June 29 Citation Sheepsheads

I was feeling like A-Rod in October. Last year I probably hooked 75% of my Sheepshead bites and got enough NC Citations to wall paper my bathroom. My confidence soared. This year the Sheepsheads showed up early, large, and hungry. So I started 0 hook-ups in first 20 bites and at least 6 of them were 8-10 pounders that ate my bait in plain view. Then it all changed. In 2 drops I caught a 9 lb 9oz Sheepshead and a 9 lb 5oz. Sheepshead. I felt a little better. Total Catch for the Day: 2 Sheepsheads

June 24-28 Missed Bites in Hatteras

So far this week I have fished for Sheepshead, Flounder, and Striped Bass. The main target until last night was Sheepshead. The shift that I'm working is not a good one for Sheepshead. Regardless, early in the week I had my chances. On Wednesday I had a 8-9 pounder do a headstand to eat an Urchin that I had dropped right in front of him. He ate it right in front of my eyes and when I set the hook I felt his weight for 1 second. Ping, and he was gone. The barb never found a soft spot. Sunday afternoon it was the same story. A 8-10 pound Sheepshead ate 3 Urchins in rapid succession and got away with it every time. I had him hooked up one time, but the hook only stuck for about 5 seconds. Also, I have played with a procession of 1-4 pounders that cannot engulf the Urchins that I use for bait. So I'm like 0 for 14 on Sheepshead bites. My success level has been better on Striped Bass. I've seen one, fished for one, and caught one that was 18" and 2 pounds. Now I'm waiting for another one to show up. Saturday night I decided to check out one of my summertime Flounder hang-outs for the first time this summer. The fishing was good until the tide quit running. Very good. Bites as fast as the bait touched bottom. Unfortunately, I only got 40 minutes of good fishing. I caught 6 Flounders and had 5 keepers up to 18". Southern and Summer Flounders both represented. I also made another mistake. Expecting all small fish, I didn't get out the "Dedicated Flounder Combo". Instead I used a light spinning rod with 10# test and it cost me a big Flounder. The last bite of the night was a nice one. I fought a give and take battle with this Flounder for 30 seconds, in 8 feet of water, and I never saw the fish. Finally I lost him under the dock. My instincts say that it was at least a 5 pounder. Sunday night was a little slower, I only had 5 bites and caught 4 Flounders. Total Catch for the Week: 7 Southern Flounder, 3 Summer Flounder, and 1 Striped Bass

June 24 My Favorite Day

June 24 has always been a great day for me to fish. In the early 80's through the 90's, I always fished on June 24 and always had either a great day or caught a great fish. Here lately, I have not been able to fish this particular date on a yearly basis. One of my earliest, and greatest big fish adventures happened on June 24, 1988. On that date, Rich Chadwick and I were trolling for Spanish Mackerel from Rich's 18' Boston Whaler with size 00 Clark Spoons. For those who don't know, that is a very, very small spoon with a very small hook. It is commonly used when Spanish Mackerel are feeding on tiny minnows and is definitely not a "big fish bait". Fishing was good that day and we were having a great time catching Spanish Mackerel. Then something amazing happened. While I was reeling in a fish, a huge Amberjack came out of nowhere and swallowed my hooked Spanish Mackerel. Amazingly, the tiny hook on the Clark Spoon hooked the big Amberjack's rubbery lip and the fight was on! An hour later, Rich and I pulled the 66 pound Amberjack into the Boat. Amazing! When I went to unhook him I found the tiny Clark Spoon's hook was completely straightened and the only thing that had held this fish to the rod was the barb of the hook! That day, that fish, got me hooked on fishing and that feeling of wonder, shock, suprize, and accomplishment have never left.

