Sept 28- Mary Lee Missing

I didnt realize that Mary Lee, the beloved 3000+ pound Great White Shark, has not pinged since June 17th. That makes her about as reliable as Capt Marty.  Well, I hope she pops up soon.Im afraid that she had a run in with a Long Line Boat. Federally protected and against the law to possess.... However some cut throat deckhands would be salivating over the thought of selling all those beautiful teeth for 1000+ dollars apiece. That'd buy alot of Dope. What a shame, thats the world we live in......

Sept 28- Top Water Alumni Check In

Heard from a very interesting past Fishing Guest yesterday.....Capt John Fentress. Calt John has a great job. He is the Personal Yacht Captain for the World's Greatest Golfer Jack Nicklous. The Golden Bear.Several years ago, John wanted to get his son out on the water for a quick adventure. It was cold and blustery, but we managed a nice catch of small Speckled and Gray Trout..... Then right at the end, John Jr shocked us both with a 6lb Black Drum. Awesome fish for an awesome kid!

Well father and son are here again, Im not sure I will be able to take them but I did catch with John. The boys just spent some time in tne Bahamas on the Golden Bear and also some time in Jupiter, Florida. Little John had a great fishing trip with firsts on: Snook, Dolphin, Bonefish, Peacock Bass, and Spiny Lobster. Great work John!

Sept 28- Thanks Everybody

I would like to thing everyone for reading my blog! I know that I have been slack and 2017 has been my worst year ever for both Fishing and Blogging! Despite this, I was recently offered a free trip to Jackson Hole Wyoming to attennd an Outdoor Blog Writing Convention.

I spitevof the fact thay I wont be attending, I still see this as a very nice honor and also proff that I must be doing something right

Sep 26-Virginia Creeper Trail

I DID RIDE THE VA CREEPER TRAIL and I loved it......I will post about it soon and put up some pictures soon

I recommend that to Anyone and WILL try to post some pictures

JUST REMEMBER:


18 MILES MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE 
                  thats
    ALL     DOWNHILL

Sept 9 - Capt Marty Update

Well, 2017 has nearly been a year without fishing. Pretty amazing after the past 31 years of FISHING 100 to 250 days per year. Obviously, I don't mean ALL DAY FISHING TRIPS in that TOTAL. But I do mean, significant time spent fishing during that day equals "fishing THAT day. I also recorded 1001 successful Fishing Charters that I ran from 2000 until 2016 .......

Then 2016 hit and my LIFE forever changed. In rapid succession, my Daddy's Health went from pretty bad to somebody needs to be with him nearly all the time. My Momma was diagnosed with Breast Cancer for the 7th time. Both my parents were 80 so even as it was serious, sad, stressful, and time consuming, it was somewhat expected and a labor of love.....

Then on June 30, the Love of My Life and Woman I was absolutely planning to spend the rest of my life with.......well she packed her stuff up. Including her lightning rod 15 yr old daughter. A very very accomplished ballerina and childhood prodigy THAT I COULD NOT MAKE LIKE ME (or even NOT HATE ME)..... Well Savanna walked out of my life BUT she dragged my beloved wife Jennifer out with her. Nearly as hurtful was Jennifer took the GREATEST DOG EVER, Emma with her.

Once again, and again, to make matters......

EVEN WORSE, just as Jennifer pulled out......Dr Bates, whom had ordered an MRI on my knees called and said "Oh, By the way, you need 2 knee replacements.....Are we seeing a trend here. Capt Marty Moore, who had it made for 50 years. Now, everything has fell completely apart. The wheels have came off my life.

Well by March, my Daddy had passed away. By April, I sold my boat....I pretty much stay with my Momma now. I'm paying a mortgage for a house I don't live in..... It sucks. I've only been fishing 5 times. I have no wife. Obviously. I have No Significant Other. I'm still "in love" with my wife and she hates me. But....I can't help it. Hopefully one morning soon, I will wake up and it'll be over for me.a Because it damn sure ended for her 18 months ago.

I miss Emma so bad, I break down and cry thinking about that poor Yellow Lab. She was so smart and she loved me sooooo much. We spent 24 hours a day together. I guess I need a puppy. But all I want to day is travel. A dog will be problematic.

