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Fishing Report 2017
- 2017
- 17SundayDecember 2017Family day!!!David brought the kids down for action! David and his wife enjoy marlin fishing but not the kids. Action is what we set out for and action is what we found. Pulled in 120 triggerfish, countless catch and release amberjacks, and some sharks which were crowd pleasers for sure!!!
- 04MondayDecember 2017Over 700 pounds of Kings todayWell the wind was howling this morning as the plan was to go offshore but I thought live baiting would be better. And boy was it an incredible day on big fish. A few throws with the cast net and we had plenty of bait. I think everyone ended up with a king over 50lbs!!!! Our 18 fish weighed almost 700 pounds, an incredible average and exceptionally large class of kings.
- 02SaturdayDecember 2017Kings, kings, kings...boy today was greatJean and Andy fished the Big Rock Tournament with us this summer and were back again today for some live bait action...and action it was!! Smoker kings on live menhaden. Jean caught a 36 pounder which was the biggest one we had.
- 18SaturdayNovember 2017Great day fishing and packing the boxWe set out in search of Wahoo so I started on the 000. The 000 is about the best Wahoo spot there is on the east coast. Well a lot of bait and no Wahoo! We did get gang raped by albacore so we decided to put dinner in the box. I found a giant mark of triggerfish and we caught 100 in about 45 minutes. I fished back up the beach to the rockpile and we finally got him! A nice 45 pound specimen. Thanks guys for your patience and glad we snuck in the day between weather fronts.
- 04SaturdayNovember 2017Finished the day with non-stop actionWe set out this morning looking for live bait and after a few stops with the gill net had plenty. It took us awhile to find the fish though as we didn't have our first bite until noon but it was non stop action after that for Caden and Mike. The Kings chewed and Caden caught a 50lber. Mike caught a 28lb blackfin as well. There is nothing more fun than catching 20-50 lb fish on 20 pound gear!
- 28SaturdayOctober 2017Some days the plans changeWahoo was our target fish today and it didn't take long to have our first bite of the day. Only problem was he pulled off. And our second Wahoo, third Wahoo, forth and fifth Wahoo pulled off as well!! Talk about some bad luck. We finally did catch one a 45lber and pulled off another one or two that smoked the planer reel. Some days the wahoos don't like to stay hooked especially when there's some big ones around which I feel like by the way they pulled drag; they were studs. We finished off the day catching a limit of triggerfish in about 45 minutes. I think it was the fastest limit we've ever decked
- 25WednesdayOctober 2017The Kings are hereWe set out with the live baits up to the east this morning but the water was dirty and dirty water doesn't go well with live baits. But we made it work and made a few changes and ended up catching 9 kings and a few big greater Amberjack. The kings are here I just needed the water to clear up a little more!
- 23MondayOctober 2017Got some bottomfish before the wind hitAndy and the crew joined us today to try and sneak in a day before the winds picked up to 20-30 southeast. I bounced around on a few wrecks for some action and caught some bottomfish and a king. The wind seems to always pick up earlier than forecasted which was the case today.
- 21SaturdayOctober 2017We laid the meat hammer down todayWe laid the meat hammer down today and made the bottom fish pay dearly. I started off trolling and caught a Wahoo and some gaffers around the rockpile. We spent the afternoon on the bottom and caught triggerfish snapper and a few other odd species I've never seen before. Not a bad day plenty of fish and it was beautiful out!
- 20FridayOctober 2017Getting ready for winter by heading to the iceboxThe boys wanted to hit the bottom today so that's what we did. I went to the south and we loaded down!! We loaded the box with amberjack, snapper, triggerfish, sandtiles, and a lone mahi to make the trip back home to West Virginia. A few spots I fished today I have never seen a mark on before it's crazy how far bottom fish move this time of year. I guess they are getting ready for winter.
- 19ThursdayOctober 2017Weatherman was off on the windWell there wasn't much to report today other than the weatherman was wrong. It was suppose to be 10 knots of nw wind and it ended up being 20-25 ne wind. It was rough as hell and the water was to dirty to live bait fish. We didn't catch much but a king and a few Amberjack. In fact it was too rough to even take a picture. In fact it was to rough to even take a picture so Mike I took a picture of my chicken for you because that's probabaly what your eating tonight instead of fresh tuna!!
- 16MondayOctober 2017Filling the box with bottom fishDay two with Andy and his crew and boy did the weather throw us for a curve ball today. I wanted to get down south this morning but there was a lightning storm that I surely didn't want to run into. So I stopped short on some shallow structure and caught a few sea bass and a gag grouper. About 9:00 the lightning slowed but the rain started so I jogged east to get out of it and landed above the 100 line. A few bites from vermillion snappers and another sea bass or so until about 11:00 and I decided to check out an old ledge we haven't fished in years. Bingo! To my surprise it was loaded with jumbo triggers!! Awesome 3-5 pounders!!! And so we loaded up until 12:30 or so then the wind shifted to the north at 30, and we had to high tail it home.
- 15SundayOctober 2017Even better than yesterdayAndy and his crew always enjoy bottom fishing so south we went this morning. I landed in the 900's and the triggerfish and vermillion snappers were chewing! We caught limits of each and a few greater amberjacks. After we finished up on the bottom I wanted to get a little closer to home and we caught a 55 pound Wahoo on top of the tarpon wreck! It was a pretty day and the fish were snapping. I love it when that happens.
- 14SaturdayOctober 2017Great bottom fishingI headed to the east this morning to look for tuna so we switched over from the wire rigs to flourocarbon wind one. Well after 3 hours of not much action and very few bites on the radio I decided to hit the bottom to put a few fish in the box. Silver snappers, sea bass, Amberjack, and triggerfish all came up from the bottom. The boats who tuna fished all day didn't have any action so I'm glad we hit the bottom but not glad the tunas didn't cooperate!!! Some of the silver snappers were the biggest I've seen all year.
- 12ThursdayOctober 2017Putting the smack down on the triggerfishWe found a few mahi this morning on a grassline and then I spotted a 55 gallon brute barrel floating in the grassline. Bryson said he wanted to fill it up with fish so that's what we did. We found out that a brute barrel will hold 133 triggerfish and weighed 245 pounds!!! He had some help from Lil man and his buddy but they put the smack down on 'em today!
- 11WednesdayOctober 2017Wahoo and then bottomfishingBack down south this morning looking for wahoos. I marked plenty of bait and thought that they would snap any second but we only managed one. One bite one Wahoo. I bounced around in the low 900's and finished out the day with some bottomfishing. We did catch a live bait tank floating in the ocean today that was full of baitfish!!
- 07SaturdayOctober 2017Wahoo on the menu todayBack to the south again this morning and from the looks of it the Wahoo were on the menu today. Started fishing on the 000 and fished to the 880 most of the fish today were above average size with one being a 62 pounder and a 48. Most of the bites all came around bait marks in 30-40 fathoms. Lost the biggest Wahoo next to the boat today but I guess that's why he got so big! They don't get big for being stupid. It was well over 100 pounds but the good news is he's still out there!
