Sept 24, 25 and 27- South Dock Sight Casting to Sheepsheads at 3am

Flounders from Sept 24 and 25 up to 5 lb 8oz

A truly Sight Casted Sheepshead with a vicious Surface Strike.....At Night!

Tons of Baby Gag Groupers around this Fall. A great sign for the future

A 6 lb Southern Flounder from Sept 27!

More Dead Flounders!!!!

I never thought that I would see a Title like that... If I didn't generate it, I'd never believe it....... A few things to note first: First, the Outer Banks in general and Hatteras Inlet in particular has seen an EPIC PINFISH EXPLOSION this summer. This is my 12th season of spending Half my Time at Hatteras and I am seeing massive hoards of big ass Pinfish everywhere that I look.... Under the lights at South Dock is always like looking into a huge aquarium every night. This is an ABSOLUTE AMAZING SPOT. Less than a mile from Hatteras Inlet, plenty of deep water and plenty of sandy flats, and ENOUGH LIGHT to see from OUTER SPACE. Since 2004, I could've literally wall-papered my house with Sheepshead and Flounder Citations from this place..... Other years, we have caught Black Sea Bass by the 5 gallon bucket full, Squid by the hundreds, huge Gray Trout, huge Conger Eels, and enough Tautog to warrant fishing for them....... This year however, South Dock belongs to the PINFISH........ Next item of note: Every since the NC State DOT owned Dredge Carolina has been tied up at South Dock, the Flounder Fishing has been horrible. The location of the Dredge disrupts the natural flow that the massive schools of Finger Mullet and that is the reason the Flounder have, in the past, have been as thick as, shingles on a roof..... It ain't like that now..... Now the last 2 nights have caught 3 Flounder per night. A far cry from the 28 that I caught on September 7, 2004. 10 over 6 lbs and a big fish of 10 lb 6 oz..... Last night I got a NC Citation winning 5 lb Flounder and a 4 lb 12 oz Flounder.... Nice.... But what will stick in my mind, the last 2 nights, were the 2 hours that I spent sight casting live blue crabs to crazy pyscho Sheepsheads that are swimming around with 1000s of Pinfish. Whenever a baby Crab comes along, the Sheepshead accelerates and busts them on top. Its amazing to watch. After a minute though, the "Angler" in me wants to catch the damn thing.... So the past 2 nights I've spent time casting tiny crabs to marauding Sheepsheads. As it stands now, in a couple hours of effort, I've hooked 1 Sheepshead and caught 2 dozen horse Pinfish. The second biggest problem is actually catching the small crabs. Anyway, I am confident I'll get one tonight! And, on the night of Sept 27, I cast a small Blue Crab to a cruising Sheepshead. The Sheepshead changed directions slightly, raced ahead, and smashed the crab on the surface! A minute later, Keith netted him and my mission was accomplished! Sight casted Sheepshead at Night! Amazing! In the meantime, I have caught several more Flounders and baby Groupers. The Flounders are all keepers and I managed another 6 lb NC Citation Winner last night and a 4 lb 8oz Flounder. Life is Good.....  Total Catch for the Past 3 Night Sessions: 11 Southen Flounder up to 6 lbs, 2 Summer Flounders up to 3 lbs, 6 baby Gag Groupers, 1 Inshore Lizardfish, and 24 Pinfish

OPEN DATES

Wednesday Oct 1, Friday Oct 3, Sunday Oct 5, and Monday Oct 6

Expect VERY GOOD Fishing. Live Bait or Casting. Also, Bottom Fishing should be good both inside, nearshore, and offshore.

Give me a call (252-241-8350) and Let's Go Fishing

Sept 22- Two Greats Leaps by Fish..... Two Great Failures by Capt Marty

That Title is a little harsh..... In reality, I was witness today to two of The Sport of Fishing's most iconic sights.... Two leaps to freedom by two of the World's Greatest Gamefish. Now, unfortunately, both escaped..... Here's my day:  About 1130am, with my chores done, the "too much" NW wind subsiding, pretty damn hot and partly sunny......and almost low tide and I pretty much got a School of 1000 Red Drum "dialed in" at low tide.... I made the decision to splash the Top Water Boat and go for a quick ride. Tomorrow I go back to work and this week has been disappointing to say the least...... Anyway, Emma and I quickly found our Red Drum and caught 2 nice upper slot fish. I also caught a freak Speckled Trout that ate my 5" Jerk Shad right in the middle of a 100+ group of Drum.... Weird. By that time I'd heard of a pretty decent casting opportunity over to the east..... Realizing that by the time I get off work, September will be over, I made a decision to take Emma on a wild ride. She loves Bluefish anyway so she wasn't complaining.... Arriving to my "HOME AWAY FROM HOME" on Shark Island, I found some good, not great fishing. Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, and Albacore were availiable but it was definitely not a blitz..... I probably caught 10 each on Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish. Emma devoured 2 Bluefish. Kodiak Brown Bear style. Pinning the head and getting a tooth hold on a piece of skin, she tugs and tugs and eventually pulls the skin right over the tail.... Damn Emma. Then, if she's real hungry, she'll eat the carcass. She gives it a minute to see if I'll give her another one. Obviously, she prefers the skin..... Anyway, I put 8 Bluefish in the livewell. I put 10 Spanish Mackerel on ice. I figured I'd try to catch a King Mackerel. I've had good luck this year with minimum effort and this is exactly the kind of day that WEIRD STUFF HAPPENS.... Lets hope for "good weird"..... Before I left the shallows and the knots of redbait, I did manage to release 2 Albacore just because they were there and I was building a nice Species List! So, as the afternoon wore on, it got prettier and prettier.... I ran back to the west and I decided to stop because I was encountering schools of bait deep about a mile off Barden's Inlet. I set up a nice spread of 3 live Bluefish and pulled them west. About 10 quiet minutes later, I was dreaming of the Mung Hole and Largemouth Bass on popping bugs....  Then I noticed the short bait got very animated.... Jumping and flip flopping around. Here we go...... King Mackerel Time! Suddenly there was a splash. Too far back for the short bait and not quite back to the middle bait.... In the dirty (pretty damn dirty) green water, a long black shape came into sight.... As I stood there confused, Then I noticed where the line entered the water for the middle bait was dangerously close to where the mystery fish swam.... the black shape seemed to effortlessly keep pace with the boats forward speed.... In the next second, it all came together. In my mind, I figured out what I was seeing and the fish and line literally came together as well.... Right there, 30 feet off my stern, and 8+ foot Sailfish rose that last foot to the surface. His sickle tail broke the surface. he flicked his huge blue/purple sail half up and then retracted it, and then with a flick of his tail, he charged the short bait.... But, SON OF A BITCH if he didn't get involved the other line, the middle bait, a good 25 feet ahead of the swivel.... Damnation. The Sailfish felt the line and it wrapped him up somehow. He veered away from the bluefish he was getting ready to eat, veered away from the Top Water Boat, and veered away from Capt Marty..... Bad Luck crushed my first Sailfish opportunity in 2 years... Or did it? Suddenly the reel screamed and 25# line poured off...... A 20+ second peel out.. Then out there, 200 yards away, towards a distant Atlantic Beach, this huge Sailfish jumped and jumped again. Then he laid on the surface and tailwalked (on his side) straight back at me..... He covered a good 50 yards.... Hell, could a miracle happen and I actually land this thing...... Three minutes later, I was gaining line and allowed myself to dream..... And PING he was gone....