As for fishing, thanks to Capt Ryan Guthrie and CaptnTuggwell, I have seen some great fishing . We have had great days with Bluefish twice. Monster Blues once and 2 to 4 pounders once. Great action. Tuggy and I had Sharks and Amberjacks once. I officially released a 120" app 800 lb Tiger Shark that ate a 40 lb Amberjack. I reeled the Shark "to the boat" and Tuggy touched the leader...... So there you go.....Official Release!

I had a great trip to Lake Erie with Tom and Timmy. The Walleye were running small this year.. We had some nice 5 to 6 pounders. In years past, we'd catch limits of those with 8-9 pounders for bragging. None of those this year. To the contrary, this year we actually had dozens of throwbacks and we never found limits of keepers. I did manage to land a few significant other like Smallmouth Bass, Feshwater Drum, Rock Bass, White Bass, and White and Yellow Persh.

Finally Capt Ryan put me on the best fight of the year when I settled us down one afternoon recently over the Atlas Tanker. It was relatively dead on this day. Very few Jacks and the Barracudas were skittish too. Anyway, even though it ended in a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT I got a mystery bite while jigging a white stingsiver in 124 feet of water. I was shaking it about 95 ft deep.....this fish smoked it horizontally but at a depth of 95 feet, it was an odd sensation. What wasn't odd was thr throbbing tail beat that told me "tuna species". It was a little more defined than then "throb of a jack species".. In my mind, the remaining mystery had 2 great outcomes (Blackfin or Yellowfin) or 1 let down outcome! (False Albacore)......  well, of course, 20 minutes later, I landed a 20+ pound False Albacore. Great Fight greater letdown. We ended up that day with several Sandbar Sharks in the 100 lb class. Groupers, Dolphins, Kings, and things were missing in action.

Finally last week at work, I believe it was Monday night September 18. Very late at night and in horrible conditions, blowing from the north about 30 kts........ Suddenly a Striped Bass frenzy developed out of nowhere right under the lights at one of the Ferry Docks. Good thing It was my turn to stay up all night. I checked my trusty "fishing wagon" and pulled out the trusty 5 wt fly rod.
Over the next 45 minutes, All I had to to was "hit the water". Easier than it seemed. The wind was ripping from the North. From Left to Right and in my face.... Regardless, in the next 45 minutes, I hooked and lost 6 Striped Bass, I lost 4 Flys, I released 5 Striped Bass from 4 to 7 lbs each, and I had quite a collection of Striped Bass rolling around in the grass behind me. Of course, I recruited Joey to help me. He's one of mu ole Hatteras Outlaws......So, there you go.

Capt Marty Fishing in 2017 so far:
800 lb Tiger Shark released
25" False Albacore released
100 lb Sandbar Sharks released
Striped Bass, Walleye, Bluefish, Sp Mackerel, Red Drum, Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass
Rainbow Trout, Book Trout,