- 06FridayOctober 2017Bottom fishing was the game todayToday's report is we headed back down south with the intentions on bottom fishing all day. The boys today love to hit the bottom and fill the ice box. So that's what they did. We started on the 000 and worked south and picked off 2 wahoos in the morning. The triggers were biting and they also found a few vermillion snappers. We ended up in the lower 900's. All in all it was a pretty day and a box full of meat!!
- 05ThursdayOctober 2017Nice catch of Wahoo with a trophyWell the winds finally laid out and we got back offshore today, Tim ran the boat and he said he headed down south to the 980, and the wahoos were biting!! The boys racked up 6 nice ones and a few mahi and 3 blackfins. We did catch a 56 pounder that was the trophy fish of the day!
- 29FridaySeptember 2017First day out since Hurricane MariaToday was the first day we got out after Hurricane Maria. It was a slow start to say the least. The cold green water had pushed way out and we had to fish pretty far south. JJ caught a citation sailfish on his first offshore trip and we found a few wahoos too. We finished the day catching snappers and triggers around the 900 line.
- 23SaturdaySeptember 2017Triple header on the sailfishWe headed back down south this morning to look for wahoos but the water turned over and got green on us. We trolled for about 2 hours and not a bite but then we got covered up with sailfish!! We caught a triple header, which I don't think we've caught 3 at once ever before. I fished up the beach and found some grass the mahi were in. We had to leave a little early to get home because the hurricane swell was getting real big and I wanted to beat low tide at the Inlet.
- 22FridaySeptember 2017Started filling the box first thing this morningBear and the original crew joined us today and I headed down south to the 860 this morning. We left extra early in hopes we could get some bites before the fleet showed up, and it worked out. We left at 5:00 and had 3 in the box before the rest of the fleet showed up. The fish were a lot bigger today with 3 citations. I think we ended up with a bakers dozen and 1 lone mahi.
- 21ThursdaySeptember 2017Beautiful slick calm day for wahooCandy and Randy joined us today and I set out pretty far south based on the satellite picture I saw. A big push of cold water pushed in and moved the hot water out to the break. We started on the 880 and it was game on! The 880 is a pretty far boat ride but it was well worth it. We caught a Wahoo or two right outta the gate and then had a 4 banger. We picked at them the rest of the day and ended up with 10. It was a beautiful slick calm day.
- 20WednesdaySeptember 2017First day out since Hurricane JoseWe hadn't been out in a few days due to Hurricane Jose and usually after a big storm like that the water is churned up pretty bad, and it was today. Ugly green water the whole way out to 40 fathoms but then we hit a blue green color change with grass on it and mahi, lots of them!!!! The dolphins were in the grass and most of them were gaffers too. We caught 2 wahoos and a tuna, but we spent most of the day pulling around the grass.
- 15FridaySeptember 2017Great day for wahooSince the Wahoo weren't south yesterday I went east this morning and after a slow start we had a big flurry around noon. Found 6 wahoos and some nice sized tunas which found the fish box. As we were winding lines in at 2:30 we found a school of mahi on top under some birds. Most of our fish today were around the 180 in 35 fathoms.
- 14ThursdaySeptember 2017Bottom fishing is greatDown south we went this morning in search of Wahoo but the only problem was they were pretty scarce for us. I kept on trucking south where we found a tuna and a sailfish. We ended up bottomfishing for snappers and we caught a giant oceanic triggerfish too.
- 07ThursdaySeptember 2017Filled the box and then someBack down south to the 000 again this morning and it was game on right out of the gate. Kristi and Sasha both caught citation Wahoo shortly after setting out and they continued to chew until the box was full. A couple blackfins and some dolphins filled in the cracks in the fish box. At one time we had 4 wahoos on at once!!
- 05TuesdaySeptember 2017Slow start finished hotThe day started off slow for us, without a single bite at 11:00. We went to the bottom and started bailing triggerfish and some snappers. A boat ventured offshore and called me on the radio late in the afternoon and reported a grass line out in the deep. That's all I needed to hear and we caught a limit fairly quickly. The guys did a great job of not getting tangled. We caught a Wahoo and a lone tuna on the way home. It's funny how some days you think you might end up with a skunk for the day. Glad it worked out the way it did.
- 04MondaySeptember 2017The boys from Tennessee had a great dayChad and the boys from Tennessee joined us today and I set out on the 000. Some how we managed to set out on a giant bait mark and the dolphins attacked us. Some bailer, some slingers, and a few gaffers kept us busy for about 25 minutes and it was over just as fast as it started. The rest of the day we picked away at wahoos and a tuna. On the way home I stopped at a small piece of wreck in about 80 feet and messed around with some gag groupers.
- 04MondaySeptember 2017The boys from Tennessee had a great dayChad and the boys from Tennessee joined us today and I set out on the 000. Some how we managed to set out on a giant bait mark and the dolphins attacked us. Some bailer, some slingers, and a few gaffers kept us busy for about 25 minutes and it was over just as fast as it started. The rest of the day we picked away at wahoos and a tuna. On the way home I stopped at a small piece of wreck in about 80 feet and messed around with some gag groupers.
- 01FridaySeptember 2017A mahi mahi dayTommy and the boys wanted to go back after the wahoos today and with as good as the fleet saw them bite yesterday I figured that many fish couldn't disappear. Well everyone started on the 000 where the action was yesterday but it was a ghost town and yes fish do have tails. I worked up the beach and found some grass to fish in and picked away at some nice size bailers and to our suprise some nice gaffers too. We did end the day with a few Wahoo bites but they never stayed tight.
- 31ThursdayAugust 2017Great day for mahiWe finally got back out today after a 4-day blowout. Tim ran the boat and Jeremy ran the cockpit today. He said he angled down south and it was game on with the wahoos. A few big ones as well a 60lber, and some mahi finished us up for the day.
- 25FridayAugust 2017Two Sailfish!!All I can say about today is the weather man was way off. It was rougher than a corn Cobb today. Actually it was rough as shit!!! Michael and his wife caught a double header sail to kick things off this morning. And a few wahoos and blackfins rounded up the afternoon.
- 24ThursdayAugust 2017"Ticketed out" again for the Lake Erie boysWell we ticketed out again with the Lake Erie boys. It was a nice calm ride out this morning and then the wind hit us. Out of the NE fishing was slow so we went offshore and caught a grouper and tilefish, then tucked back inshore to the rockpile and caught a few Wahoo and smaller blackfins. As we were cranking lines in to go home we found a float with some mahi on it and bailed a limit. Or as the Erie boys say, "got our ticket!"