TO BE CONTINUED...... 1 Great Gamefish Lost (Iconic Leaper) LOST

Sorry.... I am at Hatteras now. Anyway, where was I?  Okay, after the Sailfish encounter, I continued to slow troll towards the west. I had a minute of excitement on a blind strike in the cool green waters.... Heavy but not fast.... This one turned out to be a 45-50 lb Hammerhead Shark... I love Sharks and I really love Hammerheads.. I figured this was a good spot for me to quit.... I packing it up and ran to the Boat Ramp. By The Way, MOST IMPORTANTLY, The Top Water Boat is running great. Looking forward to a Great Fall.... I need some Bookings. Where I was 8 years ago vs where I'm at now is incredible..... Is the economy THAT BAD or is my lack of advertising killing me????? Total Catch for the Trip: 10 Spanish Mackerel from 16oz to 24oz, 10 Bluefish from 24oz to 32oz, 2 Red Drum at 26" each,  2 Albacore at 7 lbs each, a 13" Speckled Trout and a 45 lb Hammerhead Shark

PART 2

Off to the Mung Hole with my 3 wt Fly Rod and a popping bug for a sunset session.... Wait a minute, I broke my TFO 3 weight, remember.... I am actually fishing with a Sears Brand, Ted Williams signature, split bamboo 4wt that my Momma bought at a Yard Sale for $1 20 years ago.... I HAVE NO BUSINESS using this relic. It might be worth something.... But intelligence hasn't been a Capt Marty personality trait here lately either..... Well, right or wrong, the old Teddy Baseball split bamboo uncurled a "Jalen Morton" original right up against the Bank at my "favorite Mung Hole"..... HOLY BAT TURD, BOY WONDER..... A freaking Largemouth Bass the likes of which I haven't seen since RL Vaugn's Farm Pond gave up a 28" Lunker in March of 1990..... Wouldn't you know that on "Big Mouth's" second jump, the tiny bug got thrown back at me! Oh well, iconic gamefish leap #2 was in the books..... I won't soon forget the RUSH, the SWIRL, the WEIGHT as he CAME TIGHT, nor the 2 JUMPS..... This Bass was so BIG and was so CLOSE that I could literally hear his gills rattle as he shook his massive head on the second jump.... I thought Lil Sid was save in this Pond... But, he better watch his back here. There is a TRUE LUNKER lurking in this place.... After that, I lost another big Bass and landed 2 small Largemouth Bass..... Well, it could've been a great day... Hey, you know what, I felt the incredible speed and watched the incredible aerobatics of a Jumbo Sailfish. I hooked and battled a HUGE LARGEMOUTH BASS on a 60+ YEAR OLD SPLIT BAMBOO FLY ROD. I lost both but it was still a great day! Total Catch for the Pond: 2 Largemouth Bass

I got some pics on my camera.... But NO SAILFISH and NO HUGE BASS sooooo, so what, who cares

GREAT PICTURE of TOP WATER CHARTERS

Good Top Water Friend JD Dallas informed today that I might need to check out the

Crystal Coast Visitor's Guide......

There is a nice picture of Capt Marty and The Top Water Boat in action.......

Capt Marty in pursuit of Large Game Fish off Beaufort Inlet

I'd agree. Great Picture. Thank you to whoever decided to use this photo!!!