June 22 Bluegill Frenzy

I decided that yesterday was so much fun, that I'd do the same thing today. A few years back, I can not imagine trading a day of King Mackerel and Sharks for a day of Bream fishing. My fishing evolution is running in reverse. Today I fished 6 different Ponds in Beaufort and Morehead City and pretty much found great fishing for Bream everywhere and not-so-good Bass fishing. I think the Bass fishing could've been much better, but remember that when I'm freshwater fishing nowadays, I am an amatuer Fly Fisherman. So it was all Popping Bugs and the Big Frog today on the Fly Rod. In one spot this morning the fishing was so good that I caught 12 Bluegill without ever having to move my feet. All together, this tiny Pond resulted in 25 Bluegill and 3 Largemouth Bass. I caught a few other fish in another spot and then moved to a MHC shopping area and hit 4 additional Ponds. I was looking for a big Bass here but struck out on the Big Frog. Once I started back up with the Bug the fishing took off again and lots of Bream were caught. Lots. One Pond in particular seemed to have a never ending supply of small Bluegill and a few small Largemouth Bass. Numbers were as crazy as the average size was small. I did catch a few that were decent, but overall it was a numbers day. I also managed to catch a trophy today, a 9" Green Sunfish that came as a total suprize from a small pond at the MHC Shopping Compound! Total Catch for the Day: 6 Largemouth Bass, 50 Bluegill, 3 Pumpkinseed, 1 Green Sunfish, and 1 Green Sunfish X Bluegill Hybrid (all on Fly Tackle)

June 21 Lots of Bass on Bugs and Frogs

It's been a week since Chris caught that Big Spadefish and I been itching to go fishing. Today I went back to my favorite Urban Waterhole to see what was biting and I was very impressed. The water in this Pond has cleared up alot since the last time I checked it out. There were Bream Beds everywhere and the fish were very aggressive. I know a fly rod ain't my strongest method of fishing and the wind only allowed me to fish about 40% of this small Pond, but it still worked out great. In 90 minutes I caught and released 4 Largemouth Bass and 12 Bluegills on popping bugs. A couple of Bass were 2 pounders, which are decent fish for this Pond. The first Largemouth Bass I caught came from just offshore of 3 Bream Beds and there were 3 other Bass that followed my hooked fish right up to my hand. It was pretty cool in the clear water. **On the early afternoon trip to the same spot, I caught 2 Largemouth Bass, 4 Bluegills, and 1 Pumpkinseed. **On trip #3 (late afternoon) I had the best session yet. I got out my 7 wt Rod and was casting a big popping frog and the action was incredible. Largemouth Bass on 5 of the first 7 casts! 8 Largemouth Bass all together, all in 20 minutes while Meredith sat in the truck fuming. It was absolutely awesome surface smashing strikes on the Frog! I can't imagine having a better time fishing than I had today, even in the Boat. I did hear about a decent King Mackerel bite today. We'll see what tommorrow brings. Total Catch for the Day: 14 Largemouth Bass, 16 Bluegill, and 1 Pumpkinseed (all on Fly tackle)

June 20 NO FISHING UPDATE

Sorry guys, no fishing at all for Top Water Charters. I've been land-locked up in Chapel Hill with a family medical issue. It looks like I'll be headed back up there in the near future and I am trying to figure out a plan to attack the resident fish populations of the Eno River and Jordan Lake. I just got back to Beaufort and I know that there are plenty of Sharks just off the Beach! Maybe Sunday oy Monday I'll get a chance a sneak out there and give them a workout.

The progress on the State Record Spadefish has stopped until I go back to Hatteras and get information on the Scales and the signature of the Weighmaster. Then, as soon as Chris gets back from Venice, Louisiana he can sign the form and he should be in the NC Record Books. By the way, Chris reports that in Venice every single cast results in a Speckled Trout, a Red Drum, or a Marine Catfish.

State Record Update

Chris and I have received the forms and instructions to make the 11 pound 3 oz Spadefish that Chris caught on Sunday June 14 the new NC State Record. I've been reporting Giant Spades on a certain Wreck up at Hatteras for a couple of weeks now and honestly the one Chris caught was probably not the biggest one that we've caught. I will not be suprized if this fish isn't topped in the near future. I'm pretty sure I've seen quite a few 13-14 pounders swimming around up there!

