Look What Jennifer Caught

Looks like Capt Marty is engaged..........................

Jan 29 Red Drum and Bluefish Super Bowl

Tuggy and I hadn't fished since October? Damn time is flying by! So today was a beautiful day and I needed to get away from the problems on LAND and I needed to get out in the water and lose myself in the Beauty of  the Ocean and the Challenge of Fishing..... Tuggy was more than ready to join me! So we headed out Beaufort Inlet, turned our bow towards the East, and pushed up the throttle! GLORIOUS........ Then we dipped into a wave and a wall of 49 degree water blasted us in the face! WTF are we doing! So much to do at home and here we are wasting money and time and suddenly wet and cold. MISERABLE.... Then we talked it over and continued (slower and carefully) to the East.... The first challenge we encountered was multiple schools of a mystery Mackerel species... Very similar to last years highly annoying and challenging Bullet Mackerel invasion at Cape Lookout.... So, to get a quick glimpse and cast metal approximately 10 times with lots of running and chasing (high level of annoyance) these fish were either At Mackerel, baby Albacore, or increasingly common Bullet Mackerel? Tuggy actually hooked one and fought it long enough to get cocky...... But his rod tip went "ping" after an intense 2 minute battle. Pulled hooks. I do know that Bullet Mackerel and At Mackerel both have weak jaw bones and are a tough combination of hard fighters and soft mouths. Hard to Hook and Easy to Lose. Not to mention their absolutely uncanny ability to change directions whenever your lure is "in the air"... These damn things are the absolute Definition of Fishing ANNOYANCE... Hell I am getting MAD just thinking about them...... After we gave up on that, we quickly found plenty of Red Drum and Bluefish and a scattering of other assorted fish. Two hours later we were headed home with a great catch and a great time... Red Drum score was 7 to 7. Tuggy will quickly tell you that his stingsilver was producing bigger Drum than my speck rig. Therefore before we left I tied on a stingsilver and quickly caught Mary Lee. Not the Great White Shark, but the largest Red Drum in the school. Hey Tuggy, you were right!  Total Catch for the Day: 14 Red Drum from 17" to 28", 40 Bluefish up to 2 lbs, 5 Black Sea Bass up to 14", 1 Gag Grouper at 18", 1 Hogfish, and 3 small Sheepshead

Jan 22 Largemouth Bass before the Cold

I made a quick trip to Lake Bernaur. I knew the Alberta Clipper was hours away and if the bitter cold persists in Beaufort, that will pretty much end all mung hole fishing until late March/early April.... So I spent 30 minutes tossing a beetlespin in the "big pond". I had 5 strikes. I released 4 small Largemouth Bass.... And regretfully, I was playing around in the shallows while talking on the phone..... And...... I got crushed by a much larger Largemouth Bass. Fishing one handed with 8 feet of string out, a 4-5 lb Bass erupted from some vegetation at my feet. While holding my phone in one hand, I fumbled with my drag, and...... POP went my 8lb test mono. My fault. The "fish of the day" and potential early "fish of the year candidate" swam off with my beetlespin pinned to her lip. Well dammit. Total Catch for the Day: 4 Largemouth Bass

Jan 17 Tautog Tales

First of all, last night I went home with a career best 4 lb Tautog. I filleted it and we are having it for lunch tomorrow.... I saved the carcass and tossed it on the grill. I also rubbed the head down with salt, butter, and black pepper, sealed it in tin foil, and placed it on the grill instead.... Here's the results: The carcass contained "the meat between the bones" after filleting. This was a very tasty appetizer. As for the head, it was delicious. The cheeks contained 2 large nuggets of rich, white flesh. Also the throat area was loaded with meat as was the top of the head. This was the first time I've ever tried this and I'd say that the Tautog's head was a "gold mine" of meat.... So, this morning was foggy and we stayed tied up for several hours. I briefly tried fishing. No luck. I had to run to the Post Office around 10am. I decided to leave my rig overboard so I loosened my drag and propped up my rod. Evidently a short while later my Oiler and good buddy Billy Harris noticed my rod "bouncing down the rail". Billy ran over and quickly grabbed my bucking rod! He then expertly wrestled a 4 lb Tautog over the rail of the MV Kinnnekeet. That's two 4 pounders in two days! An hour later, I followed up with another Tautog over on the Ocracoke side. This one was a merely a 2lb 8oz, a little letdown after the 4 pounders... Not bad, I'm really enjoying this Very Challenging Fish. It feels like Trophy Fishing because the bites are few, its a challenge busting these very strong fish out of heavy structure, and the fish itself is a very high quality for eating purposes... A little later, David Carter caught a 5 lb Conger Eel on my rod. This Eel had to wrestled out of heavy structure. Tough Customer.... I guess any bite is a good bite on a cold January day!  Total Catch for the Day: 2 Tautog up to 4 lbs and a 5 lb Conger Eel