- 23WednesdayAugust 2017Limited out on wahooIt was a rough southwestern today! I tried to get as far south as I could without beating the boat to pieces. I landed on the 100 line just above the rockpile and fished south all day. The bites were few and far between until I hit the 000. Then it was game on. The boys do a lot of walleye fishing on Erie and they said it was nothing but a walleye chop. And thankfully the wahoos decided to bite also. The radio saying on Erie is when you've got your limit you punched out. So we all punched out tickets on wahoos today. Haha... Anyways we caught 2 over 40lbs, and a few mahi as well.
- 22TuesdayAugust 2017Another sailfish and a bunch of mahiTim ran the boat again today and his report was he took off to the south this morning after the current picked up to the east yesterday. It was a slow morning with only a teaser bite and a sailfish, but he went way offshore and found a few schools of mahi around the 980 in 100 fathoms. He said he's never been so happy to see a school of mahi after the slow morning. He fished back up the beach and found 2 wahoos on the rockpile in 35 fathoms. We need the current to fall out so the wahoos get back to biting!!! Current kills everything, the bottomfish don't like it the Marlins don't like it and the wahoos don't like it!
- 21MondayAugust 2017Solar eclipse and a sailfishBilly from Wisconsin and the family joined Tim and Jeremy today. Overall the fishing was on the slow side, but the highlight of the day was the solar eclipse, and what better place to see it from than the ocean. Billy did catch a sailfish and we found a Wahoo and some amberjacks. The highlight of the day was hooking a big blue marlin late in the day but he broke us off. Tim said he was a nice one!! It was a calm day as we saw an eclipse, caught dinner, and a sailfish!!
- 20SundayAugust 2017Fished late with a good catchWe set out with Joshua and his crew this morning but about 9:00 I came down with a bad case of kidney stones and thought I was going to die so Tim brought me home and took the guys back out. They fished late but still ended up with a catch despite getting back out late. He said they found a tree late in the day with some mahi on it, and found a Wahoo as well. Tim did try the bottom but said there was 4 knots of current which is not good!
- 18FridayAugust 2017Started on top and moved to bottom fishingBack up to the tower area this morning to fish on the edge of the shoal for wahoos. As soon as we set out we caught a 40lber, but when I pointed the boat southwest I quickly realized there was 4 knots of current. Uh oh!! Wahoos don't like overpowering tide and I knew we were in trouble. A few gaffers found us and we jigged on a wreck but I knew in order to have a good catch the bottom is where we had to try so I picked up and ran 15 miles south to get out of the tide. We caught a 20 pound grouper and a limit of blue line tilefish.
- 17ThursdayAugust 2017Great fishing wahoo todayWith the hot water and current pushing in, the plan was to hope the wahoos moved up along the edge of the shoals out of the current and into the cooler water. Well after 2 hours this morning with no bites I thought we went the wrong way, but then we started to pick away at 'em. Wahoo and blackfins and a nice gaffer. I never went over 130 feet today. Which is pretty shallow but that's where the fish were! The blackfins were pretty good size for this time of year and our Wahoo percentage was good with 5-6 today.
- 16WednesdayAugust 2017Nice day for mahiWe didn't make it out yesterday with the swell being to big to cross the bar from Hurricane Gert. We got out today and I started below the rockpile looking for Wahoo, only problem there were none. So we fished up to the east and found a grass edge with some dolphins on it. I think we caught 10 and some nicer sized gaffers. The rest of the afternoon we hit the bottom and even though the current was screaming still managed some triggerfish and sea bass
- 14MondayAugust 2017Great day catching wahoo and a sailfishRoss and the kids joined us today for a beautiful day in the ocean. He makes the spinning reels we use, IRT Reels. The goal for the day was to catch a sailfish on a 400 size reel and 15 pound test. Well the first bite of the morning was a Wahoo. Then the second bite was a sailfish that tried to eat my shotgun bait. I cranked him up and we switched him off to a dink bait and yep we caught him! It was a pretty bite and he put on quite the show. I spent the rest of the day in the shallows picking at the wahoo's, and the kids wore themselves out on jacks to end a great day.
- 13SundayAugust 2017Started with a sailRobert wanted to catch a sailfish today and the rest of the crew wanted some meat for dinner. The first bite of the morning was a sail that Robert caught. I spent most of the afternoon triggerfishing, and jigging some amberjacks. Not many wahoos around today as I only had 1 bite and he didn't stay tight. It was a rough day but we made it out and back in safely.
- 12SaturdayAugust 2017Nice grouper today!!!It was choppy this morning and the fleet landed inshore of the rockpile. There were some Wahoo bites but I went on off and tried the bottom. We bounced around on bottom spots and caught a limit of big tiles and a 50 pound grouper. On the way back in this afternoon 2 wahoos found us !
- 11FridayAugust 2017Headed south looking for a wahoo and got a sailBack to the 000 to look for Wahoo. We caught 1 first thing and missed a sail, plenty of marks but not many bites. I ended up pretty far south looking around the bottom and caught some triggerfish. A few boats were offshore in the deep and started to see marlins so that's the way we went. There was a pretty good blue marlin bite and I thought at any second he would pile on us. He never found us but we did catch a sailfish.
- 10ThursdayAugust 2017Nice all around fishingBack down south to the 000 to fish in the bait marks I saw yesterday afternoon down that way. The morning was kind of slow with a lone sailfish bite. But the afternoon kicked out 4 nice wahoos and some dolphins. We did some bottomfishing around lunchtime and Anthony caught two of the biggest glass eye snappers I've ever seen. A few tilefish, a yellowedge, and snowy grouper as well. I'm guessing we will head back down south tomorrow and hope the wahoos bite again!
- 09WednesdayAugust 2017We fished for tile as the wahoo weren't bitingI decided to make a pretty far run south this morning in hopes the Wahoo would bite. We had our first bite after 5 minutes of setting out and he pulled off not long after we pulled another nice one off on the planer. I thought things were going to go off and it was another hour until we finally caught our first fish. I fished down to the 880 and caught one more. With the lack of bites we tried tilefishing around lunch time and make a quick limit short work.
- 07MondayAugust 2017Wahoo showing upWith the wahoos starting to show up, I headed south towards the 000 and started in about 30 fathoms. Wahoos like to stay up on the break and 30-35 fathoms is the magic number for them. Very rarely will you ever catch one over 100 fathoms. But anyways we had pretty steady action with a bite every 45 minutes or so. We had 4 wahoos, 2 sailfish, and a few mahi was the final tally today. I had plenty of fish marks but they just didn't bite real good. A few boats got pretty far south and had a few more Wahoo bites than us so maybe I'll head that way tomorrow!
- 04FridayAugust 2017Power's back on and fishing is hotAfter a long week of a mandatory evacuation we finally got back at it today with Jonny and Lori and the kids. I set out around the rockpile and the first bite of the morning was a gigantic Atlantic sailfish. Most of our sails average 55" but this one was 70" and he came up all wrapped up in the leader backwards, so instead of donating him to the sharks we are gonna make ceviche out of him. I never had a Wahoo bite so Jonny wanted to try some tilefishing, and boy were they biting. I started back inshore and we found a school of dolphins under some birds. The remainder of the day I circled the same bait marks we fished on in the morning, only difference is the Wahoo decided to bite. It's funny how timing can make all the difference in the world with fish.
