June 16 Aching Back Day

A SW wind that was a "little too much" to allow us to run all over the Ocean today dictated what we did and where we went..... I guessed that our best chance at a fun and action packed day would be to fish fresh and live Menhaden on the bottom at Cape Lookout.... Call it Cobia fishing, but at some point in mid-June it really becomes "Shark Fishing"..... A Cobia is very possible, but other stuff is more likely. As long as the "other stuff" is Sharks, then the fishing will be fun.... Too many Southern Stingrays spells trouble.... Today was BIG TROUBLES... By my estimation, we caught between 1200-1400 pounds of Southern Stingray... Scott and Rob were both suffering from body, wrist, hand, and back aches.... I lost 25+ hooks.... Incredible. Wherever we moved, 50-100 lb Southern Stingrays were there and they were hungry.... I managed a few Sharks. We managed a Cobia. We managed an Octopus...... We really won't remember any of that.... It was the "Day of the Big Ray"... Period.... Total Catch for the Day: 1 small Cobia, 1 small Octopus, 1 Blacknose Shark at 22 lbs, 1 Sharpnose Shark at 12 lbs, 1 Spinner Shark at 18 lbs, 3 Blacktip Sharks up to 45 lbs, and 20 Southern Stingray from 50-100+ lbs each

June 14 Non-Stop Action

One bite and one line peeling adventure after another..... John Boy was on the scene and he fished the starboard side and I fished the port..... John released a small Cobia and I shook the hooks on a 40 lb Cobia...... Who wants to be messed up with all that bloody mess and delicious meat? Rays were supremely aggravating today and Sharks provided many thrills.... I nailed a sweet Bonnethead Shark... All Sharks are welcome aboard the Top Water Boat except Sharpnose Sharks, Smooth Dogfish, and Spiny Dogfish...... John Boy popped the leader on a BIG BOY today.... It certainly wasn't a Blacktip. Possibly a nice Sandbar Shark or even a baby Tiger Shark.....Total Catch for the Day: 2 Blacktip Sharks up to 65 lbs, 1 Bonnethead Shark at 14 lbs, 1 Bluefish at 1 lb, 1 Cobia at 30", and 4 Southern Stingrays from 30-150 lbs

June 13 A Cobia Breeze

Finally Finally Finally...... Four little ones and one BIG MOMMA...... If you guys can't tell, I'm without a camera again... I've been using my I-Phone.... With the constant barrage of wind and spray and Jennifer onboard, NO Fishing Pics or Fish Pics got taken until late in the night. I did finally manage to land an adult Cobia... This one swam by the boat just as we were setting up. I quickly cast a live Shad in its direction and the big Cobia chased it down into the murky depths.... Fifteen seconds later I was feeling like a fool.... So I started reeling in the bait and as it neared the boat..... Here comes the big Cobia right behind it all fired up and hell bent to eat. She was on it in a second and it was game on.... Five stressful minutes later and 3 trips under the anchor line, I got the gaff in her and that was it....  She bottomed out the 60 lb Boga Grip and that's always nice....The "bent up in the cooler" picture didn't do that fish justice..... Other than that, we had a really nice flurry of bites that produced a sack of spunky little 30" to 36" Cobias at slack water... Kept a couple and released a couple. Not a lot of fishing in all that wind, reminded me of fishing in all those squalls on June 3rd.... Results were just as good! And, no tackle testing and back-aching Stingrays. Total Catch for the Day: 5 Cobia up to 68 lbs and 2 Blacktip Sharks up to 70 lbs

