July 30 Bailing Bluefish and KJ

Today was a nice day and Kimi and I went out for a sight seeing trip and got in some casting on the Shoals. The Bluefish were there and they were larger than yesterday. There were some 2 pounders around and they were aggressive. The top water action in 2 feet of water was impressive. Lots of impressive sights today. Total Catch for the Day: 10 Bluefish

July 29 Monster Barracuda and Plenty of Jacks

Mark, Jeremy, and Scott went fishing with me today and the fishing was very good. First thing in the morning we sat beside 2 acres of Bluefish and "every casted" them until the live well was stuffed, a few where iced, and more were released. Then we headed east to a wreck to catch some big fish. I figured our best shot a Barracuda would be on the first bait in the water. Rigged up with wire on a spinning rod, it took just about 10 seconds and bam, Scott was hooked up to a tail walking 45lb Barracuda. 3 jumps later he was spooled and to the last wrap when I gunned the boat ahead and we chased him down. Minutes late Scott had a 54" Barracuda release. Then we traded trebles for Js and wire for mono and headed back to the wreck. Automatic. One Amberjack after another. Scott released 4, I released 3, Mark released 1. 4 Amberjacks were big enough for release citations. Scott had a 38lb Amberjack and Mark had a 35lb Amberjack in the box. Then we run inshore where I caught a baby Sand Tiger and we caught 3 baby Amberjacks on light spinning tackle. Then the clouds and the rain came and we ran home. We did stop long enough to cast up a couple of Spanish Mackerel and a few Bluefish. Mark finished up the day with a new species on Top Water Charters when he released a Atlantic Bumper. Great day. Total Catch for the Day: 45lb Barracuda, 13 Amberjacks up to 50", 1 Sand Tiger, 50 Bluefish, 2 Spanish Mackerel, and 1 Atlantic Bumper

July 28 Mackerel, Bluefish, and Shark

Scouting trip today. This is what I found. I was a little too late for the Jumbo Spanish Mackerel bite. I did get a 3 pound Mackerel and 4 smaller ones. I found plenty of Bluefish and caught many on metal and top water plugs. I also found some huge Sand Tigers in 6 feet of water and huge Blacktip Sharks in 2 feet of water. I failed to deliver on these opportunitys. Interestingly, I also found a nice group of small Barracudas that were eager to follow a bait, but unwilling to bite! Well, it counts tommorrow, get ready boys. The Beer Jaguar is coming! Total Catch for the Day: 40 Bluefish and 5 Spanish Mackerel

July 24 Stuck on the Ferry

While I'm Ferrying Pilgrims across Hatteras Inlet, this action taking place not far away. Looks like a good place to cast a line! These Red Drum and Sharks were photoged off Nags Head on July 20th.

July 19 Sharks and Mackerel and Platform Diving

This was a day that we had to fishing, regardless of the weather. I'm headed back to Hatteras tonight, and my 4 cousins wanted to go fishing. Today was our only shot. So despite being battered by a relentless 25 knot SW wind, we went looking for some action. This morning, Beaufort Inlet was a horrible sight. Low tide, dirty water, and white caps. It looked bad. So we made the run up to Cape Lookout and found better conditions and enough activity to keep us busy for a few hours. We caught 10 dozen Menhaden in the cast net and then we slow trolled live bait for a while. We caught a Bluefish near a bait school, but that action was too slow. Then we casted metal in and around a bait ball and caught 4 Spanish Mackerel up to 3lbs. We also caught a couple of Bluefish. After that we soaked bait on the bottom while the boys jumped off the roof! Then we went cruising and we chased a Blacktip Shark for quite a while in the shallows. That poor Shark will never be the same. He's probably off the west coast of Africa now...... Later in the afternoon, we went back to Beaufort Inlet where Dillon released a sweet 100 pound Blacktip Shark after a 10 minute battle. Dean also released a 17 pound Blacknose Shark. Brandon had a monster Shark hooked up that ate the 3 lb Mackerel. Too bad this one escaped. Unfortunately, the bite died and Nick never got to pull on a Shark. I guess fishing was pretty poor, but it was still a great day on the water. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of Dillon's Blacktip Shark, it was too much of a battle after we dumped the anchor and had to chase him down in the wind and seas!! Total Catch for the Day: 4 Spanish Mackerel, 4 Bluefish, 2 Blacknose Sharks, and a 100 lb Blacktip Shark

Big Toe

Looks like Capt Marty might be grounded with a hurt BIG TOE. No Fishing on Thursday July 15! Sorry. I'm still looking for anglers for Friday and/or Saturday. Fishing is Good even in challenging conditions!