Thats about it

And, I am going to try to get it going again THIS FALL  and Maybe

CRANK IT BACK UP NEXT SPRING

April 20- UN BELIEVABLE BLUEFISH EXTRAVAGANZA

When I sold my Boat last week, I convinced myself, there was nothing that I could see that I hadn't seen 10,000 times before.... Unless Mary Lee, the Shark, swims up to me..... I have SEEN IT ALL and I've seen it over and over and over again. Part of that I believed and part of that was "just to make me feel better about being boatless". Wouldn't you know that on MY FIRST FISHING TRIP since I had sold mt Boat, that it would be one of those "Once in a Lifetime" fishing trips. Beyond that, it was "Once in a Lifetime Natural Wonders of the Fish World" taking place. Here is how our day went..... Capt Ryan called me up and planned a Casting to Bonito Trip. then, Engine Troubles derailed our morning at the Boat Ramp and I found myself back on the couch at 830am... Then Ryan called me up and the Boat was fixed and the new plan called for casting Top Water Plugs to marauding Bluefish and we were set to leave at 9am.... By 10am we were cruising the shoreline inside the Bight at Cape Lookout, searching for cruising Green Hornets in 2-3 foot of water... We quickly found our Chopper Bluefish, swimming in loose groups of 5 to 25 Fish and they responded well to our Top Water Plugs. An hour later, we had each boated a large Bluefish and we had released 10 more. Ryan and I were satisfied with our morning. Explosive surface strikes, blistering runs, direction changes, gill rattling jumps, and total back flips characterize the shallow water antics of these gladiators. Great Gamefish by anyone's criteria. The adult Bluefish's only downside is that they are not good table fare. Some might say that they are "to easy to catch". That might be true, but their relative scarcity cancels that out, in my opinion. What I mean by that is, They may be easy to catch when they are swimming in front of you, but there may be years that go by that you never see a Bluefish over 7 lbs in North Carolina. Even on years that they show up in great abundance, they are typically only around for about 8 weeks. Mid April until mid June. That's it, catchem if you can. In the old days, we had another run, primarily on the Outer Banks, from around Thanksgiving until New Years Day. About 1988 was the last of those runs. I promise you, the Outer Banks Economy would love to see those runs come back..... Anyway, I digress, as usual..... So, after catching Chopper Blues inside the Bight, we decided to go check around Shark Island to see if we could find Schools of Red Drum. I expected them to be there. By the hundreds. Giant Red Drum in the 30 to 60 lb class..... Let me tell you, yesterday, the Shoals at Cape Lookout were NO PLACE for Red Drum. No sir. They would've been devoured..... Why? Well, in my opinion, there must've been 10 million Adult, Giant, Chopper Bluefish on the Shoals yesterday. I saw more Chopper Bluefish in one school yesterday than I've seen in 50 years of fishing added together. And that was ONE SCHOOL. By some opinions, there was 5 to 6 Schools up there. You could also say, it was one GIANT SCHOOL. The huge areas of Bluefish that would've measured by acres were all joined by strings of Bluefish that were 4 to 6 fish wide. All fish were milling southward along the western edge of the Shoals and/or Shark Island. They were crossing the Shoals south of Shark Island. There were at least 6 bodies of Fish that would've numbered in the hundreds of thousands. It was one of THE MOST INCREDIBLE SIGHTS that I have ever seen in all my years of fishing. Needless to say, Ryan and I caught at least 10 more Bluefish each. I ended my day casting an empty Mt Dew bottle tied on my spinning rod. All I had to do was twitch the bottle and 50-60 Bluefish would crash the bottle. They knocked it 15 feet in the air at one time. After they finally had punctured the plastic and it took on my water, one bluefish finally got a good hold on the bottle and took it down. A minute later, it floated back up and allowed us to retrieve it. Then I tried something a little different. I cut a Menhaden up into strips and jammed them into the mouth piece of the bottle...... Cast it out there and it is hard to describe the frenzy that followed.... Like I said, ONCE IN A LIFETIME stuff. Fishing Dreams are made on days like that..... ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE.... Total Catch for the Day: 30 Bluefish from 8 to 13 lbs and 1 large Menhaden    

April 16- Capt Marty Avaliable as Captain for Hire

For those who didn't hear, I have sold my Boat. This is the first time I've been without a Boat since the 1980's. This Spring, Summer, and Fall I will be avaiiliable as a "Captain for Hire" for Fishing the Beaufort Inlet and Cape Lookout areas. Anyone new to the area and wants to learn the area, lay down some track lines and points of fishy interest on their GPS Chart Trackers, or just want to catch some fish should give me a call. My rates are going to be affordable enough. I'm starting out at $100 for a Half Day or $200 for a Full Day. Anything from Pinfish to Blue Marlin. I can help with the bait and some tackle, but I will primarily be allowing you guys to use your own stuff..... Anyway, we will see how this goes. Call me at 252-241-8350 and see if I can help.

