OUTER BANKS FISHING REPORTS - 2018

A big Thank You to our 2018 charter fishing family. I kept going through this past year's pictures for a finale and I kept coming back to this one taken on a half day family inshore trip not long ago. Pretty special thing to be apart of a smile like that right there! We had a busy year with lots of fish caught, days spent out on the water and you were the reason it happened. We are looking forward to the 2019 season. Thank you again and we wish you a very blessed New Year!

Good Night Irene! This is actually the moon in our wake, while steaming in on our last offshore trip for 2018. We are hauling the Wild Card out at the boat yard this morning to do some work in hopes of a busy up coming 2019 season. It takes an awful amount of work, to make this job look easy.

We ran offshore with a crew from the Wounded Warrior Project. We had Rusty Baggett, James Pittman, Eric DeHaan, Michael Nagunst and Earl Witman representing the US Army and US Marines. We caught a couple blackfin tunas immediately while setting out, then it was a waiting game. We had loads of "life" (whales, two tone dolphins, birds, etc....) you could ask for, but the tunas just wouldn't come up. Finally we got in a small area of some willing fish. Our first really good bite was a yellowfin tuna that was lost to a shark not far from the stern. Second bite ended up being a shark biting and ruining a #12 planer. Third bite ended up being a double bigeye bite, Party Time! The first fish ended up chafing through the leader, just out of gaff range under the starboard stern corner. Heartbreaker for sure, but we still had another one on. This one came home for supper! These are pound for pound some of the hardest fighting fish you'll ever hook, these bigeyes are just plain old junkyard dogs. We stayed awhile longer hoping for another flury, but it wasn't meant to be. The ride in was simply awesome, gentle roll with a beautiful moon above. The picture here is the moon shining bright in our wake, headed home. No place I'd rather be, with excellent company to boot! Thank you guy's for fishing with us, really enjoyed each one of you on this trip.....

Ok, tired of doing this for the past three weeks! It is looking like we are forecasted to have a much kinder/gentler weather pattern after this Friday (Nov 16th). We have 4 trips booked starting Saturday through the next Friday 23rd. That will hopefully lead to some fresh FACEBOOK FISHING REPORTS! It's Fall fishing folks! Pretty neat to have to wear a jacket on the dock, then peal down to shirt sleeves out in the Gulf Stream that is in the 70 to 80 degree range.

We have an offshore trip booked with a husband/wife crew this Wednesday (Oct 31st), they are looking for two more people to make the trip viable. We split the expense and fish evenly across the board according to the number of people onboard. If you are interested, we'd love to make this trip. Fall offshore fishing is here!

We had a very special offshore day with a Wounded Warrior Project group, we had Rusty, Bernard, Thomas, Earl, Carroll and Jason with us today. We were greeted with a very nice ride out to our offshore waters and with some willing blackfin tunas when we got there. Our action started pretty much with "lines out", through the morning. We had a few multiple hook ups that kept our crew on their toes. I personally have a ball with these guys, the "Brotherhood" is real. Once again thank you for choosing to spend the day with us out on this beautiful ocean. We really hope you enjoy those fresh tuna loins with your families back home. We're ready to do it again, any time you are

We fished offshore with a father/son crew of John and Josh Hudson from Millsboro Delaware. These guy's were sufficiently worn out by the end of the trip, with willing blackfin tuna and a few albacore to round out the day. They said they had 16 people to feed while down here on the OBX, pretty sure we accomplished the mission at hand. Had a good time with these fella's, hope to see them again next time they are here on the Outer Banks.

We ran offshore with a determined "first time offshore" family group from Frederick MD. We had Maurice Ramsburg, with daughter Paula and son in law Daniel Thompson aboard today. When Ms. Paula called and booked the trip with us, I couldn't help but notice that this was something she and her family really wanted to do. All I can say is that "some days are just meant to be", this was one of those days. The yellowfin bite I was hoping for did not happen for us, although we did manage a couple blackfins early. Our attention then turned to further offshore, that's where we had a beautiful aggressive Blue Marlin come in on the port middle rigger. I yelled down to my mate to get ready, first strike no hook-up, dropped the bait back she took the bait no hook-up, dropped back again solid hook-up and the reel started screaming!