July 14 Wind, Rain, Lightning, and Bluefish

The weather today was nasty. Brandon and I fished hard and we fished in very challenging conditions. The morning started out gray and 20 kts of SW wind. The Queen Anne's Revenge Shoals on the west side of Beaufort Inlet, where the Mackerel motherlode was yesterday, was completely un-fishable. Inside Beaufort Inlet was our best bet. Casting metal lures produced great numbers of Bluefish all day long. Unfortunately, the majority of these Blues were small ones, less than 1 pound. There were also a few Spanish Mackerel mixed in. We tried bait early at the Shark Slough and caught a 20lb Stingray. After that we threw metal for a few hours and caught our Bluefish and Spanish Mackerel. When the tide was nearly high, we re-entered the Shark Slough and we thought we were going to rack up some impressive Shark numbers. The first bait in the water got smoked by a 25lb Blacknose Shark. This one had a beautiful yellow tint. I've never seen that before. We also released 2 small Blacknose Sharks. Then we made a small adjustment in where we were fishing. Our confidence was soaring! Then, after setting back out, all hell broke loose. The sky turned black, the wind went from 20 to 35, rain poured, and lightning cracked all around. We pulled up all our gear and made a mad dash to Beaufort. After the worst had passed, we caught a few more Mackerel and Bluefish and we struck out on a Red Drum search. Total Catch for the Day: 70 Bluefish, 8 Spanish Mackerel, 3 Blacknose Shark up to 25lbs, and 20lb Southern Stingray

July 13 Spanish Mackerel Fishing

Matt and fished today and this trip has been planned for a long time. While the beautiful days passed, I wondered "how much longer can this last." Matt finally stepped aboard this morning and when we got to Beaufort Inlet we were greeted by a strong SW wind, heavy chop, and a ripping current. We were also greeted by acres of Spanish Mackerel. Too bad the best of the fishing was in the worst possible place. We were casting in a washing machine. It was great casting, but diffficult conditions. I'm sure Matt was wondering "What's wrong with this guy." After about an hour, we had boxed 14 Spanish Mackerel on metal, we moved on to the next stop. Conditions improved away from Beaufort Inlet and we found some excellent fishing a couple of miles west. In an hour we had 6 strikes and caught 3 Spanish Mackerel from 3-6lbs. We lost a bigger one by the boat, missed a strike, and had a Barracuda devour a 6lb Spanish behind the boat. Then we tricked Mr Barracuda into finishing what he started. For a couple of minutes Matt battled the 30lb Barracuda on a 10# spinning rod. We eventually lost him, but it was a great show. After the bite died, we went back to Beaufort Inlet and caught Bluefish and more Spanish Mackerel in calm waters. We also missed 2 Blacktip Sharks. Since I waited too late and missed the tide, we were forced to sight cast these Sharks. That sounds like fun, but it aint the best way to catch them. I had a good view of the action though. We had a 100+ pounder barely miss the hook in a Spanish Mackerel after a long run and we had a 40 pounder on for 3 minutes until he jumped, made about 3 rotations and pulled the hook. Oh well, all the big ones got away today! Total Catch for the Day: 28 Spanish Mackerel up to 6lbs and 15 Bluefish

What's the Deal

I've been a Fishing Guide for nearly 10 years. I fish primarily out of Beaufort Inlet and depart from the Beaufort, NC Waterfront. There has never been any confusion. Not a single case. Now, in 1 week, I get 3 potential clients that think I'm in Beaufort, South Carolina! What's up with that...... I will be home and availiable for charter from Thursday July 15 through Sunday July 18. Inshore Fishing, Wreck Fishing, and Offshore Fishing should be interesting this week. Call me if interested at 252-241-8350. Remember, I am in North Carolina.

