Sep 10 Hard Inshore Fishing

Fishing for the first time after a major Hurricane is always a challenge. The fact that the storm was 2 weeks ago was supposed to make things easier. Also, I knew the fishing was pretty good last Saturday while I was at Hatteras made me think today would be a good day. Unfortunately, I was wrong. An Unforecasted 15-18 kt SW Wind, a Screaming East to West Longshore Current, Dirty Water, and a Horrible Afternoon Tide Stage made everything we tried to do a challenge. The fact that Shark Island is completely gone took away the incredibly fishy habitat that I'd been hammering since May. The Cape Lookout Shoals will still be a great place to fish, but they are changed forever. The 2-3 foot SW chop coupled with the 4 foot SE Hurricane swell made searching the Shoals impossible today. All in all, it made for a tough day of inshore fishing. We tried 6 different things and they all failed. We fished 2 extra hours and I just couldn't make it happen. Sorry Guys. Total Catch for the Day: 1 Little Tunny, 1 Crevalle Jack, 1 Ladyfish, and 1 Southern Stingray

Sept 6 Good Red Drum Fishing in the Neuse River

Lots to do today so this is going to be short and sweet. We fished late afternoon/early evening. It was bumpy on the Neuse River. Fished down at Piney Point. Fishing was good with a real good hour right before dark. Missed a few bites. We expected the fishing to really take off after dark, but it never materialized. We finished up with one slot Drum to keep. We released one 20 lb Red Drum. All the rest were Citation releases, with 3 in the 50 lb class. Tuggy had the best for last with a 54 lb Red Drum that was the last one caught. Total Catch for the Day: 11 Red Drum and 6 Southern Stingrays

Hurricane Irene Aftermath and Stumpy Point

How long has it been. It seems like a lifetime ago that we rode out Hurricane Irene. Robin was in Beaufort with me and we had a good time during the Hurricane. No real damage around here, just shingles! Then I got called to duty at Stumpy Point on the Ferry. For the next 7 day, we carried construction vehicles and an assortment of other stuff over to Hatteras Island. Somehow, Robin got over there and somehow, I came home without her. Looks like I'm in for a long week. So...........Let's go fishing. Please. Tommorrow I will update my open dates and all the stuff I have neglected!

The First Hurricane Irene Cancelation

Well its a beautiful day and I've had my first Hurricane Irene cancelation. I think the Ocean is getting a little bumpy. Who knows, I may go for a little boatride as soon as the Time Warner Cable guys gets done rigging me back up

Aug 15 Bluefish Chewing and Great Jigging Variety

Mark and his boys joined me this morning for a half day adventure. I owed them a good one after botching Friday/Saturday Night. It was a little breezy and choppy this morning in our first spot, but the fish were there and the fish were hungry. It wasn't every cast, but there were enough Bluefish on metal to make sore wrists and hands. Then after stuffing the livewell and the cooler, we went east looking for a big Sand Tiger. Unfortunately, the usually cooperative Sharks were not biting our baits today. We did manage to have some serious fun by dropping stingsilvers to the bottom and ripping them back to the surface. Interesting mix of Jacks and other oddball fish. All in all it was a success, but I did mess up a little by heading back across the Shoals to look for Spanish Mackerel.. The Mackerel were nowhere to be found and our search for Red Drum was wiped out by a steering failure in my upper station. That really sucked and needs my attention. Fast! Total Catch for the Day: 60 Bluefish up to 3 lbs, 2 Amberjacks, 1 Blue Runner, 1 American Red Snapper, 1 Spanish Mackerel, and 1 At Sharpnose Shark at 8 lbs

Aug 14 Cedar Island Wind, Lightning, and Waterspouts

Bad news. I pushed this trip back a day to take advantage of SW wind. The guys that fished Friday night got beat up by the East wind, but they caught a few fish.... So Sat Nite was looking good. Nice 10 kt SW wind. But, as we arrived at the boat ramp a dark cloud was coming. We sat out the first rain in our trucks. An hour later, we scrambled. We anchored up and started fishing with rain and lightning in the vicinity. The pressure gradient turned the warm SW wind into a cold NE wind. It was rough. The very thing I tried to avoid. Two differences though, the fish were not biting and there were big storms all around. We stuck it out for 3 hours. Missed a Monster Shark and caught a Bluefish.... Then as I stared west into absolute darkness, a bolt of lightning lit the sky behind us.... And clearly illuminated was a monster waterspout and it was on not too far away! I tried to deny it... I told Mark to watch the western sky and wait for lightning.... Seconds later a serious groundstroke to the west. I said what did you see. Mark said, "A Tornado!" Goodbye fishing grounds... Not in the Dark! We hauled it to the boat ramp. I drove back to Beaufort in driving wind and rain and amazing lightning... My fault guys, we should've caught them Friday night and stayed home saturday.... Captain Failure...Total Catch for the Night: 1 Bluefish

