Found some nice scamps, giant blueline tiles, and snowy groupers in the deep today. Thanks Don and Fred for your help.

Had a day full of laughs and bent rods.  Loved it.

That was a nice one. Fun day but we had to work for them.

First cobia trip of the year turned out pretty OK. We also released one that was just legal for seed.

There is only one way to describe the fishing right now and that word is epic. Limit catches of snapper, grouper, triggers, etc. Just yesterday we packed the boat and were headed for the dock before 2:00 to have our 533 lb. catch filleted.
Grouper are chewing and the big gags have moved in a bit. The big red grouper are moving off to the break a bit but are also feeding well. The cobia are becoming more numerous, the b-liner fishing is ridiculous good, the giant hubcap sized triggers are jumping on top bottom rigs 2 at a time.... it doesn't get much better than that. If bottom fishing isn't your style, the cooling waters are firing up the jig bite and the wahoo and blackfin action is off to a fantastic start.

I have dates open , even on some of the upcoming weekends, so, make room in your freezer, get your crew together and give me a shout. Here is a quick shot of the triggers from yesterday to wet your appetite.

The last few trips have been strange to say the least. Dirty water, strong current, no current , clean water, hungry dolphin, no dolphin, tons of huge seabass, tons of small seabass, big grouper, no grouper, triggers on top of triggers with no b-liners one day, b-liner on top of b-liner the next with very few triggers. I have to say the last 4 or so trips have me scratching my head.

That being said, I actually like having to work things out on the water. Everybody has been heading home with plenty of meat, but it seems when I plan where and what I plan to do that day gets thrown right out the window. I wish i had a better handle on what transpired, but , nope, still scratching my head. Maybe it is a "Once in blue moon" thing?

Sorry I don't have many pictures but I did manage to snap a couple of yesterday's grouper cherries getting busted in a big way. One pegged out the 30 pound Boga grip, and the other was just under a full pull at 29 lbs. They were some heavy weights for sure. Had 3 youngsters on the boat this week as well and I have to say there is nothing better than watching the next generation of fisherman and the future of our sport get wore slam out cranking fish.

All I can say is that if you never did a Military Appreciation Day Event, ....DON'T MISS ANOTHER YEAR !!! I was contacted by a former Marine Bryan Pichford about treating some Marines to a day offshore and he generously stepped up and offed to cover the trip. These guys and gals put their lives on the line for all of us, get moved from place to place, make modest livings, and ask for little in return. Bryan is a MAD veteran and was as excited as me to meet the troops and show them our appreciation. We both knew that this was gonna be one of those trips that you will never forget.

We headed out of the inlet about 6am. with a prompt, courteous, respectful, and polite group of 4 Marines and everything couldn't have went smoother. The ocean greeted us with calm seas and a show complete with waterspouts, rainbows, rain clouds and sunshine....all at the same time. We ran offshore of the storms and enjoyed the show as we sat in flat seas for our first drop.

The first drop was a warm up to get the guys used to the equipment, learn their way around the boat. They soon enough had the brine tank filling up with some nice triggers and had all played catch and release with some nice starter sized amberjacks and almacos. After bringing up triggers 2 at a time it was time to take the guys for a little ride on the "Pain Train". We pushed out a bit deeper and came across the marks I was looking for. The guys all rotated through some nice sized Jacks and almacos on the jigs. One brave Marine tried doing 2 in a row and collapsed to the deck after #2. We released a bunch and threw a couple in the brine tank to be enjoyed on the grill in the future.

After having more than enough triggers and pulling on Aj's, we made a run to the Black Seabass grounds and the guys went to work filling out their limits with some excellent sized seabass, and some other tasty critters as well. The group had a blast bringing up the groceries on those stops. I wish I took some pictures of the nice ones you fellas put on ice!

I gotta tell ya, I am a better person after meeting all these fine men. I was amazed at how this group acted as true Brothers in every sense. They cheered each other on during the fights, helped each other selflessly, baiting hooks, removing hooks, counting fish, cutting baits, whatever was needed by one, the rest were there. Their respect for each other and their politeness and obedience to the Captain will never be forgotten, it was a stark reminder of just how much out men and women in the armed forces will put themselves aside for the benefit of others. I cannot Thank them all enough, and a special Thanks to Bryan Pitchford for bringing the group together. Spending a day on the water with you all is something I will never forget. Enjoy the couple of hundreds of pounds of delicious fish you fellas put aboard, and I am sure your friends and families back at base will all enjoy the bounty, because, one thing I am sure of is that you guys know how to share and bring joy to other people's lives. Also a big Thanks to all the volunteers who put this all together from the organizers, to the cooks, and the fish cleaning volunteers.