April 14- Beaufort on the Fly and Life's Changes

One year ago, I was (I thought) happily married.I had a great Dog. Both my Parents were alive. I had a great 25 foot Boat with a Tower, which is now the "rage" for sight casting...... Now, here I sit a year later, I feel like a completely different person living a totally different life...... Most importantly, my Father passed away. Then,  I was completely dumbfounded by my wife, who woke up one morning and didn't love me anymore. Hell, she didn't like me either. She froze me out of her life and 2 weeks later...... She was gone. Moved 40 miles away. Six months later, she re-claimed her Dog as if it was a pair of boots left in the attic. Then.....last week, I sold my boat. I listened to my knees and the spots on my skin on that decision..... I honestly think everyday about selling my truck, selling my house, and finding a new career as well. Not so fast though. I would hate to make an important decision too quickly. Perhaps I will buy a boat and a puppy. Not sure. I miss my Daddy. He was 80 and his quality of life was awful. Doesnt make it any easier on me, or my Mommma or Brother, but he is in a better place...... I miss my wife. One of our last nights out together, she said you decide where we are going to eat. She said, quote, "you need to make all our decisions because I always make bad decisions".... Well, a week later, she actually "made a decision on her own" and decided to leave me. Why did she do it? I dont know. Self fulfilling prophency? I dont know, but I do know that our life together would've been so much better moving forward. I truly loved that woman....... I miss Emma the most (except Dad), she loved me uncoditionally and was innocent. She fell victim, like many children, to the failure of 2 loving adults to hold a relationship together. She is a "divorce dog". Emma suffered the most on this one.......Finally, I miss my Boat already. My knees are happy but my heart is broke again. Of course, the Chopper Bluefish and Giant Red Drum both show up on the Shoals and Flats right as the Top Water Boat is pulled away..... Any way, back to my new fatherless, wifeless, dogless, boatless life.... I did manage to catch a pretty little Largemouth Bass on a popping bug last week. Thats just great. A small victory and it brought a small smile to my face. Total Catch Last Week: 1 Largemouth Bass

March 24- Life Goes On

Obviously, if you guys read my March 15 Post, my Daddy passed away. Some of yall may have read the 600-700 word tribute to him I posted late that night. The following morning, while correcting some misspelled words, I accidently deleted the entire post. BUMMER. I liked it. It was an emotional, heart felt, truthful description of the Love and Admiration that I had for my Father. Charles Allen Moore . A short summary: There is NO WAY POSSIBLE that my Father could've given me a better, or more favorable upbringing. He supplied me with everything I ever needed to succeed in life. From Money to Morals to Discipline. From Tough Love to Tender Loving Care. I had the World's Greatest Daddy. I hope that my Father is at peace now and after 77 great years, the last 3 and half years he suffered and his Quality of Life was poor. I am pleased that he has passed to Heaven. And I hope and pray that I was half the son that he was a father. I hope that I didnt ever truly disappoint him or let him down because he surely never disappointed me or let me down. (except when I wanted that Brown 1979 Camaro for my 16th birthday and he bought me a Toyota Celica instead) ha ha. Dad knew better, just like Ralphie was gonna shoot his eye out, Dad knew I'd kill myself in that HotRod!

I would also like to take a second to say, my Momma is also Everything that I could ever ask for, pray for, in a Mother. Right now, I am going to stick by her side, through every struggle and every challenge. She and I, and my Brother, are going to survive this together. I truly love my Mother. I loved my Father. For Parents, I had the best I could've ever asked for.

As for FISHING. Thats what you guys are here for, right? I remember last August, Dad was sick. I was trying to Fish because my knee pain had let up a bit.... Anyway, there was 5 straight trips that I never made it to Beaufort Inlet because something would happen to Dad. Twice the Ambulance rushed him to the Hospital. It was tough. My Momma and Daddy came first. Hopefully 2017 will be different. Better I hope. My Momma, helping her and driving her to appts, etc will come first, but hopefully, it will not come at the expense of fishing. If it does, then it does. I am down to one parent. Together Mom and I will be alright, but we are in it together. No matter what.  The Fish were lucky last year. This year, time will tell!

I would also like to Thank all our Family and Friends that did SO MUCH for us last week. Its a shame that nowadays it takes an event like a death to bring a large family together, but it was still great seeing everyone that came to Dad's Memorial Service. Friends too. I Love You All. Very much. Thank you to all my Blog Readers, as Im sure many of you will at least have kind thoughts and include my Family in your Prayers. Hope to see everyone on the water soon. Bent rod and screaming reel in hand. "FISH ON!"

