Back at Work and it Sucks

Gotta do this job up here at Hatteras for 7 days. Hopefully I can land a couple of these when I get home..... Red Drum and King Mackerel should both be going off when I am back in Beaufort and I am availiable on:

Sept 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10

Call me on 252-241-8350 if interested

Aug 26 Fly Fishing the Mung Hole Circuit

I wanted Jennifer to see the Master Fisherman in my new element so I forced her to accompany me out to the "Triple Top Secret Mung Hole".... This Pond is a recent (May of 2012) discovery and a virgin fishery. Unfortunately, Korey and I have now caught every fish in there twice at least. They are wising up. The early days of a fish on 20 straight casts are over..... So anyway, I got her out there, armed with a camera and I immediately bumbled my way down the wrong shoreline, catching nothing. Wooooing her with my WORLD CLASS casting abilities. Beautifully rolled out 25 foot works of art! A RIVER definitely RAN THROUGH IT!!!   Huh? Fly casters understand, okay...... So finally I catch a Largemouth Bass and here she comes faithfully with the camera. Carefully positioning her with the camera for the best angle..... I planted her firmly in a giant mound of FIREANTS. With skimpy shoes and no socks. So, if I'm going to post a picture of her as my fans are demanding, I better hurry. Because I really love her and she might not put up with this kind of thing much longer. But she got the picture, and I got yet another Mung Hole Grand Slam on Fly. It means alot....... To No One......  Oh well, I love you Jennifer, by the time you read this, I'll be at Hatteras. Me and Billy will be stoking the fires to keep the Ferry running. I will and do miss you ALOT... You know my hat was crooked? Is that why you were laughing despite the Fireants? Very Funny. Total Catch for this Trip: 3 Largemouth Bass, 1 Bluegill and 1 Pumpkinseed

Aug 26 Red Drum Fishing

First of all, I made the journey over to Oriental and got there early enough to fish for an hour off the Rocks at Dawson's Creek. Very interesting. If I lived over there, you would find me on those rocks quite often. Good casting for Red Drum and Flounder! Secondly, we got hammered by rain. Crazy how cold getting drenched by rain can be on a hot August afternoon. As  the skys cleared, I released a Red Drum that I figured was a Stingray right up to the last second. Then Laden released the smallest Drum of the "official trip". Obviously (unfortunately) her "small" Drum was much larger than my "large" Drum off the Rocks. Okay? Didn't want to mislead any one..... After a lull in the action, Capt Tuggy netted 65,000 Menhaden and we left a beautiful ledge off South River and made the run east about 8 miles to the "SPOT". Once we got there and joined the Red Drum Elite Fleet, we found the fishing to be uninspiring, but steady. Our bites came in doubles and they were spaced out every 20-30 minutes. We picked away at them until we were the last boat there and we got a decent number. A few 40 lb Red Drum, while the others were smaller. Makes me miss the good ole days at Cedar Island back in 97, 98, 99, 00, 01, etc etc etc. Red Drum that were consistently in the 60 lb range. My largest at 83 lbs, 59x36 if my memory is correct. Twenty fish nights were the normal, good nights were 40-50 legit, counting every fish.... Ah, maybe next time off...... Total Catch for the Night(and Day): 14 Red Drum up to 42 lbs, 4 Southern Flounder up to 15" and a 15 lb Cownose Ray

Aug 24 The Weatherman trying to Kill Us.....

