Apr 29 Chasing Bonito

Tuggy and I went for a little boat ride today. He did all the work, I was an observer. We chased the Bonito schools around for a while. They were under great pressure and they never stayed up long enough to get a good shot at them. Unless, you were in the right spot at the right time. Unfortunately they were not keying on structure today at all. Made the whole operation a crap shoot. Actually, trolling was a better bet and the few I saw landed were caught by trollers...... Anyway, nice to get on the water. We did manage to catch 30 Bluefish while casting and jigging. Neither of us ever hooked a Bonito. Total Catch for the Day: 30 Bluefish

Apr 23 Spinal Injection #2

Lots of people in my "outer circle" are not doing good. Lots of them are clearly doing it to themselves... Others are just getting blindsided by doctors and other "real problems". It is a very depressing world right now. I never thought I'd have to worry about anything other than a crumbling relationship with a girlfriends (and I'm going back 20 years, no one in particular) OR which way to got out of Beaufort Inlet, east, south, or west! Then, a month ago, I got a MRI result that was a life changer. In one day I went from an over grown adolescent punk to a middle aged man with a bad back.  Its all about the Back now. Steroid Injections, exercise, stretching, and physical therapy. I HAVE GOT TO GET OVER THIS!!!! I am trying to avoid surgery. I miss fishing. I miss the Ferry. I miss being happy. I feel an attitude change coming and the depression that I've been hiding is being pushed away by anger and fear... I HAVE GOT TO GET BACK TO THE WATER. I am sorry for all of you that love to follow my reports. I am very focused now on getting it back together. I've had my dose of KARMA and I'm done with REGRET also. There is an old saying, "When Life Kicks Your Ass, Make Sure It Kicks You Forward..."  Not sure where I read that, but that's my new attitude. I had a steroid injection today and my physical therapist said I was moving my toe better this morning.... Physically, it was a good day and tomorrow is going to be better...

Apr 17 Killing the Cownose Rays

Capt Tuggy sailed on the Top Water Boat today and it was too windy and sloppy for the Shoals where the giant Red Drum schools reside... So, only looking for big fish, he took the best game in town and caught 6 Cownose Rays from 25 to 35 lbs. Honestly, blindfold a fisherman and the consensus will agree on one thing......  Cownose Ray kicks a Red Drums ass... No comparison. A 35 lb Cownose Ray on 10# spin requires a chase and several circles around the boat at the end of the game... Total Catch for the Day: 6 Cownose Rays up to 35 lbs

Pics Some Fishy some not, from Washington DC

I had to get away, so I went to DC and saw a Baseball Game and a lot more......

Apr 11 Steroid Injection Today

41 Days after I suffered my Injury, I finally began treatment today. A Steroid Injection into the area of my Bulging/Herniated Disks and Blown Disk. My back feels great and hopefully I will soon be back at work and back on the water. I'm afraid that some things will never be the same. The phone call that I recieved on Monday March 26th was a world changer... Right up there with Dec 19th when Robin drove herself over to the Hospital... I didn't have no Crystal Ball. Those 2 days changed my life and things will never be the same. But, like Steve Austin who became the 6 million dollar man (Remember that Show!) I can rebuild myself. Bigger, Faster, Stronger.... so far bigger, damn steroids!!! Don't worry fishing fans... I will be back. As soon as the Doctors says "Go For It"...... Come On Cobias, they better come quick. In the meantime, Im headed to Washington DC to recooperate. Besides, I might already have the next "bikini girl" lined up!

Apr 7 White Perch Revolution

Two Buddys invited me along to watch a Pond Fishing guarantee become THE TRUTH. Best White Perch fishing in the World? Not sure.... In North Carolina? Not Sure.... In the Central Coastal Area? ABSOLUTELY.... Two dudes casting and it WAS EVERY CAST, caught a White Perch for 90 minutes straight. I looked over some of the ones kept this morning and counted 18 NC Freshwater Citations. Many were released. Two seperate loads of them were hauled away. My cooler had 39 White Perch in it. My Aquarium has 4 White Perch in it! Including Citation-sized brutish twins named Stacy and Tracy (The Mills brothers), and sexy little gals named Robin and Ashlyn. Honestly, they are a little too big for their new home. I plan to release them soon to the Mung Hole. Hopefully, they will get it on and start a breeding population of delicious White Perch just across the street from my house. It was tough to watch fishing this good. I got to participate with instructions and moral support. I love to be the Fishing Guide when instructions such as "Hit the Water with your Cast" results in an immediate bite! Before yesterday, I had never caught but 1 White Perch in my life! Honestly, I never fished for them, and never fished alot in "Perch Water". I know they are great eating and hard fighting. First cousin of Striped Bass, that says enough right there.... Total Catch for the Day: 80 White Perch up to 1 lb 4 oz and 2 Longnose Gar up to 8 lbs  