- 02WednesdayAugust 2017Nice day out fishingWe haven't been able to get out since Friday due to a misfortunate situation. The new construction on the bridge somehow managed to cut the main power source to our island so the governor closed down entry to Hatteras and we have been island locked without power!! But we were able to sneak in a day today and it was a beautiful day to say the least. We had quite a few Wahoo bites but only held onto 1. Hopefully they get the power fixed and visitors back by tomorrow cause we have some great fishing for you to experience!
- 28FridayJuly 2017Citation day!!!Citation day for Tonya! We set out this morning in shore of the rockpile and a covey of sails found us. There was one on every bait and somehow managed to only catch one, but that's all we needed. A big grouper some tiles and a 42 pound Wahoo ended the day for us.
- 27ThursdayJuly 2017Nice Cubera Snapper!!!A first for us!!!! We set out this morning in search of Wahoo but after 2 hours of no bites we decided to try the tiles and the grouper. Well they were biting pretty good and didn't take long to limit out. The boys wanted to catch a shark so I tried a few wrecks without much luck. The water was 87 degrees so we went in shallow and set up on a hard bottom and first bite was a 52lb cubera snapper!! The first one I've ever seen caught here in Hatteras. It was an awesome fish for Seth and will look great on the wall.
- 26WednesdayJuly 2017Wahoooooooooo!!!We finally got the new caterpillar motor squared away and Bear and his crew were the first to enjoy a day out with us. I set out inshore of the rockpile and within about 15 minutes had a Wahoo in the box. I fished around the 080 area for awhile and we captured 3 more 30-40lb wahoos and then ventured off to see what was on the bottom. A citation grouper and a tile pretty much rounded out the day for us. We did have a nice Wahoo come off a short rigger today. But 4 out of 5 Wahoo bites is pretty good!
- 11TuesdayJuly 2017Out with the hold, in with the newOn the way home yesterday our motor started acting strange and I figured it was just a fuel pump issue but after farther inspection the crankshaft broke which means NO GOOD! So out with the old and a new caterpillar is going in, hopefully a week or so and we will be back at it.
- 10MondayJuly 2017Inshore fishing withWe woke up this morning to a lightning show with storms coming up the Gulf Stream the whole way to Moorehead City. We waited until about 9:30 and left and hit some inshore bottom areas. Gag grouper, triggerfish, sea bass, and Amberjack rounded out the day. On the way home our motor started acting strange and I figured it was just a fuel pump issue but after farther inspection the crankshaft broke which means NO GOOD! So out with the old and a new caterpillar is going in, hopefully a week or so and we will be back at it.
- 09SundayJuly 2017Nice day catching some mahiWe set out this morning in search of a marlin so I started in about the best place around to try and catch one, so we went to 200 fathoms behind the rockpile. We skipped big baits all day and never got our shot at one but the bailers kept attacking us and we managed to catch a few. That's marlin fishing though it can be boring but all of a sudden at any second a 500 pound fish can show up and make your day.
- 06ThursdayJuly 2017Bottom fishing is great on the Outer BanksI set out in search of mahi this morning and we quickly found a school around the 150 but they didn't want to cooperate very well. We were able to catch a dozen before changing plans. It sounded like the mahi fishing was better way south of us though, so I did the next best thing loaded down the fish box with bottom fish!!!!! We jigged around some wrecks for some amberjacks and caught a limit of sea bass and some triggerfish.
- 05WednesdayJuly 2017Triggerfish, triggerfish, triggerfishStephan and the crew wanted to throw down on the meat today and that's what we did. I headed south in search of dolphins but as I heard of sour reports on the radio I changed plans and we hit the bottom. It was non stop action for about 2 hours as we boxed 120 triggerfish, I eased offshore and found a limit of tilefish to end the day. Almost 400 pounds of fish at the cleaning station! Not a bad catch
- 04TuesdayJuly 2017Our celebrating the fourthIt's always nice to fly a few marlin flags on the 4th of July; and that's what we did today. We caught a white first thing this morning and a sail this afternoon. In between we bailed about 20 mahi and ended the day with some Amberjack on a wreck. It's always fun to watch a sailfish or white marlin go airborne and put on a show!!!
- 01SaturdayJuly 2017Today was shark day on the Good TimesIt was rough and choppy today but we accomplished what we set out to do. Little man Anthony wanted to catch a shark and so that's what we did! I stopped on a wreck and started off catching bait then went to a different wreck and dropped down a tuna , yep a whole tuna. Awesome job little buddy.
- 30FridayJune 2017Mahi and a sailfish for the dayWith the lack of mahi around the last two days I headed straight out to the rockpile and crossed a weed line that looked promising. We stopped and fished down it for about 3 miles before we had our first mahi bite. I was just happy to catch 1. We went a little farther and began to pick at them and before I knew it Tim said we had 60! I turned off the line and put out a sailfish spread 4 dink baits and 2 teasers it didn't take long and Elizabeth was hooked up to an acrobatic sail. After a healthy release we called it a day. The sailfish is gonna look great on the wall!
- 29ThursdayJune 2017Blackfin tuna and bottom fishing todayWith the slow mahi fishing yesterday I pointed her way south on the break and started off blackfin tuna fishing on the 900 line. After a few circles we scrounged up about 20 and hit the bottom the rest of the day. The vermillion snappers were biting pretty good as well as some triggerfish. It seems like the farther south you go the more snappers you catch.
- 28WednesdayJune 2017Back bottom fishing todayThe eat it raw crew from West Virginia joined us today, it's always fun fishing with Jay and his kids even if we don't catch anything. We usually always limit out on mahi but they brought some new guy along and he was bad luck because nobody in the fleet caught a mahi today. So we did the next best thing possible loaded down on triggerfish, tiles, a snowy grouper, and some amberjacks.
- 27TuesdayJune 2017Slick and calm and a full ice boxI headed down south this morning after the good report I heard down there yesterday and found the prettiest color change with grass on it I've seen this year. Only problem was no bites. We fished down it for about 3 hours without a bite and all of a sudden something changed because they started to bite. A few bigger gaffers and plenty of bailers kept us busy until the crew said that was plenty of mahi. We finished up on a small rockpile I haven't fished in years because there are not many marks on it, but today it was stacked with big archs on the bottom machine and we caught a 40lb grouper on the second drop. The ocean was slick calm today and alive with fish. I love days like that!
- 26MondayJune 2017Voilà - mahi filled grass bedsIt was a slow start this morning with their being no grass and no bites. I started behind the rockpile tilefishing as that was the only thing happening. About noon a grassline started to form on the 070 and bingo! Mahi! Funny how things can change so fast. We went from dead looking water to mahi filled grass beds.