That fish was having no part of this and we were down our top shot and a hundred fifty yards or so into our braid backing very quickly. Once we got lines up, we got into a rhythm that had us gaining line between many beautiful jumps. Just before Mr Maurice was fully out of gas, we leadered the fish and it was released very healthy along the port side. After that while picking through some mahi and bonita, the starboard middle rigger goes off and a nice White Marlin is hooked up giving us a show with Daniel in the chair this time. After getting lines up and out of the way, we got back into a groove that brought this fish in nicely. After removing the hook and a quick picture the fish was released swimming strongly away. We ended up with a beautiful following sea ride back in through the Inlet. We really enjoyed this family's company today and were privileged to be a part of ya'lls "first trip". Thank you for spending the day with us, hope to see you back again.

On a side note I have the full video of Mr Maurice and his blue marlin catch taken with our new video camera. I am working on getting it so I can post it up. I have several videos taken this past season that will be edited and posted on this page soon. I am planning on giving our Charter Customers something to look back on and enjoy this winter. Stay tuned, they're coming!

We ran offshore with a enjoyable charter crew from Greensboro/Mebane NC and Ridgeway VA. We had Clifton Barrow Sr, Clifton Barrow Jr, Dustin Barrow, Thomas Thacker and Keith Tustin. The morning started out with us looking for "life", we found a pretty decent amount of bait and birds working a small area. Now it was time to settle in and be patient. We were rewarded with a 5 banger yellowfin bite, let the controlled chaos begin! We landed four with a little tuna dance on deck, but the 5th fish was clearly bigger and took alot of line. Long story short we lost the last one to a shark before we got to the leader, unfortunately they are extremely plentiful here. We fished the rest of the day out picking up a blackfin or two and some light tackle fun with some mahi. All in all we had an enjoyable day with a good stack of tasty fillets headed back home with our crew. Thank you guy's for putting up with us for the day, hope to see you back again.

We ran an offshore charter with Ted Seglem from Wichita KS, Chuck Wolfe and Brad Hobbs both from Chesapeake. It wasn't a red hot bite, but we picked a catch out. Was really nice meeting and fishing with these guy's. Thank you for spending the day fishing with us today. Hope to see you again

This inshore charter was a very special day for us on the Wild Card from the very beginning. We had a young man named Ben from Fort Collins Colorado, that brought along his mom, dad, uncle and grandpa with him for a half day Sound bottom fishing trip. He shows up in bright yellow beach shoes and a big smile ready to go. The Inlet was on the sloppy side, we took a ride out to the breaking bar for a first-hand look because they don't have those back in Colorado. After a few minutes we went back to the calm water in the Sound, dropped anchor and started fishing. We ended up with a pretty nice catch of sea mullet, bluefish, grey trout, speckled trout, pig fish and a few crabs. Ben, thank you for bringing Rob, Sarah, Todd and Rex Luzader with you this morning. It was our pleasure to have such a special little fella' with us. We had a great time with you folks and hope to see you again.

Before and after Hurricane Florence on the Wild Card, OBX NC. The fishing inshore just before hauling the boat out in preparation of the storm was some kind of good. We had a family group from Williamston Michigan with us that morning. Dennis, Michelle and Kayla Schrier/ Drew, Kortney and Colton Ridenour aboard and it was easy to tell they were avid fishermen. We had a good catch and a good time with.

Now that we went back overboard earlier this week, it was good to get back offshore Sept 22nd with a group from here in NC. We had Jeff and Jacob Gutmann, Amanda Burleigh, Karsten Poulsen, Edward and Ella Tingley with us on a beautiful Saturday trip. We caught a handful of blackfin tuna's, some albacore and a nice double handful of mahi. Certainly enough fresh fish to be eating pretty well if you happen to like great seafood.

Long story short, the beginning of this Fall season is looking very good and it's just started here on the Outer Banks. We are ready and willing to see what this season has to offer and certainly invite others to come go with us. Thank you folks for spending your days on the water with us. Hope to see ya'll again.

We are back overboard and ready to get back at it as of today. Hopefully the ocean will settle out some the next few days and we can pick back up on the good fishing we had just before Florence. Looking forward to posting up fresh FACEBOOK FISHING REPORTS soon. The Fall season is upon us, with it should be some good fishing both inshore and offshore. Thank you to the folks that have been keeping up with us during Hurricane Florence, we were definitely Blessed.