Sept 19- Sightcasting to Red Drum

First of all September 19 is a date that is very very important to who I Am and the person I became..... Specifically, on the morning of September 19, 1988, Tony Englehardt and I was out on Tony's Stepfather's 17 ft Boston Whaler. We were on a "casting mission" hunting for Spanish Mackerel... We had worked a few miles west of Beaufort Inlet. Finding some fish in the clear, blue water southwest of AR-320, we had began working farther off the Beach and our stingsilvers were finding more Albacore than Spanish Mackerel.... That was fine by us, as we were looking for a fight as much or more than fish dinner..... These Albacore were small and fun, averaging 4-6 lbs..... I made "just another cast" in the direction of "just another school of breaking Albacore"... Hooked up immediately, but something was different this time. The fish ran out and down. It pretty much had its way against my light drag of my Shimano Speedmaster Spinning Reel and 10 lb test Ande line.... I couldn't gain any line back... After taking my cussing from a high strung Tony E, I finally went to the bow and we tracked this one down.... I quickly got straight up and down over this fish. I will NEVER, EVER FORGET looking over the side and down into that crystal clear water ..... There it was, 50 feet below.... A freaking Yellowfin Tuna. My first and probably 35 miles from where you would ever expect to see this species. In addition, we now knew what we had, so the tension was thick and the anticipation was high.... The tackle I was using was overmatched but I knew time and pressure would eventually land me my first Yellowfin Tuna. Five miles off the Beach and on a tiny #4 treble hook that was hung on a $2 stingsilver..... Round and Round the Tuna swam as I gained inches on every revolution.... Ten minutes later, his tail broke the water 8 feet off the starboard side. Pulling too hard for comfort, I managed to keep his head up as his tail propelled him straight at Tony. SHAZAM, Tony sunk the gaff and MY LIFE WAS FOREVER CHANGED. I WOULD NEVER STOP FISHING and I HAD THE CONFIDENCE TO LAND ANY FISH THAT I HOOKED FROM THIS DAY ON....... Yep, to this day, the challenge is getting a fish to bite a hook. If he bites, and I hook him, I WILL catch him unless I get impatient. Usually I Do Not get impatient ....... Anyway, that's why September 19 is a special day in my book. As is 1988. My favorite day. My favorite year..... Today, Emma and I cruised out to Rough Point right after low tide and our Red Drum school was right where we left them yesterday. On 4 casts, I caught 4 Red Drum. I kept a 24" Puppy Drum and released 3 that were larger.... Red Drum on the half shell is on the menu tomorrow. Football Saturday. Camping. Boiled Shrimp and Grilled Red Drum. The Good Life. Jennifer and me are headed to Cliffs of the Neuse State Park. Poor Jenn. I love you . Total Love for the Day: 4 Red Drum from 24" to 31"

Sept 18- Casting in the Wind

The action was too hectic for photos. All these fish were caught in 20 bloody minutes. This was all I got!

Too much NE wind! The forecast was NE at 10-15 kts. Right on cue it was blowing 20-25 NE by the time Chris and I cleared Lennoxville Point at 8am. We quickly caught a live well full of Menhaden and we were off.... Headed to the King Mackerel Grounds..... It was quickly obvious that we were wasting our time.... Way too much NE Wind, dirty water, and absolutely NO BAIT in the areas that we could safely fish. We tried Barden's Inlet, the Dead Tree Hole, and Beaufort Inlet. They all sucked. Not to beat a dead horse to another death.... We gave up quickly and ran in to the Shackleford Beach. Immediately we found pods of Red Drum and water boiling with Crevalle Jacks! Made for some great casting action... My personal highlight was when a 28-30 lb Crevalle Jack followed my gulp back to the boat . Dipping, rolling, and finally attacking my bait and DAMMIT the damn thing missed it. Right by the boat, in plain sight.... That Jack would've ate up 2 hours on the spinning rod. The Red Drum were upper slot. Chris caught 4, keeping a 27" Red Drum. I caught 3, keeping a 25". We each caught 2 Crevalle Jack. These guys were 4 lbs each. I "saw" a huge one..... The Shoals were too sporty to try.... Oh well, chicken salad out of chicken shit. Total Catch for the Day: 7 Red Drum up to 27" and 4 Crevalle Jack at 4 lbs each

Sept 11- Beautiful Day at Hatteras

9-11  Thirteen Years..... Really? That's incredible. A day no one will forget. It was a tuesday morning, our first day back at work..... Seven days later, I caught my NC Citation winning Spot from the Kitty Hawk Pier. 12" and One Pound......I won't forget that either! 

Too bad great weather absolutely DID NOT mean great fishing on the Beach this morning... Far from it. The casting at Hatteras Inlet this morning was absolutely terrible.... The tide was high but the current/tide was freaking ripping from left to right. Believe it or not, where Billy and I was standing, the water was probably moving at 7-8 knots. A long cast with metal and a fast retrieve and the last 100 feet of line would be in the suds directly perpendicular to your standing position and would be directly off your right shoulder. Honestly, there was no way in Hell anything other than a Salmon could swim here (on purpose) and the last time I checked..... Salmon ARE NOT on the Hatteras Long List of SPECIES...... Anyhow, a long walk to the east was an attempt to get away from the Inlet and associated current. Here Billy and I each popped out a Lizardfish on metal.... Sometimes we win "tiny battles" that please us. On most days, Lizardfish would be an unwelcomed guest..... Later, we went to the Frisco Pier and other Anglers had all the best spots tied up.... Up the Beach from the structure, there was the MOST MASSIVE school of Fish that I've seen all year..... Acres and acres of Finger Mullet in the surf. They truly stretched as far as I could see to the east and they were jumping from the surf break out to the end of the Pier.... Millions upon millions of migrating Mullets.... That's it boys! Fall is upon us and the Drum, Flounder, Trout, Blues, Spanish, Kings, and Sharks will soon crash the Beach in vast numbers. Fishing will be great! Not today though. It sucked.... I need a Beach Permit for my new truck. The Point at Buxton is where the Fishing has been consistently good..... Total Catch for the Day: 2 Inshore Lizardfish   

Sept 8- Dodging Rain and Chasing Fish

Big Bad Carson battles a 150 lb Blacktip Shark in a fight that ended with a Spinning Leap

A few minutes later, Carson defeated this stout 75 lb Blacktip Shark

Jeff and Angie had an inexperienced crew of young anglers. In hindsight, I should've took this crew somewhere inside for baby Croakers and Pinfish. Unfortunately, 99% of the time, Top Water Charters ain't exactly "take a kid fishing"...... So, after a lengthy rain delay, I ran us hard to the east, directly AT the darkest cloud I could find..... The Lightning Strokes were the only thing that made me hesitate..... "To The East", the Top Water Charters Rally Cry!   We made it to the Cape Lookout Shoals and quickly found exactly what I was looking for and fully expecting.... The MOTHERLODE of BLUEFISH in the skinny water, Hungry and full of Spunk.....  Then, sea sickness hit the crew hard...... I was left with young son Carson and mom Angie.... The rest were in Sick Bay.... Poor Carson. The kid went from Bluegill in a Pond experience to casting metal to 3 lb Bluefish. Quickly followed up by pitching half Bluefish to 100+ pound Blacktip Sharks on 50# braid/spinning tackle..... Followed up by a 75 lb Southern Stingray in heavy structure ..... The kid came in as a "Fishing Greenhorn" and left as a "Fishing College Graduate"...... I did let him bombard a few Pinfish on Fall Break ! Total Catch for the Day: 5 Bluefish up to 3 lbs, a 85 lb Blacktip Shark,  a 75 lb Southern Stingray, and 20 Pinfish

Sept 7- Bad Weather: One Bad King

Scott battles "The King"

Tuggwell readies "The Steel"

Thank God, the pressure is off!