- 23FridayJune 2017Graduation presentTravis and his brothers joined us today for their graduation present - a Gulf Stream trip. After the slow dolphin fishing yesterday I didn't have much faith in finding many bites today so we left early to get to the weather buoy. The weather buoy usually holds dolphins and the first boat there in the morning can have a good catch, but once a boat hits it it's over. Well we slowed down with high expectations but only caught one around it. I worked offshore and low and behold found a current edge with grass on it and bingo! Mahis! It worked out good and the boys had a blast, I stopped on the way home and caught some Amberjack and 2 kings as well.
- 22ThursdayJune 2017A great day pulling in almaco jacksWe set out behind the rockpile this morning in search of mahi on a color change with grass on it. The condition looked good but no fish. There were a few blue marlin bites but we never saw one. It was noon before we finally got our first bites from some blackfin tuna's. I decided to put Graham on something that was gonna pull and give him a fight so we spent the afternoon around some wrecks and he had a ball pulling in greater and almaco jacks!
- 21WednesdayJune 2017Great job Jeremy on your 73lber yellowfinI decided to hook a left at the Inlet and head north to the point this morning. Boy am I glad we did!! The yellowfins were airing it out on flying fish and the first bite of the day was a citation 73lber! Pretty work Jeremy! We pecked away at them and ended up with 6 yellowfins a few skipjacks and 2 mahi. The size of the yellowfins was the biggest class of fish I've seen in awhile. Sometimes you gotta go where the fish live even if it's 70miles. I'd rather fish where the fish are for 30 minutes than where there not for 8 hours!
- 17SaturdayJune 2017The bottom fish paid todayBack to charter fishing today and we made the bottom fish pay! The mahi fishing was a little on the slow side but we did manage one big gaffer. Grouper and tile, and a few amberjacks wrapped it up for us. And hot dog managed to blow up the batch room for the 4th consecutive year!! Glad you kept the streak rolling hot dog!
- 16FridayJune 2017Last day of the Big Rock Blue Marlin TournamentToday was our last day fishing the big rock blue marlin tournament. We already released two this week so one more would put us in the money, but we never had a good shot at one today. We saw a blue that laid up under the teaser and then left and a small white marlin pull a few feet of string off. It was a fun week with Andy and Gene though. Both of our fish were very nice and put on quite the air show. I believe the final numbers ended up being about 50 blue Marlins released for a 177 boat field fishing 4 days. A 545 pound blue marlin won the big fish category and 1.1 million dollars. Back to charter fishing tomorrow!
- 15ThursdayJune 2017Day 3 - Big Rock Blue Marlin TournamentWe fished our third day of the Big Rock today and shortly after the lines were in, we hooked a pretty nice blue marlin. She put on a show but as she got closer to the boat the smaller she got. About 104 or 105" fish. We released her and got 400 more points putting us in 4th place in the points with another day left to fish! With 110 boats fishing today, there were only 5 blue Marlins caught. The 535lb blue marlin is still the leading big fish so the tournament is still wide open!
- 13TuesdayJune 2017Day 2 - Big Rock Blue Marlin TournamentToday was day two of the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament and I headed back to the piece of water all the fish were caught in yesterday but it had disappeared and current took over so I did the best next thing g and that was fish where we've caught fish before. The fleet was pretty spread out and not as many fish were caught today as yesterday. We never had a bite but still have two more days left to fish.
- 12MondayJune 2017Big Rock Blue Marlin TournamentToday was the first day of the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament. The tournament is 6 days and you get to fish 4 of them. All the boats fished today, I think the full field has 174 boats. It was slow most of the morning but after lunch we hooked a real nice fish that we fought for over an hour. We got a release and 400 points. Andy the angler did a great job in the chair on a real nice blue marlin. There were 30 blue marlin releases today and a 535lb fish weighed in. Let's hope we find a bigger one this week!
- 10SaturdayJune 2017Mahi mahi and a full boxThe mahi didn't go far and I'm glad they didn't! We set out on the color change with grass on it and it was game on right outta the gate. A one stop shop. Gaffers and bailers. It was mahi as far as I could see. The boys caught on quick and made short order of 500lbs of dolphins. We trolled for a few more hours without any bites and decided to call it an early day to go in and get cleaned up and have a cold beer! There's no better feeling when you can see the mahi jumping on the change a mile away and you yell down, "Get ready boys!" It's gonna be good!
- 09FridayJune 2017Limit of mahi mahi and a snowy grouperWe have been blown out the last 3 days with NE winds at 30-40 mph so I didn't know what to expect today. I headed straight down the middle about the 100 line and there were birds on gaffers and bailers as far as I could see!!! Just what you wish to see when you leave the dock. Darrin and the crew did an awesome job for being thrown into a school of gaffers right off the bat. We bailed a limit, caught a 23 lb grouper and called it a day. Awesome fishing it was!!
- 04SundayJune 2017Going to the bottom when fish are biting at the topWith the lack of mahi around I again went straight to the bottom this morning. We are always going to try and put the most fish we can in the boat, and when the trolling is slow I just feel guilty at the end of the day when we come in with a sub par catch. But that's not a problem, we started with the rosefish and went to the tiles, then the Amberjack and Stephan caught a nice 20lb snowy. We did catch a yellow edge grouper too that we don't see very often as well. Tim and I think it's a tie between rosefish and triggerfish as being the best fish to eat in the ocean. The problem is the rosefish live in 1,000 feet of water and if there's current u can't catch them. It was a slick calm day and we packed the fish box full!
- 03SaturdayJune 2017Great day packing the boxAfter yesterday's meat haul, the gang wanted to look for snappers today, I headed way south down into the lower 800's to look for vermillions. They were being line shy and not biting very good. When I say not biting I mean not 4 at a time, so we had to pick away at them. We caught plenty of triggerfish though. Silver snapper, glass eye snapper, big eye snapper, vermillion snapper, and a few gaffers rounded out the day. I didn't get a good picture because we went headboat style and everyone kept what they caught in their own cooler. Roger used the fish box as his cooler and as you can see he had a beautiful glass eye, I have one mounted myself on top of the kitchen cabinets. They are beautiful!! It sounded like the trolling bite was very slow today and most of the boats only had a few mahi. I'm glad we bottom fished and loaded up on meat!
- 02FridayJune 2017The gang went bottom fishing and filled the boxDamora and the gang wanted to try and hit the bottom fish pretty hard today and I think we accomplished that. They all fished hard and in the end we limited out on triggerfish, blue line tiles, a snowy grouper, and Amberjack. We caught some rosefish just to add color to the dock picture. When we were bottom fishing for tiles, 2 gaffers swam up to the boat and they went back to Hatteras with us as well.
- 01ThursdayJune 2017Great day bottom fishingToday was Nick and the gang's last of a 3-day trip. With their not being many mahi around we decided to hit the bottom hard and fill up the freezer. Triggerfish, vermillion snapper, amberjack and a snowy grouper rounded off the fish box. I'm glad we decided to bottom fish because I didn't hear of any trolling fish caught on the radio today.