The Weatherman said 5-10 kt North winds through Monday afternoon. Light seas. That's as good as it gets when the Friday forecast is beautiful through Monday night...... So we loaded up with live Menhaden and hit the Inlet. Damn, where is that wind coming from? Must be off that dark cloud. Local wind burst due to a pressure gradient! WRONG..... It blew 15-18 kts from the NE all damn day. We all know that the East or Northeast wind kills the fishing. Not the light stuff, but 15-18, forget it! So we fished hard, we traveled far, we got beat to death. And the final tally was........ A Grouper. A Grunt. A Shark. A Black Sea Bass. Two Bluefish. And a very unusual Red Drum..... Making matters worse, I lost a large African Pompano after a fairly long struggle. Hooks pulled, and I and him solid on a big 7/0 J hook and 125# leader. Should've been DEAD ASS. Nope, not on this day! The highlight of the day was a 40 lb+ Barracuda making sashimi out of my Jumbo Sea Bass, but that was surpassed when I cleaned George's fat 27", 10 lb Red Drum..... In the Drums belly were 6 entire 4" Gulp White Shrimp, a 5" Lime Green Gulp Jerk Shad, and 7 other significantly large parts of other Gulp Baits. Unbelievable. Total Catch for the Day: 10 lb Red Drum, 8 lb Gag Grouper, 2 lb White Grunt, 1 Black Sea Bass, 2 Bluefish and a 7 lb Sharpnose Shark

Aug 23 Red Drum on Every Cast

First day home after 9 long days of shoveling coal at Hatteras.... Its been NO WIND through the period, but lots of rain however... Still, I shudder at the thought of all the King Mackerel, Red Drum, and Flounder that I missed out on. Anyway, I had a small window of op today and made a solo trip and hit the motherlode! A Red Drum on my first 14 casts. Then 3 quick Flounders. Interesting because 2 of them were Gulf Flounders including a 20" mini-mat. After that came a short lull while Stacy pedaled Steaks and Reels! Finally, as I was about to leave cane another Red Drum flurry with 3 more releases. Mid August is here and Taylor's Creek is alive! Total Catch for the Day: 17 Red Drum from 14" to 28", 2 Gulf Flounder at 15" and 20" and 1 Southern Flounder at 14"  Sorry No Camera with me and it was rainy the next day when I cleaned my fish!

Aug 13 King Mackerel Fishing

Chris and his crew fished today instead of last night for Red Drum. I hope we made the right decision. We decided to go King Mackerel fishing because I felt we could get a fair number of bites if we really tried.. We headed out about 15 miles South of Beaufort Inlet and the first bait in the water got eaten by a................. Shark! Unfortunately, there would be many more Shark bites in the morning. We did manage to get 3 King Mackerel bite though, and luckily, we caught all three. Everyone in the crew caught one and Chris had the biggest at 25 lbs. Paul and Ben had 14 lb twins. Before we left the area, we dropped bottom rigs down and caught lots more.......    Sharks! Paul lucked into a 25" Gag Grouper though.. After that we ran over to the Cape Lookout Shoals and found......     Sharks! We never stopped however, and finally, on the westside of the Shoals we found acres of breaking Spanish Mackerel and stopped and casted metal lures to them, catching at least 10 Spanish Mackerel up to 2 lbs... Great Day! Total Catch for the Day: 3 King Mackerel up to 25 lbs, 10 Spanish Mackerel up to 2 lbs, 1 Gag Grouper at 24" and 12 Sharpnose Sharks up to 8 lbs 