Aug 11 Part 2 Slow Red Drum Fishing

Berkley, Chris, and I made the 40 mile trip east tonight to sample the Southern Pamlico Sound Red Drum fishing and it was a little disappointing. The forecasted SW winds never materialized and we bopped in the swells delivered by 15 kt NE wind. Not our best Drum winds! We stuck with it and we caught a 25 lb Drum around 9pm and a 45 lb Drum right at 10pm. We thought the 10 oclock Drum was the "start of the bite" but the bite never came and it was over. All said and done, it wasn't worth it.... Total Catch for the Night: 2 Red Drum up to 45 lbs

Aug 11 Bluefish and Barracudas

Jeff and his boys went today on a half day trip and we had a great trip last year that made expectations high! Fishing was the same or better this year. Last year they bailed Bluefish and caught Amberjacks. This year they tore up the Bluefish on every cast and did well on Barracuda. The Amberjacks are still missing and I dont have time to search for them on a half day trip. Jeff had the big fish of the day when he released a 35 lb Barracuda. I am still camera-less and the big Cuda was released beside the boat before I could pull out my phone! We caught a 20 lb Barracuda later and missed a few spectacular strikes. The boys also caught some nice Spanish Mackerel on metal. Jeff lost the day's big mystery fish after a fairly long battle on light spinning tackle. An unknown fish ate a stingsilver just off the bottom and we chased it offshore of the wreck and lots of long runs and lots of throbbing. My guess was that it was a large Blackfin Tuna. Oh well, can't win all of our battles, but I wish we could have seen what we were up against. The 12# spinning tackle was slightly over matched in this battle.... Total Catch for the Day: 50 Bluefish up to 3 lbs, 2 Barracuda up to 35 lbs, and 2 Spanish Mackerel up to 3 lbs

Aug 8 One More Day in Hatteras

Another week on the Big Island has come and gone and I will be headed home tonight. The key to good fishing next week and good life in general will depend on whether or not I can coerce Robin to get in the old fishing truck this afternoon to make the journey back to Beaufort. I think it's going to have a happy ending! My schedule is pretty full next week between fishing trips and a Coast Guard License Physical. As it stands right now, I got Friday August 12th open and that's it. If nobody calls, I'm sure I can find somebody that will go fishing with me. Robin. Or I could stay home and do nothing. Robin. Or I could go to the Courthouse and get married. Robin. Just kidding, that was for your benefit Tuggy..... Anyway, looking for some Red Drum anglers starting this week and my next 2 weeks off. Its time to get the Citation Train Rolling again. Call me at 252-241-8350.

Capt Marty is back at Hatteras and ROBIN

Cape Hatteras is a different kind of good now. Really, really good. When I'm at work, I watch the Jumping Mullets and Sheepsheads swim around... They used to drive me crazy. I'd be tossing a cast net all morning and dunking Sea Urchins all afternoon..... Now I stand around grinning and waiting to get off work so I can go see ROBIN...... Waiting to see ROBIN..... ROBIN is so sweet, and smart, and thoughtful, and kind, and cool, and cute, and beautiful, and Smoking HOT, I really feel like the luckiest guy around... Those Citation Sheepsheads are lucky too. Because since I met ROBIN, I aint been chasing them this summer... Does anyone blame me? Huh? When I get home, I got Friday August 12th open. Fishing has been awesome, but so has Life in general. Once again, thanks to ROBIN. Anybody want to go that day please call me at 252-241-8350... Everybody have a great week... In the meantime, please don't wake me up from this dream that I'm dreaming!

