Oct 27- On the New Job Today

I've been tranferred to Cedar Island and I'm now working with the Big Boys! Newest boat in the fleet, MV Swan Quarter built in 2010-2011. I've got a lot to learn..... It'll be nice being home at night, that's for sure.

As for the fishing, hopefully the next fish I catch will be a King Salmon or a Steelhead. Its been a long time coming, but its time for Capt Marty to scoot 15 hours up the road and try something new. I will be standing knee deep in Lake Ontario's creek run Salmons and Trout. Please let them eat my fly......   I will be looking for my first King Salmon, my first Coho Salmon, my career best Brown Trout, and my career best Rainbow Trout. Atlantic Salmon also run these creeks but I damn sure ain't expecting to get that lucky....... I'm honestly hoping for 3 of the other 4 and I'll be lucky...

I'm hoping to check these guys off my bucket list. And hopefully this will propel me towards an Alaskan Fishing Adventure in the summer of 2016!

Bad News

I have got to say, I've seen this day coming from a ways off. She held up longer than I would have ever guessed. Unfortunately, concerns about the health of my Outboard Motor affected every decision that I've made on the water for the past year, and to some degree, the past 4-5 years..... Then last Wednesday, she finally did it. A pretty serious break down. My ole 250 Suzuki did have the common decency to run like a scalded dog all the way back to the Dock. The problem is, or better stated, the obvious symptom is the shards of fractured magnet that are stuck all over my engine and visible when the cowling is removed. Decision time ahead for Capt Marty. Pour $$$$ into a 2003 250 HP Suzuki that already belongs in the Outboard Motor Hall of Fame, buy a new Motor, or become a Surf Fishing Guide...... As for right now, anyone interested in foot fishing for Speckled Trout? The numbers are going to be good. Let's Go!

Also be on the lookout for a:

GoFundMe account for "Capt Marty's New Outboard"

WTH, also look for a GoFundMe for:

"Send Capt Marty on an Australian Black Marlin Quest"

Oct 22- Where Did All The Fish Go

Once again, what a difference a day makes.... Yesterday was probably the most sea life I'd ever seen. Acres of Menhaden and Anchovy. Thousands of Pelicans, Gulls, and Terns. Armadas of Predators. Bluefish, Albacore,  Bottlenosed Dolphin,  and Humpback Whale. All gorging like a Honey Boo Boo Family night at Golden Corral. Today, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. Absolutely beautiful weather and you would think, mid-October and Fishing will be Great. With the Top Water Boat on Life Support and in need of a new Outboard Motor (YIKES........  ) I joined Capt Christopher Columbus on the FV Santa Maria and we went out Straight Sight Casting Red Drum Excursion... Things did not go as planned! Chris and I explored the New World from Shark Island to the Sheraton at Atlantic Beach. We saw No Red Fish, hell we did not even see a Blue Fish, or any other if the ROY G BIV Spectrum................ I did fire a cast towards a swirl and a rip and I managed to hook a miracle Albacore. Amazing. We rode 50 miles and the lack of visible life was incredible. Moreso after yesterdays plethora of Life. Well, it wasn't 1492, but I did sail the Ocean Blue with Christopher Columbus. Meanwhile, Capt Tyler Thomas took my charter for today while my crippled boat sat in my yard. Fate Unknown. Total Catch for the Day: 1 Albacore at 10 lbs

Oct 21- Great Great Albacore Fishing

What a difference a day makes! The fishing today was Outstanding! Well, let me rephrase that...  The "Albacore" Fishing was Outstanding! Some other things we tried, we struggled. Jim and Trish made their day out west of Shark Island where the Albacore presented themselves nicely, with some individual forays lasting from 15-20 seconds. This action lasted for at least 2 hours in the morning. There were plenty of opportunities to go around for each of the 10-12 boats out there. Whether you liked Fly or Spin, this was a great morning for catching Albacore........  Jim could cast a stingsilver with the best of them. Trish's casting was fairly short, but no matter, she did fine on her own. She had No Problem catching at least 5 total "Do It Yourself" Albacore. On occasion that I joined them casting, we accomplished a tripleheaders at least 2 times.....  Much to the chagrin of at least one "1 month a year" Albacore Guide. I found his eye rolling, shoulder shrugging humorous. Later his mumbling and preoccupation with what my Boat was doing got a little more offensive. I guess I need to apologize for the fact that not only can I catch 6 Albacore to his One, but I can also hang a stingsilver between his eyeballs from 200 feet away into a 15kt northeaster.... But, I love my Fly Rod too and I do appreciate the skill and the fishery... I do recognize, however, that there were PLENTY of Albacore to go around and I'll be damned if some Cat that you don't even see on the water until October is going to push me off of a school of fish. Especially when my clients are paying there hard earned money to catch the same fish that everyone else is chasing. Off soapbox. Also, it was an incredible day for watching Marine Life and seeing its abundance. We saw acres of Menhaden and Anchoviy.. We saw thousands of Sea Birds. Pelicans were feeding in a very unusual manner. Herding "red bait" in massive shoals and corralling them. Wings spread, scooping up shovel fulls of tiny Anchovy from a "sitting on the water" position. We also saw hundreds of Dolphin and a Young Humpback Whale right up in 20 feet of water. Awesome day, Great Clients. Lots of sore-mouthed Albacore. Sorry Charlie, this ain't the Chicken of the Sea. Total Catch for the Day: 17 Albacore from 8 to 11 lbs, 12 Bluefish from 10" to 2 lbs, 1 Inshore Lizardfish, and 1 Menhaden

Oct 20- Tough NE Wind and Fishing Struggles

Great client Brent showed up after a 2 year hiatus..... In all fairness, I spent time in Brent's Penalty Box for knocking his 10 lb Spanish Mackerel off his stingsilver with my poorly aimed Landing Net. Oooopps. Unfortunately, today there would be NO MACKEREL, King or Spanish.... In fact, Live Bait Fishing was very very very disappointing. Especially considering the Hell of Catching Menhaden and the slow, wet run 10 miles to the (Not So) Hot Spot... The ride home was even worse. All told, it was a waste of 4+ hours. Brent established (again) his vertical jigging prowess by catching a Blue Runner, a Gag Grouper, and a Whitebone Porgy. Three very interesting species! Once back near Cape Lookout we had our fun catching 2-3 lb Bluefish while casting metal lures. The coolest thing about the action today was the forage species. Incredibly the Blues (and Gulls and Pelicans) were gorging on 6-8 inch Ribbonfish. Millions of them. There were baby Ribbons jumping everywhere. Brent and Ken decked approximently 30 Bluefish. Killed a few and released the rest. We then added Albacore and Red Drum to the party being hosted by King Mackerel..... They called it the "Fish Embarassing Captain Marty Fall Extravaganza". All in all,  I was very disappointing not to find better Fishing for these guys. The middle of October is supposed to produce Great Fishing and despite the sucky NE Wind and dirty water, I was very disappointed. Total Catch for the Day: 30 Bluefish from 2-3 lbs, 1 Gag Grouper, 1 Blue Runner, and 1 Whitebone Porgy