Apr 3 Great Weather & Great Fishing

It was a beautiful morning. Capt Christopher Columbus (not really!) sailed the Ocean Blue on the Top Water Boat. On the first cast of the day Shane caught a 40 lb Cownose Ray on my first cast with a bucktail. There were so many Rays, in fact, That they effectively hid the Red Drum schools, if they are still around??? He did report tens of thousands of Cownose Rays from the Cape Lookout Bight to the Cape Lookout Shoals. Capt Chris did a quick change of plans and ran a few miles east and we hit the fishy motherlode. Vertical jigging brought fish on every drop. Nice Fish. Bluefish from 1-3 lbs. Gray Trout up to 21". Black Sea Bass from 12" to 17". Albacore were a cast away. He did catch one off the bottom that really fooled him.... The first Pinfish of the year caught on my Boat, was also caught on a stingsilver jigged over the wreck! The boys also saw a big (10-15 lb) mystery fish on top. Had to be a Chopper Bluefish. Whatever he was, he wouldn't bite... All in all, a great day of fishing. They didn't leave the dock until 11am and from 1:00 to 4:30, we were flat out bailing fish! Total Catch for the Day: 5 Albacore up to 10lbs, 2 Gray Trout up to 3 lb 8 oz, 15 Black Sea Bass up to 3 lbs, 60 Bluefish 1-3 lbs, 1 Pinfish at 1 lb and 1 Cownose Ray at 40 lbs 

Apr 2 Injection Day

Today is the day that I have my first Steroid Injection into my Back. Hoping for the Best. Im tired of being crippled...  This really couldnt have happened at a worse time. Why not January?

MEGA MILLIONS

My life has been a cake walk.... I was a 46 year old that never had to grow up.... I found a career where I could fish 100-200 days a year... I chased pretty girls.... Got my feelings hurt a few times, but hey, that's life..

Then I met a girl that I really fell for... In August, my life couldn't be better. Fishing was good. My girlfriend was the prettiest and the sweetest thing ever... We had some BIG NEWS!!!

Then came Hurricane Irene... Robin and I got dealt a horrible blow to our plans.... Shark Island got blown down and Fishing was a struggle from that point on.....

By Christmas, for a whole bunch of very complicated reasons that were No Ones Fault, my relationship fell apart

By March, my Perfect Bill of Health was shattered by a MRI that showed some major Back Problems. 30 days of Pain and a threat of Paralysis on my Right Leg.

ALL THAT BAD NEWS.....

Well, tonight it ends baby! Tonight I'm all set to win the MEGA MILLIONS drawing! I'm getting ready to WIN THAT $500 MILLION..... THAT's 500,000,000 DOLLARS

March 27 IT WAS A BAD DAY

Okay, here goes. About 30 days ago, I was blindsided by an intense back pain... Nothing I hadn't experienced before and it always lasted 2-3 days and went away..... Well, this time it didn't. I didn't let it stop me. I went fishing a few times. I caught a few Shad, I caught a few Red Drum.... In between, I saw 2 Doctors. Both assumed a Muscle Sprain, but as I explained myself, them nor I could figure out why it didn't go away.... Finally, on a whim, I had an MRI.... I also got prescribed Predisone that made me feel great! So great, in fact, we were catching 40 lb Red Drum on Friday... Then Chris and I were headed to the Neuse River on Monday.... My phone rang.... My MRI results and with it my 46 year old youthful exuberence and reckless way of life came to a grinding halt..... I am the proud owner of 2 BULGING DISCS, 1 HERNIATED DISC, and 1 UNKNOWN MASS that is pushing against a BUNDLE of NERVES that evidently controls my right leg.... Surgery Recommended but I opted for Steriod Injections and Physical Therapy. With no improvement on my leg, I'll be looking at Surgery regardless. But I'm holding off on that.... Doctor's orders---Rest and no lifting heavier than a coffee cup... I said "Hey Doc, guess what I was doing Friday, beating down the Ocean for 60 miles. up and down a ladder in the breakers, lifting and tossing 6 big ass Red Drum." He shook his head and said, I should be paralyzed right now, please don't do it again.... So, Capt Marty is on the shelf. No more worrys about a broken heart. I got a broken back. Im lucky. Im sorry. For those affected, I am truly sorry... I will come back better, lighter, stronger. I cant believe the way my life has changed since Dec 19th. I really thought the Bonito and the Cobia would be my escape.... Looks like a big fat NEEDLE in my SPINE will get that job though... Anyway, So long for a while.... Capt Marty is on the Shelf!