June 12 BIG SHARK DAY

Very, very interesting and enjoyable half day spent with Mark.... On a day where Mark wanted to learn lots of things about fishing Beaufort Inlet, the persistent SW wind had us "handcuffed" so I figured the best lesson to learn on this day would be how to "bait fish for Cobia".... WE did make the run out to the Shoals and looked around. I hope Mark got alot out of this trip.... As for the fishing, on a day where we DID NOT put a Cobia in the Boat, I can't imagine a day being much more exciting.... Something happened early that I'm still trying to come to terms with... We had a great bite, textbook hook-up. We had what appeared to me to be a 70-80 lb Cobia jump 40 feet out right off the stern. I'd bet my ass it was a Cobia. But uncharacteristically, it was rotating while airborne. And those big Cobia rarely clearly their bodies totally airborne... Thus, it looked exactly like a Cobia. Jumped exactly like a Blacktip Shark.. It was pretty close. There was some glare. I DID NOT see any Dorsal or Pectoral Fins.... Anyway, 10 minutes and 10 trips around the boat later, it seemed like the END OF THE GAME  on a BIG ASS Cobia. Then some weird things happened from the Rod's perspective.. Some pings, some hard shakes. The 80 lb PowerPro sends weird vibes anyway... This one was trying to tell a story... Something was happening 20 feet below the boat.... Suddenly...Ping and its over. Mark reels in and my 4 foot leader is bit off and 18" of it is gone.... Part of me said, well it was huge Blacktip to begin with.... Part of me said, WOW something crazy just happened.... An hour later, we had a bite that flat out Freight Trained 400 yards of 80# PowerPro in seconds. Tight drag. Never slowed down, never sped up,never changed direction. I cleared one line, saw what was up.... I dumped the anchor, seconds later there was a dozen wraps left on the reel, Mark squoze the drag and... PING, fish gone this time bit off at the hook... This was a 200-1000 lb Shark. I'm not trying to be funny, just to say it WAS A GIANT SHARK..... Makes me think earlier in the Day, hell our 80 lb Cobia got devoured by a Giant Shark. I thought it at the time, but it seemed too obscure... Now, I'm not so sure.... The rest of the day? After that, who cares? Total Catch for the Day: 2 Blacktip Sharks up to 50 lbs, 3 Southern Staingrays up to 75 lbs, and a 14 lb Bluefish

BACK to BEAUFORT

Well I'm home and Ready to FISH! Going out tomorrow, Sunday, and Monday the way it looks right... Funny, I just spent twenty minutes with a Doctor from Chicago that's coming to Beaufort on Saturday was pretty hyped up about fishing.... Right at the end of the conversation he said, "Yep, we're flying into Charleston friday night and can't wait to get on the water"..... I said, Man we got a problem... You are talking about Beaufort, SC and I operate out of Beaufort, NC.... 6-7 hours difference! Oh well.... So I'm free on Saturday!

Also I'd like to officially wish good luck out to two of my pals that are participating in the BIG ROCK BLUE MARLIN TOURNAMENT: Gerald "the Admiral" Currin who is fishing on the "The Yellowfin" and Joey "the Animal" Bell who is fishing on "The Fishing Partner".... Good luck ole Pals.... In the meantime, us poor folk will be fishing for lowly things like Cobia, Mackerel, Shark, Jacks, Blues, and Drum.... (Thank God) Marlin Fishing is a team sport and I prefer the individual nature of inshore fishing personally....

Good Luck Boyz.... Joey's up next! Been waiting since August 21, 1993 

Jalen the Mountain Trout Man !!!!!

We got a new guy working with us this summer.... Jalen, who is a student at Western Carolina, and is an avid Fly Fisherman and ties lots of flies as a hobby.... As a matter of fact, he tied me a bunch of flys and they are pictured above..... Jalen loves catching Trout in the Mountains and will be doing some Guiding up there starting this Fall or next Spring... The funny thing is that Jalen's mother is very good friends with a woman that has been part of our family since, sheeeeesh 1984 or 85.... Ilse married my cousin Tony and Michele was her best friend way back then..... Anyway, Jalen shows up at Hatteras 29 years later.... I can guarantee you that Jalen and I will be friends... As a matter of fact, he will be fishing with me next week and he will be catching some things that he's never caught before..... Hopefully a Cobia, an Amberjack, and maybe a Grouper.... In exchange, He will guide me to my first Brown Trout and Smallmouth Bass when we can find the time... So far this summer, Jalen has been fly fishing around Atlantic and Cedar Island this summer and has caught a 20" Speckled Trout on the fly......

In the meantime, TS Andrea is gone and hopefully the weather will return to normal... Next week I have a trip on Wednesday and a trip on Monday... Big gap in the middle. Fishing is going to be good. Anyone want to join me, this will probably be my last shot at a Cobia until next May! And it's time to start thinking about the Next Adventure.....