Aug 1 Every Cast Bluefish and More

Howard and crew bailed the Bluefish this morning and the Bluefish were much bigger than they were Sunday. The first school we hit and the last school we hit were both solid 2-3 pounders on every cast on metal lures.  In between, we merely caught 1-2 lb Bluefish on every cast for 2 hours. Sigh. We also had a short flurry on Spanish Mackerel. Then we rode the Shackleford Banks Beach looking for a Red Drum. Failed. We cruised west looking for an after lunch Mackerel. Failed. We ended up jigging metal at AR 315 and found plenty of action on a variety of fish. Total Catch for the Day: 75 Bluefish up to 3 lbs, 10 Spanish Mackerel up to 2 lbs, 1 Southern Flounder at 18", 12 Black Sea Bass up to 14", 1 Rock Sea Bass, 1 Oyster Toadfish at 3 lbs, 1 At Needlefish, and 4 Inshore Lizardfish

July 30 Bluefish and Sand Tigers

Same mission as yesterday. Stuff the box, stuff the live well, and go find something huge. First thing in the morning, the Bluefish were there. A dozen black schools of them. Every cast. Three anglers hooked up. I even joined the fray. We bailed them. For an hour. Stingsilvers were flying and popping off. Bluefish everywhere. Then we went looking for a fight. Brandon was ready. The first bite was a let down. A freaking Sharpnose Shark on a butterflied 3 lb Bluefish. What a letdown. Next bite was a monster. Brandon aint no 7 year old like yesterdays "monster slayer" but the fight was similar. Then the hook popped out after 10 minutes and that Shark was still on the bottom. We never saw this Shark....... A few minutes later, Brandon released a 150 lb Sand Tiger and he did it in 3 minutes. Makes me wonder how big the other one was! After the Shark and facing a "pick up the girls" deadline, I made a critically bad decision to go Amberjack hunting. It was a failure. A 14 mile round trip to fish for 15 minutes. Duh. No Amberjacks present and we missed a Barracuda bite and had a few other Barracudas swarm us but the bait was too smart and hid under the swim platform behind the motor. I was furious, needless to say. Sorry guys, we should've gone Blacktipping.... Total Catch for the Day: 75 Bluefish up to 3 lbs, 2 Spanish Mackerel at 2 lbs, a 7 lb Sharpnose Shark, and a 150 lb Sand Tiger

July 29 Every Cast Bluefish, Deep Jigging Mackerel, and a 250 lb Shark

Yeah, it was worth the wait. The weather was much prettier today than yesterday. It worked out good for Chris and the Boys.... The worst part of our day was that I didnt have my camera! I missed alot of great action shots on Bluefish and Spanish Mackerel. The schools of Bluefish were insane today. We spent a couple of hours casting over thousands of 1-4 lb Bluefish. Stuffed the cooler and the live well. Then we headed to a wreck that was covered up with Spanish Mackerel. We caught a few, but we had bigger fish to fry. One drop to the bottom and we got what we were looking for and then some! An epic battle between a 7 year old boy and an 8 ft long Shark...... And, the boy won! Classic. Probably the second largest Shark ever on Top Water Charters.... Not counting the Basking Sharks we have snagged and released. Anyway, it was a great day, non-stop action, a never to be forgotten Shark for a kid, lots of good eating fish, and a mission accomplished! Total Catch for the Day: 60 Bluefish up to 4 lbs, 10 Spanish Mackerel up to 2 lbs, 1 Pinfish, 1 Inshore Lizardfish, 1 At Thread Herring, and a 8 ft long 250 lb Sand Tiger Shark 

July 28 Too Much Wind

I hope I did the right thing..... Chris had a AM halfday charter and since we were both free tommorrow, I decided that we should let this wind blow out and try again in the morning..... Hopefully, the winds will be lighter, the seas smaller, and the fish hungrier tommorrow.... In the meantime, Robin and I went swimming and hung out and had a great day.....and we didn't catch a single fish!