March 25 Catching Bait

With visions of a 50 lb Flathead Catfish swimming around in our head, Chris and I went to the Mung Hole and collected a few Bluegills to use for live bait... The fish weren't nearly as festive as the day before, I only caught one on the fly. Also, the Bass were window shopping, but not buying. The few Bluegills that are headed to the Neuse River with us all fell for the Roostertail Spinner. Total Catch for the Day: 8 Bluegill

March 24 Beaufort Freshwater Grand Slam on Fly

Freshwater Fly Rod action in Beaufort is fast and furious this morning, all on popping bugs.... If you don't mind small fish and I don't.... Im just glad that my back is allowing this today! My best fish of the day was a 14" Largemouth Bass that I caught and then discovered a dead battery in my camera. I ran in for lunch and a new battery and caught another slam and got the pictures for proof...... WOW! Anyway, I do love those Bass and Pumpkinseeds on the 3 wt fly rod. There was lots of surface activity this morning and I'd get 4-5 strikes on every cast. Needless to say, it was good day to be an amateur fly caster! Total Catch for the Day (so far): 28 Bluegill, 4 Pumpkinseed, and 3 Largemouth Bass

March 23 Sightcasting to Red Drum

Mission Accomplished. Chris, Joe, and I found Giant Red Drum by the hundreds. It wasn't always easy. They were shifty. Boat pressure had them on the run. But we cast enough swimbaits and Bucktails at them to score 6 NC Citation Releases. We also found a few thousand slot Red Drum but we didn't get to that party fast enough. I honestly could've thrown my cast net and caught 100, but we couldn't get a bite out a few thousand panicky Red Drum.. That's all we saw except for a few 100 lb Sharks. No Bluefish and no Albacore was disappointing.. Total Catch for the Day: 6 Red Drum up to 46" 

March 17 Ferry Dock Fishing

Paul Terry and I stayed up and fished most of the night over on the north end of Ocracoke Island.. For the most part, the fish were small. The Black Sea Bass were expected, the Tautog and the Sheepshead were a suprize. Where the hell are the Pinfish and Bluefish? PT did take home a tasty little Tautog and enough Sea Bass fillets to make a meal. Total Catch for the Night: 35 Black Sea Bass, 1 Tautog, and 1 Sheepshead

More Good Pictures from Thursday

Damn if I aint a couple of relapses from the Bad Back and the Broken Heart.... I think if the back would slack off, the Fishing could push the Heart back into complience.....  Also, yesterday and today, I had planned to go sightcasting for Red Drum, but unfortunately, the beautiful weather we've been experiencing has also brought thick fog to Hatteras Island. The TOP WATER BOAT is headed back to Beaufort Inlet this week and I expect to be ready to Rock-N-Roll by the first of April....

March 15 Beautiful Weather & Slow Fishing

I fished off Hatteras today with the famous litigator Paul Terry of Va Beach and Stevie Bittman, who played monopoly in real life and won. He bought up the railroads and enough unfortunate people landed on them and Bittman collected his fee. Then he hit community chest and it said "Go fishing for Amberjack" and the Jacks won........ Here's my excuse, we went to an area where the current was blazing... The problem was, with a late start and an early finish (I worked until 6am and need to be home by 4pm) the Bluefin and Yellowfin Tuna were 20 miles NE and the Dolphin and Blackfin Tuna were 12-15 miles South. So we were hung out to dry.... But it was beautiful and we did find some Amberjacks to go with our one Dolphin bite. Where we were, the Dolphin were hard to find. The Amberjacks were in the heavy cover. In the end, we sucked. Total Catch for the Day: 1 Dolphin and 1 Amberjack

