Aug 10- Great Fly Rod Action

This first Largemouth removed doubt..... Are they here????

Smallest Bass of the Day

These Bass couldn't handle the sight of this Bug!

This is a nice Largemouth for Beaufort, NC

The Chartreuse Bug gets another one

This 2+ pound Bass was my last bite before the Rod Breaking 9 pound Monster Hit!

As unbelievable as it seems, I discovered a "new" Mung Hole today.... And once I found it and walked in with my trusty 7 wt fly rod, it quickly became evident that the Largemouth Bass in this spot were not familiar with my popping bugs! I was only there for 15 minutes and landed 10 Largemouth Bass. Several of these were nice by Beaufort standards.... Then IT HAPPENED. I got a strike that immediately ripped 40 feet of line off my spool. Don't sound like much, but damn, these are "Mung Hole Bass"..... Then he jumped! And jumped again and again.... SIX POUNDS..... No, SEVEN POUNDS .....  No, EIGHT POUNDS..... Hell, I truly don't know. I caught 3 "Big Beaufort Bass" last summer. This one was Bigger!  I'm going to say an astounding NINE POUNDS..... It was a good long fight. I was patient. At the end, there was 6 feet of weeds between me and my TROPHY.. His last gasp brought him to the surface in one last feeble attempt to jump. Seizing this as an opportunity to stay dry, I pulled upward and attempted to "scoot " this HUGE BASS across the weeds... The Bass made his play downward, and of course, buried himself into the weeds.... At this point I pulled a little too hard! You'd think the app 6# test tippet would break? No, HELL NO, my 7wt Fly Rod fractured with a crack. Broke my damn rod..... Then, to make matters worse, I stripped down to my shorts and waded in after my fish....  Now, inches away, the tippet breaks. I feel the Bass but can't find his mouth. With my goading, he does a 180 and I feel him slip back to open water.... Five minutes later, recovered and in a show of defiance, the HUGE LARGEMOUTH BASS leaps for the sky. My little chartreuse rubber legged fly still pinned to his nose! Well, that's my freaking Fishing Report for this day... Dammit..... Total Catch for the Day: 10 Largemouth Bass up to 3lb 8oz

Aug 9- Rough as a Cobb Bluefish

These girls were a little "leery" of Capt Marty and the Rough Seas

Nice Bucket of Bluefish

Evan takes a turn on another Gallant's Creek Monster

After I took my turn, Stacy finished off the big ole Ray

Very Disappointing, Looking for a Shark

40" Ribbonfish

What Big Teeth you have Grandma

These things never get old!

Evan and his 3 kids fished with me this morning. With a rainy forecast, we saw a window this morning and we grabbed it ! I immediately ran up to the Cape Lookout Shoals where we found great casting action to Bluefish yesterday ... Once we got up there we saw the fish were still there, but as usual, they were in the worst place possible! However, they were also a little more scattered too.... There were also some Spanish Mackerel mixed in as well.... Fishing was great but standing up was difficult and it was "high anxiety action". It was a fish on every cast though. I once hooked 3 Spanish Mackerel in a row. Landed two, even though I dropped the largest one back over the side as I stumbled. Dammit. Another escaped as I lifted it.... Damn, one of three.... After we left the Shoals we ran to Jack Cox's Fish House and on our 2nd bite we actually landed a 75 lb Southern Stingray. The other was probably a Shark, but it dove under the Dock so who knows? After that, our final adventure carried us the the State Port at MHC. Here Evan and crew landed 2 slammer Ribbonfish and that was that! All in all it was a fun and exciting day, but I am sick and tired of East and Northeast Wind! It's August for crying loud .... We keep getting. "October" weather. It sucks. Total Catch for the Day: 24 Bluefish from 1-2 lb 8oz, 5 Pinfish, a 75 lb Southern Stingray, 2 Spanish Mackerel at 1 lb 8oz and 2 lbs, and 2 Ribbonfish at 1 avg and 1 large