Oct 17- Citation Red Drum Surprise

I picked a damm fine day to leave my phone in the truck. Jennifer didn't have hers either. No big deal, we were just going for a short boat ride. Emma was riding too so I grabbed 2 spinning rods and I figured I'd catch her a Bluefish to munch on. After catching 5 small Blues inside the Inlet, I decided to check out Rough Point for schools of Red Drum. Conditions were ideal except for dirty water. I gave up quickly on this idea because it was impossible. I wasn't willing to blind cast on 8 miles of Oceanfront..  As I turned the Top Water Boat around and headed back to Beaufort Inlet, sonething caught my eye. A huge dark spot on the water covered up with splash splash splash pop pop pop...... A HUGE school of Menhaden. Biggest of my year. I raced over for a closer look. I explained to Jennifer how I used to love to snag Menhaden as a kid on the Morehead Ocean Pier. Like this! As I drove a stingsilver into the school. My rod bowed and the tip throbbed as my treble hook found paydirt. My wife thought it was cool! Watch this then, I said. I could already feel mystery fish hitting my snagged Menhaden. I quickly cranked him up to the surface and a half dozen 3-4 lb Bluefish followed it up. Darting in and biting out plugs of flesh. Cool as hell but sadistic. Jennifer felt sorry for the hapless Menhaden, now just a carcass. Suddenly the boat's shadow spooked the Bluefish. I was hoping to hook a larger Blue. I freespooled the "still snagged" carcass to the botton. By the way, I had a great view because I was still in the tower. Amazingly, on the bottom, I got a quick bite. The hookset was solid and the fish surged away like a runaway Freight Train! This fish was obviously pretty damn heavy and strong and my first guess was a Shark. I figured with a stingsilver tied directly to 10# mono, a battle with a big Shark would end pretty quickly. My opponent was still taking line and there was occasional jerk jerk as my quarry shook his head. I dared to tighten the drag fully expecting my line to part on the "Shark's" sharp teeth or abrasive skin.... Neither happened. In fact, I was able to stop my opponent and actually gain some line back. As I fought my fish from my Tower we were attracting the attention of several other Boats fishing nearby. Everyone wanted to see what I had hooked. Finally, 10 stressful minutes after the hook-up, my line started to rise and a large reddish bronze fish materialized out of the greenish gloom......My mystery fish turned out to be a 42" Red Drum.... From the waters off Shackleford Banks, in October.... That's a weird place for a mature Red Drum to be. Just goes to show.... You never know what you might catch when you drop a bait in the damn Ocean! Total Catch for the Day: 1 Red Drum at 42" and 2 Menhaden

To be continued

Oct 16- Fat Albert Frenzy

Fifteen year ago, Ten years ago, Five years ago..... George Bush and everybody else in the World who fished with Fly Tackle would descend on Beaufort Inlet and Barden's Inlet in October and November to chase the suddenly popular Little Tunny, better known as, and incorrectly known as: Albacore, False Albacore, and Bonito.... Call him Fat Albert and everyone knows who "that fish is"....  I pesonally call them Albacore, but I'd love to catch a real, or True Albacore! Just DON'T call him a Bonito because the real Bonito in everything a Fat Albert is plus it's great eating.... (Shut Up Capt Marty, it's late)  What I was getting at is this, there are millions of Albacore around Cape Lookout right now and there are very few guys out chasing them. We found them yesterday along with a few of their sleek gray enemies..... This morning. I ran out there to try them on my 5wt Fly Rod. By myself. It's tough, I quickly frustrated myself. Pulled out the metal on spin and caught them on 4 straight casts at one point. In 2 hours, I released 7 Albacore and had a great time! As I told BenJeye yesterday, It's one of my favorite things. Releasing hard fighting but otherwise worthless Fat Alberts. And yes, I know that nowadays they have some value and the Fish Houses are buying them. To me, if they ain't worth $1 a pound, they ain't getting mine..... It just isn't worth if. Every single Albacore, or whatever you choose to call them, they EARN their freedom. Let them go! It makes me feel good...... Total Catch for the Day: 7 Albacore from 8 to 11 lbs

