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