We had an enjoyable near shore charter with another great family crew. We had Dennis, Michelle and Kayla Schrier, Drew, Kortney and Colton Ridienour all from Williamston Michigan. Slick calm and the fish were biting plenty good! These folks are active fishermen and were looking for good eating fish to carry back home. Pretty sure these spanish mackeral will fit the bill nicely. This was their trip to the OBX, hope to see ya'll back again.

This Outer Banks offshore charter was just one of those days we live and work hard for. We had a family group from New Jersey and Virginia today. Onboard were Nabil, Shaddy and Marwan Eid, with Rasha Boumdoughlbay rounding out the crew. Our first bite was Rasha's first of two wahoo for the day, talk about excited! The rest of the day was a pure pleasure, just like it began. Beautiful ocean, willing fish and a very enjoyable crew to fish with us. What's not to love about a day like today? We had a great day for sure, with some excellent eating fresh fillets heading back home to be enjoyed by these folks. Thank you for spending the day with us today, hope to see ya'll back again.

Started out with a very hot, slow day offshore but things got better though out the rest of the week. The next day was very good deep drop bottom fishing and we ended the day with a double sailfish bite. Our "make-up" crew quickly started getting lines in, catching both and releasing them boat side. The rest of our week was spent fishing half days along the beach, with several "first timer's" and family. I am happy to report that our inshore fishing for nice sized spanish mackeral, bluefish and hard pulling albacore has really picked up. We had folks from all-over again this week, Maryland, Arizona, New Jersey, Michigan, Virginia, New and North Carolina, with a common interest of spending time together fishing. We feel nothing less than thankful just to be a small part of it, making memories is a wonderful thing. Hope ya'll enjoyed your time here on the Outer Banks.

August 21st - 28th found us inshore and offshore depending on the wind. We had a good day on the blackfin tuna's one day, then they shut back down. The inshore fishing found us with some really good spanish mackeral and bluefish. It's quickly getting to the time of year to start picking up both inshore and offshore with the onset of Fall. We had folks from Raleigh North Carolina, Bowie Maryland, St.Louis MO, Sweetwater Tennessee and New Jersey with us this week. Hope you folks enjoyed your stay here on the OBX. Already looking forward to next year!

This past week brought us a variety of fish, weather and folks from all over visiting the Outer Banks. Offshore had us deep dropping for tasty blueline tilefish, a pretty scrappy tuna bite and one really nice bull dolphin. Half day inshore trips brought us some bluefish and spanish makeral. The dog days of summer can make for tough fishing, with a few pleasant surprises thrown in just to keep it interesting. We had the pleasure of having folks from Ohio, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Maryland, Illinois and Virginia with us. We hope you folks enjoyed your stay and fishing us. Looking forward to seeing you again.

It's been a busy week here on the Wild Card, thank God for nice stretch of weather! Our offshore trips have found us catching blueline tilefish for the most part to put fish in the box, with scattered tuna, mahi and wahoo to round out the days. We enjoyed a couple half day inshore trips with bluefish being our catch for some young first timer's. We had the pleasure of having folks from Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania with us this week. It's pretty amazing how fishing brings so many people, from so many backgrounds together. Thank you all for spending your days with us, it is certainly our pleasure.

We participated with the Dare County Special Olympics BBQ Fundraiser trip winners. We had Dee and Dave Bragg from Nags Head, Aaron, Stacey, Hattie and Kai Galbreth from Konnorock Va with us this half day inshore morning. We didn't have a big catch this morning, but we did have a good time with these repeat supporters. There is another BBQ fundraiser scheduled for Sept 9th, here at OBX Marina in Wanchese. Good folks, good food and a good cause. We plan on offering our boat as we have in the past on their silent auction offering list. Come out and support this fundraiser if you can. Good to see ya'll again as always, Capt Frank.

Offshore with this father and son team. Roy Lupton from South Hampton County Va and Ryan Lupton from St Louis MO. It's no secret that our weather lately has not been anything less than miserable, but these repeat fisherman wanted to go regardless. How good it felt to be around folks that just wanted to spend some time together, doing what they love. I have to admit that I personally focus on the catch or body count way to often and miss the importance of enjoying the day. We did scrap out a catch, but more importantly we had a good day doing it. Thank you for spending another day with us, hope you enjoy the rest of your stay here on the OBX.