Oct 15- Best Experience of the Year

I was careful NOT to say "best fishing of the year" but BenJeye and I had one of those rare "Magic Fishing Moments" play out all around and right beside and just beneath the Top Water Boat and he nor I will ever forget it. In my 40+ years of Fishing (Hell Yeah I'm counting the many weeks and weekends I spent on the Morehead Ocean Pier as a 10 year old) I've never seen anything to rival today's show.... So if I got you "hooked", you must be wondering what the hell happened to us? Well, our day was tough and challenging. Beautiful weather in mid-October usually means the Best King Mackerel Fishing of the Year. Adding to the challenge was all the terrible weather we've been experiencing as well as Capt Marty's lack of recent fishing... I sat out all last week off because of horrible weather and the past week I was at Hatteras. I didn't miss much, as the weather remained horrible. With no up to date information, just drawing on 20 years of experience HARD CORE King Mackerel Fishing..... BenJeye and I ventured out and our goal was an NC Citation for BenJeye..... First of all, the Menhaden were "un-catchable" in front of Harker's Island for some damn reason. We settled for about 14 Bluefish from 8" to 10" each in the livewell instead. Piss Poor but better than nothing, Casting metal to marauding Bluefish was fun enough after a 2 week hiatus from the Top Water Experience! So with some bait, less than ideal, but better than nothing, we hauled ass 12 miles South of Beaufort Inlet. Arriving at "the Spot" we fairly quickly caught BenJeye is FIRST career King Mackerel. What we used to call "Hatteras Stock" this King Mackerel was stocky as hell and ran like OJ "The Juice" Simpson back in 1973..... His second run was outstanding and for a minute I thought we had BenJeye's pink slipper, but he faded to a stout 23 pounder and our day was young and the outlook was bright.... Then, we went 2 hours without a scare.... Crapola! We then decided before calling it quits, we would head over to the Fenwick Island Wreck and see if we could catch an Amberjack. Here's where a drab day turned into a day to NEVER BE FORGOTTEN...... We found no Jacks, hell we didn't even find a Wreck. Has it "sanded over", who knows? Well, LGF knows, I need to ask him..... Later on that.... Anyway,, we ran up on many many many Albacore schools.... BenJeye had never caught one of those either. I picked up a spinning rod and slung a stingsilver in a foray of foam and green back missiles. Immediate hookup followed by a quick release. As BenJeye started his personal Albacore quest, something off to the east caught my eye. Something incredible was happening. As I stared away at "something" the Albacore "blew up" right beside me..... BenJeye didn't see this as he was casting off the portside and I was casting off the starboard side. I know what I saw. In a sea full of splashes and whips of green and silver, I saw a distinct whurl of black and yellow. With hands shaking, I quickly cast my stingsilver. Just as it entered the "feed zone" a mini bulldozer of high speed Blackfin Tuna broke the surface just right of my racing lure. A quick twitch of muscle and the Tuna veered into my stingsilver, A big splash and BOOM. I was hooked up. A different kind of run. Strong, deep, heavy, deliberate. "Hey Jeye, I got a freaking stud-ass 25 lb Blackfin Tuna hooked up". As soon as I formed the sentence, the rod tip popped up and the line went limp.... Incredible. FIVE MONTHS AGO, THE SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED. (Ryan Handsbro and me off Atlantic Beach) I am 0-2 on kick ass Blackfin Tuna on spinning tackle in 2015.... Guess what? THAT AINT IT..... Crazy as it seems, even though there was acres of Albacore busting in all directions.... And at least a few Blackfin Tunas! Those were NOT what had caught my eye.... No, No Way. Off to the East, it was still happening... Sharks and hundreds of them, were jumping. Here. There, and Everywhere. We have all seen Blacktip and Spinner Sharks jump. And spin. But here today, they were jumping 5-10 at a time. For up to 10 minutes at a time. We are talking about hundreds or even thousands of Sharks. Jumping Jumping Jumping over and over again. Little ones at 20 pounds. Big ones at 7 feet and 150 pounds..... We ran the Top Water Boat to the action. BenJeye was in for a treat. Hell, Capt Marty was in for a treat. Something INCREDIBLE was Happening Here and that aint no joke. Funny too, I've experienced schools of Sharks through the years and they've never been Boat Shy... But these were. So it seemed....... We'd run to them and they'd disappear. Five minutes later and 1000 yards to the east, they would start up again. We tried 3 times to get into them. But they would elude us..... Finally I ran east of where they were jumping. Here I turned the motor off and we waited. After a few minutes, the Albacore popped up close by and we started casting towards them. BenJeye had left a live Bluefish overboard and suddenly his reel started singing.... As I moved towards the stern, I looked over the side and here they came..... An Army of Sharks.... Twenty Sharks wide and a parade that was 50 Sharks long! Big ones too, 100+ pounders. Suddenly the jumpers started.... Freaking crazy. BenJeye shot some video. We caught some. We broke off some. We released 4 by the Boat. The smallest one I pulled into the Boat for a picture and he was a 40 pounder..... After watching this amazing show, I almost believe the jumping was a conscience effort to pummel and bewilder the Albacore... To stun them or confuse them... To make them easy to catch... I will say this much, because this happened.... Right in front of me. Once whie BenJeye was fighting a Shark, I tossed my stingsilver at an Albaacore blow-up. I quickly hooked an Albacore. Right in front of me, 3 of the larger Spinner Sharks exploded off towards my Albacore. My drag screamed like no Albacore ever screamed it before! The chase lasted about 10 seconds. Just off my bow, the Sharks gave up the chase and swam back to the boat. Dorsal fins out so there was no mistaking a Shark for a Shark, I watched them.... The 3 large Spinner Sharks lazily swam just in front of my position. They waited. My Albacore played itself out of energy.... As I tried to land it as quickly as possible BUT it wasn't quick enough! Right at boatside, right in front of BenJeye and me, the 3 Spinners waited and then pounced on my exhausted Albacore. They shredded it in seconds. After that show, it was getting late and it was time to go.... I told BenJeye, this stuff DOES NOT happen everyday, We looked out to the east and south of our position just west of the Cape Lookout Shoals. Sharks were hurling themselves into the air in 3 individual groups. There was anywhere from 5 to 20 Sharks airborne at any given time. A few 20 pounders. A bunch of 50-100 pounders. A few 150 pounders. The ones we landed were all Spinner Sharks. Strange because during the past 25 years, I land approximately 30 Blacktip Sharks for each Spinner Sharks..... I find it hard to believe what I saw on Oct 15, 2015...... Total Catch for the Day: 30 Bluefish from 8" to 12", 6 Albacore from 7 lbs to 10 lbs, a 23 lb King Mackerel, a 15" Spanish Mackerel, 6 Spinner Sharks from 40 lbs to 85 lbs, and 3 Sharpnose Sharks from 7 lbs to 9 lbs

Oct 13- End of an Era

I go home tomorrow and my time at Hatteras is over. No need to ponder that now, lets go King Mackerel Fishing. Get er Done! Albacore, Red Drum, and Speckled Trout too..

Pretty soon Capt Marty will be headed north. In search of new challenges. Yall better catch me before I change gears!

Oct 9- Gray Trout Suprize

Fishing is damn slow! So slow, I ditched the rod and reel and grabbed the gig and light. This despite high winds and dirty water. The two biggest No-No's of Flounder Gigging! Either/Or it was just a waste of time... .. Actually time spent alone, wondering the warm edge of any salty body of water is very very soothing to my soul. Reflecting on my past and future, while searching for a great flounder is what makes this activity so appealing to me. Of course, there are other factors. You are matching wits with one of Mother Nature's Greatest Evolutionary Creations: The Flounder. Incredible in camoflauge and a stealthy top end predator. This fish should be admired as Way More Than a Delicious Fish Dinner. This Fish is the King of the Salt Water Environments Shallow Bottoms. No small fish passes a hungry Flounder without paying the ultimate sacrifice.  And they never saw what hit them! Anyway, to gig this amazing creature, you must approach one in complete darkness; bringing it into your "circle of light".... Then before the Flounder understands what's happening, you must thrust your gig into his muscular body. You must be quick or your Flounder will explode off his sandy hiding spot and disappear leaving a trail of silty clouds along his escape path! You can follow him, but beware, he always always runs towards deep water...   Doing ALL THIS versus one of Nature's Greatest, Alone, While knee deep in the water off a desolute wind swept Outer Island Beach. On a dark and windy Night. Less than a mile from where 90 men, women, and children drowned during the wreck of the SS Home back in 1837..... On top of all this, pondering your past and future, searching for flounder..... Sometimes in the wind and the crashing waves, I have heard the cry of women and children calling for help in the surf. Tortured souls that can't rest.....