,

March 9 and 11- Hickory Dickory Dock

Nothing like an Andrew Dice Clay joke. Unfornately. Two days of casting off the bank sandwiched around a day of hauling my Daddy ftom Harborview, on the MHC Waterfront to a Greenville, NC Doctor's Office, when a simply phone call would've worked better. Whatever...... Back to the Fishing. I am nearly completely disgusted. My frustrations with life have definitely bled over into fishing. I keep thinking that the joy and wonderment that I used to derive from fishing will suddenly overpower the anguish caused my my own physical pain AND the pain and mental anxiety of watching my aging parents struggle. Throw in the incredible sneak peak into the future where my Mom and Dads Life Savings will be devoured by Insurance Premiums and Hospitals and Doctors and .......... There you go. Chris and I caught app 30 Hickory Shad in 2 days. Approximately. Well no, exactly 11 were females. Those yielded 22 fish roes. Together we spent app $80 in gas to travel to far away exotic locales like CowPen Landing, Spring Garden, and Falkland, NC. Great. My brother and I cancelled a trip to Key West, Dry Tortugas, Islamorada. My, my aint life grand. Daddy is laying beside me, 25 days into his "re-hab". Thanks to Obama or Trump, or whoever, what was 100% covered by the Medicare (that he paid into for 40 years); what was free on Dec 31, 2016..... Now costs $100 a day effective January 1, 2017. Tick Tock Tick Tock. The Clock is Running.  Get ready America, beside me lays a MAN who started a Bank from the Ground Up (Raleigh Savings and Loan) and  He was successful enough at it for Raleigh Federal Savings and Loan to be bought out by First Union, which became Wachovia, which became Wells Fargo. In other words, my Da isddy and his Partners were BIG Time. Highly Successful. And Life and the System is gonna suck him dry. Watch out America. This, and Past, Goverments will suck  you dry. And unfortunately, Dad's son (me) aint half the son he deserves. I am truly sorry, my Daddy deserves better. I will do my best. Time for fishing..... Its hardly worth the time or effort. Total Catch for 2 days: 30 Hickory Shad up to 1.5 pounds and 1 small Striped Bass

March 7- Hickory Shad on Foot

Capt Chris thought it'd be a good time to take me out along the Neuse River and go Shad Fishing. Help me get my mind off my Dad, whose having a hard time up at Harborview right now. So off we went to Cowpen Landing. Later, we crossed the River and tried our luck at Spring Garden. Overall fishing was pretty good with good runs followed by doldrums. Amazingly, Chris's first cast at CPL produced a doublehea!er, while my last cast of the day at SG produced my only double. Our total catch was right around 40 Hickory Shad with 8 being Red Roe Keepers. Pretty good afternoon. Total Catch for the Day: 40 Hickory Shad up to 2 lbs

Chris first cast bounty at CowPen

Spring Garden

Red Roe Delicacy

Capt Marty with our 8 Hens

March 6- Ship of Fools

Chasing Facebook Fishing Reports. I knew better. Armed with "all the wrong stuff", we found Red Drum and watched them swim. Never found our quarry. I finally caught a few fish while the others flailed wildly. I remember why this got old to me. Freaking Miserable. If we had only grabbed leadheads and gulps/grubs, it would've been a great day! Total Catch for the Day: 3 Northern Puffer, 2 Smooth Dogfish, 1 Black Sea Bass, 1 Northern Sea Robin, 1 Summer Flounder, and 1 gigantic Bay Anchovy

Anchovy by Diane Rome Peebles

March 2- Sanitary Restaurant and White Shad

I had my second broiled White Shad of the season today. Great eating and highly recommended for those of you that like a fish that tasted like a fish and arent afraid of a few bones. Well, actually a bone in every bite. But, worth it. This glorious fish is spawned in the headwaters of our major rivers and migrates to and from the Open Atlantic Ocean many times over its lifetime. Unless it winds up on someone's dinner plate. A bad day for a majestic fish and a great day for a hungry fisherman.

Time to go Shad Fishing. Hickory Shad on the Neuse and Roanoke. American Shad on the Tar and Pee Dee. Pity the Angler that misses this annual Rite of Spring.

Feb 23- Where's Winter?