Offshore with Nathan, Amanda and Mason Elzey and Braxton Woody from Atlanta Ga. Deep drop fishing was good for blueline tilefish today, we ended up with 4 citation size fish. Fishing was slow for us trolling, but we did have a few bites to keep it interesting. Thank you for spending day with us, hope you enjoy those great tasting fillets.

Half day near shore with Darrin and Myla Tissandier, Dave, Rebecca and Jody Kromel, all from Ligonier Pa. The fishing was painfully slow this afternoon, only a few bluefish for us. It was another example of us all being "here" for a reason. While we were fishing there was not another boat in sight until we got close enough to see a boat broke down, dragging anchor into the surf. We quickly got lines up and had them toss a line to us. We backed them out of the surf to open/safer water, took them in stern tow until the Coast Guard 47 footer from Station Oregon Inlet arrived to take them in to the dock. Looking out for each other, is just what we do on the water. Thank you folks for spending your afternoon with us, we enjoyed your company. Hope you enjoy the rest of your time here.

Half day near shore with Bryan and Brody Dillehay, Andy, Peggy, Wyatt and Peyton Davis all from Emmitsburg Pa. Bluefish and a spanish mackeral was the catch for us this windy afternoon. Hope you guy's enjoy the rest of your time here on the OBX.

Offshore with Matt Shaub and Melissa George from Lititz Pa. Some days are simply just "meant to be". This was one of those days. Beautiful weather, very nice folks and some classy fish. I said that today feels special on the way out, my suspicion proved correct. We landed on some pretty deep drop blueline tilefish, one ended up being a 14 lb Citation sized fish. Then we set out the spread and headed out to the deep water, until I started seeing some "life". Not long after we started fishing this big girl came up behind our starboard teaser and hit the short rigger. She made some really nice runs and high jumps, giving our anglers a solid run for their money. What a beautiful fish this Blue Marlin was all lit up beside the boat. We leadered the fish several times and it was released in very good condition swimming strongly away to fight another day. Truely a solid "fish of a lifetime", for the vast majority of fishermen. What a pleasure it is for us to be apart of days like this. I love my job! Thank you for coming out with us today.

Offshore with a group of buddies from Nottoway Va. We had David Redman, Kevin Dalton, Brandon Binghan, Willie Wright and James Man. We had fairly snotty ride out and a picky bite, but we ended up with some mahi. These guys ended up being a good bunch to fish with, we ended up with alot of laughs for the day. Thank you for spending the day with us.

Offshore proved to be nothing short of the "Friday 13th" for us. We had Scott McGee, Steve and Alex Kladny, David Kinniburgh, Daniel Gregori and Doug Prentice from Pittsburgh Pa with us today. We started out with a 40 mile run to some beautiful water that had plenty of bait, life, hard grass line, but no fish! ! We ended up fishing offshore all the way to the beach and had one bite from this king mackeral. Days like this help us to appreciate the days the fish are really willing to bite. Thank you guys for sticking it out, only thing we had left was the kitchen sink.

Inshore found slow fishing, but we did manage to catch a memorable hammer head shark with our family group. We had Jack, Lisa, Jamie and Jake Reid from Atlanta Ga, Connie and Chris Reid from Chesapeake Va. Had a good time with these folks.

Another near shore inshore trip with Randy and Sue Ondrusek, Mike and Norma Selph and Shane Keffer, from Euclid Ohio and Asheville NC. Pretty sure that young man's smile say's more than I can. I'd willing to bet, that he's the only one in his school that can write a report in science class about ribbon fishing! Thank you for fishing with us this morning. Hope to see you back, next time you are on the OBX.

We did a half day near shore with Ray Harber and Allan Deshong from central Pa. Our spanish mackerel and bluefish fishing has slacked up recently, so we have turned to catching ribbon fish lately. I have to admit that these fish are not what most of us would think about when we going out "fishing". But you have to play the hand Mother Nature deals out there. These fish are reported to be some of the mildest tasting fish out there, they've been compared to flounder and spanish mackerel by those that have eaten them. When cleaned they have a very clean, white meat and look great. I forgot to mention that they pull pretty dang good too! Thank you for spending the morning with us today.

Offshore with Brady and Al Green, Caity Bateson, KJ Livengood and Rick Winters from OBX. Beautiful weather, nice folk's and a good catch. Life indeed is good! Some serious good eating caught today. Hope to see you guy's back with us.