Alone. Dark. Windy. Flounder. Ghosts.

A fishing report that went Bad.... Total Catch for the Night: 1 Gray Trout at 24oz and 1 BlackSea Bass

Oct 8- Long Night and Slow Fishing

BenJeye and I stayed up between 1am and 415am and "fished the night away"...... There was a Falling Tide but no perceivable water movement all night. The water was very Dirty. There was NO meaningful Bait. In other words, it's early October and the Ferry Basin should be FULL of MULLET. Running Finger Mullet and the resident population of huge adult Jumping Mullets. They should be full of Roe..... They are GONE. Without the Fingers, the predators are missing. Without the adult Mullets, our grill is cold. No Roe for Bobby Garrish... it is a sad time.... Back to the actual fishing... I guesstimate that in 195 minutes I probably made 150 casts.... I had 5 bites. I missed 2 bites. I caught a Flounder. A Gag Grouper. And a Speckled Trout. The Speckled Trout is significant because in the thousands of hours I have spent fishing here since 2002, this is my First Speckled Trout at this location. Odd...... Meanwhile BenJeye caught a Gag Grouper and a Lizardfish. Long Night. Total Catch for the Night: 1 Southern Flounder, 1 Speckled Trout, 2 Gag Grouper, and 1 Inshore Lizardfish 

Oct 7- Fishing, Flounder, and the Flood

Well.......  After 13 years, 30+ NC Flounder Citations, precisely 34 NC Sheephead Citations..... A 6 lb 2oz Gray Trout, a 10 lb 6oz Flounder, a 12 lb 8oz Flounder....... My career best Tautog, Conger Eel, and huge Lookdowns...... A freaking 9 lb Jumping Mullet in my Castnet....... A 1000+ Squid up to 36"...... It's Coming to an END.......

The Things I've seen over there at South Dock through the years! A Pigmy Sperm Whale. An Asian Tiger Shrimp. A Glasseye Snapper. Y'all get the picture????? The Flounders, and the Sheepheads, and the Squid really MADE THAT PLACE ROCK though.... A Scuba Diver was checking the Prop on a Ferry over there back in September of 2004. I'll never forget it. I was headed to work, a NIGHT Shift. I had my cast net, my bait bucket, and my 15 foot landing net (I was ready in other words).... He came up, and said, I'll never forget it, he said, "Does anyone ever fish over here? Because I'm here to tell ya, there are Flounder down there like shingles on a roof......" That night between 1230am and 400am I caught 28 Southern Flounders. 20 of them were over 3 lbs. 5 of them were over 6 lbs. The largest was 10 lbs 6oz.... My Captain laughed at me as he walked on the Boat. "You been up all night? What an idiot" Idiot Indeed. The Events that make you and shape you.

It's all coming to an end..... This is MY LAST SHIFT at The Hatteras Inlet Ferry Operation.... Next week, I start working at The Cedar Island Ferry Operation. Therefore, this Is My Last Chance to fish the Glorious South Dock, which is located on the North End of Ocracoke Island.... Too bad #1 The Finger Mullet run was peaking 2 weeks ago. The Flounder shadow the Finger Mullet at Hatteras Inlet.... #2 We just had our "Hurricane for 2015".... Not really, but we had the Rain of a Hurricane plus more and we nearly had the wind... The water was "as high as" all the Storm Surges I've experienced down at Hatteras Village. The exception would be Hurricane Isabel. That seems like a lifetime ago. It was 2003, my second year at Hatteras..... Oh well, in other words, THE WEATHER RUINED THE FISHING! I been saying that ALL YEAR. Is it just me? What an assed-up year of Fishing.... Top Water Charters has had a terrible year and I have caught less fish than any year back to..... I'd guess 1985. Another story for another day, but I re-discovered Fishing in April of 1986 after kinda quitting in it for 2-3 years.... Other things seemed more important, for about 3 years.....

Anyway, my crewmate and Harker's Islander Ben-Jeye Taylor has Commercial Fished and been a 3rd Percentile Mercenary his entire life and has never caught a fish.... We have talked about and planned for this Night Run all the way back to May...... WE certainly weren't going to let Floodwaters, Erosion, Dirty Water, No Bait, Dead Basin, High Wind, ChowdaHead Josh or anything else keep us from Fishing. Ben-Jeye had heard all my stories. He wanted to catch a Flounder... Like I said, there was NO LIVE BAIT to be caught. The Tide was falling/LOW all night. The Water was HIGH as HELL and Filthy all Night   (It takes a great Outdoorsman to Understand the paradox of "Low Tide" and "Extremely High Water" but you will have to trust me, I know what I'm talking about)  The deck was stacked against Ben-Jeye as we started our Late Night Fishing Session. Imagine my suprize when on his 3rd or 4th cast Ben-Jeye decked a fat 17" Southern Flounder on a Gulp Shrimp! Awesome. Mission Accomplished! It wasn't great, but an hour later, I had caught 2 Southern Flounders and Ben-Jeye had caught 2 Southern Flounders. I had the best one at 2 lbs.... The weather is improving, the conditions are improving, maybe the Mullet will come back, and I've got 5 more nights at Hatteras Inlet. SAD.... HAPPY..... All rolled up into one! Total Catch for the Night: 4 Southern Flounder up to 2 lbs

October 1- More Rain Coming......RAIN RAIN RAIN

I have well publicized the fact that October is my Favorite Fishing Month and the Oct-Dec period is my Favorite Fishing Quarter of the Year. Like a Football Game, the Fishing Season's relative success or failure is usually decided in the 4th Quarter....... This year, it seems like October is getting off to a horrible start. It's raining this morning. It's supposed to rain all day, all night, and into tomorrow.


STOP THE NON SENSE

ITS FRICKING RAINING and IT'S RUINING MY LIFE

Sept 30- Beaufort Freshwater Grand Slam

Its been a while since I've seen that. Took the 3wt Fly Rod over to the Mung Hole this afternoon. After 2 casts, I had my Largemouth Bass and my Pumpkinseed. Five minutes later, I had my Bluegill for a Beaufort Sweet Water Grand Slam. After reaching that landmark I continued to throw popping bugs into my favorite Urban Water Hole. What developed was a surprise. Probably the best Pumpkinseed fishing Id ever experienced. I released 8 Pumpkinseed and caught 2 more Largemouth Bass also. Total Catch for the Day: 3 Largemouth Bass, 8 Pumpkinseed, and 1 Bluegill

Sept 25-28- Ferry Dock Fishing

This could've been "The Week". The Finger Mullet run is peaking at Hatteras Inlet and back in the good ole days, that would've could've should've meant 5-10 Flounders over 20" per night with 4-8 Citations for the Week and a Top Fish of 8-10 lbs. I've been at Hatteras since 2002 and I've got 30+ Flounder Citations at home that came off 2 little sand ridges at South Dock. No joke. Many people may remember those old postings!

