May 17- Bait Fishing in the Cobia Fleet

This morning saw way too much NW wind for the Weekend Spanish and Yellow Bouy Fleets to do their usual thing, so wouldn't you know it...... They were up in my Hole, crowding the Cape Lookout Cobia Grounds. I'm kidding, but seriously, there was 75 boats anchored up inside the Bight at Cape Lookout soaking baits for Cobia. The wind was NW and was blowing at 20 kts. I probably should've bagged it and went Sight Casting. I must say with the windy forecast, I was looking forward to bait fishing, but I was absolutely stunned when we popped out of the Drain, looked west, and there was 40 boats already anchored up at 7am....... Too many boats really. It really wasn't the Boats anchored so much. But take the Cobia Fleet, add in the mindless Mackerel Trolling Fleet, plus the Joy Riders, and Cape Lookout was ONE BIG CLUSTERF*CK this morning..... Now I can't see everything, but all I saw was 5 Cobia caught and my man Wally caught one of them. Our's was a 45 pounder. We had all the bites we wanted, but only one was the "right one". We also caught a grand variety of Sharks and Rays, from a baby Smooth Dog Shark to a 100 lb Sandbar Shark to a 100 lb Southern Stingray to a 125 lb Spiny Butterfly Ray. All in all, it was a successful day. We tried to run to a Black Drum event around lunchtime, but it was too distant and too windy. So we bagged it...... Total Catch for the Day: 45 lb Cobia, 2 Sandbar Sharks up to 100 lbs, 2 Blacktip Sharks up to 55 lbs, 4 Sharpnose Sharks up to 10 lbs, 1 Smooth Dog Shark at 3 lbs, 1 Southern Stingray at 100 lbs, and 2 Spiny Butterfly Rays up to 125 lbs

My Tribute to C-Bo

And No, Chris didn't die. It's not that kind of Tribute

Actually I'm toasting my boy Chris Chad from "The Island"....... Chris cut his "fishing teeth" the hard way. With me. He didn't even like it really. But over 10 years of riding and catching and soaking in some knowledge, nowadays ole C-Bo is doing it without me and he's doing great! Chris has worked hard and he has been a great success story. Recently married to a great girl, bought a house, bought a boat and he is off and running and fishing on his own. In the past 6 months, he has caught NC Citation King Mackerel, Red Drum, Black Drum, and Cobia. Then came yesterday...... I know those boys looked up my "fishing prowess" for a long time. The proof is on my "Wall of Fame". We spent many an hour staring at my "Citation Wall" with 33 different species represented. I always told Chris 2 things. Every Citation has its story and lots of them were amazing strokes of fate, or luck, or whatever. I also told Chris I had SO MANY damn NC Citations because I fished SO DAMN MANY days a year...... You run into things simply by being out there....... Well, C-bo learned his lessons well. A hunter at heart, C-bo is just learning to love certain fisheries. Cobia Fishing is up there for him. Yesterday, he got me. We both made the decision to go across the Shoals to the eastside.... Running side by side, we approached the first Shoal. Chris offshore, me inshore. Right as we approached the breakers and our slow down point, C-bo pulled up and rolled his boat offshore. Right beside him and in the Tower, I thought to myself, "classic mistake Chrissy Everette". I was seeing Sharks all along the breakers and I figured that C-bo was pulling upo to cast to a Shark. I snickered.......... 20 minutes later, C-bo still wasn't on the eastside. As I figured out that I had wasted my time by going over there, and I plowed back across the Shoals..... Back on the westside, I spied C-bo sitting dead in the water about a 1/4 mile away from the Shoals.... As I approached him (and Ryan) the I could sense from their posture and facial expressions that something big had happened. I also could see a tiny tip of a huge brown tail poking its way out of their cooler. Knowing that the Living Ghost of Capt Marty Moore had been exorcised from C-Bo's Fishing Psyche, I asked "How Big"....... (Obviously big enough you Bastard) C-Bo's expression read...... He carefully thought about it and said 70 pounds...... Like when the Devil Went Down to Georgia, I knew I had been beat..... My only offensive thought left quickly passed through my dark and spiteful mind. "Yeah right" I mumbled. C-Bo wouldn't know a 70 lb Cobia if it was checking his prostrate, I laughed to my self. No matter though, it was big fish and I more than likely wasn't going to top it. 35 years of fishing, a 25 foot Tower Boat, and vast knowledge of Cobia behavior, migration dynamics, understanding of tides, sun, water temperature, the physical layout of the Shoals, the 30 year bank of experience that I possesed, it had all been defeated..... I was "hanging my hat" on C-Bo learning his lesson and all I had left was him misjudging the weight! Pathetic.....