June 14 State Record Spadefish and More

Chris and I are trying to make it official this time. Chris caught a 11 pound 3 oz Spadefish that we weighed in on the certified scales at Teach's Lair Marina and if this is approved by the NC DMF it will be the New NC State Record Spadefish. The record presently stands at 9 lb. 2 oz and don't forget that I cleaned at least 5 over 10 pounds last week. So today's plan was for Cobia and Triggerfish. The Cobia fishing wasn't great. We saw 3 that were in the 35 pound range that we couldn't catch and Chris got a catch and release on a small one at 28". Chris pulled the hooks on one of the 35 pounders after a 30 second battle and the other 2 refused to bite. Damn! This hasn't been my year for Cobia! So it was off to the Hesperides where we caught all those huge Spadefish 2 weeks ago. Last Thursday, all the Spadefish were gone and the Wreck was covered up with ultra-aggressive Gray Triggerfish. Therefore, today we figured on catching Triggerfish and they didn't disappoint us. Lucky for us, the big Spades had reappeared also. The Wreck was completely covered with life! We got anchored up we started to whack the Triggers pretty good and then something amazing happened. I caught a Spadefish on a speck rig tipped with a tiny piece of Squid. Then another and another. The Trigger frenzy had rubbed off on a few of the Spadefish. We were dropping our lines into a swirling tornado of Triggers and Spades. It was amazing in the crystal clear water. By the time we decided to go back inshore and continue searching for a Cobia, we had accumulated 35 Triggerfish and 8 Spadefish in 60 minutes. Three Spadefish over 10 pounds and Chris had the obvious biggest one that weighed 11 pounds 3 oz at Teach's Lair. Now I will see if I can do the work to make this official. Stay tuned! Total Catch for the Day: 8 Spadefish (5-11 lb 3oz), 35 Triggerfish (1-3 lbs), and a 28" Cobia released

June 12 Nothing but Blowing Wind and Spray

Sight Casting for Cobia in 25 knot SW wind and blowing spray is a difficult proposition. Here's how bad it was, a 30 minute Boat Ride from Hatteras Inlet to Diamond Shoals turned into nearly 90 minutes on the return trip. Pure misery. In between there was 7 Cobia opportunities that went awry because of horrible casting conditions. Tossing bucktails to Cobias from a wildly pitching deck, into the wind, with the wind, or across the wind is nearly impossible. Salt water in your eyes doesn't help either. We got shut-out today. If my memory serves me correctly, today was the first time since Oct 24, 2006 that I've gone completely fishless on a Charter! Today was a big challenge and we were very, very close on at least 3 of those Cobias! Too bad because it was a great crew. Total Catch for the Day: Zero

June 10 Cobias and Triggers

First up, an insane school of Triggerfish has devoured 3 acres of State Record Spadefish on the Hesperides. Seriously, Spadefish numbers on this wreck are down probably 90% from last week. Today we didn't even try to catch a Spadefish, but David and I caught 18 Triggerfish in 10 minutes. No bottom rigs needed, these Triggerfish were on top and we bailed them like Dolphin. Before we left I even caught one on a Top Water Plug. These Triggerfish were the most aggressive school of fish I've ever encountered. I'd rather take my chances with a Great White Shark than swim with these little monsters. This wreck would be a good place to "lose" somebody! More importantly, Sight Casting for Cobia was outstanding today on Diamond Shoals. From 8am until 9am we saw probably 15 Cobias and 10 of them were 50-70 pounders. Five sets of big doubles! Unfortunately, these fish were not biting. It was the most incredibly fustrating fishing event of the season so far. There were 3 boats up there this morning and the bucktails were flying......And the fish weren't biting. Finally, the other 2 boats hooked up, we were out of position, and it was over! So David and I left in search of other Cobias in other places. Here's what we found. First David got a 32" release on the Outer Shoals. Then I got a 36 pounder out of a school of 5000 Amberjacks that pushed his way to the front and ate a huge Top Water Plug. Then I got a 33 pounder on a Bucktail deep jigged at the base of Diamond Shoals Tower. Then I got a 33" release off a Stingray's back up near Cape Point. Right after that, David got a 34 pounder of the same Stingray. Finally, I tossed back a 35" Cobia that I felt sorry for right in the middle of Hatteras Inlet. We caught 6 out of 20+ Cobias and we saw lots of big ones. Total Catch for the Day: 6 Cobias (33, 34, and 36 pounds) and 18 Gray Triggerfish