Plenty of these guys around right now.... Acres

Casting on the Shoals.... Laid Back!

Damn that Foot Looks Painful!

Poor little Lookdown popped up in the Cast Net

Crazy morning.... Running under threatening skies and 15 kts of South Winds, on a day when it seemed we were the only boat on the Ocean.... We bypassed schools of Spanish Mackerel, schools of Bluefish, and schools of Albacore..... Going big and going for a King Mackerel.... We arrived at the Summerlin and found 3 ft seas, pretty green blue water, with a few slicks scattered about.... I quickly announced, "Perfect Livebaiting Conditions!"   Three minutes later, the wind blasted us at 30 kts, the seas jumped up to 6 feet, the temperature dropped 10 degrees, dark clouds and lightning covered is up and a cold wind driven rain pelted us ..... STUNNED, I made 2 circles around the Wreck..... After thinking doom and gloom privately for 5 minutes, I suddenly blurted out, "This is the Stupidest Thing I've Ever Done!"  Before I could say. "Get them up we are headed home" , one of our flat lines exploded and Tuggwell cried out, "King Mackerel Baby!" 20 tense minutes later, Tuggwell sunk the steel and an epic battle had ended..... I can not say enough about the job Scott did fighting this wild and crazy King Mackerel..... After that, the winds lightened and the skys lightened..... Fishing turned into a Shark-fest and we also pulled off a small Cobia... We saw a large Cobia that wouldn't bite. We gave up on live baiting and went casting... Action was fierce with Bluefish and Albacore chewing.... We searched hard for some Spanish Mackerel but they disappeared soon after the storms passed..... We found Bluefish in vast numbers and the guys whacked them good... Total Catch for the Day: 27 lb King Mackerel, 20 Bluefish up to 2 lbs, 2 Albacore at 5 lbs each, 2 Blacktip Sharks at 4 lbs each, and 1 Sharpnose Shark at 8 lbs

Sept 6- Casting Bonanza

A couple of days ago I had a guy that wanted to go "Wahoo Fishing". Great idea and the Wahoo have been chewing lately. My old pal Gerald caught 8 nearly identical 35 lb Wahoos on Friday... Today the weather was decent and I could've, should've gone Wahoo Fishing.... Make me some Money! The problem was, my boat just got out of the Shop! The Wahoo are out on the Break. That means 40-45 miles offshore minimum. I DID NOT think this was a GOOD IDEA on the first day out on the Water with an "iffy" boat... I could've took those guys out 25 miles and "robbed them" and might've caught a Wahoo, but that ain't September Wahoo Fishing and I ain't that kind of Captain... I tried and tried to tell them how great the live bait and casting has been and how much cheaper it would be for him and how much safer and smarter it was for me..... To no avail! Needless to say, I had no charter today. Put myself right out of a job .... So my lovely wife and I went out on a test run ... I wasn't thrilled with the Top Water Boat. Still has issues. The Cape Lookout Shoals were alive. The metal lures that I casted were quickly slapped. Lots of variety, I caught Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, Blue Runner, Crevalle Jack, Houndfish, Albacore, and the incredibly annoying Bullet Mackerel. We chased fish from the breakers out about a mile to the east. All in all, for a shakedown cruise, the fishing was incredible! The 5 lb Crevalle Jack on 10# spin was an absolute riot. Great Fish, Great Fight. Round and Round he went! Total Catch for the Day:  6 Spanish Mackerel up to 24 oz, 2 Blue Runner up to 1 lb, 5 Bluefish up to 2 lbs, 1 Houndfish at 48 ", 1 Albacore at 7 lbs, 1 Crevalle Jack at 5 lbs, and 1 Bullet Mackerel at 24 oz

Sept 5- Citation Spanish Mackerel Blitz

The King comes aboard

Capt Marty's second Favorite Fish

Ed's Citation Barracuda

Blue Runner from the Shoals

Once the Spanish started biting, photos were impossible

More NC Citations

Our only King Bite of the Day

Back to the Grinder today.... We quickly caught plenty of menhaden for bait and ran to the East....  First bait in the water at 725am. We immediately hooked a big Spanish Mackerel and pulled him off right by the boat.... Shaky start, but after that, it was One Big Spanish Mackerel after another up until 10am. The only time we didn't get a Spanish Mackerel, we got a King Mackerel instead. That was a little disappointing. Getting the one King Mackerel bite and boating a 25 lb King Mackerel.... It was hard to get too upset though.... From 730am until 1000am, we caught 11 Spanish Mackerel from 4 to 7 lbs each. We had 6 over 6 lbs that earned NC Saltwater Citations. After the King Mackerel and 2 Sharpnose Sharks, we ran farther east and fished 2 different Wrecks. One Wreck had a Dive Boat on it so we couldn't get too close. We got a 36 lb Barracuda here. At the next Wreck, we sucked it up. Lost 3 bites, Broke wire, broke line, and pulled hooks. Then we released a 17 lb Barracuda. We raised some huge Sharks and we saw many Barracudas. I assume we saw a Tiger Shark. It was swimming deep as hell and that was probably why we saw NO Amberjacks at this spot. Too many BIG SHARKS around.... After that, it was a struggle. We fished the 1700 Rock and the current was impossible..... We casted to Bullet Mackerel, them annoying bastards! Finally, Casting on the Shoals produced Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, and a Blue Runner. Oh yeah, we also caught and released 2 False Albacore.... We finished up in Beaufort Inlet looking for that one BIG BITE... We never got it.... Great Morning. Fair Afternoon..... Total Catch for the Day: 25 lb King Mackerel, 16 Spanish Mackerel including 11 over 4 lbs and 6 over 6 lbs, 2 Albacore 7 lbs each, 2 Barracuda at 36 lbs and 17 lbs, 1 Bluefish, 1 Blue Runner, and 2 Sharpnose Sharks

Sept 4- My Parents Anniversary

Holy Crap.... My momma and daddy have been married 54 years. September 4, 1960..... Damn

Tomorrow I start Fishing . I'm scared. The weather has been great for 12-14 straight days. How much longer can this hold out.....