Wouldn't you figure that 17 hours later when Chris finally weighed it, it weighed 67 lbs. I promise you that C-Bo's Killer Cobia weight every bit of (and probably EXACTLY) 70 lbs at live weight..... I made this entire story up as a joke, but the truth is sewn thgrough these words in a dozen different places. C-Bo has came of age and he is a superior fisherman that is now capable of catching anythging that swims. I have complete confidence if he finds a NEW NC STATE RECORD COBIA tomorrow, that he would catch that Cobia. No doubt. Congrats C-Bo on a great fish on a tough day. You are the Man!

May 15- Poor Fishing and/or East Winds

Blame it on something.... Right now, Capt Marty is sucking bad. Did I use up all my GOOD LUCK on Tuesday the 13th? Is it the Full Moon? Was it all Tuggwell's vision and casting? Obviously the Cobia aren't biting as well as they were, but I am getting outfished by some of my pupils. Bad. Today even though the wind direction is "traditionally poor", I always thought I could overcome stuff like that.... Similar to a banana on a boat, the east wind creates a "built-in excuse" and gives everyone a "failure complex"..... Not me, I know thats just BS..... But, there is no arguing the numbers.... Today, in crystal clear water and bright sunshine, I only saw probably 8 Cobia. One of them ate my bucktail and I messed that up. Meanwhile, my Boyzzzzz, while not "Killin it" are catching Cobia. Today, we should've fished bait early and we sightcasted...... Then when we baitfished, the tide was low/falling/dead low...... We wasted the good tide looking to cast. I missed a 50 lb Cobia to set the tone and every decision after that was wrong. My anglers were troopers. Sang threw my cast net as good or better than I could've. He caught 6 dozen baits on a day when alot of hardcore fishermen bought bait.... In the end, it didn't matter. We caught Dog Sharks and a Spiny Butterfly Ray. The crew kept the Ray and cut some beautiful pugs of meat off his wings. The made the best of...... Capt Marty is in a slump and I've lost confidence. I apologize to my clients and hope I haven't discouraged my readers and prospective clients...... The HOT BOAT one day can cool off in a hurry.... And vice versa. I'm taking a much much needed break tomorrow and I hope to return to my old self on Saturday..... Total Catch for the Day: 3 Smooth Dog Sharks up to 24 lbs and a 90 lb Spint Butterfly Ray

May 14- Hero to Zero in 24 hours

Oh what a difference a day makes! Yesterday's Cobias ate the Bucktail. Today's Cobias ran from the Bucktail. Today I saw at least 40 Cobia. We hooked 2 Cobia. Mike landed a 36" Cobia. It was a fantastic day for viewing Marine Life. Sharks especially! Plus, Mike is eating Cobia tonight! Total Catch for the Day: 1 Cobia at 36"