June 7 Southern Eagle Rays and a Cobia

John. Justin, and Sarah fished with me today and we battled the elements most of the day. This morning was rainy and thunder boomed in the distance. Fish-killing ENE wind blew all day from 14-18 knots and inshore fishing was horrible. We spent our morning trying to sight cast and during our 70 mile boat ride all we saw was 2 small Cobias and several small Amberjacks. Sarah caught and released a 30" Cobia while John's Cobia somehow avoided the hook after engulfing his squid twice!. None of us could get a bite off the same ole Amberjacks that have been sitting under the Trawler Bouy for the last 14 days. They have seen every artificial bait on my Boat by now. By afternoon we went inside and floated the net with Menhaden and ran back out to the Cape Lookout Bight to give Bait Fishing a try. Fishing was interesting, but we did not get a Cobia bite. We did catch Bluefish, Southern Eagle Rays, Southern Stingrays, and Sharpnose Sharks. The Southern Eagle Rays are unusual and are not as common as their larger cousin, the Spotted Eagle Ray. We catch lots of Skates, Stingrays, Butterfly Rays and Cownose Rays, but Southern Eagle Rays aren't common. The ones we caught today were nice sized too, around 30 pounds each. They were great fighters and made smoking runs. Finally, on the way home, we fished a beautiful tideline off Beaufort Inlet and we found nothing. Total catch for the Day: 1 Cobia, 1 Bluefish, 3 Southern Eagle Rays, 3 Sharpnose Sharks, and 2 Southern Stingrays

Other Fishy Things from Hatteras

I didn't do a report on this in my usual manner, but last week at Hatteras I did manage to catch about 18-20 Squid on Squid Jigs. These were much smaller than the ones some of you might remember me catching back in December of 2007. That was great Squid Fishing with as many as 50 per night up to 25" long! These guys were much smaller, but still fun and great eating. I also caught several Spadefish and Black Sea Bass around the Ferry Docks. Finally, here is also a picture of BJ Swain's 57 lb Cobia doing battle in 5 feet of crystal clear water.

June 5 Bouy Fish in the Wind

It was blowing 15-20 SW today and lots of clouds were blowing through. Sunshine was spotty. During one of these moments of sunshine I found a school of small Cobia sitting under a Bouy near the Beach. Before I ever came down out of the Tower I had already cast 2 Bucktails and hooked 2 Cobias. Once on deck I got another one to smack a Top Water Plug. Too bad they were all 28" to 31" fish. Finally, after releasing 2 Cobias and as I was about to land the last one I noticed another Cobia swimming with the hooked Cobia. This one ate a whole squid tossed in his direction and a few minutes later, Cobias number 3 and 4 had been released. All this happened on a scouting trip to look for Bait. I thought about trying to set up and do some bait fishing, but I never tried. I'm getting pretty good at catching these baby Cobias. However, I am getting the feeling that every time I go back to work at Hatteras, the Cobia bite here in Carteret County goes off. That is 2 years in a row that it's been like that. I'm sick of it. At least I've got another night run coming uo at Hatteras and hopefully I'll have my boat up there again. Total Catch for the Day: 4 Cobia (all released)

OUCH We fileted 5 NC State Record Spadefish last Saturday!

I just checked out the NC Salt Water Fishing Record Page and the State Record Spadefish is 9 lb. 1 oz. My Boga-Grip is certified by the IGFA so it is accurate enough to establish a World Record. On June 1, BJ Swain and I caught 5 Spadefish over 10 pounds and BJ actually had 2 Spadefish at 11 pounds. All these Spadefish were weighed on my 15# Boga-Grip. We cleaned them and never officially weighed them because there is no NC Citation for this species. It is pretty damn stupid that this fish isn't recognized by the NCDMF as a Citation Species and it was pretty stupid of me not to be aware of the "Low Weight" of the NC Record for Spadefish. However, being at Hatteras that week, I was not "plugged in" to the Internet and it's vast information was not as readily availiable. So BJ's NC State Record Spadefish joins my IGFA All-Tackle World Record Hickory Shad (2 lb 9oz) that I cleaned, my IGFA All-Tackle World Record Southern Kingfish (Sea Mullet) (2lb 14 oz) that I cleaned, and my IGFA All-Tackle World Record Blacknose Shark (43 lbs) that I released, as IGFA and North Carolina Record Fish that were never submitted.

