OUTER BANKS FISHING REPORTS - 2020

We ran an offshore charter trip with Travis and Luke Williams from Yorktown VA and Ed Griffin from Pittsboro NC with us today. Looks like we might end 2020 on a high note. We had a good ride out, good ride back in and some nice yellowfin tuna to make today a success. I believe this was Mr. Luke’s first time offshore, but it sounds like he just may want to do it again. Thank you Travis and Ed for making this trip on a pretty day possible, hope you guy’s enjoy that fresher than fresh yellowfin tuna loins. Hope to see y’all again!

We had a blast on our offshore charter trip with a crew from Croydon Pa. We had Roland Reuther, John Meadows, Tom Boyce, Steve Burger, Anothony and Tony Falco Jr with us today. We were able to get a decent day in before the next weather front comes through tomorrow. Had rain and cloud cover for most of the morning, but the sun did make an appearance or two before it was all said and done. We had three scattered yellowfin tuna bites in the early part of the morning, a very nice mako shark hit and aired out right behind the boat before it cut the leader and the most albacores I believe I’ve ever seen out in the deep water. We did round out the day with a pretty steady yellowfin tuna bite and another mako. Ended up being a pretty good day with some enjoyable fellas. Had thick fog from about four miles east of the sea bouy to the whole way into Wanchese Harbor, makes for a nerve racking end to a day but we are snug at the dock. Thank you guys for spending the day with us, hope you enjoy the fresh tuna loins!

We had an offshore charter with Al Balcerak Jr, George Schruefer Jr, Vaughn Simmons, Dave Harmon, David Holmes and Mark Master all hailing from MD and PA. We started out with a very full moon and a nice ride out this morning. We found that pretty much the conditions from the last couple days changed overnight, which is pretty much what happens on a daily basis fishing out of Oregon Inlet. After some time searching and fishing with no avail, we decided to go with my gut and it paid off with five or six yellowfin tuna in the box pretty quickly. Mid morning we found a here and there bite that was still adding meat in the box. Towards the end of our trip we ended up with a flurry of beautiful hard bites and that was a wrap! To say today was enjoyable would be an understatement. This bunch of guys are all long time friends and family. These fellas provided a lot of entertainment and were 100% ready to put fish in the box. Thank you guys for fishing with us again this year, hope to see y’all again soon!

We enjoyed a great makeup offshore charter trip with John, Jason, Daniel and Stephen Meeks from Farmville VA and Curt Collier from King George VA. A beautiful weather day and the fish kept our crew busy for most of the day. We had a few shark encounters, we had several short strikes and lost a really nice bigeye tuna no more than a foot away from being gaffed, it was just his lucky day! The young men (Daniel and Stephen) were full of questions and our mate Chris was working up answers as fast as he could. These boys were polite and listen very well, all awhile being extremely excited! Trips like this are passing down an “outdoor legacy” that is very important to me personally. Thank you for fishing with us today. Hope you enjoy your fresher that fresh tuna. Please do come back and see us again! Captain Frank

We had an offshore make-trip. What a beautiful day and the tuna were willing. We had Ed Griffin from Pittsboro NC, Justin Fox and Kevin McKinley from Charleston SC, Ian Jones from Holly Springs NC and Mike Callahan from Orange VA with us today. We started getting bites pretty quickly, but the sharks were making sure they had something to eat too! We lost I can’t remember how many tunas and baits to the sharks, but the very first tuna came in with nothing but lips and gill plates left! We moved away and had some better fishing without the “tax man” wiping us out every bite. I know it’s said that sharks are endangered, if they weren’t you could walk home on their backs around here. Sure would like to take a boat load of nay sayers out here on their dime! At any rate we had a good day once we all got settled in. Fog set in pretty tight on us coming back in almost all the way to the dock, nerve racking stuff. I was impressed by our anglers today, they came together quickly and acted just like crew (I get a lot of pleasure out of that). Thank you guys for spending the day with the Wild Card, hope to see you back again. Capt Frank

We had an exceptional offshore charter with a make-up group on this beautiful day to be in the ocean. We had Nick Pinelli from Philadelphia PA, Trevor Starnes from Atlanta GA, John Debellis from Kitty Hawk NC and Rich Stone from Manteo NC. We had a great ride out, pretty good fishing and a great ride back in. A couple of these guys are longtime offshore fishermen. The other two fellas, this would be their first time out and they were very excited to actually get a chance to get hooked up. We had a very enjoyable day and were Blessed with a good catch. Thank you for spending the day with us, hope to see ya again!

Talk about fishing excitement. We ran an offshore charter today with a great group of guys from Virginia. We had Marcos and Juan Tinajero, Jesus and Miguel Hernandez and Jesus Ramires. It was a very enjoyable day and the predicted SE wind made for a cranky ride home. These guys found out today that these tuna pull a whole lot harder than the fish from freshwater ponds, lakes and rivers they were used to. Yes indeed it was an enjoyable day!

And so it begins, Fall/Winter 2020! A totally quiet Wanchese harbor, with me sitting on my dock box with a fresh chew of tobacco and the “Wild Card” otter family hits the dock. Had three within arms length easing up to me, until the eldest catches my scent just a few minutes ago. Nothing really changes in this Natural World, regardless of what social media says. THEY show up when the traffic slows down on the dock, I’m sure the same way long before I showed up. Some things I am so very glad that nothing changes, this is the way it’s supposed to be whether you or I am in the picture and it will always be. Right on schedule the tunas are offshore and when the weather allows you have a very good shot of having a great day. It’s always a give and take of good/versus bad, but Mother Nature always knows what time it is. So our usual green carpet is out for the otters to rub on and mark their territory and we wait for our next charter crew to book an offshore tuna trip. Life is really that simple folks, the otters have it figured out!