Too rough for offshore so we did half day inshore charter with Margaret Allen from OBX, Scott, Annette, Ava and Jake Glisson and Taylor Stuart from Northern Va. It was a little bit rollie off the beach, so we came in close for a calmer ride. Ended up with a few bluefish for a fresh fish supper. Enjoyed having you folks, enjoy the rest of your visit.

Some of one and lots of the other, has been the normal routine of my fishing/sea going career since 1978. This way of life seemingly never stops trying to make you quit, something is always "just about to happen". Makes no difference if it's mechanical, weather, fishing, regulations, economy, etc...... it's always just about to change and you'd better be ready/able to deal with it. At the end of the day when it "all comes together" and I am able to share what keeps me going, there is no place I would rather be at that moment in my life. It's a sickness

1/2 day with a really enjoyable family group, this never gets old. Todd and JoAnne Dively from Berlin Pa, Mike and William Anderson from Fredricksburg Va, Rebecca Davidson from Cumberland Md and Jim Burkholder from Lost City, WV. Sounded like family fishing time was serious to these folks and it showed. Our youngest crewmember is US Naval Academy bound, personally wish you the very best. Really did enjoy you folk's today.

Too rough for offshore so we did half day inshore charter with Margaret Allen from OBX, Scott, Annette, Ava and Jake Glisson and Taylor Stuart from Northern Va. It was a little bit rollie off the beach, so we came in close for a calmer ride. Ended up with a few bluefish for a fresh fish supper. Enjoyed having you folks, enjoy the rest of your visit.

It was a memorable OBX offshore charter experience with Chase and Kelsey Yarbourgh, Justin and Kayla Stevens and Ron Moor all from Dallas TX. This family group knew what they wanted and it came extremely close to coming together within an hour, at the right spot at the right moment. We hooked two bigeyes that gave Justin and Kelsey a fit and showed both real muscle. Justin's pulled the hook with leader nearly in hand and Kelsey's chafed through the leader when it was still down deep but close to the boat. They win sometimes too, but this one hurt. Come on guy's get the lines back out, because this rip is trying to fall apart! The port short goes off in free spool and we have a solid hook up with Chase's marlin that was released after a picture or two. Lines back out with Ron ready to go and we had one more big bite that didn't hook up. We didn't end up with a pile of tuna loins heading back to Dallas, but the day was enjoyed and memorable.

Offshore with Mike Meyers, Shawn Mitchell from Staunton Va, Gerry and Caitlin Berry from Roanoke Va and Levi McAllister from Rocky Mount Va. We had one good solid bite early this morning followed by alot of wondering "what am I doing wrong" by the Captain. Ended up coming together with a nice 77 pound yellowfin tuna that Mike earned a Citation for and a pretty "hail Mary" mahi furry. It was a little rougher than anticipated today, but our folks did good. Happy it came together in the 9th inning for them. Hope to see you back again.

We had a very special 6 hour morning charter trip with a fun family group. We had Lee, Michele, Jennifer, Tom, Kim and Bill Blair with us today. Talk about "they were from all over", Naperville IL, Belmont NC, Southern Pines NC and even Saudi Arabia. But they were here together today fishing and it was an enjoyable morning to say the least. Thank you folks for spending the morning with us today. Hope to see ya'll back again.

Offshore with Dean Goulet, Mert Corprew, John and Eric Watson Hampton Roads, Dennis Watson from Flint MI and John Layden from Moyock NC. Not a big number of fish bought to the dock, but some big story's about the one that got away, sharks and mine is bigger than your'. John ended up with a yellowfin that weighed 100 pounds on the money. We lost another really nice fish at the stern. A few of these guys are gonna be sore! Had a great time with this crew today, memories for sure. We certainly enjoyed your company.

Offshore with Brian Crosby, Mike Faszewski, Tariq Mohammed and Steve Longstreet all from Northern Va. Today started out looking and feeling like a bust to me, but we put some time in and had a decent catch anyway. These guy's got put through the ringer today, but we had a great time with. Hope to see you guys back again, thank you for fishing with us today.

We ventured offshore with Chad and Mike Morris, Ed Clarkin, Mike Pendleton, Gus Coutscoudis and Philip Ventro all from Spotsylvania Va. It was a slow day for us today. It's a hard pill to swallow when you can see the tuna all over the place but they're just not biting. We still had enjoyable day with this group of friends. Thank you for fishing with us again this year.