Aug 9 The Big Ones Got Away

Jeff and his boys joined me today for their yearly fishing trip after yesterdays rain out. The morning brought us a special rare treat! In front of Harker's Island as we searched for Menhaden we were shadowed by a small pod of Bottlenosed Dolphins. After a short search, we found the flips and on our second toss of the cast net we caught about 8 dozen. Thirty went in the livewell. Then we noticed the Dolphins circling the boat very animated. They were ready for a free handout. We "fed" the Dolphins all the leftover Menhaden. It was so spectacular and incredible, we also fed them 2 bags of Menhaden that I had caught the day before. It was an unforgettable moment for the boys (and Jeff and I)... Off to the fishing. This morning I was confronted with the everyday east vs west dilemma. I choose West and at the end of the day I wasn't happy with the results, but thats how it goes. Our biggest problem was not getting bites, but losing big fish. Some days are just not great "take a kid fishing" days.This was one of these days. Right off the bat, we lost a monster bite on the bottom. I hooked the fish on 50# heavy rod and it immediately ran to the east against heavy drag back towards the wreck. Passing off the rod to Jeff, I checked the gps and figured we had plenty of room. I was wrong. This was ONE BIG FISH! He made it to the wreck and..,... PING. Gone. That was the theme of the day. Later, we caught an Amberjack, a bunch of Sharks, Black Sea Bass, and other bottom fish. The day ended with us fishing at a different Wreck and we were slow trolling around the perimeter when we got a smoking strike from a BIG FISH that ate a live Menhaden 120 feet off the stern was 300 feet off the port side of the boat within seconds. A minute later it was over, as Jeff stood there with a screaming reel and a bowed rod, suddenly the rod tip popped up and the drag was silenced. The Fish Was Gone! So we lost the two best bites of the year so far, plus we lost at least 2 other nice fish on the bottom as well..... One of THOSE days. Total Catch for the Day: 18 lb Amberjack, 7 Sharpnose Sharks up to 8 lbs, 1 Blacknose Shark, 3 Tomtate, 10 Black Sea Bass, 1 Rock Sea Bass, 1 Scup and 2 Pinfish

Citation Spanish Mackerels & RAIN RAIN RAIN

Lots of rain this morning. In a little clearing at 9am, I met my party and we decided with lots more rain upon us, to call it off until tomorrow. Good Move? We'll see tomorrow. I went on out and caught 6 dozen Menhaden just to see if they were in the same place. Obviously so.... Then my girlfriend called and said she'd like to go for a ride. I said, "Have you noticed the weather?" She said she'd love to go in the rain... So we did, we went swimming for hours as the rain beat down on us. Then the skys cleared and we went fishing. Bites were few, but they were quality. Jennifer got 2 Spanish Mackerel at 6 lbs each. I caught 2 Southern Flounder. One was 20" and the other was 16". I also caught a Red Drum. We caught some garbage as well. We were waterlogged but it was a good time. I hope I made the right move with my clients. We will know by tomorrow! Total Catch for the Day: 2 Spanish Mackerel at 6 lbs each, 2 Southern Flounder up to 3 lbs, 1 Red Drum, 1 Blacknose Shark, 1 Pinfish, 1 Remora, and 1 Bluefish

Is Capt Marty a Jerk?

A couple weeks ago I got an email from a complete stranger that was simply asking "where to go throw a cast net to catch a few shrimp"..

Captain Marty,

Thank you for the advice! We scored on our 1^st try!! We didn’t catch big ones, but we did learn the difference between a shrimp and finger mullet jumping across the surface! We caught our limit of 100, and that paired with a nice flounder my son managed to catch while we were searching (20”flounder) made a nice supper that night for my and me! I’ve attached a picture. We went to Oyster Creek just past Davis! We made a day of it… we traveled all the way to Thorofare Bay. We were not sure about the boat ramp there at the bridge so we turned around and went back to Oyster Creek! Have you ever used that boat ramp? It looked very shallow, and I do not have a 4wd truck, so I didn’t want to risk getting stuck. Anyway, the area down east is nice! I like that laid back atmosphere! I believe we will be traveling that way a little more often now!

Are there any public boat ramps on Cedar Island? We are thinking of doing a day trip up there one day for a little fishing and pleasure boating.

Anyway, thanks again!

John W.

This is the follow-up email that I just got. Makes me feel really good and it sounds like John and his little boy have found a fun and productive new hobby and a great new way to build a strong relationship. Unfortunately, now I'll have to brace myself for the avalanche of criticism that I'll get for "giving out secrets".  Give me a break...... I help people out ALL THE TIME, yet I hear constant crap about what a jerk I am on the water. To those people, all I got to say is Good Luck and Keep your Distance, that way I can't see what you're NOT catching. Empty fish boxes bring out the worst in my fishing enemys, combatants, and competitors, especially the "yellow bouy  fleet". I'm certainly not afraid to post up my daily fishing reports (with pictures).