And please, send me a 40 lb King Mackerel and every cast Spanish Mackerel... Tonight I smelled the. "Marsh".... Anyone that lives on the Coast knows what I'm talking about. Anyone that's ever smelled it , knows what I'm talking about..... It's a scent that signals Fall and signals great fishing is near .... Near and Here. It's time. Let's Go.

Sept 2- Surf Casting in Hatteras Inlet

Billy's Beach Spanish Mackerel

I am still at Hatteras because I am working 2 days of overtime.... Honestly, we need the money. Things are breaking around the house (and the boat) and life is very expensive nowadays.... Two days of overtime is about like fishing a full day charter, except there is NO EXPENSE, NO RISK, NO WORRIES, and NO FICKLE FISH that may or may not bite..... So I committed to it, I am half way through it, and I am ready to get home and get this Fishing Operation up and running again..... Looking at Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.... BUT, I NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHO IS FISHING WITH ME ON SATURDAY because there are others who'd love to fish....Anyway, after work today, Billy and I rode down to Hatteras Inlet and casted metal for 2 hours..... It was windy, the tide was ripping, and the water was fairly clear, not great but a semi-clear green..... Plenty of bait. Millions of Silversides. What kept us interested was the small pack of large Spanish Mackerel and Blue Runners that would explode right in front of us every 4-6 minutes. Only for a few seconds, then they'd be gone, disappeared into the raging current. Like I said, 4-6 minutes later, they'd do it again.... This went on for 2 hours..... The Spanish would lay out horizontally, like racing yachts. Streaking across the surface. Water and Silversides flying..... There they are and then they were gone. In less time then it took you to read that sentence. Gone. Gone for 4-6 minutes, then back again..... Talk about frustrating.... The Blue Runners were hilarious..... They didn't do their thang as often as the Mackerel, but they were even more spectacular.... Racing in towards the Beach, then suddenly turning skyward and hurling themselves upwards, out of the water.... Then they'd turn a flip, or a half flip, or even a flip and a half..... These were adult 2-4 lb Blue Runners.... Incredible. They had me salivating... The Spanish Mackerel, the one's busting, were 3-4 pounders. Nice. But, to me, Spanish Mackerel under 5 pounds are a Dime A Dozen.... These Blue Runners not a dime a dozen, they were special! They were incredible. A Real Trophy in Capt Marty's World.... I was bristling with anticipation and tingling with excitement...... "CUT TO THE CHASE"  my constituents are saying as they read this, "What the Hell did you Catch?"   Well, here is where the Story Sours..... In 2 Hours, I figure I made app 100 casts.... Not tosses either. I was "ripping" it as far as I possibly could. I was cranking it as fast as I could and still keep my stingsilver submerged..... And out of app 100 casts, I had one bump, I snagged one silverside. And I had 98 casts that were complete DUDS.... I sucked. It was my worst day of Fishing since December of 2004. Without a doubt... I will discuss Dec of '04 later..... Lets just say, in light of the cartwheeling Blue Runners and the frenzied Spanish Mackerel, that today was "my worst day of fishing" in a solid decade..... To make matters worse, Billy (I ain't fished in 15 years) caught 2 Bluefish and 2 Lizardfish.... More importantly, Billy caught his first Spanish Mackerel of his Fishing Career.... It was NOT one the big "show stoppers" that was performing in front of us.... In My Life, the First Spanish Mackerel was/is my Most Memorable and Life Changing Catches.... AUGUST 1974, I remember it like it was Yesterday... Oh well, back to today.... The Student-5 The Master-0...... Not Good........ Total Catch for the Day: 2 Bluefish, 1 Spanish Mackerel, 2 Lizardfish, and 1 Silverside

Walleye vs Flounder

Walleye are the BEST FRIED FISH on PLANET EARTH

Flounder, while probably more versatile, do not taste as good as Walleye

The other day I cooked supper for my Brother and my Parents..... Each of us had a whole baby Flounder scored and fried..... That's damn good in this neck of the woods...... Whole Baby Flounder is SO DAMN GOOD that it's literally against the Law! Just kidding.... No I'm not..... Yes I am..... No.... Yes..... Hell I'm confused so I can't get in trouble, right?  Anyway, fried Flounder is the popular choice of the masses on the Atlantic Coast.... The challenger: The famous and rarely eaten by us "Coastal RedNecks", THE WALLEYE..... Probably the general consensus would pronounce the Walleye as the #1 Eating Freshwater Fish on Planet Earth..... So what was better?

Remember, the Flounder were right out of the water..... The Walleye were vacuum sealed in June..... Both were fried at the same time. In the same oil. In the same pan..... Actually the Flounder went first....

The WINNER:

Hands down, NO CONTEST

The Walleye are the Best.... Walleye are head and fricking shoulders better than any other fried fish that I have ever had.... NO CONTEST. PERIOD.......

Aug 28- Feeling Better and Back to Work

Why does this remind me of my LIFE here lately?