Unfortunately, this week I was right there and ready to hammer them BUT..... Instead, we got 10 inches of rain and it blew a Gale for nearly the entire week. I dodged the rain long enough to burn up one pack of Gulp 5" White Jerk Shad. I managed to catch 6 Southern Flounder and 3 Gag Groupers. That's it. I let them all go. I'm changing....... Total Catch for the Week: 6 Southern Flounder up to 24oz, 3 Gag Grouper, and 1 Inshore Lizardfish

Bad Weather AND Erosion of our Barrier Islands

The weather on the entire North Carolina Coast is HORRIBLE..... First of all we have a "Super Moon"event taking place. I heard it on the TV this morning as I slipped in and out of sleep. Without googling it, I assume that in addition to a Full Moon; the Moon is at a point in it's orbit that brings it to it's closest position of the year in relation to the Earth. This event by itself would cause abnormally high tides and extreme differences between high and low. This larger range of tide would obviously create more currents, in and out of our Inlets, plus more Longshore Currents and more Rip Tides. This alone would cause Coastal Flooding. More water and faster moving water than normal, that is flowing in and out of our Inlets and Passes will naturally lead to increased erosion in addition to the flooding. And anyone to who cares, you better take a look at both Beaufort and Hatteras Inlets if you want to remember what they "were"....... There has already been erosion in the past 3 years that will forever (In our Lifetime) change the way these Inlets look. At both locales, there has been 1,000's feet of Beach lost (I dare say 1/4 to 1/3 mile, but it would be a guess). There has been hundred of Cedar Trees and other Barrier Island vegetation lost. These will not grow back in my lifetime, if they do at all. Beaufort Inlet has changed so damn much in the past 3 years, the LACK of PUBLICITY that this has received absolutely BLOWS MY MIND. Same thing at Hatteras Inlet. These are the localities that I see and use the most. Perhaps its happening everywhere, I dont know. In summary, the west end of Shackleford Banks is flat out melting into the Ocean. At Hatteras Inlet, its the west end of Hatteras Island that is getting devoured by the Ocean. The north end of both Ocracoke Island and Bogue Banks pretty much comes and goes, but there has been not really been much "net change" in the time span that I've been paying attention.......

Back to the weather, the astronomical high tides, in addition to a strong High Pressure System to the North of us and a Coastal Low Pressure to the South of us has created a Pressure Gradient that is producing steady and somewhat gusty East and Northest Winds that are pushing waves on shore that is causing EVEN MORE WATER to pile up in Coastal North Carolina. (That might be the Longest Sentence Ive ever wrote. All you Grammer Teacher's put there remember, I am a Fisherman)... Finally, on top of all that, It's been raining on and off, very torrential at times, for the past 48 hours. The amount of water standing on Ocracoke and Hatteras Islands is unbelievable. Highway 12 on Ocracoke Island is underwater and thus, The Hatteras Inlet Ferry Operation is closed down. There is literally no where to go if you ride across from Hatteras to Ocracoke..... What we got up here is a perfect scenario for a Coastal Flood, Astronically High Tides, Low Pressure to the South, Strong High Pressure to the North,,,, Any of those elements alone could cause minor Flooding. Added together, and there is WATER EVERYWHERE..... Fortunately, the winds have been steady at around 20kts, with higher gusts.... If a little higher, the steady winds couldve been really problematic...

The worst part...... Evidently we are probably gonna miss a kick ass Eclipse tonight. Too Cloudy. A very rare "Red Moon" event that's happening tonight and peaking at 10:47 pm on the US East Coast according to one website I read. Oh well, hopefully we will get a glimpse.......  Also, and more importantly to Top Water Charters,  these winds usually produce a "Fishing Hangover" inshore. I do predict this:  Once the Ocean stabilizes after this Puff, The FISHING is going to EXPLODE. Hopefully this event wont blow all the Mullets to South Carolina and/or scatter our Menhaden schools. We are going to need some Menhaden pretty bad because the King Mackerel are getting ready to Blow Up!

IMPORTANT

As of Right Now, The TOP WATER BOAT

DOES NOT HAVE A BLANKET LICENSE

In other words, Clients and Friends and Anglers will need a 2015 North Carolina Saltwater Fishing License to be LEGAL when fishing with Top Water Charters. 

Short Term Licenses cost $5 for NC Residents and $10 Non Residents. Licenses can be purchased on-line. I will offer Anglers a discount from my rates to offset a portion of their Licensing Costs.

I am sorry for this inconvenience.

King Mackerel Fishing

For the next 6-8 weeks, weather allowing, I will be pursuing "The King" of Inshore Fishing. There is NO DOUBT that the most exciting inshore gamefish from Texas all the way around the southeast US coast to Virginia is the King Mackerel. As a kid who spend my early years on the Morehead Ocean Pier, King Mackerel were in a class by themselves as gamefish and the men that fished for them were legendary. The jumps, the strikes, and the line blistering runs are never forgotten. I remember my first King Mackerel like it was yesterday. It came from AR-315 while vertical jigging with a redhead gotcha plug. It was a 14 pounder and I landed him on a 16 ft Boston Whaler back in September of 1987. I remember my biggest King Mackerel like it was yesterday. It was October 30th of 1997. It came from the 30 Minute Rock, on the last Shad in the livewell. It hit while Stacy Mills and Gerald Curran were each fighting 30 lb Kings. My big King struck in the gray light approximately 15 minutes after the sun had slipped below the horizon. Ten minutes later, Gerald gaffed my King Mackerel in total darkness and dropped him straight in the fishbox. The following morning I was excited to dig our fish out because, the first fish that I caught that morning was a 74" long Wahoo. I couldn't wait to carry him to Aaron's Bait and Tackle to get a Citation. My big surprise came when I lifted the lid on the fish box and saw a Huge King Mackerel. I had NO IDEA my last fish was a that BIG! After a photo session, we went over to the Tackle Shop where I wrote up a 53 lb King Mackerel, a 85 lb Wahoo, a 55 lb Amberjack, and a 12 lb 6oz American Red Snapper. That was, still to this day, my Greatest Single Day of Fishing in my life. Finally and Fondly, I remember the 37 lb 4oz King Mackerel that I caught in August of 2000 that was eventually worth $52,900 because it, combined with the 30 lb 8oz King Mackerel that I caught the day before, won the Snead's Ferry King Mackerel Tornament................    By the way, I could just as easily write about 3 HEARTBREAKING King Mackerels that GOT AWAY! One huge King that broke the wire last year on a charter, another Monster King that escaped in another Boat's down rigger cable that would've been worth $100,000 in Grand Ole Opry's Greater Wilmington Open KMT, and one 25 pound King that broke my line (panic) on the Indian Beach Pier as a Rookie! But, its 4am so I'm gonna end this!