July 30 Barracuda, Grouper, Shark, Mackerel & Waterspouts

Ryan and Sabrina fished a very enjoyable day with me, despite dark clouds, rain, wind, and waterspouts..... Fishing was challenging, but rewarding. We raced to a Wreck and hooked up 3 Barracudas. Unfortunately, we only landed one of them and then a dive boat showed up and pushed us away from those potential Jacks and Groupers. Never fear, we relocated and Ryan caught a nice Gag Grouper and released a 250 lb Sand Tiger. Yeah that's right, an 8 ft Sand Tiger. That was a handful. Unfortunately, with rain and wind and a GIANT SHARK,  I never pulled my camera out. Hopefully Sabrina will emeil a pic.... After that, the wind picked up, the skys darkened, and a water spout put on a little show. We called it quits and headed back across the Shoals. Once on the west side, out of the misty rain appeared a tiny flock of terns that were dipping and wheeling over a small place of breaking fish. Tossing metal lures and this quickly turned into a very good bite. Pretty much a Spanish Mackerel or a Crevalle Jack on every cast. It was great, but we were wet and cold so we pulled the plug pretty quick on the casting and we ran home. We did make a bad move to end the day by striking out on Blacknose  Sharks in Beaufort Inlet.... Total Catch for the Day: 1 Gag Grouper at 12 lbs, 1 Sand Tiger at 250 lbs, 1 Barracuda at 20 lbs, 16 Spanish Mackerel up to 2 lbs and 7 Crevalle Jack up to 1 lb

July 27 Blacknose Sharks Biting Good

This was a weird day. The Ocean was rough this morning. The wind was blowing and it was gray and dreary. We caught 4 dozen live Menhaden and ran to Cape Lookout. We turned the corner and headed to my "second home".... Everyone knows I got a mailbox on Shark Island! Unfortunately, it was completely hostile and the water was muddy. Now I was "in trouble". So we ran all the way back to Beaufort Inlet and had a great session on Blacknose Sharks. We had 14 strikes and released 7 Sharks. Lots of action to make up for a woeful percentage. Sharks are fun, but you can't release them all day! After we left the Sharks, nothing else really worked. All my plans failed. We did catch lots of fish at AR-315, just not anything exciting... I am sorry for running east early and then west! If we would've done it the other way, the day would've turned out better. Anyway, it was still a very interesting day on the water. Total Catch for the Day: 7 Blacknose Sharks up to 25 lbs, 1 infant Blacktip Shark, 25 Croaker, 2 Gray Trout, 1 Bluefish, 1 Pinfish, 3 Hogfish, 1 Inshore Lizardfish, 1 Spottail Pinfish and 14 Black Sea Bass that were all too small.

July 26 Shark Fishing with Duncan

We are leaving at 1 pm and the forecast is GREAT SHARK FISHING.....  Well, my fishing trip with Duncan ended and in a word, "It Sucked". I hate fishing trips that start in the afternoon. Very seldom, it seems, do they work out. We had no choice though, cause the Boys had sailing class and didn't get out until lunch time. Anyway, here's what happened..... We left the dock at 1215 and we went to look for Menhaden. It took a while to find them but when we did, we socked it to them. One cast and filled the livewell and the cooler. Being in the eastern half of Back Sound, I decided to run to Cape Lookout. I thought we could set up where I did yesterday and we could surely get at least one bite from a quality fish! WRONG. In 90 minutes we got ZERO bites. We packed it in and rode all over The Bight and we saw one lonely Blacktip Shark. Not seeing anything worth fishing on, we made the long run back to Beaufort Inlet where we wasted another hour and caught nothing. The only bites we had all day were the Blacktips that were born last night probably. The 10" mini-mite version of their parents. Voracious, but........ Anyhow, our biggest problem was the 20 kt south winds and fishing the very top of the tide and then the falling tide. Didn't matter where we were, the falling tide was creating terrible fishing conditions because it was absolute opposition to the relentless south wind. It's always something to complain about... The wind.... I am just better at articulating it now. This morning with a rising tide and south winds would've been perfect. oh well, all must good streaks must end. My fishing streak just did! Total Catch for the Day: Nothing