I am Feeling Better and I am Back at Hatteras, but I am working a horrible shift.... Go in at 945am and get off at 10am. That's a DRINKING SHIFT and I don't drink! My Computer is still infected with TECHNO LICE, but there's not a damn thing a dumbass fisherman can do about it....... I got a couple old fishing reports to post too, I'll see if I'm smart enough to get them up in chronological order..... Since last Friday, my boat has been on the shelf and I've had another episode of Back Pain. Y'all remember that 4 years ago I was crippled and looking at surgery and disability..... Well, it magically went away and I've done pretty much what I wanted..... I had one episode last year and I had one last week.... No real cause, just the pain crashing back into my life.... What sucks is, it's the exact same as 2010 ..... Because of that, I'm never sure if it's here to stay or a temporary thing ...... From Saturday through Wednesday, I've been crippled and I've tried to rest, but I've managed some good and great Fishing (mainly as a spectator).... Today, I feel better and I'm back to work at Hatteras..... Not sure what happened or why my back hurt..... It's fading now, thank God..... Now onto my boat....... I'm hoping for good news . A much trusted Mechanic has it and I hope to be up and running next week!

Aug 25- The "I've been Hacked" Update

I got a lot to tell! Unfortunately, I'm on my cell phone and due to my limited technical knowledge, this is a less than ideal situation for me. My Laptop, on the other hand, is so damn infected by Malware or Adware, whatever the hell you call it, that I can't hardly even post. It's very frustrating.... Whoever the damn Hacker is that does this type of work (Random Deal App), I'd love love love to take him out Tiger Shark Fishing. As you guys could probably guess, Mr Hack Bastard would be the bait.... On second thought, I'd much rather see 200 hungry Triggerfish strip the Hacker down to his skeleton..... Anyway, we caught a big King Mackerel Saturday under the cool haze..... Cool as Hell! Also, and unfortunately, it's time to go back to work! The Top Water Boat is still in Intensive Care and I'd like to really thank Captains Tyler Thomas and Capt Tugwell for allowing me the opportunity to keep plugging along. Next week when I get home hopefully the Top Water Boat will be up and running, but I should have access to Tuggy's boat, which I am debating a name for..... I'm considering Fish Cemetery, FlyN Fish, En Fuego, and others.....

And the winner is.............


Admiral Tuggy Taylor's Boat has been named:

FlyN Fish

For use on this website anyways.......I like it!

Aug 24- Taylor's Creek Flounder Flurry

Taylor's Creek caught Flounders

Well, I'm crippled..... The old back injury has reappeared..... But fishing has been great and I can't stop...... Let me take a different angle for a moment. Back in 1972, my Aunt Joyce dated and eventually married a man from Beaufort, Richard Chadwick..... Chad, as we called him, was a BADASS retired Highway Patrol Captain..... BADASS..... Thus, my family, who always stayed over at the Morehead Ocean Pier, started to visit Beaufort on a regular basis..... Then in 1976, My Dad bought a House over in Beaufort... An old, historical House built in 1871. It was a half block from Front Street and funny, he paid about $18,000 for it..... Anyway, Chad's sister Evelin lived in the probably Beaufort's most famous dwelling, the House built by Capt Sloo on Front Street, right on Taylor's Creek... In the Old Town Cemetary, Capt Sloo's daughter is buried in a Keg of Rum.... Dying far out to Sea, Capt Sloo wanted to preserve her for a proper burial..... So the story goes...... Now I didn't care about history, but for years (Decades) she had the only Dock on a long stretch of shoreline from Barbour's Machine Shop to the Turn Table at the west end of Front Street..... I learned pretty young that DOCK STRUCTURE PLUS LIGHTS EQUALS FLOUNDER..... Granted, as a 7 year old Garner Boy, I wasn't crushing them... I remember my cousin Danny catching a 5 lb Flounder off this Dock in the late 70's..... I fished off this Dock extensively..... My 1990 I was "On this Flounder Bite Big Time"....  I renmember not working one summer and fishing all night and selling my Flounders..... We also went to the Trawler Bouy everyday ib a 18 ft Boston Whaler and sold our King Mackerel..... I remember the guys at Gulfstream Seafood looking at my Flounders and saying "no net marks, no gig marks, Boy, where are you getting all these Flounders?" As the years went by, my skill on big fish improved.... My first NC Citation Flounder was a 6 lb 14 oz Doormat from this Dock.... My career largest Flounder came from this Dock, a 10 lb 11oz Monster..... Marc Rouse and I caught 70 Red Drum here on Election Day of 2004! I caught 6 Flounder over 6 lbs on 6 drops in about 16 minutes here on Halloween Day of 2006. I caught back to back Cobias here one day a few years ago. I caught a 2 lb 10oz Croaker here, my closest ever to the elusive Croaker Citation..... For 20 years, Tony Englehardt and I hooked things here and never saw them, never turned them, never stopped them..... Even on 130# mono on a 12/0 Penn Senator..... I caught Ladyfish here by the dozen but got strikes and jump offs by the thousand!

YOU GET THE POINT----- This Dock was one of the Most Important Places in My Life..... Well, last year, Hunter Chadwick whom was Itney's son, sold the house.... Thus ending my 42 year Love Affair with this Dock..... Oh My God, just like a good friend had died.... I can't put into words how this affected me. And will until the day I die.....

Anyway, on Sunday afternoon at high tide, I slipped down to the little beach at the foot of the Dock and caught some Flounder. I was surprized at the lack of Red Drum..... But, oh Lord, this was emotional..... I caught enough Flounder for my Mom and Dad and we gave Jennifer's Dad a bag of Fillets as well.... All these Southern Flounders were caught on White Gulp. Some were too small and some were 2 lbs.... They all got eaten.... WQe loved the old days at Capt Bill's.... That place sucked. Then and Now..... Except for Friday Nights in 1980, 1981, and 1982.... They had all you can eat whole fried baby Flounder.... Pretty much 12" to 14" Flounders headed and gutted, then scored and fried..... Delicious..... Total Catch for the Day: 8 Southern Flounder up to 2 lbs and 4 Inshore Lizardfish up to 1 lb

Aug 23- Oh My Aching Back Fishing Trip and a CITATION KING MACKEREL

Tuggwell is Good on Kings, Cobias, Red Drums, and Striped Bass.... He's The Man!