We had an offshore charter with Victor & Dana Overcash, Greg & Luke Luffman and Marty Griffin from Tennessee. We enjoyed a good weather window, so off we went and I’m happy we did. We had a good day that came together late in the day. Hope you folks enjoy you fresh tuna and mahi. Hope your week here goes well for y’all.

We fished inshore with family/friends group from Richmond Va. We had Madeline and Jesse Carmichael, Chris and Shea Stokesbary and Avery and Denica Ross. This was planned on being an offshore trip but again Mother Nature had other plans. The morning started out with a pretty quick bite with the fish here in the photo and then pretty much no more bites for the rest of the trip. Very nice folks we had today for sure again today. Thank you for spending the morning with us.

We fished inshore with a family group from Greensboro NC with us today. We had Danny, Laurie, Daniel, Joey, Candy and Megan Epperson trying to make the best out of a rough/windy day. We were supposed to go offshore with some tuna and mahi on their minds, but Mother Nature had other plans. I have to say that this was a very enjoyable bunch of folks, that entertained all day. I’m sorry we didn’t get out to catch one of those “big ones”, but please do come again. Today was our pleasure .

Our charter trip was a rescheduled offshore day that found us trying to catch some kings because of the forecast gale wind. We had Mike, Lee and Coley Stanley from N.C. with us today. There are a few things that in general will tell you the truth.... old mariner sayings and a barometer. Today both held true “red in the morning, sailor take warning” and a quickly falling barometer. Sure would have loved to push out further, but we already knew the jig was up and didn’t take the chance thankfully. Thank you for fishing with us, we do hope to see you again.

Our half day afternoon charter trip was with a family group from South Carolina. We had Kelly and Brad Lybrand, Lee and Morgan Lybrand, Dana and Katie Convington with us for another round of bottom fishing. The sea mullet were willing and we were happy to see em! A very family group, we enjoyed their company and constant picking on each other. Hope you enjoy your fish and please do come again!

We had scheduled a half day inshore charter trip with a good bunch of fellas from Northern Va. We had Pinky Nathan, John Boyle’s, Boston Towle, John Poznian and Cabana Ayers. The Inlet Bar was not in our plans this morning for good reason. We tried to catch some fish trolling but we caught nothing but lizardfish. We went into the Sound and started bottom fishing. The sea mullets we’re willing and will make for some very good eating. Glad to have met you guys, please do come again.

It was supposed to be a full day offshore, but this storm off our coast made me think about playing the hand dealt to us. We had Diana and Rocko Colella, Glen Szymanski and Merry Reynolds all from PA with us today. Had a good swell that promised to build all day, so we opted to run out and try for some king mackerel, the early morning bite was good with albacore to help with some action. We then put three high-speed baits out hoping for a Wahoo bite that didn’t pan out. Came back in a few miles and caught a couple more albert’s before the Bar got “too bad”, that proved to be a good decision. We had a good day with some fish being caught as asked for and a happy crew.

AM - “Red in the Morning, Sailor take Warning” sun rise, to greet us on this inshore half day trip. We had Melissa Hall from Raleigh NC, Chris and Ben Macliocca from Baltimore MD with us. The predicted storm swell was here this morning, but it was plenty good enough for fishing. We rounded up a few spanish mackerel and bluefish for this morning’s crew. These were some nice folks and Miss Melissa is all about fishing! Thank you for spending your morning with us. Hope to see y’all again!

PM - Our half day afternoon trip was with a group of folks from the DC area. We had Steve, Connie and Sam Jacobson, Jason and Colleen Wright and Lucas Zingerbe with us for some light tackle albacore fishing. It took a little while to get on some fish willing to bite, but once we did it was a fun time. Hope you guys enjoyed your afternoon with us. Come again when you get back down this way!

Our inshore charter trip was with some folks from Charlotte NC. We had Ralph, Kevin, Adrian and Mark Keener and Katie Worley with us for a windy but busy morning fishing. We caught some really nice hard pulling bluefish and some spanish mackerel to mix things up nicely for us. This was a really good morning of fishing in the calm Sound waters. Looks like Fall inshore fishing might be starting to come together. Thank you folks for spending the morning with us, hope to see y’all again. On a side note: We have plenty of availability for inshore and offshore right on through the end of November and will fish as long as we have folks that want to go. Fall fishing is historically good both inshore and offshore.

We ran a half day near shore charter with a nice family from Raleigh NC. We enjoyed fishing with Mike, Sarah, Nick, Henry and Mike Cassetta Jr. The first catch was an aggressive spanish mackerel as we were getting lines set out and then no bites for awhile after. Ended up steaming out to deeper water to try for some false albacore. We caught one, then we had a three bite hit. One false albacore, one cobia (that was released) and something really big that Nick ended up trying to get in for over an hour! Pretty sure it was a big shark of unknown variety that we ended up pulling the hook pretty close to the boat but the dirty water didn’t allow us to actually see it. So that one remains a mystery, but it gave us some excitement just the same! Hope to see y’all again.

Today we had another fun offshore charter trip with Vince, Anthony and Nick Royalty, Sam and Ashton Schoenberg and Alex Brainbard. Vince and his family have fished several times with us and we do appreciate him coming back once again. We had a slower/rougher day than we had just yesterday, but we did manage another NC Citation sized yellowfin tuna for his son Anthony. We did catch another nice yellowfin and a blackfin tuna, out of our bites today. The wind and seas ended up laying out like the National Weather Service predicted, but it was pretty lumpy early on. Happy to see you again, please do enjoy that fresh tuna!