May 13-ACTION PHOTOS

May 13- Epic Morning Sightcasting Cobia

11 Cobia caught by 1030am
14 Cobia total for day
3 NC Citations
55 lb Cobia
82 lb Cobia
85 lb Cobia
HOG SLAUGHTER

Okay, the computer has cleared up (Thanks Mrs Moore)..... I am too sick and too tired to do a "Capt Marty Style" Report. Let's just say: THEY CHEWED...... We were at McDonalds at 1230 for lunch. Unfortunately we went back out and missed a 90+ pound Cobia on the first Leatherback Turtle of the Year..... Tuggwell was "ON FIRE" today. His vision is the best I've ever seen. I was in the Tower and I probably saw 5 he didn't see....... Meanwhile he probably saw 20 that I didn't see, including his 2 80+ pound Cobias..... He earned them. I'm glad he got them.... Tomorrow, expect more of the same... It's On Fire and my phone ain't ringing. Enjoy the Show, fellas. Total Catch for the Day: 14 Cobia from 30" to 85 lbs

May 12- Cobias and Fog

Absolutely NO VIS today. We left the dock at 630am. It finally burned off at 130pm. In the Fog I caught a Atlantic Bonito. We caught a pile of Bluefish and other stuff. Finally, 80 miles later and with the sun barely lighting up the water, we found some Menhaden schools. Once there, we saw 14 Cobia and landed 2. Not good. Not as bad as it sounded though...... The Baitball that had "The Meat" was also teeming with grown Blacktip Sharks. With 6-8 Cobia in plain view, Chris and I both hooked up 125-150 lb Blacktip Sharks..... Thinking huge Cobia for the initial minute, we were in for some heartbreak! After I released another small Blacktip Shark, the Cobia shut down the feed. They teased us wuth one more lap around the baitball and then they disappeared for good. Bittersweet Catch. Looking good moving forward.... Total Catch for the Day: 2 Cobia at 26 and 23 lbs, 40 Bluefish up to 3 lbs, 3 Blacktip Sharks up to 150 lbs, 1 Atlantic Bonito at 4 lbs, 1 Chub Mackerel, 1 Hogfish, 1 Spottail Pinfish, and 10 Black Sea Bass

May 9- The Best 10 Minutes of the Year

To make a long story short...... We Sight Casted to the West when we should've went the East. We looked for bait and were 30 minutes too late. Four hours after leaving the dock we had NO BAIT and NO HOPE. We finally went to Cape Lookout with 8 rotten dead baits from yesterday. Once there, Chris and Ryan gave us 24 of their "day old baits"...... We finally found some action from the big Dog Sharks and a Real Shark too! Then, an hour after we should've been home, I got a tip about a Bait Ball a mile away. Back into the 4-6 foot seas, wind driven Hell Storm we went! Once there, with daylight beginning to fade we FINALLY CAUGHT BAIT. We raced back to my anchor ball just as the tide was peaking! We jettisoned the rotten Menhaden and hooked up with live ones. OH WHAT A DIFFERENCE. I got my third bait out and the first reel started singing. We'd seen this before, he ran like a big ole Dog Shark.... Then the line started rising.... That's a great sign when Cobia Fishing. With a kid that had NO BIG FISH EXPERIENCE on the rod, 25 kts of wind, an anchor line in the way, this was a slug-fest..... The fish passed under the anchor 4 times and refused to budge from under the boat. Slowly but surely Colby hung tough, kept up the pressure, and finally a big brown head popped out from under the boat. I sank the gaff and a moment of celebration broke out..... Then we set our lines back out. What followed was the "Best Bait-Fishing Rally" I've ever seen.... The fish were smaller, but it didn't matter! In the next 10 minutes we probably had 10 Cobia Bites. We hooked eight Cobia. Had one nice Cobia pull off after a head rattling jump right behind the boat. We pulled off another one. We landed a 20 lb Cobia and a 22 lb Cobia. We released 3 Cobia that were literally 32" long. As quickly as it started it was over. We had landed 6 Cobia. Colby's was 48 lbs on the Boga Grip. It was 4-5 hours of the Worst Day Ever followed by Decent Shark Fishing followed by a Really Nice Cobia followed by "The Best 10 Minutes of the Year"..... Total Catch for the Day: 6 Cobia up to 48 lbs, 12 Smooth Dog Sharks up to 25 lbs, 1 Bluefish, and a 10 lb Atlantic Sharpnose Shark