Next Week:

Let's Go King Mackerel Fishing:

Open on Sept 30, Oct 1, Oct 2, Oct 3, and Oct 4

During October and November some of the Best King Mackerel Fishing on the Planet takes place off the Carolina Capes. Home at Cape Lookout, we will get our share. Let's break the Top Water Charters and/or Capt Marty's boat record this year.... It still stands at 53 lb

FISH OHIO PINS

Weird...... Today while cooking Walleye fillets for our supper I took a break and went to the mailbox. Inside was my 2015 FISH OHIO PIN. This is basically the Ohio equivalent to a North Carolina Fishing Citation. I qualified for a 2015 Pin on both July 9 and July 10 with large Walleye from Lake Erie. The Walleye are delicious and getting a "Fishing Award" in the mail is always fun!

Sept 20- The Honeymoon Miracle King

Today I was fishing with Elvis and Diana. They got married Thursday and are spending a week at Harker's Island. I felt honored and nervous. In the meantime, on Saturday Jennifer and I went out for a joyride on the Top Water Boat. I secretly wanted to catch a Crevalle Jack on fly and I wanted to scour the Shackleford Beach for Red Drum. Meanwhile, my wife thought we were out for a boat ride. Regardless of our intentions, as we rounded the corner at Lennoxville Point, we were smacked in the face by a suprizing NNW wind at 20-25 kts. All Fly Fishing, Red Drum hunting, and casual Boat riding immediately went "out the window". I was disappointed, my wife was mad, hell even Emma was giving me bad looks....... We settled on Wade Shore and anchored up for swimming and a hike to the Ocean. Nice time we had! I even went "Naked and Afraid" on a dare! Anyhow, back at the Boat, I turned on the VHF Radio and listened to the NOAA Marine Weather Forecast for the Sunday forecast for my Big Honeymoon Charter. It was a very disappointing "Small Craft Advisory" with 20 kt North Winds...... A nightmare scenario! Later, as I talked to Elvis I explained our plight and actually tried to talk him out of going fishing. Thankfully, Elvis persisted and I planned for a miserable day of "2 hook bottom rig fishing" and an avalanche of Pinfish, undersized Hogfish, Croakers, and Black Sea Bass. A "best case scenario" was an early Spot bite...... I rigged up some ultralight spin and was in the process of pulling most of my usual tackle off the boat, when I figured, why not leave a couple of King Rods in the upper rod holders. Thank Goodness........ Then I bought 2 pounds of shrimp and some fresh #5 hooks and went to bed with visions of blowing spray and Pinfish swimming around in my head..... Imagine my surprise at 2 of Mother Nature's boldest early AM weather hints when I arrived at the Top Water Boat at 6am. #1 was a HEAVY HEAVY DEW. That means the night before was very calm and cool nighttime temps. (Calm).  #2 was a very suprizing HEAVY FOG. Nearly zero visibility for a while between 630am and 730am. (Again, calm). To get to the point, there was NOT ANY 20 kt winds this morning! All my fears were unfounded. Actually, as the day unfolded, it wasn't the prettiest day to run around in the Ocean, but it was a beautiful day and we found something exciting to do. I never touched the shrimp and I never saw the first Pinfish! Our first move was to try to catch some Menhaden. I drove out from under sunny skies and dove the Top Water Boat into a Fog Bank off Harkers Island. Seemed like a bonehead move. It was dark, damp, and eerily quiet. For 10 minutes we sat in stunned silence. Then our first mini-miracle occurred.... Right on cue, just as the Fog lifted, the Menhaden started popping and I literally mean a half mile of solid bait! One throw of the 10 foot Cast Net yielded us 30-36 prime King Mackerel baits. The "perfect" number. No need to throw again! Maybe we'd get a chance at a Big Fish after all...... We quickly loaded the Live Well and ran the inside passage to Cape Lookout and as we entered the Bight we saw a beautiful sight! A stud King Mackerel hurled itself upward through one of the many many immense schools of large finger and corn cob sized Mullets that were racing westward all over the entire area. I quickly deployed a couple of menhaden on livebait rigs amid millions of running mullets.....and it didn't take long! The rod in the port side T-Top Rod holder screamed! Diana took the rod as Elvis and I cleared the cockpit. Then it got interesting....... As I ordered Diana to the bow, I took the helm and prepared to pursue our runaway King Mackerel. I glanced left and saw trouble. BIG TROUBLE and there wasn't a damn thing I could do. With our fish stretching out 150 yards of line, the was a 35-40 foot Sailboat under sail that was "right on top" of where our line entered the water. I'm not sure what sort of keel that boat had, but looking back, I have NO IDEA how we didn't lose that fish. The Sailboat actually tacked hard to miss our fish and really all he did was successfully run over our fish twice. But, it was close quarters and there was nothing us or him could do to avoid it.... A stressful minute passed and the Sailboat finally passed. Amazingly we quickly became aware that our fish was still hooked up and moving in a manner not consistent with the motion of the passing Sailboat! We were still HOOKED UP and we were clear of all obstacles! Finally, our King made one play towards my outboard but Elvis grabbed the rod and quickly anticipated the King's move and countered it. As he handed the rod back to Diana, the King surfaced and I quickly sunk the gaff. Hallelujah! And since it was the ONLY BITE OF THE DAY, I'll quit right there! Three Things...... #1 Elvis and Diana were GREAT and I'm wishing them a great life together! #2 King Mackerel were putting on an aerial show today. We probably saw 18-20 SKY ROCKETING KINGS in 2 hours. In spectacular fashion. I know I saw 20-25 lb Kings flying 30 to 40 feet high today, with hundreds of Mullet showering all around. Very Exciting! #3 Finally, the King that we caught was an AMAZING SURVIVOR of one crazy accident. Evidently, sometime in the past, a fisherman somewhere had dropped or tossed a small coil of bright silver single strand wire, probably 60lb test or so, overboard and apparently this King Mackerel had mistaken it for a baitfish and swallowed it. A Coil of Wire! I am not sure if there was even a hook on it. Honestly, it could've had a Sea Witch and a Ballyhoo on it at one time! If so, it was never actually Trolled because the wire had never been uncoiled! All I could see was the coil of wire that had worked its way through the King's left side abdominal wall and had healed itself all around the wire. It had left a wide scar and it really didn't seem to be having much of a negative affect on this fish's life at all. It was amazing and a testament to the toughness and survivability of this species.... I'm sure Elvis can tell us more about it when he steaks up this otherwise healthy King Mackerel! Total Catch for the Day: 1 King Mackerel at 22 lbs 

****Here are a couple of pictures that Elvis sent me. They clearly show that this was a ballyhoo rig that was rigged on single strand wire. A "Wahoo" rig. How it ended up in a King Mackerel's stomach before the wire was even uncoiled will forever be a mystery!