We had a very eager family from Maryland with us today for a spectacular offshore charter. We had Chrissy, Hunter, Greyson, Ramsey and Remy Adair. Today was one of those memorable days with Hunter (dad) catching a citation yellowfin tuna, Greyson (who just turned 10 years old yesterday) catching a citation wahoo, Ramsey catching a blackfin tuna and mom finished the late bite with a nice yellowfin tuna. I believe young Remy even had a chance to do some cranking. Between a couple marlin coming into our spread and a fairly steady bite I would have to say we had a very good day! Weather was picture card perfect and these youngsters were a pleasure to have onboard. Mom and dad obviously are doing a great job with them. We hope you had a good day with us, please do come again.

AM - morning inshore trip with a family group from Arlington Va. We had Mike, Terri, Caroline and Kate Schwartzbeck with us. We had a beautiful weather morning with a handful of fish to make it a good time. Thank you for spending your morning with us, hope to see y’all back again.

PM - afternoon trip with Dave Swiger, C J Wright, Paul Perkins Junior and Senior from West Virgina and Virginia on board. We were able to get on some fish “up North” and had a pretty steady bite throughout the trip. This a is a very good sign of things to come for our Fall fishing. Generally the fish start getting bigger and more plentiful as they start moving back South, as the ocean water starts to cool. Pretty sure there wasn’t an idle minute with these guys picking on each other, having a good time. Please do come again.

We had our first offshore charter in several days with a group of home folks. We had Michael and Jack Smiley, Israel Roughton and Clark O’Neal. Jack and Michael are folks that I used to hunt with from home and it was nice to see them again. The ocean was still pretty dirty from this just past Nor'easter making offshore fishing tough. We did make good on the bites we had because we gotta' play the hand dealt to us each day. Good to see you guys, hope to see you back again.

Oh My!!! The gale of our first serious Northeaster has finally laid out! Folks this is a time for our “fishermen” to get excited, because every year this is what sets up our Fall offshore run of pelagic fish. Yes that means tuna, Wahoo, mahi, etc...., the time is upon us for some serious meat fishing. Fall fishing is my favorite, just something about the cool temperatures and hot bites. Give us a call, come see us, follow our fishing reports, etc.... The fisherman in my heart can’t help but think this year is gonna be Epic, the signs are all around us.

We had an inshore morning charter trip with a ln enjoyable group from Maryland with us. We had Josh and David Strine, Colleen, Angie and Courtney Lankford on this half day in the Sound. It started out slow, but we found a spot that held some fish willing to come home with us. Good to meet you folks, hope to see ya again!

AM - inshore morning trip with Jeff Smith Sr, Jeff Smith Jr, Steve Sharpes, John Phillips, Mike Tate and Charle Lam from Harrisonburg Va. We had a good time fishing with these fellas and the fishing was pretty good. Nice sized bluefish are making a showing for us and they give a solid pull on the light gear we use for them. Hope to see y’all again.

PM - 16th half day inshore we had Coleman and Damon Burke, Jessica Grant, Amel Hammad, Heather Morgan and Steven Ryan. This family and friends group were from all over the Country. The fishing slowed down from what we had just this morning, but we had a good time with these folks. Hope you enjoy your time here on the Outer Banks.

We had an inshore soundside charter with Lee, Amy and Mackenzie Redifer, Jason Warren, Chris Sheffer and Shawn Curry all from VA. Lee and his daughter Mackenzie fished with us a couple years back with good success, but our current weather had us in the Sound today. Fishing was slow today for everyone, although we had one good pass on the spanish mackerel it didn’t hold up long. We had comfortable temperatures and a steady breeze. We did venture out to look at the “bar” while fishing, just so they could see the breaking rollers. These are some really nice folks to spend the day with!

We enjoyed an offshore charter trip with Jodi and Mike Dykstra, Nate Dykstra and Jackie Garlinghouse from Michigan. We had a chance to slip in a trip between weather systems and I’m happy we did. We started out pretty quick with a blackfin tuna and a billfish bite that we didn’t hook. Found a few mahi that were willing to bite, but what we found were very shy in trying to “bail” them. Miss Jodi ended up catching the sail fish in our post, pretty sure her smile says it all. Had a stern-too sea that made for nice ride back to the beach. Thank you folks for fishing with us, hope to see y’all again.

Today we had a half day inshore morning trip. We had the pleasure of having a family group Bill Bradley, Chelsey & Casey Bishops from Ohio. It started out wet and stormy but finished up quite nicely. We went out in the ocean and caught some ribbon fish, came back inside and finished out our trip with a few spanish mackerel, lizard fish and bluefish. These were some really nice folks and we enjoyed their company for sure. Thank you for spending the morning with us, please do come back sometime.

We had a near shore/inshore charter with these two ladies from Texas. It was a rough, very slow bite, Northeaster kind of day for us. After a very slow morning we came inside for some smoother conditions and did manage to catch a few keepers and a few undersize spanish mackerel. On the ride back to the dock we ran across some very friendly porpoise that gave nothing short of a long very welcome show! Thank you folks for fishing with us today, hope to see y'all again.

September 6th. This week looks like we're going to have our first Northeaster, right on time to kick off our Fall season. Most years the first 10 days of September you can count on a NE wind, not many years that you miss that time period by much. We have "season's" for a reason, it's by the Creator's Design that we do. Happy to see at least one thing still on track in this year of 2020.