June 6 Bad & Good Fishing Again

First up, Big John and I went across Ramp 55 early, early this morning at 1am and gave it our best shot.... I soaked a Sp Mackerel head for 15 minutes..... Nothing.. Meanwhile, Big John battled intense longshore current on light spin as he attempted to fish sand fleas in the slough. John caught a Citation Sea Mullet last weekend and was convinced he was "on a roll".... Maybe he is, but last night wasn't good odds....

So this morning, since BAD WEATHER is imminent, I rode out to Hatteras Inlet and saw a familiar sight milling around out by a sand bar.... Co Co Puffs and lots of them. All small, but clearly visible in the moderate surf and dingy water... So I cast to them with the only thing I could reach them with. A stingsilver. A bright yellow one. And I'll be damned if 10-12 little Cobia didn't give chase.  And a legal, 33" Cobia won the great race and he will be joining us for dinner on the Ferry tomorrow night. As if it couldn't get any sweeter, my next 10 casts were intercepted by 2 other Cobias.... Fortunately for them, they only made it as far as the Blue Water Board that I pirated off the SS Tugwell. One Cobia was 31" and his pal was 28". So they both walked... In the land of Pyracy and Mystery and all things Illegal and Immoral, Capt Marty did the right thing and let 2 Cobia go.... And I will feel the wrath of my crew for doing this... Remember, on Hatteras Island,  these guys could very well still be living in 1976... Still bragging about catching 50,000 pounds of Chopper Bluefish and getting 7 cent a pound for them.... Okay, sure would be nice to see them blitz again on Thanksgiving Day. That aint gonna happen in my lifetime again, I'm afraid... But, there are 2 Cobia today that met me, and they are swimming northward as I speak. It makes me feel good.... Total Catch for the Day: 3 Cobia up to 33"

June 3 Great Cobia Fishing

All those Beautiful days..... All those Poor Results..... Then came today with 15-20 kt SW Winds. Scattered Rain Squalls. Gusts up to 40 kts. Total "whiteouts" with wind and rain..... Sight casting was both dangerous and honestly, I have gotten tired of the failures.... So today we went "bait fishing".... And when Larry and Ann come fishing, good things happen. Now I must say, things were looking bleak. Catching bait was aggravating... Of course, at Cape Lookout big black bait balls awaited us! But we were worried about it so we caught it in the windy, dark Back Sound and it wasn't easy this morning.... So, then first bait in the water, and a 80+ Cobia eats Larry's bait, acts absolutely crazy around the boat... Smokes Larry's 80# PowerPro with 15-18 lb of drag..... The battled raged.... Then I'll be damned if he didn't pop the line in my Suzukis cavitation plate. OH MY GOD, HERE WE GO AGAIN. KILL MYSELF. KILL KILL. KILL...... Michael Myers has nothing on me! Jason and Freddy Krugar are my cousins..... Then, slick as a whistle we get a double header. Suddenly 2 Cobias are jumping behind the boat.... And thus began the best 3-4 hours of Bait Fishing for Cobia that I've experienced since BJ Swain and I caught 10 a few years ago. We killed 5 from mid 20s to mid 40s. We released a couple of smaller ones. We pulled off a few (ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH) by the boat. We caught 3 Sharks and one of those was a 125 lb Blacktip Shark. A grown ass man of a Shark. We pulled on Uncle Ray once and never saw him. Must've been a 100+ pound "area rug" Southern Stingray..... All of this in absolutely horrible weather. So, you never know. Total Catch for the Day: 7 Cobia up to 43 lbs, 2 Blacktip Sharks up to 125 lbs, 1 Sharpnose Shark at 10 lbs, and 1 snagged Menhaden