- 31WednesdayMay 2017A blue marlin dayI set out behind the rockpile this morning on a pretty grass edge and the gaffers found us right away. It didn't take long and we iced down about 15 and went looking for a blue marlin for Nick's wall. Well luck was on our side and a 450lber ate the right short rigger and it was game on for about an hour. It was a very energetic fish and we got a healthy release on her as well.
- 30TuesdayMay 2017Grouper at 60lbs, some tiles, snappers, and triggersI had to take the day off today so Tim ran the boat. His report was they had to dodge lightning storms all morning and seeing as they made it back I'd say he did a good job of reading the radar. There was a bad line of squals from Hatteras to Moorehead most of the day as they dodged the lightning storms. The boys said they wanted to catch a big grouper and at 60lbs he's a stud!! Some tiles, snappers, and triggers rounded out the day.
- 29MondayMay 2017Nice snowy grouperPat and his crew joined us fishing today. We decided to chase a satellite picture in hopes of finding a grass edge in the mega deep. it looked like we would find it at 50 miles but when we got there it was just a blended out edge with more current so I switched gears and headed back inshore to bottom fish. We caught a limit of tiles and a nice snowy grouper. A few mahi found us and at the end of the day a nice gaffer ate our flatline bait.
- 27SaturdayMay 2017Quick morning filling the boxI went down the beach this morning in hopes of finding some mahi and I hit a current edge in 25 fathoms on the 000. There weren't many fish on it but we got lucky and found a school that the boys worked on pretty good and just like that had 40 mahi in the box! We picked around the bottom in the afternoon and found some tasty critters!
- 21SundayMay 2017Blue marlin dayWe set out this morning looking for a blue marlin so I started about 100 fathoms on the 020 about where we left off yesterday. There were quite a few fish seen before lunch time and we had one try a long rigger but never eat the bait. Around 12:30 my shotgun rod took to screaming and that was him!! About a 400lber that bear caught rather quickly, he jumped a lot and wore himself out. Mission accomplished!!! The last three times Bear has fished with us he's caught a 150lb big eye, a 250lb bluefin, and today a 400lb blue marlin not to shabby.
- 20SaturdayMay 2017Two blue marlins todayArnold, Zack, Brad and the crew experienced a great day today. I headed south this morning in hopes of finding mahi but the only condition we found had 200 boats on it. Mostly outboards fishing a mahi tournament and 3 long liners, I decided to veer offshore and look around. It didn't take long before a 500lb blue marlin crushed a plug and about jumped in the boat. We caught him and found a few mahi on an edge off in the deep. Later in the day another stud blue one found our flat line and we released him as well. Zack caught a 40lb grouper and we called it a day.
- 19FridayMay 2017Nice 48lbs bull mahi for todayThe mahi action slowed down just a little today for us, but we did find a 48lb bull. Ross and the boys almost entered the mahi tournament today but decided at the last minute not to compete. Probably a good thing cause I feel like if we would have been entered the bull would have jumped off! Haha. It was a nice day and we did some wreck fishing and ended the day with a golden tilefish. Pretty work on that mahi Thomas. He will look great on the wall.
- 18ThursdayMay 2017Blue marlin, mahi, and tilefish for the dayBryan and the guys fished their second day with us today and after loading down on mahi yesterday we decided to look for something else. I landed on a grass edge in 25 fathoms and caught a few mahi. I then turned offshore and we put out the big stuff. It didn't take long and Bryan was in the chair on a big fish. She jumped at first and put on quite a show but got tail wrapped unfortunately. After an hour she came up dead. We decided to take her home, 110" and 490 lbs. I finished out the day catching a few tilefish and some more mahi.
- 17WednesdayMay 2017Top on largest fish and overall weight of catchAfter looking at a satellite picture this morning it looked like a hard current edge would be way south. So we rolled the dice and made a gamble. Sure enough we found it on the 950 200 fathoms and it was loaded with gaffers!! Bryan had 5 boats booked today and they had a little tournament between the boats biggest fish, and most pounds. Well I figured we could wrap up the biggest fish with a snowy so I stopped on a spot I never fish much and caught a 45lber. Well that took the big fish pot! And 550lbs of mahi took the overall weight pot!! Pretty work guys!
- 16TuesdayMay 2017Way to finish a three day tripToday was Andy, Mike, Tony, and Glenn's last of three days fishing with us and we decided to target something other than mahi. We ran south but crossed a weed line and the mahi found us. Of course when you don't wanna catch them they won't leave you alone. We picked around the grass patches and caught a dozen or so before heading off to find a 50lb snowy grouper. The highlight of the day was making a swordfish drop and hooked up right away. The fish came straIght to the top and then sounded back to 2,000 feet and the hook pulled. It was a great fight while it lasted, but we will catch him next year doc!
- 15MondayMay 2017Awesome day plus some rosefishThe pirate crew struck again!! We set on on a color change up around the 200 line and it was game on! Gaffers found us quite a few times and we made quick work of it! We stopped on a a bottom spot but they weren't biting very good. A few tiles and some rosefish finished us out for the day!
- 14SundayMay 2017We need a bigger boxWe set out in search of mahi this morning and we found them! I crossed a blue green color change on the 100 line that had grass in it and plenty of gaffer bites. We caught about 30 nice dolphins and made a few bottom drops to fill in the cracks in the fish box.
- 12FridayMay 2017Slow day on the waterThe wind howled out of the east today, which isn't the most favorable direction for fishing out of Hatteras. We landed south around the rockpile because that's the direction the waves took us. A few boats beat their way up to the east and I quickly realized that's where i needed to be. The fish were up inshore shallow around the end of the shoals so after a slow morning of no bites we picked up and headed that way. We picked away a few gaffers and ended up with a dozen and a nice king mackerel.
- 11ThursdayMay 2017Great day in the Gulf StreamGene and Andy joined us today. The weather was pretty nice on the way out but breezed up in the afternoon. We spent most of the day out in the deep looking for a marlin and we had a chance as one ate the flat line but he came unglued. They caught some nice mahi and a few bottomfish on the way home for dinner also. See y'all next month guys!
- 10WednesdayMay 2017Gaffers and triggerfishing todayJason and the guys wanted to head south this morning and try triggerfish/snapper fishing. We crossed a grass line on the 000 and decided to stick out a ballyhoo and we're glad we did. The gaffers struck us right away and we picked at them most of the morning. A very nice size class of fish also. We finished the day on the bottom with a few triggerfish as well!!!
- 09TuesdayMay 2017Nice size grouper todayI headed east this morning in hopes of the tuna biting, but after a few passes on the 230 - 250 and nobody reporting any bites I figured we better move on. We followed a grass line with giant patches of grass in it up to the 400 and what looked like it should be holding school after school of mahi but only produced 3. We decided to try some bottom fishing and found a nice snowy grouper and some tilefish a few sea bass and a golden tilefish as well.