Aug 8- Part 2 Capt Marty's Passion

This is exactly what Little Sid looked like

Nice little Stud on the Popping Bug. This one jumped 6 times

The Clouser that fooled them

One Last Bass for the Day

Freshwater and a Fly Rod..... Y'all must realize the Mung Hole is out of Necessity! I live right beside it!  I'd much rather be tossing popping bugs in Lake Okeechobee..... I fished for 30 minutes. Slow on the bugs under the 5pm heat lamp! Then I tried a little red and yellow clouser type and WOWSY WOW WOW..... Those Mung Hole Green Chubs had never seen that before.... They ate it and ate it and ate it and ate it........ Total Catch for the Day: 9 Largemouth Bass and 1 Bluegill

Aug 8- Good Casting in the Washing Machine

David and a Future Tackle Buster!

As much as I love Crevalle Jacks, where's my smile!

David doing battle

David with a Great Gamefish

Cindy won the Jackpot on the Capt Stacy earlier this week.... AWESOME!

Some Great Eating on a Tough Day

David and Cindy were troopers... I drove them all over the Ocean. I tossed them too and fro, I wet them, and I scared them! Then, it got worse. A lot worse. We actually found some fish and they were in the worst spot in Carteret County. South of Shark Island on a 20 kt NE wind with 6 foot breakers coming down on us .... Acres of 2-3 lb Bluefish and screaming gulls were here too! We waxed them  the best we could. We'd hook two and I pull the boat in neutral. By the time we landed them, it'd be a quarter mile back to the action. It was definitely COMBAT FISHING, my first of the year! We got David all the Blues he probably needed. We also picked up a baby Cobia and a Sharpnose Shark. What was coolest of all was on the way in we ran into a 1000 foraging Crevalle Jacks at 2-4 lbs each. We each caught one . I hooked 3 and David hooked 2, I think.... Anyway, nice end to the day...... Rough as Hell, but we survived and caught fish! Total Catch for the Day: 16 Bluefish from 2-3lbs, 3 Crevalle Jacks from 2-4 lbs, a 7 lb Sharpnose Shark and a baby Cobia

Aug 5- Flounders for Lunch

Southern Flounder, my Favorite Flatfish

Funny that when the Southern's show up.... The Flounder are suddenly keepers!

Last night was a little different..... I caught 5 Flounders on gulp shrimp. The best part was that 4 of the 5 Flounders were keepers. Right on cue, all these keepers were Southern Flounders. When I finally get home, Jennifer and I will be having some Flounder fillets. They are going to be soooo good! Total Catch for the Night: 4 Southern Flounder from 15" to 17", 1 Summer Flounder at 12", 3 Black Sea Bass,  2 Pinfish, and 1 Oyster Toadfish

Aug 4- Early AM Fishing

I must say, this afternoon the skies cleared. The most incredible "Orange Sky" that I've ever seen plus a magical double Rainbow appeared over the sacred waters exactly where James Hussey delivered his All Tackle World Record 31 lb 12 oz Bluefish to the Angling World on January 31, 1972..... Double Arc Spectrum of color would've made ROY G BIV proud grew from the very spot where that monster Bluefish mauled the red and white Hopkins Trolling Spoon with the big yellow feather! It got my attention and I talked my Dad into buying me an identical one......

I digress again... All work and no fish make Capt Marty a Late Night Literary Loser .... So tonight with intermitten sprinkles and no wind, it would've been a good night to fish... But I left my rods n reels in my room... I did  "borrow" Rodanthe Randy's combo and, I must say, Randy needs some new line. The 1986 Spinfisher DLX saw its half life pass with Haley's Comet... It held up for a 7 oz Spot, 2 baby Flounders, a baby Bluefish, and 2 prize winning Pinfish.... Then it happened! In 10" of water under the bright lights, a 24" Flounder glided up behind my jig head/cut Pinfish combo.... In a flash, Randy's jig head disappeared in the Flounders pie hole.... Oh Lord , I wish Randy was here to BERATE!!!! It didn't matter anyway, with No Landing Net this NC Citation Flounder was safe and sound.... He will have to deal with a leadhead impelled in his throat... No worries, I've seen Flounders survive and thrive some incredible mishaps.... Anyway, knowing my fate before I enacted it, I firmly set the hook! The Flounder exploded in a cloud of mud and headed to deep water... Randy's rod tip barely registered a ping as the line parted and Mr Large Flat Dinner for Four escaped! Oh well, there is always the castnet and the Mullets!