June 2 Bad Move

I had to try Ocracoke today. It was on the way home and there have been lots of Cobia caught just offshore of Ocracoke Inlet this year. Not today though. While me and 4 other boats searched the tide lines off Ocracoke, everybody else was smoking the Cobias at Hatteras (where I left) and Beaufort Inlet (where I was headed). Bad move on my part. Ocracoke Inlet was rough and the water was dirty. Grass was everywhere. BJ caught a baby Hammerhead Shark on a bucktail right out of the Inlet. That was all we saw in 4 hours. Total Catch for the Day: 1 Hammerhead Shark

May 31 World Class Spadefish

I hate it when a Fishing Guide says "World Class Fishing". World Class for who? I use that term very sparingly. That being said, I'm going to go ahead and say it today. Fishing a Wreck that sits on Diamond Shoals, BJ Swain and I caught 15 Spadefish. An astounding 5 of these Spadefish were over 10 pounds, and BJ landed 2 that weighed 11 pounds each. All these Giant Spades were caught in a little less than 2 hours. This was just a little diversion to sight casting for Cobia. Cobia Fishing was pretty good too. Our biggest problem was that the majority of the Cobias we found were swimming on the bottom. We could see them easy enough in 3-6 feet of crystal clear water, but we didn't see most of them until it was too late. Two that we saw in plenty of time were BJ's 57 pound Cobia and my 55 pound Cobia. There was another 60+ pounder that was cruising with a school of Bluefish and incredibly these pesky bastards jumped in front of our Cobia and hit the bucktails. The Cobia swam off into the wild blue yonder without 2 of his escorts. Then there was the 35 pound Cobia that flat out had a death wish, that ate my bucktail right under the boat. I somehow managed to lose that one. Oh well, we were 2 out of 9 on Cobias today in nearly perfect conditions. We also hammered a school of Bluefish. We saw a 25 pound King Mackerel and scattered Atlantic Bonito on the Shoals but failed to connect. Total Catch for the Day: 15 Spadefish (3-11 pounds), 2 Cobia (55 and 57 pounds) and 12 Bluefish (1-2 pounds)

May 28 Hatteras Gaffer Dolphin and Huge Spadefish

Tony and I went out fishing this morning with a 3 pronged plan of attack. Our targets were Dolphins, Amberjacks at Diamond ShoalsTower, and a Cobia on the Shoals on the way home. When it was over we were 2 out of 3 with a really nice bonus. First up was a couple of hours of trolling for Dolphin. We fished an area where the fishing had been great, so good that the only boats fishing near us were 4 long-liners. They were loaded up with Dolphins and the Hatteras Charter Fleet was fishing somewhere else. The fishing was still good for us and we didn't have to stray from our plan. In 3 hours of trolling just south of the Tower, we caught 11 Dolphin that weighed from 10 to 18 pounds each. Then it was off to Diamond Shoals Tower where Tony got a 25 pound Amberjack and I caught a 15 pound Amberjack. So it was off to look for a Cobia. Running NW toward the Shoals, I decided to check out a real shallow Wreck that sits on the offshore end of Diamond Shoals. What we found was a Spadefish Heaven and they were "grown ones". In an hour of hardcore effort, I had caught an 8 pound Spadefish and a 9 pound Spadefish. Tony struggled to keep these Giant Spadefish out of the Wreck as he broke off 4 or 5 monsters. Finally we ran inshore and gave a quick search for Cobia. Running out of time because I had to go to work, we did a 15 knot search of the Shoals and the Beach and didn't see any Cobia. Total Catch for the Day: 11 Dolphin (10-18 pounds), 2 Amberjack (15 and 25 pounds), and 2 Spadefish (8 and 9 pounds)