I know that I'm in the minority. I know I will get a few "Shut the Hell Ups"......  But I miss Winter. I remember some growing up that were a little too cold or too wet, however, I can never once in my life, remember saying, " thats too much snow, thats too much ice!" And I'm not that much of a glutton for punishment. I would just like to see a couple of weeks were we had lows in the 20's and high's in 30's. One or two little "snow events"....  Would that be so bad? Oh well, looks like we pretty much got another pretty week ahead. Highs approaching 70........ Im not complaining. I just like Winter. In the past, I loved bundling up, warming up a cold bed. Walking through the Woods when there was snow on the ground. I miss those things. I really miss my wife and I really miss my Dog too. Back in November, I asked in a Blog Entry:" Can Things Get Worse"....... The answer is YES. Back then I had Winter's first Snow to look forward to!  Well, scratch that..... Bring on the Fishing

Also.......

Tne TOP WATER, my 25 foot Downeaster Center Console is FOR SALE

I am asking $16,000

I am looking to downsize and after the 17 hard fishing years, I will be looking to catch a ride to the 14 Bouy.

Feb 2, 2017- Great Bass Fishing

Cbo and the first fish of the day

First Bass Landed

One of my first

It started getting old pulling the Phone Out

Chris with a fat Bass

Fish of the Day. 8 lb Largemouth Bass

Fish of the Year 2017 (so far........)

Chris and I went over near Pollacksville today to fish a Pond on his Father In-Law's Farm. A Farm Pond. I have fished plenty of Farm Ponds in my career, and this one is head and shoulders above ALL THE REST. Maybe 3 years ago, Chris took me there and in 3 hours we caught an estimated 35 Largemouth Bass and 20 of them were cookie cutter 4 pounders. It was stunning for such a small pond. I have patiently waited for another opportunity. Today was the Day. The Pond didn't disappoint. After a tough start because of a shoreline that has become hard to access because of overgrowth and weeds and trees. We finally settled on a spot opposite of where we found large numbers of fish in the past. It didn't matter. Im pretty sure that our activity eventually attracted the Bass "to us". In the following 2 hours, Chris and I once again caught an estimated 35 Largemouth Bass. I caught an 8 pound Largemouth Bass and a 5 pound Largemouth Bass. Chris also caught a 5 pound Largemouth Bass. We caught over 20 Largemouth Bass from weighed between 2 to 4 pounds each. Amazing consistency. Finally, we probably had 5 baby Bass in the 1 pound range. Once again, this was a World Class Largemouth Bass Fishing afternoon. This Pond is amazing. Total Catch for the Day: 35 Largemouth Bass from 1 to 8 pounds each

Jan 27- Ducks and Crappies

Capt Rhino Hanzguthrie admires his FIT

Beautiful Morning for a Duck Killing

Capt Cbo with our First Crappie of the Millenium

My Jumbo Crappie

Ryno's Crappie. We each caught 2 of them

My Suprize Largemouth Bass

And the best part of the day was when Capt Chris said, "aptly named Crappie Fishing"........ Because, in North Carolina, Me and Chris are the World's Worst Crappie Fisherman. In fact, I hadn't caught a single Crappie since probably 1982. I dont fish for them much, but there is a reason for that. Its called Bad Fishing. I have no idea WHERE to catch Crappie. In my past, I could figure out ANY FISH I really wanted to catch. Mastered a few. Inshore Fishing Wisdom has traditionally held that Sheepshead are the trickiest, hardest fish to catch in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Then in 2008, I caught 19 NC Citation Sheepshead........Crappie? I never figured out....... So yesterday, after I returned to the Duck Hunting Arena for the first time in 17 years. Poor hunting or Poor location caused that to be a BUST! No good ducks were seen. Merganzers were flying and some like to take their frustrations out on them.... Not me. Poor little bastards. Anyway, on our way home up Slocum Creek, we decided to try to catch a few fish. From our location and the look of the environment, I wouldve guessed Speckled Trout or Striped Bass. I was surprized when Capt Columbus got the first bite and pulled up a Black Crappie. Damn. Three hours later, Chris, Ryan, and I had caught 2 Crappie each and I had caught a fiesty Largemouth Bass. We never quite figured out a pattern on the Crappie. It was fun and it was a challenge. Something tells me Chris and I will be back! Total Catch for the Day: 6 Black Crappie up to 1 lb and 1 Largemouth Bass at 1 lb 8oz