We had an offshore charter trip with Mitch Fouss, Ed and Eddie Watson, Tyler Schaad from Marietta Ohio. This family group was a great time for us today. We were plagued with the sharks again today, but we ended up with a decent day. Mitch had the honors of catching and releasing his first sailfish. Great group this was. Hope to see ya'll again here on the OBX.

Today we went offshore with Ricky Freeman and Sidney Tyler from Prince George Va. I would sign up for days like this anytime. Not only are these guys repeat fishermen with us, but they are an absolute pleasure to be with. The day started out with a couple bites early, so we started looking around. We ended up running over a beautiful "mark" of fish and they were willing. First of five rods going off was a bonita, the othe four were nice yellowfins. Long story short, our two anglers and Rachael my mate were cranking on fish and the Captain was down gaffing in the pit. Four for four!!!!!! The pure excitement and enthusiasm like they bring, is what makes fishing like we do worth it all. Yes indeed, I love my job. Thank you fella's for spending another day with us, we enjoyed every minute of it.

Today's offshore charter was with Carroll Howard and Steve Scott from Southern New Hampshire. It was a truly beautiful day out there, maybe too beautiful for catching yellowfin tuna. Our first bite was a big dusky shark, followed by three quick yellowfin tuna bites (lost one at the stern, sometimes they win), followed by very scattered bites from mahi, mako shark, albacore and skipjack. It always has amazed me how quickly the ocean can go from the "Land of Plenty" to a "Arid Desert" and visa versa. It is a constantly changing dynamic place that just simply humbles a man. God made it that way for a reason so that makes it plenty good enough for me. Thank you Carroll for this third time down here with us. Look forward to seeing you again.

Today was an awesome offshore charter trip with Carl Griffith, Tom Holland, Mike, Brodi, Tyler and Mason Napier from Emerald Isle NC. I have to admit that I have been looking forward to having Carl and his best buddy Tom back out with us again. Last time they came I seem to remember Carl catching his first sailfish. Really good to see 3 generations of family out on for a day of fishing together too. Good fishing with good folks, nothing much better than that. By the way, the "endangered" sharks ate very well today. Thank you for spending your day with us again. Take care till next time.

We had a blast offshore charter with Paul, Jamie Owens both from Cincinnati Ohio. Ron and Carter Brock from Aurora Indiana. The offshore fishing was good today, with yellowfin tuna being at top of the list. These wery nice folks indeed and we would enjoy having ya'll back next time you are here on the Outer Banks.

We had an inshore charter trip with some nice folks from Cincinnati Ohio. The spanish mackeral, bonita mackeral and tiger blues were willing. It was a very enjoyable morning with this family group today. We had Craig and Liz Leslie, Bill and Betsy Leslie for our morning fishing trip. It was a pleasure, hope to see ya'll back again.

We ran offshore with Steve Grabowski, Tyler, Randy and Krista Godshall, Alicia Royer and Alex Clayton. It was a bluebird beautiful day out on the ocean, but the tuna had rubber lips today. We had some good bites that simply "unglued" themselves from our sharp hooks. However all in all it was still a great day. Hope you guy's enjoy the rest of your stay here on the OBX.

We fished offshore with Tom Stewart and Charolette Hinton from Franklin Va, along with Rob and Megan Dooner from Maryland. Tom and Miss Charolette are very special folks to my mate Rachael and I am certainly happy that this was a extra fun trip for all. Today could not have been better if I was able to have written the script myself. Quite a bit of action, a lot of humor and awesome company over all. I am extremely Blessed to be a small part of days like this. Thank you all for the great time we had. Please do come again.

We had an offshore charter with an awesome father/son team of Jim Watry from Pipe Wisconsin and Jeremy Watry from Norfolk VA, onboard today. We had a very calm, beautiful ocean today. The fishing was plenty good enough for our crew, with the last bite being a double header yellowfin tuna bite. Great company and conversation today with these guy's. Thank you for spending your day offshore with us today. Hope to see ya'll back again soon.