July 5 Good Summertime Fishing

Greg and Hunter went with me today and we had several goals in mind. Sharks. Big Fish. Fish to eat. Hunter also wanted a Dolphin and unfortunately, we didn't find any of those. Most of my other plans worked out and Hunter saw and caught lots of big fish and Greg carried lots of fish home to eat while on vacation. The Shoals at Cape Lookout were covered with Bluefish and Spanish Mackerel and the guys hammered them. Especially the Bluefish. Then we went Wreck hopping so the guys could see some big fish. Amberjacks and Sand Tiger Sharks gave them a quick show of power, force, and pure bulk. Greg actually caught and released a 125 lb Sand Tiger on a stingsilver and a light spinning rod loaded with 12# test. Amazing. Another amazing catch occurred when Hunter and I dropped a half of a Bluefish to the bottom to catch a Sand Tiger Shark and the rig got stuck in the bottom. After a mnute of "anchoring the boat" the rod tip started bouncing and we reeled in a 14 lb Gag Grouper. Not bad! After we caught a limit of Amberjacks up to 32 lbs, plus a release and released a couple of Sand Tigers, we went back to the Shoals to search for a Red Drum. The swarming Bluefish made this impossible. Finally, we ended back down at Beaufort Inlet and Greg released a 35 lb Blacknose Shark and a Southern Stingray. It was a great day to be on the water. Total Catch for the Day: 60 Bluefish 1-3 lbs each, 10 Spanish Mackerel 1-2 lbs each, 1 Gag Grouper at 14 lbs, 4 Amberjacks 20-32 lbs each, 2 Sand Tiger Sharks 125 and 200 lbs, 1 Blacknose Shark at 35lbs and 1 Southern Stingray

July 2 Hammerhead Shark, and that's it!

Chris and I went on a scouting trip because I've been at Hatteras nearly 2 weeks. We didn't find much. Too much NE wind, of course. The Shoals at Cape Lookout looked like chocolate milk. Bait Balls in the Ocean are hard to find. No surface activity anywhere we looked. So what did we find? We caught a couple dozen Menhaden and let the wind blow us down the Shipping Channel and we had a bait that eluded a Mackerel and we had a 60 lb Hammerhead Shark that caught his bait and was released unharmed. I like Hammerheads. We also had a Bluefish eat a Menhaden on the Queen Anne's Revenge site. That's it for the fishing, but I also found a good number of Blacknose Sharks inside the Inlet. We didn't mess with the Blacknose Sharks but they will save a slow day in the near future! Total Catch for the Day: 1 Hammerhead Shark and 1 Bluefish

June 29 I'm still at Hatteras

I've been here too long. Tommorrow will be day 10 and I need to get home. Since my last report, I've caught another Sheepshead on a Hermit Crab and I've wrapped up a few more Jumping Mullets. The Mullets are big ones for June, 2-3 pounders and great for the grill. I've had them 4 times in 9 nights and they are still great. My Sheepshead was a small one, less than a pound. Today I found a lump of 4 Sea Urchins. I thought about catching them and using them for bait. They might be the key to the future though. The last 3 years there was an endless supply. I could harvest 50 per day, 365 days a year, and never see a change. Now they are all gone, except the 4 I found today. Those 4 might re-populate the entire Basin. Then again, those 4 Urchins might quickly become a batch of Sheephead Citations. Capt Marty's Dilemma! Total Catch for the Period: 1 Sheepshead

June 22 and 23 First Sheepshead

The first Sheepshead of 2010 on the hook and 40 lbs of Jumping Mullet in my cast net on June 22nd. I'm taking a wild guess here, but I believe the great Sheepshead fishing of '08 and '09 will not carry over this summer. From the looks of it, the entire Sea Urchin population around Ocracoke and Hatteras has died off last winter. The Sea Urchin bonanza made catching all those 8-12 lb Sheepshead a piece of cake. The one I caught today was ate a Hermit Crab and that's alot of work. My Sheepshead was a 2 pounder and I released him unharmed. On June 23rd, I tossed the net one time and loaded it down with 70 lbs of Jumping Mullet. Total Catch for 2 days: 1 Sheepshead

June 19 Slow Red Drum Fishing

Lee and I fished a Red Drum Tournament and it was an adventure. We ran 80 miles. A great circle. We caught a nice 24" Red Drum and a less than nice 20" Red Drum. East winds and Low tides made it tough on us earky in the day. Whew, that's an understatement! I am not sure where we finished, but I know it wasn't in the top 3. Total Catch for the Day: 2 Red Drum, 1 Southern Flounder, and 1 Pinfish

June 18 My Boat is Back in Action

My Boat is ready. I am ready. The Spanish Mackerel, King Mackerel, Amberjack, Shark, and Dolphin are ready! But first, Capt Lee Willis and I are fishing a Red Drum Tournament tommorrow. We are fishing on a brand new 23 ft Parker Bay Boat. Lee is http://www.redfishaction.com/. We are fishing the HT3 Tournament Series. Looks like fun........