May 25 The End to a Horrible Fishing Week---Guess What

This has been one horrible week of Fishing. Monday it blew 50 and rained 2 inches. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday it blew East and that sucks. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday it blew Southeast which made the water clear so we could actually see there were NO FISH. Today was my last day off and I go back to work tommorrow at Hatteras. Wouldn't you figure that we can see the light at the end of the "fishless tunnel" now? Inshore Fishing has been so slow this week I actually talked my client for the day to re-schedule June. So today I carried my wife up to Cape Lookout. I personally am not one to sit on the Beach, so of course I went riding to look for a Cobia. Earlier this week, I had rode 178 miles and not seen nary a Cobia. So today, with a half-hearted effort, wouldn't you know that I saw 19 Cobias in 2 hours. Sheesh. Granted, an estimated 15 of these were "Bouy Fish" in a mixed school of app 30 baby Amberjacks. Unfortunately, all these fish were undersized or borderline. Regardless, for me to find a school of 30" to 33" Cobias and 8-10 pound Amberjacks on an "inshore Bouy" after a week of horrible fishing was a treat for me! I couldn't get the Amberjacks to hit a top water plug, but they sure did gather underneath it and eyeball it! It almost seemed like another boat had already hammered this school. The little Cobias were less wary. I caught a 31" Cobia on a bucktail and then caught a 33" Cobia and a 30" Cobia on whole squids that were cast to the Bouy. The other 4 Cobia I saw today were single fish, all in the 25-35 pound class. I made casts to 2 fish that wouldn't eat a bucktail and the other 2 Cobias were ran over by other Boats before I could get off a cast. That, my friends, is Holiday Fishing Inshore off Beaufort Inlet and a horrible conclusion to a terrible week of Fishing. Total Catch for the Day: 3 Cobias (all released, 1 borderline legal, but I couldn't kill the poor critter)

Sand Tiger Shark Info

Yesterday for the 4th time in the past couple of years I used Sand Tiger Sharks to salvage an otherwise poor day of Fishing. These Sharks have ranged from 75 to 150+ pounds. I have caught them every time that I have tried this one particular spot. On good fishing days I wouldn't do this kind of thing, but I'm not sure why. In aquariums across the country Sand Tigers are always the number 1 attraction. Huge Bodies with sharp teeth sticking out everywhere. On the hook they are pretty tame for their size. You can catch a 100+ pounder in short order on relatively light tackle. My personal career best Shark is a 242 pound Sand Tiger caught in March of 1993. An amazing fact for such a docile creature is that this Shark actually eats all of it's brothers and sisters while still in the womb! Sand Tigers also rise to the surface and gulp air. This air is stored in a primitive swim bladder and allows them to hover motionless off the bottom. Small fish are lured into a false sense of security by the motionless Shark and actually try to use them for cover. This adaptation and behavior helps the lumbering Sand Tiger effectively feed on small fish and makes them unique in the Shark world. Anybody wanna go catch one? I know the perfect place. I'm 4 out of 4 so far.

May 23 Big Brown Fish?

Jim and CJ set sail today and priority #1 was to catch a Cobia. So we rode 68 miles and went west and east. Then we went east some more. To the secret spot. Finally CJ caught 2 Big Brown Fish. Both were over 100 pounds. Unfortunately, we had given up the dream and CJ caught and released 2 Sand Tiger Sharks. We also caught a Black Sea Bass. We chased 3 Chopper Bluefish, a Barracuda, Spadefish, and a Sandbar Shark unsuccessfully. You know the story, unrelenting SE wind and 4 foot Ground Swell continue to kill the Inshore Fishing. Total Catch for the Day: 2 Sand Tiger Sharks (100 and 115 pounds) and 1 Black Sea Bass

May 22 Bluefish and More Bad Fishing

My first problem was my cast of characters for today's fishing adventure backed out! Then, of course, the Wind kept blowing from the East. Everybody is sick of hearing about the East Wind. So, today's excuse will be called "Ground Swell". What a beautiful day. SE Winds that were lighter than yesterday brought in some cleaner water. We also had a beautiful 4-6 foot Ground Swell that was 8 seconds apart. Hawaii 5-0 stuff. Unfortunately, big Ground Swell never seems to help Inshore Fishing. Today was No Different. Throw that beautiful swell on top of 4 straight days of East Wind and....Why did I even bother to go again. After riding 60 miles yesterday and 50 miles today and I ain't seen a Cobia yet. Combine the 2 days and I could've fished to Hatteras and back. That probably would've been the wise thing to do. Oh well, today was better than yesterday. At least today I caught 3 Bluefish from 5-7 pounds, 3 Black Sea Bass from 10" to 14", and a Pinfish. All the fish were caught on stingsilvers in 50 feet of water. I also played with a nice swarm of big Spadefish, but didn't land any. They were itching to get caught, but Monday's blowout also blew away all the Jellyballs. The big Spades weren't quite hungry enough to eat Squid, but they gave it some long, hard looks. Total Catch for the Day: 3 Bluefish, 3 Black Sea Bass, and 1 Pinfish.