July 18 Awesome Fishing Period

Today was one of those days.... Very consistent and easy Spanish Mackerel up to 2 lbs on metal first thing in the morning. A leaping missile attacks of 100+ pound Blacktip Sharks in open water a few miles east.... Hammering a school of Spanish Mackerel... Watching them chase down and engulf live Mackerel right by the boat was incredible... Then 2 acres of 1-3 lb Bluefish on every cast and up to 4 per cast on one of my crazy rigs! Bigger Bluefish too. Heather lost a 4-5 pounder because I didn't get the net quick enough. Scott had a 1 lb Bluefish chomped in half by a larger Bluefish. Then we ended up the day with 65 and 75 lb Blacktips on live Bluefish and cut Mackerel in the skinny water. What a blast. Easy day and, of course, I got to go back to Hatteras tommorrow. Total Catch for the Day: 12 Spanish Mackerel, 60 Bluefish, and 3 Blacktip Sharks 

July 17 Robin, Mackerel, and a Shark

Today I took my new girlfriend, Robin,  out for a boat ride. We frolicked in the water. We caught 50 Sand Dollars.... Then I hauled her into the Ocean. I nailed 5 Spanish Mackerel in 6 casts on metal. Then we shutdown to drift and relax. Of course, I had to drop a half Mackerel overboard and turn the clicker on. Great timing, Capt Marty. At least, I finally got a fishing picture of Robin to put up for those who have been asking.... Hopefully there will be lots of more to come, for a long, long time. Believe it or not, she is cooler and sweeter than she is HOT. That's a hard reality for me to deal with!!!! Yep, it seems Capt Marty is hooked and it feels like 200# and a circle hook. I'm finished.....  Total Catch for the Day: 5 Spanish Mackerel and a 15 lb Blacktip Shark 

July 16 Bluefish, Sharks, and East Wind

Today we had grand illusions of Dolphin on light tackle. Amberjacks, Kings, and Cudas. Unfortunately, the weather man gave us 15 kts of east wind and 3-5 foot seas that pretty much made life in open water miserable..... So we went to a sloppy spot and cast for Spanish Mackerel, then we went and caught some Bluefish from small up to 2 lbs. After looking at some places we "couldn't go to" we found a nice quiet place that was pretty active with Sharks. The highlight of the day? I had a good one when Stacie caught a 75 lb Blacktip Shark and a nightmare when I suffered a steering failure in the Tower and nearly wiped out a Boat and a family on the beach at Cape Lookout. I am truly sorry for scaring anybody! It will definitely not happen again. Total Catch for the Day: 30 Bluefish up to 2 lbs, 7 Spanish Mackerel up to 1 lb, a 50 lb Southern Stingray, 1 Hogfish, 1 Black Sea Bass, 5 Inshore Lizardfish, and a 75 lb Blacktip Shark

July 13 Blacknose and Blacktip Sharks

Kevin and family fish a great half day with me today. I took them to the "sure kill" Bluefish spot and loaded the live well with 1-2 lb Bluefish and put enough in the box to to make everyone happy. Then we left the Bluefish behind and went looking for a Shark. Now came the easy part. In the last hour of our trip, we caught 3 adult Blacknose Sharks, a 45 lb Blacktip Shark that was a perfect specimen, and also released a Southern Stingray. The Blacknose Sharks were really cool because we were catching them in 2 foot of water. Weight guesses where probably 35 lbs, 28 lbs, and 20 lbs. The Blacktip Shark was cool because he stripped 200 yds of line in 5 seconds and gave my thumb a burn like I haven't had since Dec of 1989. Great Day. Great Charter. Total Catch for the Day: 40 Bluefish up to 2+ lbs, 3 Blacknose Shark up to 35 lbs, 1 Southern Stingray, and 1 Blacktip Shark at 45 lbs

July 7 Stuck on an Island

I'm back at Hatteras and I'm working a non-fishing shift, so I don't expect to catch anything much.  But, I might get lucky, who knows! Next week, if the weather is decent, I would expect the fishing to be excellent. Lots of action, and hopefully, some big fish. I know they are here, just got to be able to get to them! My Open Dates are GONE. Sorry about that!