May 8- First Cobia of the Year, ooops

It was a good day for Fishing! Even though the Cobia are a week late. At least the Menhaden have finally showed up in big numbers...... Lt Bob Becker and I fish together every May for his birthday. Four years in a row. It seems like it's always a big failure or its a huge success..... I'm pretty sure that he and I have caught at least 2 NC Citation Cobias together....... On the local Fishing Scene, all the dockside chatter has been about "WHO WOULD CATCH THE FIRST COBIA!" Meaning, who would catch the first Cobia while actually Cobia Fishing...... It's a big deal amongst a few diehards........ Well, 10 minutes after baiting up, there he was! Bingo, a 40 lb Cobia was beside the Boat! Hooked up! Defeated! I had the rod in my hands and Mr Cobia made a lazy run, surfaced, and then allowed himself to be reeled quickly beside the Boat. Then the Plan Fell Apart! It was ALL MY FAULT. I jinxed us.... Bob simply has a "Disaster Complex" back to that later..... I was singing jubliantly and triumphantly annoucing to neighboring boats that "WE GOT THE FIRST KNOWN INSHORE CARTERET COUNTY COBIA"..... It's a Done Deal. The Party had already started in my mind! Suddenly Bob spasmes out and swings the gaff like a 5 wood at Augusta National. Then he raises the steel hook to claim our quarry. Only there is No Cobia hanging on, only the leader that has wrapped itself around the shank of the GAFF. The stunned Cobia still rests quietly by the boat on the surface awaiting death...... With building anxiety and nervous dread, I calmly ask Bob to un-wrap the leader and try again. And then with an calm demeanor and smooth nimble fingers, Bob half-hitches the leader on the damn gaff hook and then pokes our "very important catch" with the gaff for good measure to insure that it makes a last gasp run....POP goes the leader and goodbye Mr Cobia..... (IMPORTANT COBIA of the YEAR----#1 Largest. #2 First. #3 All Others)..... After that, we actually had an incredible amount of action and fishing was interstingly miserable...... But Who cares? Happy Birthday Lt Bob. I apologize for "being epic angry" at you. Bob was a great sport and I honestly apologize for my outburst. I do believe he has a "Self-fulfilling Prophency of Doom and Gloom" and he pysched himself out trying to gaff that Cobia! Anyway, we found World Class Smooth Dog Shark Fishing. A wonderful Banded Rudderfish, and plenty of Bluefish.......By IGFA bylaws, the leader was touched so the Cobia was a technical "Catch and Release". Unfortunately, Bob is eating (some actually beautiful) Dog Shark fillets instead of Cobia Fillets..... Total Catch for the Day: 40 lb Cobia, a 24 oz Banded Rudderfish, 8 Bluefish up to 2 lbs, and 18 Smooth Dogfish up to 25 lbs

May 7- Blow Baby Blow

This morning they fell like dominoes...... Ryan first. The Columbo. Finally Tuggwell drove 90 minutes to say NO. The 15 kt SE wind did them in, plus the cloudy skies. I don't blame them. The Eastside was un-fishable. The Westside has yet to prove to be worth a damn, especially on a SE wind that knocks the Bonito out of the equation. Damn man, this year sucks so far....... Finally, Tuggy and I went to the Mung Holes with my 2 Fly Rods and had a great time playing. Hell we fished from lunch time until 3pm. It was an afternoon of fishing afterall...... Total Catch for the Day: 14 Largemouth Bass and 10 Bluegills