Sept 17- Gloomy and Windy, Decent Casting in the Surf

The Jeremy and I went up the Shackleford Beach today at low tide. Scouring and Scouting for schools of Red Drum. I forgot one little piece of pretty significant equipment though.... My polarized sunglasses. Duhh Huhh. Needless to say, I did not find any Red Drum. With Jeremy and Emma unpatiently tapping their paws, I did find school after school of frenzied action in the surf and just beyond. Slinging stingsilvers brought quick action. Emma did her best Grizzly imitation. Ripping the fat rich skin off the Bluefish and also devouring the velvety brains...... Pretty sick really and "bad bad girl" could be heard up and down the Shackleford Beach. Total Catch for the Day: 9 Spanish Mackerel, 4 Bluefish, and 3 Crevalle Jack

Sept 16- Tough Fishing

Today was a pretty day. Fairly light winds, partly sunny/ mostly overcast. Favorable Tide Cycle all day. And, finally, there were hundreds of thousands, hell, hundreds of Millions! How can you tell the difference! Let's just say, "millions of Finger Mullets" from Cape Point to Beaufort Inlet. Unfortunately, the wind was stronger than forecasted (10 kt vs 15+ kts) no big deal, BUT, the wind was from the Northeast. 10 kt NE Wind is fine. Northeast wind at 15 kts sucks and kills most all inshore bites and it makes it rough as hell offshore....  Always has, always will. 2015 or 1984, no different. Catching live Menhaden might have helped, but we didn't see a single flip in the 45 minutes we spent out front of Harkers Island. So, no live Menhaden for King Mackerel baits... Also, Albacore traditionally like the Northeasters, but we never saw the first Albie bust bait.... Double Dammit!  We went to Cape Lookout praying for clean water and maybe a few bait balls.... It was here we found the mother lode of Mullets, and caught 5 dozen in the cast net.... We also saw 2 fat Kings jump inside the Bight but we could not coax a bite, despite our best efforts! Much later, in Beaufort Inlet, we had a screamer that dumped half a spool in 10 seconds. Dropped the hooks as I lifted the rod out of the rod holder...... Crappy end to a beautiful, but unsuccessful day. Capt Marty's worst year ever continues........Great effort by Joe and Dan. Joe is a great client and catching fish is "not that important" to him. He enjoys time on the water. Thank Goodness for that Miracle! Total Catch for the Day: 8 Crevalle Jacks, 2 Spanish Macketel, 2 Bluefish, 1 Atlantic Thread Herring, and 3 Jumping Mullets

BIRDS

Random thought from Hatteras Inlet...... Capt Marty's two favorite birds are:

Black Skimmer

Northern Gannet

They are cool as hell.....

July 25- A Different Kind of Bad

Beautiful weather but "fishing killing" NE WIND blew at 15 to 18 knots All Day Long and the Fishing Sucked.  At least, we didn't have to worry about living or dying today. Lightning,  60 kt Wind, and Waterspouts were not a factor today!  We started our day in the Beaufort Inlet Bouy Chain live bait fishing for King Mackerel.... For some reason, it was un-satisfying...... We went looking for an "inshore" Grouper because "offshore" was out of the question because of wind and storms.... 100 fricking miles later, it was OVER, and I say, "We should've stayed where we started"..... But I felt sorry for the crew and the crew was unhappy.... By the way, These boys were in town to fish a King Mackerel Tournament but their Boat was broke down..... Desperate to go Fishing, they called up Top Water Charters..... I wish they had just entered my boat..... We would've never gone on such a wasteful boat ride and we probably would've pulled a nice King out of Beaufort Inlet..... Oh Well, the crappy year continues.... Total Catch for the Day: 1 King Mackerel, 1 Spanish Mackerel, 1 Barracuda, and 2 Atlantic Sharpnose Sharks

July 23- More Horrible Weather and Mssion Accomplished

What I wouldn't do for ONE PRETTY DAY to go fishing! This morning, Tom and gang from Maryland went with Tuggy and I. The morning's weather was pretty good, but everyone knew that a very very strong line of Storms would ruin our day if we stayed out too long..... The challenge was, to catch some pretty fish early. And the inshore fishing has been slow. So we went looking for a Big Fish early. Rigged up with 2 packs of Ballyhoo and 4 dozen live Shad, we decided to troll from the Sea Bouy area over towards Big 10 Fathom.... The trolling was slow and a waste of time for the first 90 minutes. As we neared out destination, we missed a bite.... Then we hooked a smoker! Ripped 100 yards of line. As TBone pulled the rod from the holder, the line went limp! What the hell! The rig had been bitten off.... The discussions began..... Inshore Wahoo? Large King Mackerel? Barracuda? Who knows? 100 yards seems like a lot for a "ballyhoo King". An "inshore Wahoo" is always rare. And Barracuda on Ballyhoo is a little odd. They are usually smarter than that..... Well, 5 minutes later it happened again.... Only this time it ended quickly. I must say, the rod was bucking wildly. The drag was bouncy at best and the fish cleared the air 50 feet off the stern! But, no one could identify it..... It was gone and it was over..... As we soaked in our disappointment of 2 potential Wahoos lost, the realization that the entire horizon to the north had became dark and scary looking. We sat 15 miles south of Beaufort Inlet. No fish in the box. Two rigs bitten off..... Sad. Bleak. Scary. We needed action and we needed it quick! Together, we made the decision to try livebait. Live bait can draw a quick bite, but you have to be in a good spot. As Tuggy deployed the 3rd live bait, I looked up from putting up the trolling tackle. A quick check of my GPS Plotter and I didn't like where we were. It was fine for fast trolling, but slow trolling here raised too many questions. We were running out of time. The wind had increased and a SE Chop had developed...... I knew that one of my favorite places was 3/4 of a mile away. Slow Trolling would take too long. We SHOULD'VE been headed home. Instead, we were still trying to "save the day". I quickly cranked in our baits and gunned the throttles to the East. As we came off plane and dropped speed, I tossed out a fresh menhaden. Within seconds I felt a tug. I quickly turned the clicker on my Avet Reel and as my crew was still rising from their seats, I announced "hooked up". Tom quickly claimed the rod. In the next 10 minutes, we landed 3 Amberjacks from 18 to 38 lbs, and broke off 2 others. Without even wasting a minute to take photos, we turned the Top Water Boat towards Beaufort Inlet and raced for home. Menacing black clouds spewed thunderbolts from the heavens as we got closer and closer over the next 30 minutes. Cloud to Ground Lightning was intense a shade west of our destination. We literally beat the storm to Beaufort Inlet by 5 minutes. That was huge. Getting "caught" in the Ocean changes everything. breathing a sigh of relief, but it was still a race to the Landing. We ran "hooked up" to Lennoxville Point and entered Taylor's Creek. You could feel the temperature drop and see the rain approaching. Now, safety was no longer a real issue, it was about staying dry! With Tom and family making a run for it, Tuggy and I worked in perfect unison, we literally beat the rain by 20 seconds and got the Top Water Boat on the Trailer. Tuggy and I got soaked at the House. Perfect. I needed a shower anyway. Total Catch for the Day: 3 Amberjacks from 18 to 38 lbs