Nice Haul on a Day when I wasn't much help

WOE.... Nice and cool this morning.... Overcast/Hazy...... Light Winds and Not much Seas, a little Ground Swell....... I couldn't take it!  Once again, the Top Water Boat is on the Shelf.....  Capt Tuggwell, having recently recieved a Life Saving Award from the City of Greenville, needed a REEL ADVENTURE to celebrate.... I, on the other hand, needed to "con" T-WELL into pulling his Boat back down to Beaufort because there is good damn chance that I could be "Boatless" that first week September.... I can't stand to lose another $1000 due to breakdowns.... In addition to the cost of repairs..... Shoot man, I could be in a 2000 to 3000 dollar hole REEL QUICK...... So, I talked Tuggs into a Beaufort Inlet Adventure!  Well, we quickly caught our bait and ran out to the SW off Beaufort Inlet..... Pulling up at the second Yellow Ball to the right, we found some amazingly quick bites from a sea full of Jumbo Spanish Mackerel..... Where the hell have you guys been hiding? I seem to recall 8 quick strikes and 4 Spanish Mackerel expired in the War. Three of them were over 5 pounds and 2 were NC Citation winners.... After a 15 minute lull and just as we were pulling in our baits to make the jump offshore to the next Yellow Ball when it happened! A damn miracle..... The hazr burned off and despite it being close to lunchtime, the Sun shone reddish orange like daybreak! And as Tuggwell reeled in his last Pogy, a 39 lb King Mackerel had other ideas....30 feet from the boat, the majestic King split the Ocean's surface with the wire rig plainly attached to his face...... One end of the bait tumbled right 6 feet high and the rear end of the bait flipped off the left.... Tail still beating.... Out of 10,000 water droplets visible in front of the hazy sky, at least 20 of them were stained with blood...... The World was Silent and Time stopped for a Heartbeat.  As The King crashed  back into his watery domain, Our senses exploded with sights and sounds, shaky nerves and racing hearts...... The Drag on my Shimano Sppedmaster screamed and hundreds of yards of 20# mono melted off the spool..... As usual, we penciled him in as a 50 lb King..... As always! With a sad string of failures and let downs creeping into the back of my mind, I turned the boat as Tuggwell walked forward. Starnge not having to clearr lines, but this was the last bait in the water.... Perfect! This one headed straight offshore! Just like my 46 lb 8oz King did in October of 2000. Just like my 30 lb King did in August of 1988. Just like Gerald's 66 lb King did in Oct of 1997. Just like Linus's 40 lb King did last fall...... So I chased. ten minutes later the big Steel Hook on a Pole hit him in the shoulder and that was that...... Nice Tuggwell..... After that, the fishing was anti-climatic. Reads like a Field Guide.... A Barracuda, A Amberjack, A Grouper, A Shark..... Actually a few released fish too..... Total Catch for the Day: 39 lb 8oz King Mackerel, 4 Spanish Mackerel from 4 to 6 lbs 8oz, a 24 lb Great Barracuda, a 33 lb Amberjack, 4 Gag Groupers from 22" to 28", 5 Black Sea Bass, 1 Southern Flounder, 1 White Grunt, 3 Spottail Pinfish, 1 Sand Diver, 1 Chub Mackerel, 3 Sharpnose Sharks from 5-9 lbs, 1 Blacktip Shark, and 1 Blacknose Shark

Aug 22- Good Day of Fishing

Very Nice 22 foot Bay Rider was my Water Whip for the Day... Thanks Capt Tyler Thomas

Ready to SHOCK and AWE the Local King Mackerel Population

Joe A watched 200+ ysrds of 20# mono "melt" of his spool in seconds.... 

Birthday Joe collected a NC Citation False Albacore

Well, it was better than sitting this one out! With the Top Water Boat in Intensive Care, Capt Tyler gave me the keys to his nearly new 22 ft Bay Rider and Joe Alley and I took his friend "the other Joe" fishing for his birthday.... We started off by catching 15 dozen Menhaden for live bait and we quickly took off for the Mackerel Grounds..... As we approached King Mackerel Country, we ran up on a very very active school of frenzied Spanish Mackerel.... Casting was good. Too good. In fact, we were bit off twice when the sharp-eyed Mackerel hit the uni-knot where my shock leader was attached..... This ate up alot of valuable time.... Re-tying leaders and stingsilvers.... The frenzy ended quickly and we only had 2 Spanish Mackerel to show for our efforts... Made me wish we hadn't left the dock at 9am..... Those fish were probably ablaze at 6am and we only caught the last 10 minutes.... Anyway, we went King Mackerel fishing.... That was okay, except one thing was missing..... The King Mackerel! One time I really got fooled! We had a double strike...... Screamers.... Reel Dumpers....... One fish headed north, the other headed south. It was a dilemma..... I was willing to bet my ass that we had a double header of 30+ pound Kings hooked up..... I was glowing. 15 stressful minutes later, Joe A had color! Here we go, but something was wrong. This fish was bulldogging downward and in a tight circle. Unreal. I couldn't believe it when a 33" False Albacore popped up. DAMMIT....... So a couple minutes later Birthday Joe reeled up his 35" False Albacore. This one had 350 yds off the spool at one point.... In my mind, this was a 45+ pound King..... Not just No, but HELL NO...... Sitting dead in the water and lamenting my "bad luck" my anglers were very happy though.... Neither of them had experienced this kind of fight from this kind of fish...... The next 20 minutes was a "Shark Frenzy"..... 4 Sharpnose Sharks and 1 Blacktip Shark. Enough already. The guys were happy though, weird.... Then I ran east. Way east. All the way to Shark Island. Here we found the missing Bluefish. Plenty of them from 1-3 lbs each. Not quite every cast, but still it was great action on stingsilvers.. I saw 2 Crevalle Jacks crash my lure. Somehow they both missed. I saw the jumbo Blue Runners  once and we didn't catch one of them either.... The Shoals were alive with big Blacktips too. The western edge was teeming. We passed them up for some fish dinners though.... All in all it was a good day. Thanks Tyler. Thanks Joe and Joe... Total Catch for the Day: 2 False Albacore at 15 and 17 lbs, 25 Bluefish from 1-3 lbs, 2 Spanish Mackerel at 2 lbs, 4 Sharpnose Sharks from 6-8 lbs, and 1 Blacktip Shark 