May 3- Incredible Giant Black Drum School

FINALLY A DECENT WEATHER DAY that I was OFF and availiable to fish. And I nearly didn't go. I am so used to NOT GOING...... But Capt Columbus called and told me about a "Black Drum Event" that was taking place on the East Side...... In my 30+ years of fishing, I've seen ONE giant school of adult Black Drum....... So, with a tip that there was a School of Giants about 15 miles away, I grabbed Jeremy and hauled ass.... When we got to the spot, our information was 3 hours old..... Seemed like a big task to find them.... Then, SHAZAM. there they were. Shining like a pot of gold coins in the green Ocean. We approached them and found app 800 adult Black Drum swimming steadily towards Chesapeake Bay. After a few struggles with break offs, we got it figured out and started to land them. We put our limit in the boat. I got a 38 lb Black Drum for the grill and Jeremy got a 55 lb Black Drum for a NC Citation. I released 5 others from 35 to 50 lbs each and Jeremy released a 36 lb Black Drum. The Boga Grip got a work out today and Emma got to lick 7 different Black Drum. She liked the 55 lb Drum the best. That one is headed to Fishtowne Market in Beaufort and will be smoked....... Best Black Drum day ever? Not sure, certainly it was #1 or #2..... Either way, I'm off the snide..... Now, bring on the Bonito or the Cobia. Total Catch for the Day: 7 Black Drum from 35 to 55 lbs each

April 14-20 HORRIBLE WEATHER CONTINUES

ITS GONNA BLOW and RAIN RIGHT UP TO TIME FOR CAPT MARTY TO GO BACK TO WORK.......

Incredibly, there is still a GALE WARNING and COASTAL FLOOD WARNING POSTED

I offer up apologies to all that follow this blog and I also offer up an apology for the trips that got cancelled. When its winter and its supposed to be COLD, we don't mind fishing in the cold...... In summer and fall when fishing is good, no one minds fishing in the RAIN..... As far as the WIND goes, when it's over 20 knots, its always bad.

With all that being said, and since it's mid-April and Inshore Fishing is slowly coming back to life, COLD, RAIN, or WIND can all by themselves RUIN Inshore Fishing..... And then this week, MY WEEK OFF of course, we get a TRIPLE WHAMMY.

COLD

RAIN

WIND

As far as I can tell, Tuesday is going to be pretty. Quite naturally, that is my First Day back at Hatteras!

Looking ahead, I will get home on April 29 and I should be ready to go. Also I'll be home until May 20 so lets hope three things happen. The Menhaden show up. The Atlantic Bonito show up. And the Cobia show up. Capt Tuggy and I are ready to go get them!

April 13- BLUE CATFISH HEAVEN on the PEE DEE RIVER

Right this minute I am sitting by a fire pit on Morrow Mountain so this report is going to brief... It will pack some "WOW FACTOR" though..... So this morning I fished the Pee Dee River with Robbie Burr and needless to say, Robbie is everything the Internet says he is...... Nowadays, that's a mighty fine compliment! My 4 hours was spent catching White Shad and Blue Catfish. In the first hour, I equalled my previous "lifetime" total of White Shad with Robbie. Between the two of us, we caught 8 Shad from 2-4 lbs each. Good eating I said..... Catfish bait Robbie said......  After we left the Shad, Robbie put out a spread of cut Shad baits and 10 minutes later I was holding a 42 lb Blue Catfish. Routine. It takes a 70 lber to excite this Captain. Meanwhile THIS CAPTAIN was texting Columbo as fast as I could..... The next 2 hours saw a slow, but steady parade of 28 lb to 35 lb Blue Cats.... I needed one for my campfire meal, but I needed a 10 pounder.... Robbie assured me that we'd get one. Sure enough, last spot and our last bite and I catch a 12 lb Blue Catfish that was our dinner guest tonight at Morrow Mountain State Park! Total Catch for the Day: 7 Blue Catfish from 12 to 42 lbs each and 8 White Shad from 2 to 4 lbs each

April 6- Eastern NC Shad Tour

I don't have time for the long version, so here's a short summary. It was cold and blustery. The Rivers were high. I fished 3 places on the Tar River and one spot on the Neuse. At times it was a struggle. There was one flurry at Old Sparta when I caught 15 Hickory Shad in 20 minutes. Much later at Rocky Mount, I caught 3 White Shad in an hour. Other that, it was a struggle. Total Catch for the Day: 22 Hickory Shad up to 2 lbs and 3 White Shad up to 3 lbs