July 25 Ladyfish BLITZ

This report can't be lumped under "The Dock Tally". This was One Great Fishing Session.... So after 11pm, I went down to check on my boat and heard the familiar splashing out in the inky blackness of night. They were close and they were "getting off"!!!!  There was definitely a nice run of Shrimp last night and the Ladyfish were there to take full advantage. Every few minutes a shrimp in close to the dock lights would come jumping in where I could see them and the Ladyfish were hot on it. Glowing with phosphorous, they looked like glowing hot missiles flashing below the jumping Shrimp and it always ended in a violent explosion that was not "shrimp friendly"....... So I tied on a popping plug and the first cast was flung at 12 midnight on the dot. Exactly 90 minutes later and 4 nice popping plugs later, I was done. Here is what I estimated: Probably around 70 casts, close to 50 water busting, scintillating surface strikes on the plugs. Approximately 80 spine tingling leaps and hurls into the black sky. Lots of screaming drags and turbo charged runs. Mind boggling changes of directions and direction changing somersalts. When I said "damn I WAS TIRED and I did NEED TO GO TO BED", when it was over, I had 4 dead Ladyfish that were hooked too deeply to revive. I released 6 healthy ones. I had 2 break off on violent, gill rattling leaps. Ladyfish have highly abrasive and razor sharp gill plates and are hell on light tackle. Only the 30# leader held up to the violence of the popping plug induced head shaking gravity defying leaps of freedom. Plugs tied straight to the 10# mono had NO CHANCE. These Ladyfish weighed 2-4+ pounds each. I did lose one that smoked 75 yards of line down current and broke off in the neighboring dock pilings. I have never had one take me a staight away drag strip like run like that one did. Was it a Ladyfish? I dont know, if so it was a big one. I guess you guys sense my enthusiasm for this short fishery! Two years ago, I remember a similar post....Total Catch for the Night: 10 Ladyfish up to 3 lb 8 oz    Pictures of Dead Ladyfish tomorrow

July 25-30 Taylor's Creek Dock Fishing

Once again, I'll just keep a running tally. I will be fishing here quite often this week. Jennifer is out of town, my boat is getting a workout on Charters, and fishing at the Dock is great. So why not.

Wednesday (7-25) in 10 minutes, fishing with a white gulp, I caught 2 Red Drum and a Southern Flounder. One of the Red Drum was too small while the other Red Drum was too large at 30". He was a "stud" for the dock on 10# mono..... My Southern Flounder was a killer at 19" and well over 2 lbs. I did not go get my camera... My Flounder is on ice and I'd imagine that I'll get many more photo ops moving forward.... More on 7-25 in the Ladyfish Blitz Post!

On Thursday (7-26) fishing with live Finger Mullet was great. I tried it once in the afternoon and once in the evening, all together I probably fished for 60 minutes. I caught a Black Sea Bass and a Inshore Lizardfish. All the other bites were Red Drum or Flounder. I had 7 Flounders. Two were to small and the other 5 were 2lb+ keepers. I caught 6 Red Drum that were little guys. Seems like a wonderful crop of little 7" to 10" Red Drum around this summer. Great Fishing! Those Flounder fillets on Friday Night made for great eating. Dammit, I'll be glad when my Girlfriend would comes home!


Marcus R "The Rouser" Rouse joined me this afternoon (7-28) for a 30 minute Dock Expedition. Fishing was red hot, but burned out quickly as we "caught em up". I got a 16" Southern Flounder and 5 Red Drum, four of the little pups and a 3lb 8oz keeper. Marcus got a Red Drum and flirted with a bruiser that escaped. We each got a garbage fish or two also. AND, it's time to be happy because JENNIFER IS HOME....