March 11 Steady Hickory Shad

I woke up this morning to a new world. The back pain that ruled every second of my life for the past 26 days had let up and the gray dreary world that surrounded my heart since Dec 19th had brightened. I can't explain that one.... Those that know me best, know exactly what I'm talking about. Not sure WHY or HOW, but it is what it is.... The best part of my day was that Mr Merwin Jones and I were set to go to Pitch Kettle Creek this morning. It was NOT A MISTAKE... It was a cold morning, but it gave way to a bright sunny, warm day. The fishing was inconsistent, but at the end of the day, It was great! The best thing about today's catch, in addition to the numbers, was the size. Today's Hickory Shad were consistently large. The biggest Shad, lots of 14" to 18", that I've consistently caught in a few years. The largest Hickory Shad I weighed on my certified scales was 2lb 3oz, there might have been a couple that were a few ounces larger. There were 14 fish that were all bookends. We released several of the larger fish since they were males. By NCWRC standards we caught 14 Citation winning Hickory Shad. That's rocking! The Hickory Shad were equal opportunity slammers today. The smacked the spoon and the grub pretty equally. I also got my first doubleheader in probably 3 years. Lots of big Roe laden females today pushing and topping 2 lbs each. Great Day. Total Catch for the Day: 80 Hickory Shad up to 2 lb 3 oz 

March 8 Hickory Shad on the Side

On a trip to Raleigh to visit relatives, I couldn't resist a little detour over to Cowpen Landing. In an hour of casting I caught 6 Hickory Shad, including 4 fat Red Roe Runners. They were slamming the grub today, Nice ones with big, mature roes. Good eating. Total Catch for the Day: 6 Hickory Shad up to 15"

March 7 Where Ive Been

Okay. No Fishing lately. I went to work last week at Hatteras and hurt my back. A trip to Hatteras Medical Center on Friday and I've been feeling like Charlie Sheen, but my back is still hurting! I also got involved in bringing a Ferry down to Southport from Mann's Harbor. That was a 2 day trip. On Monday we left Southport headed back to Morehead City with another Ferry. High winds got us stuck between the Figure 8 Island drawbridge and the Wrightsville Beach drawbridge. We finally got to Morehead City yesterday.... So, here I sit with a bad back. I'm dying to go Shad Fishing. My Boat sits at Hatteras and I've got night run next week. Hopefully the Bluefins will be chewing and the Yellowfins too!

Feb 25 Hickory Shad Biting

Chris and I escaped from the stressful world today and hit Neuse River for some Shad Fishing. When we first arrived up to Pitch Kettle Creek, it was apparent that the fishing was excellent. However, Chris and I struggled to find our niche! Finally on our second anchoring attempt, I hooked with a small Buck Shad. Better than nothing, we were on our right! Wrong! Then the doldrums hit. Christopher was going into look down mode. His two favorite spots were occupied. Things were looking bleak. Christopher ran up a Creek and emptied his 9mm on some unsuspecting water molecule. He felt better. We ventured back out in main river current and we found our spot. Every third cast we'd hook up a nice Hickory Shad but 4 out of every 5 were bucks. We ended up with a nice pile of red roe delictasies. YummYumm. Taste better than the Captain's spelling. Momma says I aint doing enough crossword puzzles. Mental sit-ups. Yeah Right....... I got that off my chest...........Pretty soon,  Shad will turn to Bluefish will turn to Atlantic Bonito will turn to Cobia..... By then The Marty & Robin story will be finalized. With either with a yes or a no. God figuring out these fish are much easier
Total Catch for the Day: 45 Hickory Shad up to 2 lb 2oz

Feb 22 Beautiful Day and Good Bluefin Tuna Action

I joined CL Lupton and crew today for a Bluefin Tuna trip out of Oregon Inlet. It was a beautiful day and pretty good fishing as well. It was also a great day for viewing the Blue Planet. Thousands of Common Dolphin and lots of huge Hammerhead Sharks. The Bluefin Tuna were there as well. Just not always biting. In the afternoon, we found a huge school of them. The bites came quicker and the action was great. The entire time, our boat was surrounded by hundreds of Common Dolphin in all directions. These are the Dolphin that look like they are wearing tuxedos. Beautiful little critters. As for the fishing, we had 9 bites, released 6 Bluefin Tuna up to 200 lbs. We also killed a 210 lb Tuna. Our smallest Tuna was cute "little 70 pounder". Great day. Great Crew. Total Catch for the Day: 7 Bluefin Tuna up to 210 lbs