June 2 Bad Luck--Good Luck

Two trips today. John was first and we rode west and hit 2 big bait balls. The first one, we were the second boat there and a nice Cobia had just been boated when we arrived.... Too Bad. We never saw another one.... Five miles farther west, we found another big bait ball. This one had 4 boats on it, and the motherlode had already been sacked up when we got there. While there I did hook a Cobia but it quickly pulled off. Before we left another lucky boat caught a 60 lb Cobia. That hurt, but it wasn't that bad. We were too late, nothing we could do to compete against the fleet out of Swansboro. We were way down there and we got there as quickly as we could! So at this point, we were "too late" but we'd only seen 2 Cobia caught out of 10-15 competing boats...... So we ran back to Beaufort Inlet.... One last Bait Ball before the Inlet.... It was "all ours", no boats around and there sat 2 huge Cobias..... John couldn't see them so I fired my bucktail.... A 50 pound Cobia enhaled it.... I set the hook 4 times and line raced off my reel. Finally, a SLUMP BUSTER!!!!! I passed the rod down to John and the line went limp. Slump Buster my ass..... Cobia Fishing Suicide watch has begun... This was awful. Our time was up and I'd hooked 2 Cobia and they both pulled off..... Never in my life have I experienced this....

So Laden and Tuggy rode back out with me and we rode east. On the way up we saw 1 that wouldn't bite and Laden caught a very small Cobia. Once we turned around and started back home, it all changed again.... Casting to Turtles, we caught 4 Cobia in rapid succession. Not big ones, we did get a catch of 20-25 lb Cobias. We saved one opening for a ride to Beaufort in hopes of getting a big one but it never happened..... Total Catch for the Day: 5 Cobia up to 25 lbs, 2 Bluefish up to 2 lbs, and 18 large Menhaden snagged

May 31 Part 2 - Cobias & Sharks

As expected, after three days where I rode nearly 250 miles. Burned nearly 500 dollars worth of gas.  Hurt the feelings of 12 fishermen by not getting them a "legal" sized Cobia....... At 4pm I left the Dock with Jennifer onboard. She really didn't want to go fishing. She really didnt want to go in the Ocean. But I dragged her out there anyway. Once out in the Bouy Chain, I climbed the Tower. Less than 5 minutes later, the first bucktail was in the air. Immediate hook-up. Up pops a headshaking Cobia. She held the rod while I climbed down. Minute later our 40" Cobia was flopping around in the bottom of the boat. Within 30 minutes, I had released a 30" Cobia and 3 Blacktip Sharks. On Land by 6pm. Good Grief. Total Catch for the Afternoon: 2 Cobia up to 24 lbs and 3 Blacktip Sharks up to 15 lbs

May 31 Part 1 - Beautiful Day Slow Fishing

I am in the WORST SLUMP of my FISHING CAREER...... It was another day of beautiful weather and beautiful water. Too sum up my miserable run on fishing since the 75lb Cobia broke off 15 miles up the North Beach on Wednesday..... Today, a 10-12 lb Dolphin followed a live shad to the boat as I was clearing our lines for the ride home. This Dolphin would have been a saviour and a signature fish... A great catch on an Inshore half Day Trip. Especially odd 5 miles offshore during the month of May! This Dolphin was lit up as brightly and wildly as ANY DOLPHIN as I've ever seen. This Dolphin tried to eat our bait for 45 seconds. At the end, he actually had the live menhaden pinned up against the side of the boat and he COULD NOT EAT the damn bait. OH MY GOD. The dude who broke off the 75lb Cobia. I cussed. I apologized. Please lift the curse you put on me. Earlier on this day, we had 30 Amberjacks that couldn't catch a tired, worn out Jumping Mullet on the surface. I made perfect casts to Tarpon on two separate occasions on the Shoals. (Okay, Tarpon don't favor bucktails, but thats all I had).... Anyway, my apologies to all clients for subpar fishing. We missed Cobia by making wrong turns where 100 feet would've meant paydirt. We've had Sailfish and Dolphin do everything they could do to eat bait and they failed. Thus we failed. Thus Thus I failed. Pretty Weather has meant higher expectations and it hasn't panned out. I did not want to catch 10-14 lb Amberjacks all day, but in hind sight, I should have. Thankfully Pete and Pete each pulled on a Jack and Little Pete landed his. This has got to end soon or I'm moving to the Mountains.... Total Catch for the Day: 1 Amberjack at 10 lbs