- 03WednesdayMay 2017Found gold on the bottomWe set out on the 230 this morning with the kite but after one pass I knew it wasn't going to be a morning deal. We decided no use wasting all day waiting on the tunas so we went bottom fishing, and struck gold!! Golden tilefish, a snowy grouper and a limit of tilefish rounded out the morning. The tunas started to bite late so we stayed late and caught a dozen.
- 30SundayApril 2017Nice finish to the dayWith the southwest wind roaring again we pointed her 120 degrees back to the 230 area of rocks. The Tunas seemed very sluggish this morning chasing our kite baits but just not getting them good enough to stay hooked. So we brought the kite in and tried ballyhoo, that was pretty unsuccessful as well for us but we did catch a few mahi. Late in the afternoon we tried the kite again and they started to eat the yummee flyers better. We still had a lot of bites that we missed but managed 10 nice sized tunas.
- 29SaturdayApril 2017Nice day with the kite upTom and the gang from West Virginia fish with us every year, and usually always have good mahi fishing in June but they wanted to come earlier this year and try tuna fishing. We kite fished all day around the rocks and I'd say they are a believer in the kite! There was a lot of boat traffic and the bigger tunas get super picky when 50 boats are running over them. But that's ok because we know how to catch them. When they are chasing and eating flying fish the kite will always outfish ballyhoo and the fish are bigger as well. You better have every tool you need because there's always a way to catch them!
- 28FridayApril 2017Looking forward to some great dinners!!!Gene and Andy joined us today. It was pretty dang rough with a southwest wind blowing over 20, and no current to help out the sea condition. But the fish were hungry! We fished until about 11:00, and they were biting!! Blackfin tuna and mahi. Hopefully there will be some current tomorrow or hoping the wind falls out. But Gene did a great job today and they will have enough fish for a few dinners.
- 27ThursdayApril 2017Kite fishing and bottom fishing straight to the ice boxBack to the old circle on the 230, everything was different today and no tuna bites this morning. We picked around at a few gaffers in the scattered grass and hit a wreck where we caught some gigantic sea bass. We put the kite up at 12:00 and bingo!!! They started to bite. We caught 9 blackfins and a yellowfin with a few of them going over the 20lb mark. We also found a nice king mackerel which for this time of the year is a rarity!
- 26WednesdayApril 2017Great day tuna fishingThe tunas were snapping this morning!! We started off ballyhoo fishing because of the big swell left over from the 50knot southeast wind yesterday, they just don't like to bite the Greenstick in a swell like that and a lot of times miss the kite boats. But that was ok because the ballyhoo were working. The fish were a little smaller today and I feel like that's because we ballyhoo fished. No problem as they taste the same as the big ones. Lori did a great job in catching most of them. I think we ended up with 26.5 of course a shark had to get ahold of the biggest one we had on!
- 21FridayApril 2017Went for tuna, found mahiCorey and the guys from Delaware set out with us this morning in search of tuna, but the ocean had something else in mind. There was grass as far as the eye could see when we hit the Gulf Stream and grass equals mahi. We pulled around the grass patches most of the morning and found 60 mahi. It took awhile but we found them. In the afternoon we put up the kite and caught 6 nice sized tunas. They really weren't eating the flying fish very good as we had a lot of missed strikes. The
- 20ThursdayApril 2017Two charters filling in on a great dayJeff, Shawn, and the gang from the shipyard joined us this morning for some Tuna action. As I was slowing down on the rocks I could see 'em chasing flyers everywhere. It sure didn't take long before the box was full. We put out the Greenstick and Tim never had time to get a ballyhoo in the water. They straight up chewed!! We were done pretty early and the guys wanted to hit the road home, so since Trey and Norm and the boys got blown out yesterday we decided to do a turn and burn with another offshore trip this afternoon. We left around 12:00 with Trey and crew and picked up right where we left off with Jeff's crew. They started to get a little picky so we put up the kite and that fixed the picky problem. We boxed another 20 or so tunas this afternoon and got in around dark. A great day and two great groups with plenty of tuna action
- 16SundayApril 2017Nice start to the dayBryson and Kenny wanted to give the tunas a try today and we arrived at the rocks with perfect conditions to fly a kite. We went about 30 minutes without a bite, but then they started to eat the flyers. Bryson caught 4 nice ones that were about 30 pounds a-piece and as I put the boat back in gear after Tim gaffed a tuna the shaft broke. The shaft is what runs from the motor to your propeller. It was a long day after that as we got towed in. But Bryson made the best of it and caught a nice king and a giant bluefish on the way in. Glad I have an extra shaft at the house!!!
- 15SaturdayApril 2017Nice catch for blackfinsI pointed her 120 degrees this morning and ended up around the rocks. It started off slow as we picked at a few blackfins on the ol' buggy whip. We had an awful lot of bites but they just weren't getting hooked. Usually when that happens they end up eating good in the afternoon so we stayed put and made a bunch of circles. It paid off in the end. Nothing hot and heavy but steady action after lunch time. A few of the blackfins were gigantic and Tim even said they looked like small big eyes coming in. We ended up with about 20 tunas and a few of them were over 30lbs.
- 14FridayApril 2017Mission accomplished!!!Trish and Jon wanted to look for a bluefin today and it didn't take long to find one. We set out on the 780 in the whales and porpoises and it didn't take long. Three poles took to screaming and it was game on. The first one was into the backing quickly, the second one pulled off, and the third bite was a yellowfin. By the time Tim gaffed the yellowfin, Jon was 1/2 way into the backing. Slowly but surely he gained back and in an hour we had a nice 95" bluefin release for him!!!! Not a bad start to the day dinner and a bluefin!! We didn't get many bites the rest of the day and called it early as the mission was accomplished.
- 12WednesdayApril 2017Nice catch of blackfins and sea bassBack to the 230 again today and we were greeted with tunas!! They were biting this morning. It didn't take long to fill the box up with about 15 fat blackfins. There was not much current so we decided to see if Mr. Sea Bass wanted to take a ride back to Hatteras as well. We bounced around on the bottom for the better part of the afternoon and put the ol' buggy whip up at the end of the day and caught a few more tunas to wrap us up. Tanner wanted to catch a shark so we found him a nice 8' bull to end the day!
- 10MondayApril 2017Bottom fishing equates to excellent eatingSea Bass Jon and the crew from Maryland joined us today for some bottom fishing. I started pretty far south around the 940's and worked north. The triggers were easy to come by but the bass were playing lockjaw. We caught a limit but ended up on the 200 line. Bouncing around from rock to rock. We caught a few sand tiles and Amberjack as well. Now that's a dock full of good eating!!
- 09SundayApril 2017Today was a great day for tunaBack to the 230 area and boy what a difference a day makes. Yesterday we circled the rocks all day and never had a tuna bite. Today they were airing it out and chasing flying fish. Just when you think you are smarter than a tuna they will humble you awful quickly. We started on the 230 and it was game on as they ate squids on the stick, ballyhoo, and we caught a few on poppers. When they wanna eat they eat!!!