Aug 21- WHY ME

Breaking down and getting towed in sucks...... Its even worse when all the hard work is done and the only thing left is catching the damn fish....... Son of a damn Beee Otch. The Baitwell was packed with turbo charged Menhaden and Paul and I was clearing the Inlet at 7am...... Slick, Blue Water teeming with Adult King Mackerel awaited us...... We were gonna be the first or second boat to drop a bait in the water this morning....... The Top Water Boat, while nursing injuries and showing years of hard use, was actually purring like a kitten this morning..... Then suddenly, she died. Dead. I mean she was  D E A D.... I nursed her back to life a couple of times. In retrospect, I used up the gas in my water separating filter..... There was a major restriction from the Tank to the Filter..... Not  a drop was getting through.... A great analogy was...... The Top Water Boat suffered a severe Stroke this morning. She is on Life Support.... Capt Marty stands to lose between $1000 and $2000 in income and potential repairs.... makes me shudder.... Now, for a little Good News...... Capt Tyler Thomas has been kind enough to lend me the use of his BADASS 22' Bay Rider "Super" Skiff..... My last Bay Rider experience ended with a Wahoo on an 18 foot Skiff..... I'm all set tomorrow to try this again... Look out King Mackerels.... Please let this happen and let the fish bite and please please please let me not harm Tyler's Boat...... I need ONE BITE.... Another 35 lb King Mackerel would be a thing of Beauty!

Aug 20- Citation King and Spanish Mackerels

Mike doing battle with a Smoker King

Cliche I know..... But y'all should've seen The One That Got Away!

Mike brought his step dad out for what the Captain promised to be a Great Day of Casting on what the Weatherman said was going to be a Beautiful Day on the Ocean...... And by some magical stroke of fate, There were NO FISH on the Cape Lookout Shoals and it was blowing 15 out of the Northeast and it was Rough as Hell Early...... Strike One, Strike Two...... Then with 2 strikes and no Balls in the Bottom of the First...... Mike hit it over the fence when he landed a 34 lb King Mackerel. Beautiful. Then we missed one...... Then we caught a big Spanish Mackerel and a Sharpnose Shark. Then came a major slowdown. Tuggwell and I was going to show them a trick with stingsilvers over a Wreck. Tuggy's drop produced a nice Bluefish while mine snagged a 100+ lb Sand Tiger. Not a pretty sight on the 10# spinning tackle. The hooks finally pulled and we left..... Scoured the Shoals and found nothing... I can not believe it... I'd stake my life on 10,000 Bluefish with scattered Mackerel and Jacks..... Nothing..... Finally, back at Beauforrt Inlet and we lost a King Mackerel that could make a grown man cry..... A BIG ONE.... A bonafide TOURNAMENT $$$$$ WINNER.....  Attention to details fail and this one's on me.... Could've been any of our career best King Mackerel, but honestly, Mike has plenty of meat. It would've been a feel good release though... Yeah right, that wasn't gonna happen.... That big King was headed to Morehead City! As it is, he's out there... With 2 trebles in his mouth.... Total Catch for the Day: 34 lb King Mackerel, 6 lb Spanish Mackerel, 2 lb Bluefish and a 6 lb Sharpnose Shark

Aug 17- Oddball Red Drum and Adriel's Freak Accident

Little Red Drum attacked a Spro Bucktail

I was targetting Flounder and I caught 2 little Surprizes

Adriel was out Boogie-Boarding

When he felt a thud and then a sharp pain

Expecting a Shark bite, instead he found a Needlefish imbedded in his foot.... OUCH

No big deal, I caught a couple of small Red Drum playing around with a Spro Bucktail... Amazingly, I had H

DAMMIT I LOST ALL MT TEXT..... NO TIME TO RE-TYPE

Lets just say Adriel got attacked by a Needlefish

Total Catch for the Night: 2 Red Drum

Aug 17- The End of Good Fishing

Hatteras Side baby Flounder

Gulf Flounder, the rarest of our "big three" Flounders

Gigging Flounders and Wasting Time

Horseshoe Crab on the Run

4 lb Oyster Toadfish. NC has the biggest Oyster Toads on the East Coast

The end of good fishing? I should've said the end of mediocre fishing. It was "interestingly good".... I've seen such incredible fishing at this location. People don't believe me when I first tell the stories. September of 2004. Shew. 28 Flounder in one night. Many between 6lbs and 7lbs. Fish up to 10 lb 6oz. After time, they don't believe me and if I continue to tell the stories, these boys eventually turn on me... I'm a liar! Oh well, who cares. At the end of this week, we will tally up 40 to 50 Flounders. It will be the MOST FLOUNDERS some will ever see caught on rod and reel.... To me, it was just another "fun letdown". I've lived with this for 10+ years.......  So last night, I went straight gigging. It was horrible. I didn't see any Flounders under perfect conditions. Meanwhile, back at the Dock, I'm not sure what the boys caught. Nobody told me anything...... Just funny looks, like a joke had been played on me, that's all I got.... I checked my watch and it just about time for the Flounder bite to start.... Thursday Night-130am.... Friday Night-230am.... Here it was coming up on 330am..... Even though the gigging sucked, I figured I'd catch 5-6 Flounders right quick on jigheads and gulp, just like the past 2 nights...... Unfortunately, my Tub of Gulp was GONE..... XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.............  I talked about a PATTERN last Blog Entry, remember?  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  Thus the Flounder, set to chew at 330am had the place to themselves.......... THE END OF GOOD FISHING..... Period. Earlier I caught a few creatures.... Total Catch for the Night: 1 Gulf Flounder, 1 Summer Flounder, and 2 Oyster Toadfish up to 4 lbs