July 20- Swinging for the Fence

This week, I am hoping a little harder than normal, for some great weather.... Why?
i
Because for the first time in my long long FISHING LIFE that I know where a big school of jumbo Rainbow Runners has taken up residence. This, my friends, is a "Bucket Lister" if there has ever been one. One of my fishing pals has brought home Rainbow Runners on his last 2 trips out there. Last Saturday, he brought home an incredible 6 Rainbow Runners up to 9 lbs. And hey, this ain't Panama. This is out of Morehead City, NC. They are a long way from home, but if given a crack of opportunity, the Top Water Boat will be running Southeast. Long and Hard.

Anybody wanna go?

July 16- Slow Fishing

Capt Tuggy took the Top Water Boat today and went live bait fishing for King Mackerel. He fished out to 12 miles and back to the Beach. Tuggy finished up a slow day in the Bouy Chain. Dirty water, from the torrential rainfall that we've been having killed Tuggy's fishing. The guys did tie up some bottom rigs and catch 40 Black Sea Bass. They also caught 2 Spinner Sharks in close to the Beach. They missed the one King bite that had. Tuggy reported a sky-rocketing 25 pounder that screamed off 100 yards of line then escaped. Lucky King Mackerel. Unlucky Fishermen. Enough bad fishing dammit...... Time to turn this crappy 2015 around! Total Catch for the Day: 40 Black Sea Bass and 2 Spinner Sharks

July 13- Rain, Wind, and Lightning

Brock's 25th Anniversary Fishing Trip turned into a wild race for survival! That's an exaggeration, but not by much...... I allowed my crew to get caught in open water, in 50 kt winds, a deluge of pelting rain and hail, and a fricking "strobe light frequency" of Ground Stroke Lightning Bolts....... We got hammered straight out Beaufort Inlet, probably 4 miles offshore and it was a struggle in the high winds and zero visibility to get home. Not to mention the wind driven rain felt like 20 gauge #8 birdshot! As for the Lightning? All we could do is Hope we didn't get Struck....... and we didn't.  We spent 2 hours pulling live Menhaden around the Beaufort Inlet Bouy Chain trying to catch a King Mackerel. It sucked from the very beginning because my every move as Boat Captain was to stay dry. There was pockets of rain and small developing thunderheads in every direction, all morning long. I was never working a bait school or working a tide line, or anything of that sort. Every move was an effort to stay dry..... And when the main line of storms approached, I was a good 10 minutes late in pulling the plug on fishing. We paid dearly. It was terrifying. I'd guess one of Brock's friends will NEVER EVER set foot on a Boat again..... Epic Captain Fail. The only thing I did RIGHT all morning was that nobody got hurt. Thank God. My sincere apologies go out to Brock and friends!. Total Catch for the Day: Nothing 

July 11- Two New Species

After driving across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia. And fishing my way South. Catching nothing....... Finally, back in NC, in Mt Airy in the Arafat River, I scored! On the 3wt Fly Rod. And they were NOT LARGE! But, I landed 3 Redbreast Sunfish. Beautiful little fish for sure. I may or may not have caught this species before back in the 1980's. I caught a similar fish on the Brook Valley CC Golf Course in Greenville, NC. Anyway, I'm sure these were Redbreasts. I also caught a tiny Sucker on a fly too. Best I can tell, it was a species of Redhorse. I'll call it a Carolina Redhorse for now. I wanted a Northern Pike or a Musky in Pa and WVa. I fished "Musky waters"......Instead I caught a fricking Redhorse....... Great! Total Catch for the Day: 3 Redbreast Sunfish and 1 Carolina Redhorse

July 10- Steady Walleye Bite

On my second day of Ohio Walleye Fishing the weather was much much prettier. We got a much earlier start and fished a LONG day. We pretty much caught 2-3 Walleye per hour of Trolling and at the end of the day we had caught 22 Walleye. We had three over 28". I was lucky enough to land 2 of those. These were my 5th and 6th "Ohio Award-Winning Walleyes" in 4 days of Fishing over 2 years. Not bad! Timmy's dad also caught a trophy Walleye. Ohio gives out Fish Pins in recognition of catching Trophy sized fish. It is their equivalent to North Carolina's paper certificate that we refer to as a "Citation". We also caught a little bitty Walleye that was released, maybe in the 7" range. Smallest one that I've seen so far. Aggravating us was 1 Drum and 2 White Bass. I kept the Bass to eat because I've never tried them. I know they are pretty popular when caught in waters that don't contain Walleye. The ridiculous deliciousness of the Walleye shames all other fish! Anyhow, my 2015 Walleye season is over. I landed app 14 Walleye and had 3 fish between 28" and 29". I will call one of my FAT 28 1/2 incher a TEN POUND WALLEYE. I tried to get my Bogagrip on today's trophy but Tom had already put the steel blade to him. I would really truly like to THANK Tom and Timmy for their hospitality and kindness in allowing me this opportunity. They have rolled out the Red Carpet for me for 2 years in a row. So far as to even vacuum seal my fillets. Thanks again guys! Total Catch for the Day: 22 Walleye up to 10 lbs, 2 White Bass up to 12", and a 23" Freshwater Drum