Jan 16 Career Best Tautog

Whew, this one was a LONG TIME COMING..... Tautog used to be a NC Citation Species. It was dropped from that program about 6 years ago. To get that Citation you had to catch a 7lb Tautog. When I first hatched my plan to "catch them all", I knew Tautog would be the toughest roadblock. Nearly impossible... After the Tautog was dropped from the NC Citation Program, I was still very interested in catching them. As a matter of fact, as I get older I am drawn to more obscure species and more radical approaches to fishing..... Somewhere along the line, all the Red Drum and Trout become too vanilla and too much like the "last one" or "last years fish".... Meanwhile things like Sheepsheads and Crevalle Jacks and Spadefish and Ladyfish became more exciting and challenging to me.... (TO ME) I realize that is a very important qualifier..... Anyway, Tautog still represent a major challenge and one of my winter-time interests. But, I might add, I do not pursue them beyond my home waters. North Carolina is the southern end of their range and only the Oregon Inlet area has any consistent Tautog fishery at all... As a matter of fact, Oregon Inlet is probably a 100 times better than Hatteras. And make that a 1000 times better than Beaufort Inlet. And I've never even fished for Tautog at Oregon Inlet.... Even farther north, Virginia has a GREAT Tautog fishery, including several fish that were close to the All Tackle World Record Fish..... I have never fished beyond Hatteras Inlet for them..... That's what I meant by "not pursuing them"...... Having never fished in "decent" Tautog waters, obviously my chances for a large one is not good. Also, what I would consider a "good one" would be considered a very average one in Virginia... Anyway, in my entire life I have probably caught 20 Tautog. I caught maybe 10 last year and it was best year ever. My largest Tautog was probably around 2 lbs. A far cry from the 25lb World Record from New Jersey. All that changed today when I dropped a piece of Squid into a 12 feet deep hole in the Rocks that are covered by 7 feet of water by the Ferry Docks on the north end of Ocracoke Island. I got a slammer of a bite and immediately got hung up. After a few seconds my rod tip bounced free and I quickly cranked upwards as my fish battled through Rocks and Concrete and Steel Ramp Stanchions. Suddenly she broke the surface! A Large Tautog! With time running out (time for the Ferry to load) and with NO Landing Net, I rolled the dice and lifted my prize...... Could've gone either way but..... Seconds later I had a 18" long 4 lb Tautog laying at my feet. Career Tautog. Early leader for "2013 Fish of the Year".... Now I want a bigger one! Total Catch for the Day: 4 lb Tautog

The Ides of January

Damn if it aint the 15th of January already.... Crazy how time flies. I'm back at Hatteras and this time I've got the 430am run..... Hopefully I will be able to go fishing up this way before I come back home. Hopefully back up at Va Beach. The Striped Bass and Bluefin Tuna are biting. Hatteras has King Mackerel and Blackfin Tuna..... Other than that, I saw a sight today that I've never seen before.... In Hatteras Inlet, I saw an acre of water explode with Atlantic Mackerel. Nice ones. I'd guess 1-3 pounders. Beautiful. I'd love to have casted a tiny stingsilver into that fray..... Also, this morning I caught around 100 Squid. First of this winter. I didn't have my rod and squid jig so I simply tossed a cast net and caught them all! Now I gotta go out and clean them...... What the hell was I thinking? *** UPDATE*** Okay, I guessed 100 Squid..... Wrong! Because I just cleaned 60 Squid and bagged 120 Squid! Amend that catch to 180 Loligo Squid. That is some high quality C A L A M A R I baby!