Aug 3- RAIN RAIN RAIN Please Go Away

Burris Market Red & White..... Established 1866.... That weren't yesterday, son....

I don't know what else to say..... Rained nearly all day on 8/2. Rained nearly all night 8/2. Last Night's Lightning Show was a real bonus. Incredible Lightning out over the Atlantic Ocean. Ground Strokes and Across the Sky as well...... Today it has rained ALL DAY minus 20 minutes here at Hatteras Village....

Tonight's forecast is Widespread Showers..... Monday and Monday Night they are calling for Showers with isolated thunderstorms..... Tuesday and Tuesday Night there is a chance of showers and isolated thunderstorms....

WEDNESDAY (for now) The Coast is CLEAR. No Rain in the Forecast! I can't remember this much rain over such an extended period in a LONG LONG TIME..... Excuse me for the Lack of Fishing, Netting, or Gigging.... It just aint worth it...

July 31- Remembering Big Flounders and Catching Small Flounders

Perfect example of Summer Flounder Pattern of 5 Ocelli

Another little Summer Flounder that hammered my Jig

These Flounder were all caught in less than 2 foot of water under the lights

Add them all together and we'd have a keeper!

I grew up catching Baby Blues off the Beaufort RR Tressle

Good ole "Black Willis"... Some of the best eating in the Ocean

Today will make 3 days in a row of eating grilled Mullets.... Just change the BBQ sauce and it'll never get old!

Last night we finally had a regular night.... It was close, but we DIDN'T have to make an extra trip.... So Capt Marty the Chief Engineer became "The Fishing Nut"..... Yesterday, just typing my report and recapping 14 years of Flounders and Sheepsheads had me excited..... So when I shut the Ferry down, I went to work..... Making Fishing Memories! Adding to the Legend! Only there was one problem..... The Flounders were all Summer Flounders and they were all too small..... I like my Flounders, but I like them to be Southern Flounders... I think in my life that I've only caught 2 or 3 Citation Summer Flounders.... Honestly, in my experience, a 20" Summer Flounder is a nice one.... And yes, I know that technically they get larger than the Southern Flounders, but nearly all of the big boys come from up north or offshore in the dead of winter.... Anyway, the Flounders were biting plastic jigs and they weren't messing around. Likewise, baby Bluefish were too. Along with the ever present Black Sea Bass and Oyster Toadfish.... A whole lot of action in 60 minutes of fishing, with nothing to show (who cares) Then I tossed my cast net and bombarded the Popeyed Mullets... Ha Ha, I haven't heard that name in a while. My Grandaddy, Roy Moore, Sr used to call them that... Grandaddy fished for Flounder everyday of his life that he was able back in the 1980s at The Morehead Ocean Pier.... I couldn't understand how he could forego all other species and be so attached to Flounders??? Well then in 2004, I had a REVELATION.... I fished for Flounder everyday from June until December. There were over 600 Flounders caught on the Top Water Boat that year. Over 200 Flounders were 20"and over, and that's a 3 lb Flounder. Many, many of then were between 6 lbs and 7 lbs.... JUMBO FLOUNDERS!  I knew then what Grandaddy knew then.... Flounders were great gamefish, great eating, and a very challenging Inshore Apex Predator.....  By the way, of those 200+ Flounders that were 20" or larger, 1 was a Gulf Flounder and 2 were Summer Flounder. All the rest were Southern Flounders.... I digress, again... Total Catch for the Day: 9 Summer Flounder 8" to 10", 14 Bluefish, 4 Oyster Toadfish up to 3 lbs, and 1 Black Sea Bass

July 30- Too Many Cars and Small Flounder Chewing

Beautiful morning at Hatteras Village

Lucky Guys... Headed Offshore on a pretty morning

Poor little Fella, hooked deeply so I kept him

One Cast with the 10 ft Net and it's Mullets Galore!