Today (7-29) was a Flounder day on the Dock. After I came in from my trip, I fished for 20 minutes and caught 3 Southern Flounders from 15" to 18". Nice.

Total Catch for the Period: 14 Red Drum up to 10 lbs, 12 Southern Flounder at 2 lb 12 oz, 2 Black Sea Bass, 5 Inshore Lizardfish, 1 Hogfish and 2 Pinfish up to 14oz

July 25 Nice Blacktip Shark

Corey's fishing trip was today and this morning was unsettled and the wind was 18 kts out of the NW. the Menhaden that had been so easy, were "much harder".... But we found them and I was not sure where to go. I knew the Cape Lookout Shoals would be "closed out" like Bell's Beach in my favorite movie "Point Break", and I didn't feel like Brody.. So we ended up in the Cape Lookout Bight swimming a few shad on a shallow sandy shoal and an adjacent slough. After Corey caught a 60 lb Southern Stingray and we missed a Shark bite, Paul commented "we need to feed 16 people". Okay, is that all. We needed a nice Blacktip Shark because it was blowing and the weather was very unsettled, I didnt have much faith in catching enough of anything else to fill a baby food jar! Suddenly, just like magic, a reel went off. It exploded and dumped 300 yards of 20# mono in seconds. We dropped anchor and the chase was ON. Over an hour later, Corey and I dropped Paul's big Blacktip Shark on the deck. After that, the weather had changed and the wind had fell out, but regardless, every plan failed. Cape Shoals, NC Port, and others..... We managed a couple of Bluefish and a sweet Ladyfish but that was it. Total Catch for the Day: 105 lb Blacktip Shark, 60 lb Southern Stingray, 3 Bluefish, and a 3 lb Ladyfish

Weird Stuff and Info Tidbits From Hatteras

Pictures one, two, and three is a Mantis Shrimp. Interesting little Critter. Pictures four and five demonstrate the difference between a Silverside and an Anchovy. Both common bait species and most everyone calls them "shiners". Picture six and of a few of the Squid that I was trying to use as live bait for Flounder. Unsuccessfully..... Picture seven is a rare (for Hatteras) White Sea Urchin. Picture Eight make me wonder...... "Of all damn places TWEETY BIRD, why the hell would you try to sleep in a spot that Ferry's are coming in and out of every hour and then Idiots are taking pictures, catching Urchins, throwing cast nets and dropping baits all around you. All night. Fly away you fool!!!!

July 17-24 Hatteras Fishing Tally

The first night (7-17) was a good one for Frank and I. I caught 5 Flounders and Frank netted up 50 lbs of Jumping Mullets. The oddity of the night was my juvenile Conger Eel. Once again, bait was hard to catch. Last night's best option proved to be a big Silversides and they aren't quite big enough for the cast net. I could throw on 100 Silversides and only 1 or 2 would get entangled. Lack of quality bait made my Flounder fishing extremely difficult.  Interestingly, 2 of tonights Flounders were actually Summer Flounders, my first 2 of the year... Well, I've got the grill lit and a couple of Mullet fillets are getting ready to get cooked.....

The second night (7-18) the fishing was slower. Bait wasn't a problem. I caught 25 Silversides in one throw! I also captured a few Squid and a Mantis Shrimp. Neat little monster. I also saw a swimming Nudibranch, which is always cool.... With the rid and reel, I caught 2 Southern Flounders and 2 big Oyster Toadfish.

On Thursday Night (7-19) I didn't really fish as I had a VIP visitor from Carteret County. I did make one cast with a live Bluefish and left the rod unattended. Ten minutes later, I caught my rod racing down the side of the Ferry. When I reached it, The line was pinned under the boat and line was rapidly coming off the spool. I lifted the rod and tightened the drag. The fish never slowed. I watched 200 yards of 30# test evaporate off the spool. Had to be a Giant Stingray. At the end of the game, I locked down the drag and broke the line.... This battle would've been fun, but the "fight" occurred under the Ferry. Suckfest!