On a very positive note from the Wild Card herself....... it looks like our very previous kick in the gut maybe be on it's way out. We are running with our current latest rebuilt engine and we just put on our first ever "matching set" of props. This old boat runs as smooth as I have ever known it too and fish really like that! So I guess I'm announcing publicly that we are as close to being 100% ready as we're ever going to get and I am so ready for this coming Fall season.

My plan is to fish right on through Thanksgiving as usual, but also plan on fishing this winter. The yellowfin tuna are there in good numbers (historically speaking) just about any day you can get out. Giant bluefin tuna should start making their appearance very late January- early February. The yellowfin tuna should be around then as well. It looks like we're going to be in a "holding pattern" with this Covid-19 stuff, so heading off to Exotic locales out of the Country are probably going to not happen at least this winter. So that leaves our Exotic Locale of the Outer Banks to come and shake off some cabin fever. When you look at what we have to offer during the Fall/Winter (weather permitting) it's a pretty easy destination. Hotels and rentals generally are at their off season rates and the Beach isn't nearly as crowded. Nothing quite like being cold at the dock and down to a sweatshirt in the warm Gulf Stream waters offshore.

So there you have our current update and long range plans. Thank you guys so much for following our page, progress and fishing reports. God Bless, Capt. Frank

We enjoyed a wonderful half day inshore charter group with a couple of young ladies that were ready to catch some fish. We had Steve and Eva Shaffer, Ronny and Sara Whitley from PA and NC with us for the morning. The spanish mackerel were ready to bite. Mr Steve has been with us for his third time now, but today was a bit special with his daughter Eva this time. Both young ladies were more than happy to "reel em in". Thank you for spending the morning with us today, see ya next time.

We had an AM half day near shore charter with Heather Sullivan, Kristine and Jack Orsay and Sammy Thompson from PA and VA. The water changed up overnight and turned cold and murky in the areas the spanish mackerel had been just yesterday afternoon. So we pushed off looking for a new spot. We found a lot of albacore that were really picky early on but we caught enough to keep the anticipation going. This tough bunch was eating the albacore hearts as they came over the rail and washed it down by what appeared to be an adult beverage. Nice young folks. We definitely had a good time with them on board. I heard some rumbling about them coming back for some offshore fishing. We'll save that for another fishing report! Thank you for spending the morning with us!

Today we had a near shore charter trip with Stephen, Travis and Steve Bailey from Adrian, MI and David Vanderpool from Nashville, TN. The false albacore have shown up in force, it didn't take long to start "catch and release" fishing with two to three rods bouncing. We also got a taste of spanish mackerel this morning which means Fall fishing is now in motion! Thank you guys for spending the day with us, hope to see ya'll again!

We had an exciting offshore charter trip with Al Balcerak Jr, Sean Jones, Vaughn Simmons, Riley German and Scott Mayle from MD and PA. Today was the last day for blueline tilefish season in 2020 and we caught some pretty ones to end it out on a solid note. Next we put our trolling gear out and in just a few minutes we had our first and only yellowfin tuna bite. On the way to the boat the sharks found it leaving us a "piece" of yellowfin tuna! We pushed off and found what I was expecting to be some fertile water. We located rips, birds, bonita and ended up catching a few skipjacks with nothing else seen.

As we were reaching the end of our day I spotted way off in the distance what appeared to be every Captain's fear .... an overturned boat. We ran over to it obviously hoping for the best but expecting the worst with that hard knot in my gut. There wasn't a soul around the upside down hull. I made a call to the USCG and passed our information, to find out it had been abandoned a couple weeks ago. We made positive ID of the registration numbers and confirmed the location for them. So what to do now? What else? We started fishing around it! There were a lot of jacks that were very willing and a few mahi that weren't having anything to do with what we were selling. It was time to head in and we had a very pleasant ride in. Hope you guys enjoy those fresh fillets and will come see us again.

Finally back at it with an offshore charter trip with Robert Taylor from Greenville NC, Richard Riggs from Va Beach, Steve Titus from Atlanta Ga and Chris Butts from Charleston SC. We were greeted by a beautiful sunrise, great ride out on a following sea, landed right on top of some fat tastey blueline tilefish, then to a 4 banger yellowfin tuna bite lost one to the sharks, a couple multiple hook ups that the sharks won on and the last go round was four bites and we pulled 2 yellowfin tuna out of that one. I don't want to say anything other than the just rebuilt engine started and ran until we got back into our slip this afternoon! It was so good to get back into the saddle again. Our mate Chris made some good calls and gaff shots, really was a pleasure just to be the "nut behind the wheel" again for me. Our folks took home a solid catch of fresher than fresh great eating fish as a bonus. Hope you guys enjoyed your day, thank you for fishing with us.

Well it is official! We are back in our slip and ready to fish! Sea trialed this morning and afternoon, time to make up for lost time! The folks that kept up with us, sent words of encouragement, etc..... I cannot tell you how much personally that meant to us here. We are headed offshore tomorrow morning. Here's to what I hope will be a happy ending.