July 4 Great Casting Action and Smoking Blacktips in Shallow Water

Honestly, today was too rough for a center console..... I  am not taking somebody fishing to get paid. We are all in for catching, or all in for exploring... I figured out from pleading "its too rough" with Stephen that #1 we came too far to be denied and #2 he was wanting to catch a bunch of fish.... He was warned, and he said "Let's Go!" So we turned the corner at Barden's Inlet at 7am and got smacked down by 25 kts of SW wind and 6-8 foot seas in a falling tide and ripping long shore current. An hour ro the Shoals and a long search finally got us the other side. Then we pulled into a Bluefish wonderland. Periods of "every cast" fishing followed by searches for something else. We stayed for hours and we rocked and rolled and we slayed the Bluefish. Then we went up the Beach to the North and searched for anything else. Nothing. Back to Cape Lookout and I decided to try a spot that Ive been watching develop.... A pair of 2 lb live Bluefish went overboard. Minutes later a 125 lb Blacktip leaped beside the boat. Then the first strike occured. It went from there he is..... to all the line is gone in about 10 seconds..... The amount of drag we were fishing was incredible. And the hook pulled. Again and again. We were 0 for 4 at one point and I was starting to believe that we were jinxed in a Slough covered with the biggest, baddest, fastest Blacktip Sharks I'd ever seen. Finally, we got a manageable 100 pounder and Stephen released him. Thank goodness. That was it for the catching and a long boat ride home followed and we searched Barden's Inlet, Beaufort Inlet and 8 miles between. But it was the 4th of July and there was a lot of cocunut butter in the water... No fish! Total Catch for the Day: 45 Bluefish up to 3 lbs and a 100 lb Blacktip Shark

July 3 Bluefish, Bluefish, and more Bluefish

The weather was okay for fishing but it was a war-zone for catching fish because of where I knew we had to go! 18-20 knots of SW wind and 4-6 foot seas. I knew where the fish were, but it was a helluva ride to the spot. I'm not sure how safe it was, but we beat and battered our way to a spot where we could catch a 2-3 lb Bluefish on nearly every cast. Metal and Top Water Plugs. Unfortunately, yesterdays Spanish Mackerel bite never materialized but the Bluefish were chewing. I also saw a couple of large Ladyfish that tried to eat a top water plug but they were unsuccessful. Too bad, that would've been really cool. After loading the live well and the cooler we battered our way back to a place to where "I thought we could catch a big Blacktip Shark". But, honestly, we got there too late and the tide had turned and the boat traffic was brutal. We did have a huge Blacktip Shark devour a live 3lb Bluefish and smoke 300 yards of 50# mono in a matter of seconds. Reel Dump for sure. As quick as I dumped the anchor, the line went slack and we recovered our Bluefish, still on the hook. Without a single mark on it! Unbelievable. Total Catch for the Day:75 Bluefish from 2-3 pounds

July 2 Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish on Every Cast

Jason and crew joined me for a pretty rough adventure but I knew a good spot that was very, very fishy and was in the lee of the SW wind and swell. the only problem was the ride there and the ride back... Looking back on it, this was the gravy and was just the tip of the iceberg for the next 2 days. We found a spot where the Spanish Mackerel were biting pretty good early in the morning. After a short frenzy, it turned into straight Bluefish. Every cast on metal. You couldn't miss! With a live well full of Bluefish and a cooler loaded with Blues and Mackerel, we had intentions to go Amberjack fishing but decided to go back to the Cape Lookout Bight had try for a "calm water" Blacktip Shark. Unfortunately, our only catch on the Shark Spot was a 60 lb Southern Stingray. Other fishy things I saw were a big Pompano and a 40 lb Barracuda on the Cape Lookout Shoals. Total Catch for the Day: 15 Spanish Mackerel up to 1 lb, 40 Bluefish up to 3 lbs, and a 60 lb Southern Stingray

July 1 Bluefish and 90 lb Blacktip Shark

Testing my concentration to new heights, Robin caught Bluefish on every cast up to 4 lbs and livebaited a Bluefish to a fired up 90 lb Blacktip Shark. 100 lb Woman vs. 90 lb Shark. It was a pretty Shark, but................ This was pretty much a scouting trip for the upcoming weekend and honestly, fishing was great but we were not looking to slaughter a bunch of fish. Looked like Mackerel, Bluefish, and Sharks are here IN FORCE. Sorry guys, I picked a hell of a day to leave the camera at home. Total Catch for the Day: 8 Bluefish up to 4 lbs, 1 Spanish Mackerel, a 90 lb Blacktip Shark

June 1 Largemouth Bass Chewing

Korey, Chris, and I at Lennoxville. Korey had a 6lb 8oz Bass. I got a couple of fat 4 lb Largemouth Bass. Thanks to Korey for allowing us access to all these large Bass that have been Beaufort's hidden gem for decades. Total Catch for the Day: 13 Largemouth Bass