Jan 10 Black Sea Bass and more

Took Arik today and it was supposed to be Beautiful. Well it wasn't..... It blew North and Northeast and it blew 15kts and it blew 20kts. There were whitecaps 2 miles out. It sucked and there was a Small Craft Advisory up. We missed that! Anyway, we fished 2 spots to the west of Beaufort Inlet and we were s\happy with the number of Sea Bass and disappointed with the number of Dogsharks.... Obviously, it must be winter! Arik hadn't fished in 10 years.... I fish 100+ days a year for the past 35 years..... Guess who outfished who? Yep, I lost 5 rigs while Arik never lost a rig. He caught the biggest and the most. It was a fun day and glad I took Arik and I hope he has a great fish dinner! Total Catch for the Day: 30 Black Sea Bass up to 13", 2 Spiny Dogfish up to 10lbs, 1 Sheepshead, 1 Scup, 1 Spottail Pinfish and 1 Pinfish

Jan 5 Cold & Lonely Sheepshead

Last night was pretty and cold. I stayed up all night and looked for some adventure. I put on my waders and grabbed my light and gig. I set out about 1am and walked around Hatteras Inlet and the east end of Ocracoke Island until 3am. The water up here is pretty much dead. I saw less than 10 fish of all species combined.... I saw 3-4 tiny shrimp..... No crabs, no shellfish of any kind.... I saw several big, nasty Lion's Mane Jellyfish.... What I did see was hundreds of pink, nasty little worm-like things.... Not sure what these things are called. I found them all floating nearly vertical in the water column. There bodys were hanging loosely towards the bottom. When I probed them with my gig, they would become rigid and immediately sink to the bottom where they were barely visible   on the sandy bottom in the dirty water. These worms were 4-8 inches long and were pretty insignificant. I would imagine that they would be a major food item for lots of the fish that we love to catch...... Finally, around 330am, I dropped a bottom rig into the rocks below the Ferry Ramp and caught another Sheepshead. After releasing him, I had 3-4 more bites and I missed them... Where are my Tautogs dammit. Total Catch for the Night: 1 Sheephead

Jan 3 Where's My Tautog?

I know that I am not the man or the fisherman I was a few years ago. Or maybe I'm willing to suffer for Squid, but not the fish that live among the cold, dark rocks and pilings of South Dock. Regardless of why, the air temp in the upper 30s and wind blowing 20 out of the North sent me scurrying back into the Engine Room pretty quickly on both Jan 3 and Jan 4. The biggest difference between the 2 nights was, on Jan 3rd I actually had a pleasant suprize...... With No Squid present on either side, when I started fishing, I'd have to say that I was "Tautog Fishing". Last winter I caught quite a few of those uncommon, but tasty visitors from up North... So that's what I had in mind... Unfortunately, I didn't catch any Tautog either. But I did have a little action. In about an hour of trying, I had 6 bites and caught 3 fish, including a powerful little Sheepshead that had me thinking I had hooked a fat Tog. It was disappointing just for a minute because a Sheepshead is a fish that I'm always happy to see. Especially on a cold January night! Total Catch for the Night: 1 Sheepshead, 1 Black Sea Bass, and 1 Oyster Toadfish

Fishing in a Tea Kettle

I am the world's worst "Black Water Fisherman". As a matter of fact, I dont think I've ever caught a fish in tannic stained water. But I tried, as always..... So Jennifer and I went on a little trip to celebrate our 6 month anniversary. We stayed in Southport and we also visited Holden Beach, Shallotte, Caswell Beach, and Long Beach. On the way home, I made 50 empty casts into Town Creek near Brunswick, NC. Even though I didn't catch a single fish, I had alot of fun and got a nice picture of us together... Total Catch for the Day: NOTHING

Dec 28 Largemouth Bass were Chewing

On the prettiest day in quite some time, wouldn't you know my morning was shot on an errand to New Bern.  Later in the afternoon, I was finished and bored and it was too late to launch the boat.... So, I packed up a handful of Freshwater stuff and headed over to Lake Bernauer. This spot is too big to be a "Mung Hole" and Korey runs the show here, so I named it after him.... In warm weather it has plentiful and healthy Bass and possibility for great Bream fishing. In other words, its Fishing potential exceeds the other local "Mung Holes" as well. Korey has seen a pair of 5 pound Bass in the past. So, honestly, this is a regular ole Pond just like I fished in Garner, Fuquay, and Greenville in my earlier years.... Anything is possible! How about today? Well, it was as good as I'd ever expect it in the winter. I found an area holding Bass and I worked them over with a Beetlespin. A lot of fun and my fishing fix is in.... From 4pm until 5pm, I caught 16 Largemouth Bass with probably 6 of them slightly over 1 pound. On my lightest spinning rod with 6# test, it was a blast and I saw many, many great jumps and tailstands...... Not a Citation Speckled Trout by any means, but still a good amount of action and a very "game" fish! Total Catch for the Day: 16 Largemouth Bass up to 1lb 4oz