We ventured on an Outer Banks offshore charter with Webster and Dalton Stump, Evan Cotton from Lancaster OH, Rick Gruver from South Hampton PA and Matt Fanelli from Derby Connecticut. It started out slow for us today, but we ended up with a very enjoyable day. Catching yellowfin tuna, a 173lb bigeye tuna and a couple of mahi made for some good fishing. As much as I hate to report it, we actually had a double bigeye bite of the same class. Mr. Gruver's was lost inches away from the gaff, after a long hard battle. We ended up with a chafed through leader right at boat side. A heart breaker for sure, but sometimes they do win! Thank you guys for fishing with us today. We really had a beautiful day together. Hope to see ya'll back again soon.

Our first unexpected Inshore fishing trip of 2018. We were to be headed offshore today, but the weather forecast had us thinking that it may not be such a good idea. Sometimes you just have to "make the call" and live with it. We had Peter Varga from Irmo, SC, Eric Varga from Warren OH, Tony Logan from Newport News, Va, Kirk Smith from Moyok, NC and Dave Spies from Warrren, OH, with us today. The spanish mackerel have shown up early this year with a very good number of cobia here too. Looks like the beginning of a nice season, all the way around to me. Thank you guy's for fishing with us today, although I wish it would have worked out like planned.

We ran offshore with Bill Pulfrey from Hillsboro Oregon, Joe Smithers from Mooresville NC, Chris Hall from Mooresville NC, Chris and Ethan Compton from Charlotte NC. Had a bumpy ride both ways, but the Gulf Stream was just right. The fishing slowed down from the last few days for us today. We did catch a couple yellowfin tuna, blackfin tuna, mahi and 3 albacore. Ethan caught the first and biggest yellowfin this morning, it looks like it tuckered him out for the ride back in. Hope you guy's enjoyed the day with us.

We had an Outer Banks offshore charter trip today with Rich Stone from Manteo NC, Bob Webb from Chesapeake City Md, Julian Bassett, Patrick Mulloy and Jim Zolzer from Mooresville NC. One thing about the ocean, you have to make the best of every day because none of them are the same. We had to shift gears today and try for some mahi. We caught some pretty fish with a very willing crew. Hope you fella's enjoyed a beautiful calm ocean today. Thank you for fishing with us.

We fished offshore with Pat & Kathy White, Mike & Caryn Olinger from Culpepper Va, Doug Foran from Middleburg Va and Ted Retzlaff from Rochester NY. We enjoyed some good company and fishing today. You folks did a good job on those bites. Thank you for spending the day with us on a beautiful ocean today. Hope to see ya'll back again.

We fished offshore with Peter Castiglione, Michael Klepinger and Chris Fitzgerald from Charlottesville Va. We headed out early and found a bumpy ocean, but the sea's laid down early afternoon making for a nice ride back in. We did not have as big a catch as in the last few days. But we did have a good time with one very nice yellowfin tuna in the catch as a bonus. Thank you guys for spending the day with us. Hope to see ya'll again on the Wild Card.

Offshore with Rob, Kyle and Chris Hillman along with Dan Ennis all from the Del Marva area. There are many things about this job that I really enjoy. Number one is being able to take like-minded folks out to enjoy what the Good Lord has created. There really is nothing else I could add to the video that Dan Ellis created from yesterday's offshore trip. Take a few minutes and enjoy the talent he shared with us. Really fella's it was an awesome day with ya'll yesterday, please do come back.

We enjoyed a trip offshore with Jason Brockus, Tara Dawdy, Des Royston and Ashley Monsour all from Fayetteville NC. Beautiful ride out, found the Stream Water bumpy, but plenty fishable. The bites seemed to come in pairs today. Our crew was treated to manta rays, mako and hammer head shark and several pods of porpoise. Thank you folks for spending the day with us, hope your day was as good as mine.

We went offshore with David, Eric and Matthew Duchscherer. This family group left the snow in Grand Island and Messena NY, to come get some fishing time on the OBX. These fella's did a good job on the fish which are a little different than the ones they get back home. An enjoyable day with an enjoyable crew. Hope ya'll enjoy that fresh tuna, it was a pleasure. Thank you for spending the day with us.