July something catch up report. We had an engine failure a week or so back. For the record yes it absolutely hurts in everyway possible for us. There's not many options except face it, do what's necessary and live to fish another day. I would love to be able to write a check and have the "boat fairies" show up and fix it, that's not an option in this life. Grunt and strain is what we know and its what we'll do once again. There have been many folks that look up at me while they're fighting a really nice fish and want to just quit because they are worn out. My stern (not always well received I might add) is "don't you dare give up and quit on me"! I am very happy to report that when that fish is finally on deck, a huge smile/handshake/high five/hug/tears, etc..... follow because you did not quit! Simple guy with simple ambition in a very complicated way of trying to squeak out a living that really never does seem to meet the arithmetic evaluation at the end of there year. But if nothing else, there have been many over the years that have learned the "love-hate" relationship between Capt and Crew. I've gotta rebuild all in the pictures times two, before we get back to the last picture. "Livin' the dream", isn't nearly as easy as it looks on the outside. Thank you folks for hanging in there with us, we'll be back!!!

Our charter offshore today was like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. We had Ryan and Roy Lupton with us as they have been for the last few years. Ryan started out with a white marlin that threw the hook after a few jumps. Our next bite had Ryan holding onto a really big "something" until 2/3 of our braid backing was gone, only to have the hook pull free from down in the deep. Roy had the next bite that ended up being was his first Sailfish, it was released. Last bite of the day came about 5 minutes before "lines in" and it turned out to be a wahoo for Ryan. We were having a beautiful ride in until the Port Engine gave up the ghost with a bang!!! So long story short is we are broke down until I get this engine problem figured out. Fishing is one of the most enjoyable, yet hardest ways to try and make a living. Will keep ya'll posted on our progress. Thank you Ryan and Roy for fishing with us again, see you next time.

We had a full day offshore/variety trip with a group of family/friends from Baltimore MD with us today. Rob Toporzycki, Jim and Dawn Riehl, Joe Piniecki, Mike Ziegler and Nancy Saunders made a bumpy ride out, but ended up with a limit of beautiful blueline tilefish. We put our trolling gear out after catching our deep drop fish, but didn't get so much as a sniff. We ended up with a good day and a handsome catch of tiles, some of the best eating in the ocean. Thank you guys for spending the day with us and learning how to "hold bottom"

We ran a near shore "Buddy Boat" trip with the boat Grandpa out of OBX Marina in Wanchese NC. We had an extended family/friend group with us today that hailed from VA, FL, MD and NC. They were Tim, Barbara, Aubrey, Madison & Delaney Fick, Kim Sawyer, Jimmy & Alaina Arscott, Sean Black, Ricardo Guevarra and Kaylee Proctor. We loaded up both boats, started out together, started fishing within minutes of each other, pulled lines in at the same time and caught the same number of fish on each boat! We had a good catch of spanish mackerel, false albacore, a throw back under size cobia and a keeper king mackerel. I can honestly say this was a good time for both Captains and Mates, these were a great group of folks we had today. Thank you all for fishing with us and we hope to see you again.

Today we ran an offshore charter trip with a friends and family group from OH and NY State. We had Kevin, Casey, Kendra and Quinn Seidel and Sara and Cameryn Zeller with us for a hot/calm day in the Gulf Stream. The mahi we had just a few days before were not seen by us and yes we looked. But we did get a few "other" bites, that I was really thankful for. We had a wahoo hooked that ended up throwing the hook when he jumped behind the boat after a good run, really thought we had that one in the bag. Missed a tuna bite, but came tight with the yellowfin Kevin is holding here. He found out pretty quickly that these don't fight "exactly" like walleye! We had a blackfin and sailfish bite at the same time, got the blackfin tuna and jumped off the sailfish that gave us several jumps and splashes before it threw the hook. We ended up with one more bite from a skipjack that we got and that was pretty much our day. Our folks were happy to get their fish and get back to dry land. We hope you enjoy your first ever tuna!

We went offshore fishing with a family from Beckley WV. We had Valerie, Brandon, Liam, Kaylee, Zak and Grayson Waddell today. This was our first day actually targetting mahi this year and we had a great day doing it. We had a suprise bonus yellowfin tuna that showed making for a pretty complete day. Thank you folks for fishing with us today, hope to see ya'll again.

Our half day inshore found us bottom fishing in the Sound, we ended up with a catch of sea mullets and croakers for this family's vacation table. We had an enjoyable no stress morning fishing. Thank you for spending the morning with us, hope to see ya'll again.

We enjoyed a half day near shore charter with Michelle, Cameren and Chase Phifer from Montana and David and Lisa Saghy from Corolla NC. Today was about getting these two young men out onto the ocean for the first time and maybe catching a few fish. The weather was looking very testy, but these folks decided to give it a go and I'm happy they did. Turned out to be a very pleasant afternoon trip. False albacore and a few spanish mackerel were hooked up and made for a good time. Our last bite was on a top water chain that had the fish and baits come completely out of the water on the hit, pretty cool stuff! We enjoyed ya'lls company and it was nice to meet these well behaved/respectful young men. Looking forward to seeing all of you again soon.

Our offshore charter trip turned into a variety trip, as our trolling bite just wasn't gonna happen. We had Joahua Titter from West Grove PA and Hank Wajda from Avondale PA with us today. It wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but it was the hand dealt so we played it best we could. Thank you Joshua for coming back with us again, please bring Hank back anytime.