June 17 Dolphin Fishing

Great weather today did not mess us up! I caught a ride with Tuggy and Brock and we found a few Dolphin by trolling in 100 feet of water SE of Beaufort Inlet. Then somebody said, "Here they come!" So we bailed them on light spinning tackle. Nice. Lots of jumps and changes of direction. After we caught all we wanted we tried to catch an Amberjack on a jig. No luck, too much current. We had shots at 2 Cobia, but Tuggy and me (the Cobia Killers) screwed those up. Total Catch for the Day: 20 Dolphin up to 18 lbs

June 12 Hatteras Cobia Fishing Part 3

I got a chance to fish up at Hatteras today aboard Johnny Willis's private boat and it was great day on the water. Johnny, Gary, and Lee are all avid fishermen and they love to catch Cobia. Conditions were perfect but the fishing was a challenge. We tried sight casting and bait fishing. Southern Stingrays and Spiny Butterfly Rays made bait fishing very hard on our tackle boxes! The BIG ONES were on the Shoals today. 100-200+ pounders that are impossible to pull off the bottom. The Cobia were very shy today. Gary got a 55 lb. Cobia on a bucktail right off the bat and we had a couple of other chances. I got a double header of 36" Cobia off a Stingray and Lee nailed a 39" Cobia off the same Ray. We saw 2 other nice ones and thats about it. The weather was great, but the fishing was slack. Total Catch for the Day: 4 Cobia up to 55 pounds, 2 Spiny Butterfly Rays up to 50 pounds and 2 Southern Stingrays up to 60 pounds

June 10 Ferry Dock Fishing

It's a little too early for the good stuff but I was up late last night so I gave it a try. The highlight was a 15" Croaker on cut bait and a few Jumping Mullets in the cast net. The fishing was okay for the pests.... Small Black Sea Bass, Pinfish, Sand Perch, and small Bluefish. I saw a few Spadefish milling around in the dark, but they were too slick. The lowlight of the night was the first Oyster Toad of the season! It might would've been worth my time to try for a Flounder, but traditionally, I have caught more Flounder at the Hatteras side in June than on the Ocracoke side. At least I got a couple of fish for lunch tommorrow. Fried Croaker Sandwich. Total Catch for the Night: 1 Croaker, 10 Black Sea Bass, 10 Pinfish, 4 Bluefish, 1 Sand Perch, and 1 Oyster Toad

June 8 and 9 Hatteras Surf Fishing

Tuesday I went out looking for a 2 lb Pompano and all I found was a baby Puffer and a 8 lb Cownose Ray. Sand Fleas were hard to catch on the rising tide. There was some really, really nice scenery on the Beach. Better than nothing. The Cownose Ray was a great fight and conversation starter. On Wednesday, I went to the same spot and had nearly identical results. The only difference was that I caught a Sea Mullet instead of a Puffer. I did battle another Cownose Ray. Total Catch for the Day: 2 Cownose Ray, 1 Gulf Sea Mullet and 1 Northern Puffer

June 6 Bailing Dolphin

I got a chance to fish offshore at Hatteras today and the fishing had been great so I decided to go for it. As usual, the weather forecast was iffy. We woke up to a 20kt SW wind. Once we reached the fishing grounds, the wind was honking and the current was blazing. That combination actually helped hold the seas down, I think! Our biggest problem was that Saturday's Dolphin schools were 20 miles farther South on Sunday morning. So we chased them down. By lunchtime, we had 1 Skipjack Tuna and 4 Dolphins. After we found the spot, we sacked them up pretty good. Lots of bailers and 7 between 15-25 pounds. Ed got the largest, a 25lb Bull Dolphin on a spinning rod. Frank got his largest, a 17 pounder, on a trout rod. When it was all said and done, we had caught about 350 pounds of Fish. Total Catch for the Day: 62 Dolphin up to 25lbs and 1 Skipjack Tuna

Boat Disabled and Headed to Hatteras

Just when I think things can't any worse......I used to be happy about heading to Hatteras, but this time, the thought of it makes me sick. The bigger problem is with my Boat. Night Run out of Hatteras in June would be a wonderful thing, but this time I'm headed up there with NO BOAT and that sucks. Hopefully the Boat will be up and running when I get home on June 15th. In the meantime, I will be looking for some Flounder and Sheepshead around the Ferry Dock.