We had a great offshore trip with Dennis Kelly, Brian Kelly from Fairfax Va and Chris Ramsey from Goldsboro NC. The day started out with a few bites and very nice sea conditions. The wind breezed up as predicted but it was still plenty good for fishing. We had scattered bites throughout the day, with a bunch of whales and two tone dolphins showing up adding to the scenery. We ended up losing a very nice fish very close to the stern that had a deep hookset and it chafed the leader. Chris had quite a bit of effort put into that fish, but sometimes the fish still wins. We really enjoyed this family of Veterans on the boat with us today. Hope you guys enjoy those tuna loins and mahi fillets.

We fished offshore with Mike Henry, Bandon Henry, Robert Henry, Don Hasbrouck and Randy Sullenberger all from Lake Wylie SC. We had a nice weather window to get out and the fish were willing. The tuna's gave them some good "rod" time, with some fun coaxing from the Captain and crew. A really good way to get this season started, good folk's with a decent catch of yellowfins. Just what the Doctor ordered after this past winter! Thank you for fishing with us today, we hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation here on the OBX. There was a solid number of yellowfin tuna's this past Fall, I would expect to have solid Spring season coming up. So if you have had enough of the cold and snow you know what to do, come to the Outer Banks and get warmed up pulling on there rascal's. Come see us!

Just my luck, we catch a fish named "Karma". We have been out the last few weeks trying to catch some bluefin tuna and yellowfin tuna commercially. We had a bluefin hooked up on the first morning out, but ended up pulling the hook. There has been a lot of yellowfin, but our luck with the bluefin went dry for a few days. Last week our luck turned around and we had two bluefin bites on a day that was proving hard for several of the boats out that day. The first fish was nothing short of being just too big for our gear, I've never seen an 80 get dumped that fast.

We ended up locking down the drag to keep from getting completely spooled and broke off at the leader. The second fish bit right at dark and we ended up getting it aboard after a bulldog fight. We started in but the fog had really made up thick, so it was a slow go back to the Inlet. Once we got to the sea buoy the fog let up just enough for us to get across the bar safely. I thought we were home free until it rolled back in heavy on us, just a couple miles from the dock. Long story short we ended up just a bit out of the channel and ran aground

So it appears that since running and being on boats since 1978, it was my turn. Ugh!!!!!!! So much of this fishing life looks romantic, truth is it's alot of work. We ended up having to haul the boat about a month earlier than planned, to fix the minor damage (considering) that was done when I went aground. Looks like we'll be out of commission for a week/ten days. When we are done it'll all be good as new and our annual bottom painting and maintenance will be done. Giving us a clear shot at the new Spring season that is just about upon us. Everything happens for a reason and this is just another bump in the road.

Should still be some awesome fishing when we get back in the water next week. We are getting a pretty steady flow of folks booking trips for this coming year, for that I am truly grateful. Thank you all for following us, God Bless. Capt Frank

First trip or 2018 had us out trying to do a little fishing for the market. The yellowfin tuna are in extremely good numbers, with some bigeye tuna and bluefin tuna in our neck of the woods. The picture on this post was of cleaned fish (headed and gutted) heading to market. Those fish came in about an hour fishing four poles, nothing like our 9 to 11 Charter trolling spread. We hooked one bluefin tuna that pulled the hook and brought

in 38 yellowfin tuna. If you are looking for an excuse to enjoy some killer fishing, I can't imagine a better time than now. Pretty amazing fishing when you don't know if the next bite will be a 30 pound yellowfin tuna or a Volkswagon size bluefin tuna. I came out of my sweatshirt several times the last couple days because it was so warm in the Gulf Stream waters we were fishing in. This is an extremely hard job at times, but the rewards of just being there keep us all going back. Give me a shout if you'd like to book a wintertime offshore tuna trip, they're here. God Bless, Capt Frank.

I have to admit that I have often wondered why our "Northern and Western" friends and fishing customers get soooooo excited when they get to the Outer Bank's beaches in the summer? I'm not a "stick my toes in the sand" kinda guy, but I think I'm starting to get the picture alittle bit now. Holy Smokes folks, how do you do this every year? It really is beautiful and it actually is a treat in short doses, but a whole winter season would drive me batty! The Gulf Stream water is mid 70's warm, if you can believe it. I have always enjoyed it being wintertime at the dock and deep blue/warm water out there. I fully expect the bluefin tuna's to make their seasonal arrival. We should still have some blackfin and yellowfins around, just have to get some weather to get out. Hoping to post up some pictures of us out there very soon. This "white stuff" is starting to get to me. God Bless and take care y'all. Capt. Frank