You ever look in the mirror and wonder who the guy is looking at you???? My mate Chris took this picture a couple days ago, so I feel it only fair to post it too. I don't know where all the time went, maybe I've been too busy trying cratch out a living to notice. I can honestly say it's been one devil of a ride and am thankful for the opportunity to have done it "my way". I have no plans of sitting and rusting away, wearing out is a much better option. Live/love your life till there is none left, this is the only chance you're gonna get. Capt Frank

We ran another offshore variety charter fishing trip with some just plain good folks from Up State New York. We had Nick Sr, Katheleen, Nick Jr and Michelle Palmucci and Scott Ainsworth deep dropping for some blueline tilefish (we ended up with 4 that were citation sized too). A slick calm day that had porpoises swimming by in this crystal clear deep saltwater. Now for the unexpected visit by this Mola (ocean sunfish), this rascal came right up to the boat made a lap and took off! Where else can you see this kinda stuff? No where but here out on the Deep Blue. There are simply some things in life that have no price tag, seeing these creatures the Good Lord Himself put here is very near and dear to us that try to make a living out here. Honestly it's what keeps us going, what a beautiful day. Thank you for taking your first trip on the OBX with us, hope to see ya'll again!

Folks this is the moon headed out the morning of July 5th at 4:00am. As beautiful as it is, it has been a bain to me to try and catch a tuna after a night as clear and bright as this one. Yes it's all part of the "cycle" because all things Nature are moon phase dependent, just how it works its their clock and calendar. How more privileged can a man be, just to have sights such as these? This living has very little to do with money (that's just how the fishing life is), but the scenery is Priceless!

We were heading offshore for a variety charter fishing trip with a local group. We had Danny Simpson (our mates Dad), Matthew Jordan, Eric Reynolds, Daniel Gardner, Mark Nano and Tim Adams. We had nothing less a great start deep dropping for some beautiful blueline tilefish. Not only are these fish gorgeous, they are some of the best eating in the sea! Once we caught our limit of tiles we set out our trolling spread, with only one "mystery" bite. These guys went home with a healthy helping of some top shelf fillets. Thank you for heading out again with us today, looking forward to next time.

Another spectacular offshore charter trip with some 4th of July fireworks thrown in. This group was from Richmond VA. We had Danny & Hannah Fowler, Jesse & David Todd and Shari Lancaster with us. We started out with some really nice blueline tilefish and the set the trolling rigs out. Miss Hannah was on her first ocean fishing trip and she already caught her first "big fish" about an hour ago. She was up in the flybridge wiith me and I told her that I had a feeling we were gonna get a bite here on this upcoming rip. Then POW goes the starboard middle rigger! Today was about the kids, so in the chair she went. Holy Smokes this fish was taking some serious drag, but this young lady did exactly like we told and she wore this 90 pound "fish of a lifetime" wahoo. Honey you did one fine job and made me right proud just to be there! Lines back out and shortly before the end of our trip a couple hundred pound blue marlin comes in "hot" through the spread and tugging on the port teasers. Our Mate Chris popped the port short rigger bait clip and put that bait right infront if that fish, once, twice then she came tight!!! Ok young man get in the chair, David did a really good job on this scrappy blue one. We had all but had this one legally caught, came up about 4 foot short from touching the leader before pulling the hook at the back of the boat. Memories forever made today for these youngsters and their Dads' today, a pretty cool job we have.

Am half day near shore charter with some really nice folks from Wallops Island Va. We had David, Tammy & Rebecca Hudson, Bill Verbeck, Becky and David Chew. It was a beautiful morning to spend on the water, but the fishing was painfully slow. Mr. David caught his very first fish today, so today was a Good Day indeed! We really enjoyed the company of this crew, please do come again.

On our pm half day near shore charter trip we found the ribbonfish! While these fish are pretty weird looking, they are very good eating. We had Wojciech, Sebastian & Patrick Palasz, Justin Kuzak, Jakub Nowk and Henry Teper from New Jersey. Another really enjoyable group of family and friends. Thank you for spending your afternoon with us.

We had an offshore charter trip with brothers Jay and Jamie Arrowood from W Va and Maryland today. First bite was a blue marlin right out of the gate but we ended up parting the leader very quickly. Baits back out and we started picking at a few yellowfin tuna. Caught a wahoo and lost another much bigger wahoo at the stern. We ended up with some fresher than fresh fillets and loins heading home with these fellas. Hope you had a good day, come see us again.

We went deep dropping and even managed a suprise yellowfin with Al Jones of Smithfield Va. Found some very nice blueline tilefish and we had a bonus yellowfin caught on the way in. Pretty sure this fella had a rabbits foot in his pocket! Thank you for coming out with us this morning, hope to see you again soon.

This offshore charter trip started out with a slick calm sea and drop dead gorgeous sunrise, He never fails to impress! We had Pat White, Kevin Knapp, Aaron Read and Gavin Helme Jr with us today. The tunas were very willing for the first hour or so, then it became a serious grass shagging morning. We ended up with some really nice classed yellowfins. Around noon we had a beautiful bite on our middle rigger that ended up being this blue marlin on our post. She gave a good show on top, then out and deep she went. We finally worked her along side for some pictures and a healthy release. Gavin did a good job on this fish, he listened and it paid off. Congratulations on your first blue marlin Gavin! It is customary to get thrown off the dock with your first billfish, the pictures prove that we're all about tradition around here. Even our mate Chris was captured by our dock partners on the Grandpa and sent into the creek. It was good to see Chris go overboard today, he's worked hard for this moment. Hope y'all had as good a day as we did. Come back and see us!

We did some deep dropping for blueline tilefish, black sea bass and trolled for some tuna. We had a group from Clyde Ohio with us today. Ben and Braylin Caudill, Dillon and MJ Obermyer and Nate Gittiger. The bottom fishing was steady and the sharks were horrendous on the troll for tuna, as our folks have witnessed for themselves. These tuna pull plenty hard as it is, put a hungry shark behind them and you'd just better hold on to that rod!!! Thank you for spending the day with us and we hope you enjoy the rest of your time here on the OBX.

