 total King Mackerel and one jumbo Spanish Mackerel. We have once again failed to catch us the Trophy King Mackerel we have been searching for. Today, we had a couple in the teens and a couple around 10 lbs. Kinda disappointing. We really WANT a 50 pounder. Hell, we'd settle for a 40, or a damn 30 pounder......... Todays best catches were Korey's 7 lb Spanish Mackerel and the 10 lb King that Capt Marty caught on a stingsilver and spinning rod.....Total Catch for the Day: 6 King Mackerel up to 14 lbs and 1 7 lb Spanish Mackerel