The Wreck of SS Oriental and the Town of Oriental

Well, I'm still at Stumpy Point. I'm still the Night Watchman. The Fishing has been non-existent. (Note- I am coming home on Dec 25th and I expect to be home for 21 days..... So I will be going fishing. Trout, Drum, Albacore. The fish better BEWARE because Capt Marty is coming! Please call me at 252-241-8350 if you are interested in going fishing) Anyway, I was driving down Pea Island this morning and as I always do, I looked back through a certain pair of dunes and got a look at "The Boiler" as it's known up this way. Something re-assuring to know that its always there. As if the damn thing could possibly go somewhere. Hell its been there for 150 years. It has seen its share of Hurricanes and Tautogs and everything in between.... It also gave me an idea for my "next piece of meaningless information". As always, I wonder if anyone reads this Blog. (Hey Jennifer, I know you read it baby. I love you SO MUCH. Can't wait until tommorrow. I think I'll show you the Boiler in person----How Romantic!) Anyway, The "Boiler" is just that, a Boiler. It is all that remains of the SS Oriental, a 218 foot long Federal Transport Ship that wrecked on the Beach here on May 28th of 1862. It is very interesting for 2 reasons. First, and of a "fisherman's interest" is that it is rare in that it is still highly visible 150 years after its demise. It is one of the few actual relics left on our coast to remind you of how treacherous and deadly the North Carolina Coast was back in those days. The Shoals and Inlets were bad enough, but then toss in incredible currents and waves, plus the confluence of two great masses of water, the cold Labrador Current clashing with the warm Gulf Stream created "weather on the spot" and crazy ass scenarios that I've seen on the Outer Banks that I haven't encountered anywhere else.... Like zero visibility fog when its blowing 40 knots! Deadly. Anyway, a shipwrecked Steamer lay just offshore Pea Island in 1862 and a young Island girl named Rebecca found the nameboard and other artifacts. She kept them.....Decades later and 100 miles away, a small settlement off the Neuse River called Smith's Creek needed a new name. The town was getting a Post Office and  residents didn't like the name Smith's Creek.The new Postmaster was a fellow named Mr Lou Midyette and his wife Rebecca had an idea.... She had an old nameboard off a shipwreck that she had found many years before when she was a young girl growing up on the Outer Banks! The name was "Oriental". Today Oriental is a quaint little town dominated by Sailboats and Downeast Guide Service (Haha). As for the SS Oriental, the Federal Troop Transport..... The Boiler is right where it's been for 150 years. Come summer, it will be teeming with Sheepsheads, Triggerfish, Sea Bass, and Tautog. Snorkelers can swim to it from the Beach. Good Luck and Happy Holidays Everyone. I hope you find this interesting. My history lessons are coming to an end. Its nearly time to go FISHING!

Three Fish Stories

AMERICAN SHAD

During the winter of 1776, Gen George Washinton's troops were near starvation. Food was scarce and the Continental Congress had no more funds to appropriate to what looked like a lost cause. We were on the verge of losing THE WAR. The Revolutionary War! History would have to be re-written. Washington's troops hung on until Spring. Barely. Then came the annual American Shad run up the Schuylkill River near Washington's encampment at Valley Forge, Pa. Armed with pitchforks, Washington's men set upon the Shad. Historians believe that the sudden supply of fresh fish helped win the war!

BROWN TROUT

The Brown Trout has been around for 70 million years. However, they were not always swimming around the North American Continent. They were native to Europe and North Africa. In 1882, William Gilbert of Plymouth, Mass imported 5000 Brown Trout eggs from Scotland. At first, this experiment seemed to be a disaster. Nearly all the eggs proved to be infertile. Then of the few tiny fry that actually hatched, only 3 of them grew to maturity. Miraculously, from those 3 originial Brown Trout imported in 1882, their descendents  are now caught in 43 US States and most of Canada and are one of the most sought after freshwater fish in North America.