May 30 Fishing on my Birthday

Beautiful weather today, Beautiful water everywhere we went. I made a couple of moves that DID NOT work out for us . Just one of those days! We did find really nice Amberjack fishing. On top water poppers and live bait. After that, we made a 25 mile run up to Cape Lookout and unfortunately, we arrived an hour too late. Dammit! We did find a Big Black Pelagic Stingray that had 3 Cobias trailing behind him but we didn't hook up. Dammit! Then we found  a 50 lb Cobia crossing the Shoals. This bastard must've seen a million bucktails from Key West to the Central NC Coast. Wouldn't bite anything. I finally resorted to casting a weighted treble hook at the bastard. FAILURE. Finally, the boys caught 15 Bluefish and bloodied up the boat. The Cobia? The Cobia Gods are frowning on me for cussing yesterday. I am sorry. Total Catch for the Day: 7 Amberjack up to 16 lbs and 15 Bluefish up to 3 lbs

May 29 The HIGHS and LOWS of Cobia Fishing

Almost an Epic Day. We released 7 Cobia and a huge Sharksucker. All on bucktails. We pulled off a 40 lb Cobia first thing. Much later, and 50 miles later, we broke off a 75 lb Cobia. In the unbelievable department, we also found a 6 foot Sailfish a mile off the Beach. Armed with nothing but a Bucktail, I cast it in his direction. So then in plain sight, the Sail flashed from black to purple, raised his Sail and rushed my Bucktail. After putting his right eye right beside my bait, he violently swung his bill against the Bucktail. Still in plain sight, my leader wrapped around the fishes bill. Then he gaped his mouth open and charged the Bucktail... Unfortunately, my leader being wrapped around the bill, so the fishes mad rush gained no ground on the Bucktail because it was already hung on his bill! So, I tightened up my line and briefly came tight! Once again, in plain sight, the Sailfish flicked his bill again and the Bucktail unwrapped from its precarious hold. Again the Sailfish turned on the Bucktail. For a second, he actually bit the Bucktail. Feeling nothing but lead, he quickly dropped it and turned on a dime and started back towards the baitball. I made another cast, hoping for a mad rush and a hard bite, but this time he ignored it.... If only I'd had a swimbait tied on, I honestly think it would've been one for the ages... A Sailfish caught sight casting, a mile off the Beach, in May for crying out load. But, like the rest of the day, it was very close to being a GREAT day.... In the end, it was a beautiful day where we saw lots of Leatherback Turtles, lots of Cobias, lots of Sharks, and a Humpback Whale. I may be judging myself too harshly. My last memory was that of an "empty cooler"..... Total Catch for the Day: 7 Cobia from 27" to 31" and a Sharksucker at 34"

The Next Week That I'm Home

The next time I get home (May 28-June 3) I am slammed with fishing trips nearly every day.... I am taking off Saturday June 1st to spend with my girlfriend and my family but other than that, I am supposed (weather allowing) to fish every day..... Hopefully for my sanity and to insure an action packed day of fishing that is worth every red cent of the price of admission, THE COBIA will be around and chewing. Also, I'd like to throw in some Grouper, some Amberjacks, some Spanish Mackerels, and some Blacktip Sharks..... Who knows, we could even see the season's first King Mackerel, Barracuda, and Dolphin....

Now I'd like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Lovely Mother, Nancy. I know times have been tough, but I LOVE YOU AND I APPRECIATE EVERYTHING YOU EVER DID FOR ME! I WISH I COULD REPAY YOU SOMEHOW (would you settle for a half day Sand Dollar Trip?)


Big Fishy Hello's to: St. Ellen'sworth, Karen, BJ, Edith, Jennifer.... not sure which other cousins and aunts and Girlfriend (not plural) actually read this GREAT LITERARY WORK

In the meantime, Life has tossed my a knuckleball and I cannot sleep so I'm headed up to the Causeway to fish for Speckled Trout. I got until 7am to get my limit, then I got to drive back down to Hatteras to work. Wish me luck everybody. I'll need it

Man vs Fish

Such a cute little CoCo Cobia. I thought it'd make a nice picture. But, this little fellow had other plans and taking a  "cute" picture wasn't one of them.... What happened next was very memorable.....