May 21 Nothing But The Wind and a Boat Ride

I went on a little "scouting trip" today. Cobias were eating up the entire Coast from Beaufort Inlet to Diamond Shoals until the big Monday Blowout. Then came Tuesday and Wednesday's East Wind Extravagandas. Today was supposed to be the day we turned the corner on the weather. Lighter East Winds and Mostly Sunny. So I went for a ride to see what I could find. Here is what I found: 15+ knot East Winds, Filthy water along the Beach and out a mile from the Cape Lookout Shoals, a Beautiful, but fishless, Tide Line off Beaufort Inlet, Chocolate Milk in Lookout Bight, and one lone Houndfish out in the Blue Water off AR-315. That's a 60 mile Boat Ride and I never saw anything to cast a bucktail to! The Bait fishermen were catching Sharks and Rays at the Cape and Rough Point, maybe I saw 1 Cobia caught, but I'm not sure about that. Total Catch for the Day: NOTHING

May 19 Weather Forecast Blues

Can you believe this weather? What am I saying? Of course you can believe it! I've been snake-bit by the weather ever since I took a week off work in October of 2006! Since you guys probably don't recall, when I take a week off work, I get 3 straight weeks off (week-on, week-off schedule) In Oct '06 I took a shift off for 3 straight weeks of Hardcore Fishing and 19 of the 21 days were Small Craft Warnings or Gale Warnings. I never recovered and I'm still waiting for "my stretch" of good weather. And it ain't gonna be this week! Regardless, I'll still be Cobia Fishing in less than ideal conditions and maybe we can manage a fish or two plus recover from this Front by the weekend! I do have some great places to fish in peace and quiet on NE and SE winds but the catch rate sometimes suffers. Just telling it like it is!

May 11 Chopper Bluefish and Spanish Mackerel

With 4 anglers on my Boat today and after yesterday's sight casting success; I figured that by Cobia Fishing with bait, it would be hard to make everybody happy. So we went and casted to Chopper Bluefish with Top Water Plugs on 10# spinning tackle in 3-5 ft of water instead. That made everyone happy. Just like yesterday we found huge numbers of 6-10 pound Bluefish tailing in the shallows. After everybody on the Boat had caught a couple for the box and released several more, we went looking for a Cobia and we didn't find one. Too bad, that would've made for a perfect day! However, conditions were less than perfect, with rain and 20 kt NW wind. We did find a good number of Spanish Mackerel up to 2 lbs west of the Shoals at Cape Lookout. Mike and crew whacked the Spanish pretty good too, catching 14 casting metal in 20 minutes. Total Catch for the Day: 30 Bluefish (6-10 lb) and 14 Spanish Mackerel

May 10 Cobias on Bucktails and Choppers on Top Water Plugs

I'd have to say today was my best day ever for Bluefish, and I started fishing for Bluefish back around 1970. That was not yesterday! We caught 7-13 pound Bluefish from 10am until 2pm on nearly every single cast. All of these Bluefish came from 1-6 feet of water and all came on Top Water Plugs. On 4 different occasions we caught 2 on 1 plug at the same time. For 2 hours, after every Bluefish foray, I would say, " We need to go look for Cobias!" We were piling up crazy numbers and couldn't quit. Finally after catching and releasing Bluefish for 4 hours, we went looking for Cobia. It didn't matter if we went earlier or not! In the first 5 minutes we saw 8 Cobias! Cobias number 2 and 3 were 90 and 100 pounders that were swimming with a seemingly small 70 pounder. Unfortunately these were 3 of the "smart ones" that weren't interested in our offerings. We cast to them, on them, over them, etc etc for 10 minutes. They wouldn't eat and they wouldn't spook. Chris was getting ready to "free gaff" the 100 pounder when a 35 lb Cobia showed up and swam up to the Boat. This one ate the bucktail and it was game on. An hour later we had caught 4 Cobia that went from 31 to 38 pounds. We kept 2 Cobias and released 2 to fight another day. Both released fish measured 38" and weighed 31 pounds on a bouncy Boga Grip. In the 60 minutes that we looked around, we saw at least 12 Cobias swimming on the surface. I'd call that a great day of fishing. Finally. Total Catch for the Day: 45 Bluefish (7-13 lb each) and 4 Cobia (31, 31, 35, 38 lb) That's about 600 pounds of Fish caught today!