Night run on the Hatteras Ferry means tying up on the Ocracoke side at 1am. That way, there is a boat sitting over there if there is an emergency. Unless it is bad enough for a Medical Helicopter, we are the only way off the Island.... So Tuesday night we had a 1am ambulance therefore we only had an hour of down time. Enough time for me to throw my cast net twice and load up on Jumping Mullets..... No time for the Rod N Reel.... Last night, it was the same, but different. No ambulance, but when we left Ocracoke at 11pm, there were 90 cars left behind. Therefore, we had to make an extra run.... Once again, I had very little down time.... We secured at 345am and I need to re-fire the engines at 430am.... For those not familiar with my "South Dock Fishing" let me educate you.... Since the Fall of 2003, I have landed 44 Citation Flounders up to 10 lb 6 oz from this location. I have landed 34 Citation Sheepsheads up to 12 lb 8 oz from this location. I have landed my career best Gray Trout at 6 lb 2 oz. I have landed all my largest Tautogs here. I have landed monster Conger Eels here. On the weird side, I have landed Stargazers, Lookdowns, Scorpionfish..... I have literally caught tons of Jumping Mullets here in my cast net. I have caught Mullets up to 8 lbs. Mullets with Remoras they are soooo big. I have seen hundreds of huge Mantis Shrimps. I have seen a 14" Asian Tiger Shrimp here. I have watched Otter families raise little ones. I have watched baby Otters "come of age" when they pop up at 3am with Spadefish clutched in their jaws! We have a small resident group of Canada Geese that were young and very unsuccessful at raising babies.. This year they finally figured it out and raised a large brood.... I have seen Loggerhead Turtles right under me as I stood on the Ramp. Because the lights and glare, they had no idea I was there..... I watch Night Herons fish all night long..... I've seen Harbor Seals frolicking under the lights in the dead of winter. Speaking of dead, unfortunately, I have seen a Humpback WhaIe beach itself nearby and eventually die... I have seen a Pygmy Sperm Whale beach itself in the Ferry Basin and eventually die. Dead Harbor Porpoises. Dead Bottlenosed Dolphins..... In other words, my time spent at South Dock is a large part of the appeal of my job with the Ferry and my Life in general.... 

So, I'm bummed. This week, we've been running all night and I've had little chance to enjoy the interesting fishing. Why is this place so special? Well, my opinion is because it has several features that serve as "fish magnets" when they occur singly... The fact that this spot has several of these features and you have the recipe for a Great Fishing Hole..... These factors include: Deep Water, Heavy Structure, Well Lighted at Night, and within a quarter mile of a Major Inlet.... The highly productive Pamlico Sound meets Gamefish Junction of the Atlantic Basin right around the corner from the Ferry Dock on the east end of Ocracoke Island.... The only drawback is that for 20 hours a day and for 365 days a year, Ferrys are constantly coming and going.... Honestly, I don't think it bothers the fish one iota!

Anyway, last night with one hour to play, I threw the cast net one time and caught about 18 Jumping Mullets from 1-3 lbs.... Then I tied on a leadhead and gulp, and in the skinny water under the bright lights, I caught 5 Southern Flounder in 10 minutes. One was a keeper at 15", the others were fighting chunks, but measured from 13" to just under legal.... Once again I was up all night and once again I was too tired this morning to go search for Pompano.... I have got to get this done. I got a few more day.... But, its nice to know that the night time fishing should be good if I actually get time to try..... Also, todays grilled Mullets featured Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce and were damn good! Total Catch for the Night: 5 Southern Flounder up to 15", 4 Pinfish, and 1 Black Sea Bass

UPDATE and MUST READING and CAST NETTING

I have finished my post about what happened last Thursday... It's pretty good reading and it's a pretty amazing story..... So Scroll down to July 24th and re-read that report... It WILL NOT be a waste of 5 minutes, I promise!  And if I'm making this up, I fully expect one of my crew to bust me on this......

They won't because its true and y'all think about this next time you jump off a dock in Beaufort, NC

Get yourself eaten if you aint careful!

It is SHARK WEEK, right!!

One Cast with the Mullet Net and My Whole Life Changed

I scoff at the "I don't eat Bait fish" idiots!