STRIPED BASS

Striped Bass, as we know, are the MOST POPULAR GAMEFISH on the US East Coast. There is also a very productive West Coast Fishery that pretty much centers in San Francisco Bay. This wasn't always the case. In another incredible case of Fishery Management and Experimentation, in 1879 135 Striped Bass fry were hauled across the Country by Railroad by the US Fish Commission. These fish were kept in Milk Cans that were cooled with ice and aerated by hand in an arduous around-the-clock, by hand method. Of the original lot, so few actually survived that instead of setting up a West Coast Hatchery, these fish were merely dumped in San Francisco Bay. The experiment was considered a failure. Not to be denied, 500 more Striped Bass fry were released in the Bay in 1881..... A few years later, by 1888 in fact, Striped Bass were thriving on the West Coast and supporting a Commercial Fishery.

Dec 15 Pretty Day, Tough Fishing

Brent & Hunter took advantage of the "Christmas Special" and I was damn glad to get on the water myself. The "Top Water" has been sitting all fall/early winter and she was raring to go with bad water pump, cracked flywheel and all! The problem was the serious lack of fish that the Beaufort Inlet area has been experiencing. Or so I've been told, honestly, I haven't been around enough to even know.... Anyway, we headed out this morning with 5 dozen mud minnows and went Trout Fishing.... Only with extremely high tides and dark skies, I decided to waste a little time down to the west at AR-315..... And we stayed down there the entire day. It wasn't great, but the reports from the Rock Jetty weren't that good either. So we played around with "all kinds of ideas" and we managed to have fun and catch some fish. Unfortunately, Hunter sat out most of it with an aching back. (I can sympathize) Brent had the 3 Best Fish of the day (debatable).... He had a 17" and a 16" Speckled Trout on a metal jig in 50 foot of water. He also caught a 18" Red Drum on a bucktail at the same depth. My "signature" fish was a 4 lb Black Sea Bass that hurt me to let him go, and since it is "illegal" Brent awarded himself the "Fisherman of the Day" award....... Anyway. Spiny Dogfish on light spin filled the role of Big Fish.... All in all, I call it great day, with a great angler, and hopefully we all put our troubles aside for a day! And I was just happy to have someone to go fishing with me because all my other buddys are duck hunting... Total Catch for the Day: 3 Speckled Trout up to 18", a 18" Red Drum, 20 Black Sea Bass up to 19", 2 Hogfish, 2 Northern Puffer, 1 Leopard Sea Robin and 12 Spiny Dogfish from 6-12lbs each

Its Whats for Dinner Tonight

Dec 11 & 12 LARGE Striped Bass in Virginia

I heard about it for years. This year Thanks to Capt Chris Kimrey of Mount Maker Charters (www.mountmakercharters.com) I was able to experience the Cape Charles Virginia Float Eel Fishery. Unfortunately, I picked 2 horrible weather days to experience this.... Actually, I went up there for one day and the weather sucked. I then "rolled the dice" on day 2 and the weather was actually worse... So, basically, I wore the same clothes for 48+ hours. Nastiest I've been since my commercial Grouper/Snapper career ended in 1990. Thankfully, I'd forgotten the stench of wearing (and fishing in) the same clothes for multiple days..... As for the fishing..... Fortunately, Chris knew what the hell he was doing. Fortunately again, fishing was "just good enough" to get one bite each day in steep, short 4 foot seas and in 15-20 NE winds, under dark and sometimes rainy skies... So on 2 days that 90% of the Fleet stayed cancelled trips and stayed at the Dock (at the Bar apparently) Chris hooked me up to a 38 lb Striped Bass 20 seconds after the first live eel went in the water on 12/11. Then on 12/12, a 46 lb 14oz Striped Bass attacked our first live eel 30 seconds after tossing him in the Chesapeake Bay! Unfortunately, we didnt know when to quit either day either! After the immediate bites (kiss of death) each day, we bopped around and froze and suffered for another 3-4 biteless hours.... Oh well, looks like great weather is coming this weekend and I'd expect Chris and his fishing network up there to produce lots of 30-50 lb Striped Bass. I know he has some open dates after Christmas and I highly recommend to anyone to go up there and go fishing. Contact Chris. (Cell# 252-342-0464) He can take you or steer you in the right direction to the biggest Striped Bass of your life without having to fight all that ridiculous trolling tackle. Total Catch for the 2 Days: 2 Striped Bass at 38 lbs and 46 lbs 14oz