NC Citation Milestone Ahead

Capt Marty will reach a personal angling milestone very soon. 

My next NC Saltwater Fishing Citation will be the 800th of my Fishing Career.

What started on June 24, 1988 with a 66 lb Amberjack has became a hobby, a quest, and a way of life..... I'm hoping #800 will be a 18 lb Bluefish on a top water plug, but odds are that it will be a Cobia... Looking at it that way, I really don't have much to complain about, do I?

May 22 Cobias and Turtles

Funny how nothing changed overnight with the weather or the conditions of the Ocean..... But, as far as the fishing, everything changed overnight. A fraction of the bait. A few scattered Cobia. As bad as we felt about the day, I think we did well. We caught 5 Cobia up to 41 lbs. We only had one little bitty one. That one roughed me up pretty good. We really lucked out and had 5 different Leatherback Turtles pop up right beside our boat. We caught a Cobia off of each one. Capt Tuggy had the helm most of the day and he was lucky with Turtle Hunting.....NC Citations for Tuggy's 41 pounder and 2 releases.... Total Catch for the Day: 5 Cobia up to 41 lbs, 1 Spanish Mackerel at 2 lbs, 1 Bluefish at 2 lbs, and 1 Sharpnose Shark at 7 lbs

May 21 Cobia are Here

Bob and I ran west. First bucktail in the air snared a 30 lb Cobia.... Ten minutes later, we were surrounded by 40 Cobia that looked to be 25-40 lbs each. We only got one though. All sorts of little problems. Mainly super aggressive 3 lb Bluefish.... They devoured every twister tail in my cache.... Anyway after that it was run, run, run..... Some baitballs had Cobia, some did not. We ended up 20 miles east (Cape Lookout) of where we were west (Emerald Isle) and we found bigger Cobia and less crowded conditions..... We got an easy limit and released quite a few. Two NC Citations at 57 lbs and 45 lbs....... We saw lots of Cobia today. Probably around 75 total fish.... The biggest I saw ate a bucktail after I had snagged a shad. I passed the rod down to Bob and Bob bobbed and the hook pulled. I got mad and Bob threatened to kill me.... I stayed in the Tower for the next 2 hours and we didn't talk. Then we caught a 57 lb Cobia on the light rod, 10# mono spin and all was right with our world again.... Total Catch for the Day: 10 Cobia up to 57 lbs, 16 Bluefish from 2-3 lbs, 1 Blacktip Shark at 12 lbs, and 1 Sharpnose Shark at 8 lbs

May 19 Sight Casting for Cobia

Well the good fishing lasted one day........ Actually, today was a disaster from the get go. Apparently today's client Joey, was destroyed by yesterday's Grouper, Amberjack, and Red Drum...... Mike Tyson vs Glass Joe! So he canceled and Kim had him on an IV drip and he was resting peacefully. Okay, sometimes TOP WATER CHARTERS is not take a kid fishing.... Its Fishing Combat..... So, Joey backed out and at noon I launched on a solo mission! But then I had to take the beautiful, smart, sexy, and incredibly lovely Jennifer for a boat ride..... Well, that blew an hour of prime sunlight.....Then I finally arroved on the fishing grounds, within 5 minutes I T-Boned 3 Cobias about 40 lbs each. At least things were looking good! Then the phone rang and Chris wanted to go..... So in I went, all the way to Beaufort, grabbed him and ran back out there.... Basically what I'm saying is this........ A FISHING TRIP that should've started at 6AM finally started at 2PM!!!!!! After that and (I'm tired of typing) we caught one out of six Cobias. We saw one that was at least a 70+ pounder, and on that one the glare was so bad that I lead (his tail) perfectly..... Oh Lord. I finally caught an 18 lb Cobia. One of Three on a Leatherback Turtle. Had another strike but it didnt work out for me. Chris managed an Albacore because I challenged him. That's it. Tommorrow Jennifer and I have big plans, then I'm back to Hatteras for 7 days. Goodbye Cobia. Total Catch for the Day: 1 Cobia at 18 lbs, 5 Bluefish up to 2 lbs, 3 snagged Menhaden, and 1 Albacore at 7 lbs