Okay, I'm back at Hatteras. Hopefully, I will catch me a Pompano and a Sea Mullet this week during the day.... Hopefully, at night, I will catch or gig a nice Flounder or two..... In the meantime, it looks like I will have the opportunity to cast net me a bunch of Mullets.... On Night #1, I threw my net one time and caught 22 Jumping Mullets and thats what I had for lunch today.... For those of you that say, "Yuck, Mullets are bait fish. They are oily. They are muddy"...... All I got to say is..... HA HA HA, Ignorance is Bliss!!!!!

July 27- Mung Hole Grand Slam on Fly

Yes sir, I did what I wanted to do today..... Granted, I'd prefer a Salmon filled River in Alaska, or Peacock Bass in the Amazon, or even a Rock Strewn Creek in Pennsylvania where my fly could possibly find a Smallmouth Bass..... But, I want to throw flys in Freshwater..... So I made do the best I could..... Three minutes from my back door are a series of "storm water collection basins" that were fed by a creek.... Ten years later, they have thriving, but stunted, populations of Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, and Pumpkinseed.... I call these tiny bodies of water the "Mung Holes"... In the center, the crown jewel, is actually a man-made lake that I call "Lake Bernaur" for my pal Korey who is the Superintendent for the entire Development...... Anyway, today in approximately two hours of tossing a fake dragonfly on my 7 wt fly rod and a white rubber-legged popping bug on my 3 wt fly rod, I caught the fabled "Mung Hole Grand Slam".... The Pumpkinseed is the key to this Slam and when I landed my 'Seed I called it quits... Today's Pumpkinseed was a trophy too at 10".... A NC Freshwater Citation winner. He slammed the bug, quickly racing through the line at my feet and deeply bending my rod. Expecting a Bass at twice his size, I was anticipating a jump. Instead, Mr Seed reversed direction and piled headfirst into the shoreline vegetation.... Then I saw his size.... OMG it had to be Little Sid! I was shocked to see a Sunfish come out of that Pond at THAT SIZE that WASN'T Little Sid! Anyway, a huge Pumpkinseed! Anyway, fishing for Bass and Bluegill was pretty good with lots of strikes. Fewer hook-ups, but all in all, it was a pretty fun day. Total Catch for the Day: 5 Largemouth Bass, 6 Bluegill, and a 10" Pumpkinseed

July 26- Borrowed Boat and Great Wreck Fishing

My cousin Big Tony, his son Mark, and friend Mike fished with me today...... Tony and I have been talking about this for 11 years! The boys finally decided to come. And they simply could not have picked a better day weather-wise..... So it was up to me to produce.. First problem was to find a boat to use, as the Top Water Boat is down..... Thank s to Capt Tugwell, that was no problem.... So we set sail on the FV Tuggwell.... Slick seas and no wind greeted us. Thank God, even though two hours later, I was sweating like a banshee in the mid-morning heat.... Anyway, we ran to a Wreck that I haven't visited in a while and the Jacks and Spades were there, in force..... We Jacked Out for a couple of hours, Mark and Mike boxed 30 pounders. Mark got a Gag Grouper and another Amberjack to boot.... Then we ran in to a Ledge and Mark smacked the Groupers down.... I'd say, the fishing was slow as hell, but we made our bites count.. We finished up with 4 Gag Grouper for our crew of 4.... Pretty strong. After all that, we watched the armada of King Mackerel Boats struggle to get bites. The East Side seemed devoid of King Mackerel..... Anyhow, we ran back to the Shoals where we found acres of feeding fish.. It was tough, running and casting.. The guys weren't used to throwing that hard and reeling that fast.. they eventually got the hang of it and caught a pile of Bluefish from 1-2 lbs. Mark caught a Spanish Mackerel that hit the ice. Mike caught a Summer Flounder cranking a stingsilver.... A true "Angling Feat".... The boys released a bunch of Blues and finally, a dark cloud over Beaufort Inlet hastened our retreat to the Boat Ramp.... Great Day... Total Catch for the Day: 4 Gag Grouper up to 27", 3 Amberjack up toBluefish from 1-2 lbs, 1 Spanish Mackerel at 24oz, and 1 Summer Flounder at 13"