- 08SaturdayApril 2017Tuna had lockjaw so gaffers and jacks were the catch todayWe set out looking for tunas around the 230 area this morning in less than ideal conditions. The wind was howling out of the northwest and the ocean was rougher than a corn Cobb. We fished down a beautiful current edge with grass on it for much of the morning and captured 3 gaffers!! Spring is on the way! The wind finally laid down in the afternoon and we were able to get out on the rocks but the 4 knots of current had lockjaw on the tunas. The guys finished up jigging on a few wrecks and caught some gigantic bluefish.
- 05WednesdayApril 2017Great day on the waterLee said he wanted to catch something big, so we set out looking for a bluefin this morning. I slowed down on the 610 and as the first line was going out a 72" bluefin ate us up. We didn't have to clear any lines as I only had 1 out!! Haha... There were plenty of fish around as you can see from the fish finder. We released a few 400lb fish and broke off a few others which seemed bigger than 400. I jogged down the beach in the afternoon to get away from the bluefins where some of the fleet was getting yellowfin bites and we caught 3. The ocean slicked off to flat calm and we called it an early day as everyone had sore arms.
- 03MondayApril 2017A bloody great dayWe went looking for a big bite today but never found him. I'm not really sure why we never made contact with ol' bluefin but some how they played it safe today. There were plenty of marks and even saw some 500-600lb fish busting on top. There were some bites around the fleet today mostly 4XL fish, too big to keep but awful fun to pull on. We managed 7 nice yellowfins. I guess if you add them all together it would equal a bluefin!! Haha... We fished around the point, and most of the day we circled 2-tones, and pilot whales. Any way you look at it we still managed to make a bloody mess!
- 28TuesdayMarch 2017Going bottom fishing and bringing them homeWe switched gears today as Kenny, Bryson and Wanda wanted to fill the fry daddy today. Egg, house autry, and hot oil will be needed in the future! We headed south this morning in a rather choppy SW wind , but the bottom fish were hungry and I'd say Bryson's arm is tired of cranking in fish. Sea bass, blueline triggers and Amberjack filled us out.
- 27MondayMarch 2017Great day catching a BluefinKevin's old lady finally let him off the leash for the weekend, and the bluefins chowed again. The first few bites of the day were 100", 500-600lb class fish. It's something to see them air out on the Greenstick. Some absolutely incredible bites on giant fish. Tim even had to backwrap on them to get them up on the leader which he says "if you gotta backwrap on the leader he's tugging pretty good". At the end of the day Bear managed to catch a keeper at 72". It was some world class incredible fishing.
- 26SundayMarch 2017The bluefin are biting great!!!They chewed today!!! The bluefins chowed today and we were right in the middle of it! We caught and kept a 70" tuna. The smaller size fish have been hard to come by lately and released 4 or 5 others up to 90". It's good to see a healthy population of bluefins all different sizes in the same area. We caught a few on the ol' buggy whip today and a few on poppers. They were airing it out on bluefish as far as you could see and man was it a pretty sight!
- 25SaturdayMarch 2017Another day pulling in the bluefinWell we showed up to slicks and the smell of bluefins everywhere! We threw poppers and jigs this morning but never had much luck, so plan B was let's get a bite!! We put the Greenstick up in the air and it wasn't 3 minutes and a 600lber piled on us! We released him and caught one about 85" a little while later, another fish over 100" broke us off. There's some giants around, and I mean giants!
- 24FridayMarch 2017Hauling in the YellowfinWe set out looking for bluefins and we landed above the point in the 650's. There were plenty of slicks popping up which meant the bluefins were feeding!!! Kil and the crew threw poppers and jigs at 'em with a couple hook ups, and broken leaders we finally came tight on a nice fish around noon. They fought the fish on stand up tackle for about 2-1/2 hours. She was a beautiful fish right at 100" and we put a tag in her and sent her back out the door. Brian did manage to catch a yellowfin for dinner.
- 11SaturdayMarch 2017Calm day at 15 knotsWe set out today in a rough ocean as the forecast was calling for the winds to calm down. Well they calmed down from 25 to 15 knots but the swell was still rather large. We jigged around a few wrecks where the jacks were so thick we caught a few double headers on the same bait. We moved offshore and to look for a golden tile but the current was screaming so we went swordfishing. First bite was a big fat mako shark who bit through the 400lb test leader next to the boat. Second bite was a swordfish who decided he wanted to act like the mako and pulled off as well. The big swell and rocking of the boat up and down didn't help with landing those two big bites. We caught a few bottom fish for supper and called it a day. See you in May Mike. I'm sure the pool guy can't wait either!!
- 07TuesdayMarch 2017Competing with bait fishThe bluefins moved about ten miles down the beach this morning when we found them. It looked like bombs going off with birds on them. No doubt in my mind I thought they would cover us up at any moment. We drug ballyhoos, the Greenstick, and even tried our light yellowfin gear in hopes of at least triggering a bite. They made a good showing all morning rolling and eating on top. We caught some yellowfins that were slam full of baitfish the same bait the bluefins are eating. Only problem is it's to small to imitate. They are gorging themselves on small minnows and don't seem to interested in much else.
- 28TuesdayFebruary 2017Yellowfin was the catch todayJohn and his buddy fished with us the last two days. Target was giant bluefin tuna so we took the boat to Oregon Inlet and fished up around the 850's. The commercial fleet had a few big fish bites but we never made contact. The fish that are around right now are big with a few approaching 1,000 lbs. but you know what they say "they don't get big for being stupid". We did find a few nice yellowfins as a consolation prize.
- 25SaturdayFebruary 2017Trolled, jigged but the fish were on vacationBack to the east and tuna was the target today. They wanted to play lockjaw and not cooperate though. I could see them on the screen all day underneath us and they just wouldn't bite. We trolled ballyhoo, jigged the Greenstick, and even vertical jigged. The water was 77' the only excuse I have was they were on vacation sunning themselves. We circled the 230 until my steering wheel wouldn't turn anymore, even stayed late, which most of the time they eat later in the day but we did find quite a bit of action on some wrecks on the way home.
- 19SundayFebruary 2017Great day bringing in the blackfin tunaAl and the gang started the morning off with 4 blackfins on their first drop! They ate the jigs about as good as they could have. We bounced around on the 230 to the 250 and had plenty of action. The blue/pink/silver gypsy jigs seemed to be the ticket today. We have been testing out a new brand of fluorocarbon, BAM, it seems to be way better and cheaper then seaguard.
- 17TuesdayJanuary 2017Tuna fishing for canningMike wanted to see if any tunas were biting seeing as how he just bought 200 jars for canning. We started out on the 230 rocks and never had a bite for the first hour or two. I almost picked up and went king mackerel fishing down in the 160's where the word on the radio was it was good. But we stuck with it and they decided to bite this afternoon up on the 280-290 area. We ended up catching a few 25lbers that helped fill the box. We trolled most of the day but also catch 2 on jigs.