Offshore with some local folks from Plymouth NC. We had Jaquan & Darrell Basnight Sr, Kwonliyah Flynn, Elijah Hill, Robert Gibbs and Elfentre Johnson, on a beautiful day spent in the ocean. These folks wanted good meat for the table, so we started out deep dropping bottom fishing for blueline tilefish. After getting the skunk out of the box good we set our spread out for some tuna, we had some great bites with reel burners for sure! There was the now expected strong dose of "endangered" sharks, so we paid our dues. We got 2 and 3/4 tunas out of a triple and a single at the very last minutes of the day. Be Warned: these are some hard pulling fish to begin with, add a shark or 12 behind them and you have a literal tiger by the tail. If you come fishing with us, be prepared to "get it done" when the the pin pops on the riggers till the fight is over. Our folks today did a good job and were rewarded with a great supply of "fresher than fresh" deep sea meat! Thank you folks for spending the day with us, hope to see ya again.

We had an offshore charter trip with Matt Deivert, Pete and Brittni Togni, Giacomo Buffo, Brian and Patrick Lucas from Northern Va. It was a very pretty ocean today, but the sharks were thick!!! We ended up with a citation 40lb bull mahi and a citation wahoo, a couple yellowfin tuna and some blackfin tuna to make the day. Miss Brittni had a beautiful yellowfin right to the back of the boat when 3 really very big sharks made a quick meal out of it. For anyone that believes sharks are endangered, please come tuna fishing out of Oregon Inlet NC and see what we fishermen already know. Thank ya'll for coming out with us today.

We had near shore half day charters with catches of mostly ribbonfish with spanish and king mackerel. Looks like ribbonfish are back on the menu. These fish are not what most folks expect to catch, but they are a mild white fish that is kind of a mix between flounder and trout. Fish tacos, fish cakes, fish dip and fried are the go to for these rascals!

6/23 our charter was with Pat Haley Jr, Pat Haley lll, Danny, Jake and Quinn Haley from Md.

6/24 AM Our charter was a special treat for us and a gentle reminder to not take this life for granted. We had Dylan Robertson, Zack Burgess, Rick Miller, RT Bonnett and Dale Robertson with us today. The young man with the florescent green shirt on had a heart transplant 3 years ago and is feeling ready for a fishing trip.

6/24 PM charter we had Chris Shilts, Ben and Holly Harman, Matt and Daley Harman from St Louis Mo and Md. Pretty quick paced fishing when they are willing to bite and you get close to them.

6/25 AM with Lee Hartel, John and Howard (Gumpy) Coon, Brian Blue and Jeremiah LaFrance from Northern Va.

6/25 PM afternoon with Rob, Traci, Jordan, Sam and Reece Amyx, with Sally Phelps from Orlando FL.

We ran offshore with a group of friends from Souderton Pa. We had Brian Gilbert, Fred Gerloff, Jeff Welch, Jamie Frank and Steve Rattigan with us. Well there was a really good bite, tunas, flying fish and carnage a plenty! These guy's got the day started off by biting the head off of flying fish that landed on deck running away from a wolfpack of yellowfins, then came the traditional taking a bite out of your first tuna's beating heart. I'm telling you these guys were either ruthless or they watch waaayyyyyy too much NATGEO! It always has amazed me how much the Ocean can change in a day or the sweep of a tide change. The way She works is obviously above the mind or creation of msn in my book. Yes these guys did an awesome job of taking direction and putting their heart into this day that will never be forgotten. As an extra bonus Brian took the shot at gaffing his first tuna ever and did it with a 100% dead on hit! You guys did great and earned the day you had. It was our pleasure just to be there with ya'll. Hope you enjoy all that fresh tuna and we certainly hope you'll come back to fish on the Wild Card.

We ran an offshore charter trip with Terri, Stu & Matt Crawford, Amber Adams, Johnathon & Donna Rice from Yorktown VA. "Some days you're the windshield, some days you're the bug." I felt like the bug this wet Saturday. It started out with a couple bites, with one solid yellowfin tuna that chafed through the leader right at the stern inches away from getting the gaff and coming aboard. After that disappointment we eventually scrapped out Miss Donna's first ever tuna, but it was a long day after that. Being humbled is part this World and it makes the days that come together even better. Even a slow wet day fishing is still better than sitting at a desk all day!

We were able to organize a great make-up group looking to have a good time on an offshore charter. I'm pretty sure we succeeded with that request. We had Jim and Alex Webster from NY State, Dustin and Terry Partridge also from NY State and Kyle Gray from DE. It actually started slow for us today but then we finally found some "fertile" water. I can't remember a prettier day on the ocean than today. Fella's thank you for coming with us today and we hope to see ya'll again. Enjoy that fresh yellowfin tuna!

Great offshore charter experience with Glenn and Paolo Bailey from Ft Meyers FL. Catching their first yellowfin tuna was the focus of the day. This father/son team fish a lot but hadn't had the experience of a yellowfin tuna yet. It was a rainy, slow bite kind of a day. We lost a few fish, but these gentlemen know the extreme pull of a tuna now! Hope you enjoy your fresh tuna loins. Thank you for spending this rainy day with us.

We had an excellent offshore charter with a crew from Roanoke Va. We had Jason Markle, Matt Martin, Jared Craft, Caleb Craft and Carl Craft. We had enough action through the day to keep us on our toes. We lost a couple fish due to pulled hooks, but Hallelujah none to sharks today! A very nice class of yellowfin tuna and we were happy to meet the acquaintance of each one. Hope you fellas enjoyed your day and those fresh tuna loins.