No fishing on Friday Night (7-20) but I did snag a 5lb 8oz Jumping Mullet on a string of treble hooks. Great fight. Great Fish. No time to brag.....


So far on Saturday (7-21) Jennifer and I went for a romantic walk on the Beach which I pretty much destroyed the moment by pulling a Sand Flea Trap and a Spinning Rod out of my magical cap.... To make matters worse the now mythical Sea Mullets & Pompano that abound in the Hatteras Surf once again pitched a Shut Out against the Capt Marty All-Stars.....


Sunday night (7-22) was stormy and rainy and the fishing crew got some much needed rest. I drowned a Sea Urchin and had no bites at 420am.... 


Total Catch for the Week: 5 Southern Flounder up to 16", 2 Summer Flounders up to 16", 5lb 8oz Jumping Mullet, 3 Black Sea Bass, 2 Oyster toadfish up to 3 lbs and 1 Conger Eel

July 16 All Great Things Must Come To An End

I have had THE BEST WEEK of my adult life! Unfortunately, tommorrow it will come to an end. Darn It! It's time to go back to Hatteras and start another week on the Hatteras Inlet Ferry. Once again I have the night run and I'd expect to catch lots of nice Flounder. I am expecting to fish the Beach a couple of times and I will definitely be looking for a slammer Sea Mullet or Pompano.... Believe it or not, I have been searching for that Pompano since July 4, 2001.... Did I say Bigfoot? A Unicorn? Yeti? No, a damn Pompano. It's not supposed to be this difficult. When I get back home, I am availiable on July 26, 27 and 28. 

July 15 Groupers, Red Drum, Sharks, Barracudas

Ryan, Ellie, and Chad fished with me today and every idea I had was a challenge. We started out racing a Dive Boat to a Wreck and we were held-up by a fuel problem, which allowed the Dive Boat to beat us to the spot and effectively cost us a chance at the resident Amberjacks, Groupers, and possibly an African Pompano.... Damn. We were left with the Barracuda on the perimeter. Chad got the first one at 24 lbs, Ryan and Ellie got the next one at 30 lbs. Long Fight. Great Fight. After that, we ran back inshore to a smaller wreck where we battled and lost time and time again with 50 to 200 lb Sand Tigers. We did manage to land 2 Gag Grouper, including Ryan's 11 pounder. We also caught Black Sea Bass and Bluefish, and other bottom riff raff........ Looking to end what seemed like a busy but mediocre day of fishing, I headed to my Honey Hole, The Cape Lookout Shoals. Once there, I figured we could work over some Blacktip Sharks and also smash a school of Red Drum that I found the day before. Once there, we were in for a BIG SUPRIZE. We found a parade of 120 lb Tarpon with a few small ones crossing the Shoals. WOW. We actually made beautiful casts with fresh dead Menhaden and had them window shopping. But, unfortunately, none of them were buying! It was very intense for a few minutes on the Top Water Boat. After that, we sightcasted to lots of big Blacktips and they were very hungry. Lots of surface smashing strikes, spinning leaps, screamimg drags. Ryan released 3 and lost a few others. As our day came to an end, we found our Red Drum sitting in a very dangerous spot. I put us in a whirling, swirling tempest of 3 foot breakers in 18" of water, and even then, it was barely close enough. Ryan connected at the very end of a Long Cast and Chad did not. Ryan pulled out a 10 lb Red Drum and we headed home. Shew, what a day. Total Catch for the Day: 15 Bluefish up to 2 lbs, 2 Barracuda at 24 & 30 lbs, 3 Blacktip Sharks up to 75 lbs, 2 Gag Grouper at 11 & 7 lbs, 3 Black Sea Bass up to 14", 1 Red Drum at 10 lbs, 1 Scup, and 2 Pinfish