June 4 Sharks and Rays and Boat Problems

The top picture is of another Dead Whale. What's up with that? Anyway, the Whale's day was worse than mine, barely. This day did not go as planned. I left the dock with a phantom alarm. During the day I developed a real problem. All sorts of electrical problems. The Boat's troubles dictated our day. It was all Bad! By the end of the day, I would call it an interesting catch. No Cobia though and since that was the primary Target Species, it was not a successful day. Jerry caught lots of new things. Three varieties of Shark and two flavors of Ray. The best fish we caught was a 4 foot Bonnethead Shark. The largest thing we caught was a 60 lb Spiny Butterfly Ray. The Boat is officially "broken down" and I almost forgot, I broke a rod on a Stingray. Not a great day! Total Catch for the Day: 2 Blacknose Sharks up to 25lbs, 1 Bonnethead Shark, 3 Sharpnose Sharks, 2 Southern Stingrays, 2 Spiny Butterfly Rays up to 60lbs and 2 Bluefish

May 30 Hatteras Cobia Fishing Part 2

Today was my Birthday and nobody seemed to care. The best present that I got was finding a Manta Ray cruising in 30 feet of water off Ocracoke Island. The Ray was a huge one, probably 20+ feet from wingtip to wingtip. The best part was that he had 8-10 Cobia cruising with him and these were big Cobia at 40-50 pounds each. I hooked 2 of these Cobia from the Tower before I climbed down. Out of this doubleheader, I caught a 46 pound Cobia and lost the other one.I also released 2 borderline legal Cobia. I saw a 6 foot Cobia that I never really had a chance to catch. This was a giant Cobia, probably 90-100 pounds. After an action packed morning, I went 30 minutes without seeing anything and I was back at the dock before noon. The picture is of my 46lb Cobia banging around after I climbed back up in the Tower. Nice. Total Catch for the Day: 3 Cobia up to 46 pounds

May 27 Hatteras Cobia Fishing

Rob and I went out to kill the Cobia this morning. We started out by looking on the western edge of Diamond Shoals. The water was dirty and cold and full of bait. We had another Humpback Whale experience and got close enough to smell his breath! We saw 2 Cobia and a Hammerhead Shark, but we never hooked up. Then we ran down and looked 6-7 miles off Hatteras and found beautiful Blue Water. We also "ran over" 3 Cobia and established what would become the theme for the day. After wasting more time, we ended up off the eastern end of Ocracoke Island and we finally found plenty of fish. The problem was, we kept running over them. Conditions were less than perfect, but today we were just in a bad groove. We ended up catching 3 Cobia. Our largest was a 30 lber. Our other 2 fish were less than 20 pounds. We probably saw 40 Cobia. It was fun, but really disappointing. Is this a personal slump? Bad Karma? I'm ready for it to end! Total Catch for the Day: 3 Cobia up to 30 lbs

May 24 Wasted Day

Today was a total bummer. Mit came all the way from Canada to catch a Cobia. This morning we were greeted by strong winds, rain, and a gray sky. We ran to the east towards a hole in the sky and a ray of sunlight. On the western edge of the Shoals conditions were less than ideal, but they were fishable. After a 90 minute search, we had seen one Cobia and I had ran over him. Then we decided to check out the Bait Balls that have been everywhere for 3 weeks. This morning, they were gone. No bait. We then took off on a 20 mile run to catch bait on the inside. By now, the wind was blowing 20+ out of the NE. No bait, no where. We decided to call it a half of a half day. After the guys drove away, the bottom fell out for 10 minutes.Then the wind slacked up and the sun came out. It would've been a pretty good day for sight casting. It makes me sick. Now I'm headed to Hatteras for the week. Total Catch for the Day: NOTHING

May 23 Better Cobia Fishing

Joe and his boys joined me today for a half day adventure and I would have to say, it was a good time. it was probably the best day ever for viewing the Blue Planet. We saw Bottlenosed Dolphins killing a Bait ball. We saw Sharks hammering a Bait Ball. We has a very close encounter with a Humpback Whale. We saw around 10 Cobia. Web hooked 4 Cobia. We caught 2 Cobia. We caught a handful of Bluefish. We saw Turtles, Rays, Sharks, Spanish Mackerel, and we saw millions of Menhaden. We pulled off a 50+ pound Cobia. We couldn't get a bite off a 60 lb Cobia. We boxed a 38lb Cobia and a 34" Cobia. things were picking up when we quit. Total Catch for the Day: 2 Cobia up to 38lbs and 5 Bluefish