We had an awesome offshore makeup charter trip with some old friends and hopefully some new ones. We had Sidney Tyler and Ricky Freeman from Prince George Va, Max Miller and Kieth Stoller from Ohio with us today. I was a very pretty day out there today, clear sunshine sky with very little wind. We started out with a pretty quick bite, without any shark attacks yeah!!!! We lost a few fish but we had some really nice bites too. So it was a good day for us to spend offshore time together. Hope you guys enjoy your fresh tuna, see ya again soon!

Great near shore afternoon charter with the ladies and we for sure had a good time. We had Michelle Phifer from Anaconda Montana, Lisa & Maddi Saghi from Corolla NC and Kelle Machiran from Baltimore Md. Miss Michelle ended up with a 7 pound NC Citation spanish mackeral! I believe there must be something in the water this year, so many back to back trips with some of the most enjoyable folks with us. Thank you young ladies for making our day special, hope to see ya'll back!

We enjoyed our near shore half day morning charter with a family group from Aurora Ohio. We had Andy, Jake, Kyle, Matthew and Scotty Hauptner. The spanish mackerel and bluefish were willing to make the trip back home with our crew. Thank you guys, hope to see ya again.

We enjoyed our half day near shore charter with some of our yearly folks. We had Charles, Mallory, Joseph and Makenna Serman from Chisfield Md, also Tom and Lisa Rudis ftom Currituck NC. The both pictures are Joseph and Makenna today and last year. Fishing was nothing less than good for us today, the Spanish Mackerel were "willing"!!! Thank you guys for becoming some of our generational charter customers. We had a very good time with y'all, enjoy that fresh fish!

We had a great offshore/inshore charter with some folks from Cleveland Ohio. We had Jack and Jack Peak, Matt and Luke Swiger and Robert Kane with us today. Started out with a very strong 5 banger tuna bite, but the sharks were there too and we got one out of the five. Set back out got hit again, but the sharks made short work of that flurry too. Ended up with a double bite and they allowed us to have one, Bless their Hearts! We did catch a couple nice mahi, before heading back inshore. We ended up catching some requested blues and spanish mackerel. We even pulled out a "citation" size Spanish mackerel for Jack! Really was a pleasure meeting and fishing with you folks. Please do come back again.

We enjoyed a PM 3/4 day charter trip with a family/friend group from Globe Arizona. We had John, Emily and Tiina Perlman and family friend Emily Belvado for a much better inshore bite than this morning. These folks were "all about it" when it came down to bringing fish home for dinner. Very nice folks indeed, hope to see ya'll again!

We had a morning half day near shore charter with Rob Florio, Bob Holmwood, Nick Miles, Maverick Patten, Griffin Vandy and Tom VonBank from Colorado and Ohio. The bite wasn't as good as I was hoping for but these fella's seemed to be enjoying the morning fishing together. Hope ya'll enjoy the rest of your time in the OBX.

We had a spectacular offshore charter trip with a family group that proved to be very special in ambition as first time Gulf Stream fishermen. We had Sam, Jean, Seth, Ava, Julia and Madison Tucker from Birmingham Alabama. The day started out with a good pre-dawn ride out, getting hooked up very quickly after putting baits in the water. Didn't take long to find out what this crowd was made of. No matter how many of them it took on a rod those fish were coming home! To say I had a very enjoyable day being around them would be an understatement. I was extremely impressed with how respectful and fun these youngsters were with their parents and us. It appears that Mom and Dad did a great job here. Please do come back again, very honored to be your "first" Captain and Boat.

We enjoyed a half day near shore charter with a family group from Erwin Tenn. We had Mark, Michelle and Mathew Ledford and Rheanne Smith with us. All I can say is that it started out looking like we were going to get a box full, but the bite quit as quick as it started! I have to say these were some very personable folks to spend a morning with. Hope ya'll enjoy your time here on the OBX.

We enjoyed our half day near shore charter with some really nice folks from Acworth Georgia. We had Leo, Karly and Josh Smith, Ryan Bellomy and Patrick Fellers with us for a very enjoyable time fishing in the calm water. The fish don't have to be huge to have a good time with your family. Thank you for spending the morning with us, we hope to see you folks again. Enjoy your time on the OBX!

We headed offshore with Jeff and Kayla Delia, Lance and Leah Abbott and Chase Furlough from Greenville and Roper NC. A boat load of homefolks and we all had a good day. Started catching some blackfin tuna and yellowfin tuna, but the neighborhood sharks started working on us pretty hard and took one particularly nice yellowfin tuna from us. Once we got out of that area it was late morning and the fog started setting in pretty good with a lot of boats in close quarters and the NE breeze they were calling for showed up too. We ended up with some pretty quick action, that our crew did a really good job on and got some nice yellowfin tuna in the box. The last bite of the day was picture perfect hard hit on the port middle rigger, except the tuna bit the bait off right behind the hook! Bumpy ride in but we're no worse for the wear. Thank ya'll for fishing with us, please don't be strangers stop by any time.

We finally made it back out on a charter trip for the first time this year Sunday and it felt good! We didn't load the boat but made good on all bites for the day. We found a really nice class of yellowfin tuna that gave us some pretty hard strikes. It never gets old hearing drags scream and line being stripped off our reels. Come see us if you can, Frank.

The tuna fishing is as good as it gets on the OBX right now! The Wild Card is currently not in Wanchese, but that can be remedied in a few hours if we see any interest in folks wanting to fish. Just tossing this out there. Also contact us now if you want to get your name on a list for a potential makeup trip while the action is hot.