Dog Shark Bites--DELICIOUS

Okay, here it is...... You guys ain't going to believe this but here goes. Yesterday John Boy and I kept 6 Spiny Dog Sharks. We cleaned them. The amount of meat derived from a Dog Shark seemed a little slack, considering each one weighed about 7 lbs...... Anyway, with 3 fish each, both John Boy and I had plenty of meat. If anyone wants to try this, I'd recommend killing at least 3 Dog Sharks.... Anyway, my first impression was how damn white the freshly cleaned meat is.... It is the cleanest, whitest meat I've ever seen from any animal, reptile, or fish. It is so incredibly white it looks cooked..... Okay, last night I put a ziplock bag of boneless, skinless Dog Shark meat in my refrigerator. No salt, no soak, no nothing.... So tonight at 9pm, 26 hours later, I pulled out 4 pieces of Dog Shark flesh and cut it up in 4"X 1" fingers. I soaked the fingers in milk for 10 minutes. I rolled the fingers in seafood breader. I fried the fingers in a hot oil bath..... Let cool. Made a cocktail sauce...... Walked into the Living Room where my beautiful wife was watching TV. I offered her a fried finger and did not tell her what it was. She ate it and said "Delicious". I said really? I re-entered the kitchen and tried it myself. It is Sooo Damn Good, so damn light. It is indescribable. If you want a "fishy" fish, the one ain't for you. Whiter and Lighter than Flounder. I don't know what else to say. I see why the Dog Shark is one of our most important and heavily regulated Commercial Fish on the US East Coast..... I highly recommend everyone keep a few Dog Sharks this Spring and take them home and fry them up!

April 4- Red Drum in the Cape Lookout Surf

Early this morning I got invited over to Cape Lookout so Buddy could prove to me that a Hickory Shad could be caught in the surf on Fly Tackle in Carteret County! I had seen the pictures, but I wanted.... I needed.... I yearned to see this with my own two eyes.... So, this morning, I grabbed my waders and we made the 10 minute run over to the Eastern Beach. We anchored up and we walked over to the Ocean. Well, Buddy threw his fly 250 times and found no takers.. After watching the first 25 casts failed, I struck out to the south looking for a fishy-looking slough that might hold a Drum or two... What I found was one pretty slough after another. They all looked good! I'd cast a few times and then walk some more..... I look at this Beach all the time from the water. It looks completely different from foot back out to sea.....Anyway, eventually a slough formed parallel to the Beach. Here, after a half mile walk, I saw a flash and a roll of reddish gold. I backed off and made a cast. Bingo. After a long give and take battle on 8# spin, I finally slipped my hand under a 24" Red Drum. Buddy heard my "Whoops and Ahhhh Ooooo Ahhhhssss" and started walking my way. When he got there, I got the go ahead to catch his Red Drum, or "our limit". I quickly hooked up another Red Drum. After landing him and snapping a pic I asked Buddy why he wasn't casting.... "Because I had a Cownose Ray failure" he replied... What? Evidently, Buddy had snagged a Cownose and wasn't quick enough to realize what was happening. His attempt to pop the leader actually popped the connection from Fly Line to his Backing.... Ouch.... Somewhere out in the Ocean there's a Cownose Ray dragging around $169 worth of fly line behind him. That was it. OVER..... Total Catch for the Day: 2 Red Drum at 24" each

April 3- Spiny Dog Heaven

As long as this wind keeps honking, I guess I should just consider myself lucky to have anglers that are satisfied to catch Dog Sharks. Really now, they are numerous. They pull hard. And, supposedly they are great eating. At this time, they are one of NC's most regulated commercial fisherys. Our "Horndogs" support the local pub favorite "Fish and Chips" that is so famous and popular all across Great Britain as well as other parts of Europe. They long ago fished out their inshore/ nearshore tasty Shark species, the Tope.... Now they rely on imported Dog Sharks from the US East Coast..... So today, JohnBoy wanted to pursue Bullet Mackerel, but it's blowing a "Pops Cod".... So we went Dogging instead. Two things were different: #1 JohnBoy played with ultralight spinning tackle. As a matter of fact, we each caught 10 lb Spiny Dogs on 4# test mono. It was great fun but we lost some tackle as well. JohnBoy and I also discussed the possibility of eating some Dog Shark Meat. We decides to keep 6 Dog Sharks for the table. I'm on my way to help JohnBoy clean our quarry as soon as I post this! I will report later on the quality and taste of  "Beaufort style Fish and Chips" Total Catch for the Day: 22 Spiny Dog Sharks from 5 to 11 lbs each

April 2- Dogsharks in the Wind

If only the wind would've held off for 5-6 more hours..... If only the timing of the NWS Marine Forecast would've been accurate...... I know (knew) exactly where there is (was) a pile of Red Drum and Bluefish. But, it's a long ride from Beaufort Inlet and with a 20 kt SW Wind blowing on us all the way out there AND a 20 kt SW Wind blowing on our "other" side all the way home, it was consensus opinion of the Adults on the Crew to come up with a Back Up Plan..... Fortunately, the primary mission of this trip was for 9 yr old John Jr to catch some FISH. Action was our primary target and plenty of it! Too bad, if the wind would've stayed light and seas 1-2 ft, I could've made everyone happy.... Daggone it, it was blowing 15-20 at 7am. so, to make a long story short, Kevin and Big John had to amuse themselves while John Jr shagged Dog Sharks.... The other bad part was, there were no Drum fillets to carry home. Just great memories of bent rods, singing drags, and Shark after Shark after Shark. And the weather inside the Cape Lookout Bight was Beautiful. Any question as to the fishing was answered 10 seconds after Kevin's speck rig hit the bottom. His rod took a deep bend and it was Game On..... After 20+ Spiny Dog Sharks we went looking for Blowtoads and Sea Mullets. We searched from Cape Lookout to Morehead City. We found a few fish, but nothing great. Finally, I rolled the dice on a Top-Secret school of Red Drum in a very different environment than where we'd been fishing. After a long run, when we arrived, there was another boat sitting in "the Spot" and that fishery was bombed out..... Those fish were surely victims of the Information Super Highway. The Internet. Poor little school of Red Drum can't hide from Al Gore's all-knowing, all-seeing, no more secrets Fishing "Inter" Network. It's amazing that a guy with a Laptop Computer sitting at a Base Camp on Antarctica can see and recognize backgrounds on Fishing Pictures posted on the Internet and figure out exactly WHERE he needs to go to catch a fish... Well, maybe not. But you can certainly figure out where they WERE....... Total Catch for the Day: 24 Spiny Dogsharks from 4 to 12 lbs, 3 Smooth Dogsharks from 4 to 12 lbs, 1 Southern Sea Mullet, 1 Atlantic Croaker, and 1 Spot

*** I am still researching John Jr's dark-colored Dogshark to see if it was just a darker than normal Spiny Dogshark or if it was a true "Black Dogshark" which would be a NEW SPECIES for Top Water Charters...*** 

John Jr boldly commented, "No Comment !!!!"

April 1- Fishing Fools Day

Heck, I didn't get to go. Chris and Ryan caught 60 Bluefish, 2 Red Drum, and 18 Black Sea Bass. More interesting, they saw a Thresher Shark or two airing it out..... Tomorrow morning John, John Jr, and I are headed out. I hope that by tomorrow night I will be posting pics of little John smiling again... What if this time he's standing proudly over a 100 lb Thresher Shark! Why not? If Capt Marty can make it happen. I do remember that Thresher Shark was excellent quality on the grill! I need to check and see if they're legal right now because I will be going after them!

Check back tomorrow and remember, April 3, April 4, April 5, April 6, and April 7 are OPEN for FISHING and EXCELLENT for CATCHING