Thanks again for giving me a day I will never forget !

Here is the species count from yesterday's combo trip.

Mahi
Wahoo
Cobia
Grouper
Silver Snapper
Vermillion Snapper
Giant Black Seabass
Atlantic Sharpnose Sharks
                                                                 Grunts
                                                                 Bank Seabass
                                                                 Sand Tilefish
                                                                 Trigger fish
                                                                 Almaco / Amberjack

It was a beautiful weather day and we made a quick run to the break and had our first knockdown before the spread was even all out. We worked off to the deep catching a nice class of gaffer mahi along the way. Worked a deep offshore ledge and had a stud wahoo smoke the long rod and put up a damn good fight until he was subdued with a pair of gaffs. We picked up some more gaffers and 2 more smaller wahoo as we headed back in shallower to do some bottom dropping. Close to lunch time we put the trolling rods away, and broke out the anchor and Spinal Jigging rods.
The bottom fishing was drop and reel. Ed managed a cobia and Alan nabbed a nice Graysby grouper. We had to release a ton of nice seabass, however, June 1st. is right around the corner and it is gonna be a bad time to be a seabass.

Days like today make me really love my job. Calm seas, hungry fish, and cold beer at the end of the day. The guys collected a couple hundred pounds of meat for their efforts, and are ready to do it again. I am totally amazed at the fishery we have down here. I hear about all the trips to Florida and other "Sportfishing Meccas", (and all those places that require a fat wallet and a passport), and I shake my head wondering what the attraction is? I have to say that North Carolina is where it is at, especially on a budget. Don't believe me? I have some dates available and would love to show ya what I mean.

I saw a lot of posts about Tuesdays weather, and all I can say is that there was some weather out there.

I had Eric and his Father, Eric's friend Bill, John and Jim hop on for some fishing. In an effort to put us in a position to hit a couple spots on the way in for cobia and grouper I headed down the beach to the low 400's and found blended 75 degree water. Looking for a nice class of fish we skipped over the first break and set them out in 50 fathoms. We had to look around a little but soon we found them and they pretty much ate everything.At this point someone turned on the fan. It was a gentle 10 to 15 breeze when we set them out, but now, it decided to really start puffing.

We ineffectively worked the area but it became increasingly hard to keep the spread over the fish due to the now 20 kts. of wind out of the NE against the current. John did manage a beautiful personal best bull dolphin that measured out at 57 inches. We worked our way out of the hot current in an effort to get a better angle for the trip home and looked right along the break for wahoo. The seas were much better once we came in shallow to about 200 ft., but the fishing was slow. We picked off a few more dolphins and wahoo just as the weather got itself right.

Stopped to do a bit of jigging for cobia and grouper and Jim managed a nice gag and Bill caught an amberjack. We ended the day with I believe 14 mahi, 4 wahoo, amberjack and a gag. It wasn't stellar by any means, but the crew toughed out the conditions and have a good bit of meat for the freezer. The class of dolphin was real nice and we only had one slinger sized fish.

Jumped aboard Miss Beulah for a day of Mahi abuse. The gaffers have assaulted our beautiful blue 78 degree water, and we did our best to run them off. We fished a beautiful color change in about 30 fathoms and it was constant action until about noon when the flat seas and the boat traffic turned the fishing off. Nothing better than watching nice gaffers cutting water to eat everything in your spread. It was a picture perfect weather day, sunny upper 70's and flatter than a ballerina. We had a pair of billfish come to play but they faded off after a couple pokes.

It is incredible fishing right now on the troll, and the grouper are patiently waiting on the bottom for their chance to get a ride on my SeaCraft. After 84 gaffers and a couple wahoo in 2 days fishing I am about to leave the trolling stuff at the house and go play with the Groupers. I did find a new use for my Spinal Jigging rods however.......mahi trolling !!!

I brought along a Spinal 300 gram acid wrapped rod equipped with a Talica 12-2 speed and sent it out in the spread with a Monkalure and kept it tight to the transom since I only had a short topshot and didn't want the braid to slice though the other lines while we were fighting multiples. I kept the drag tight and popped the lure in the wash and it was game on. What a blast to fight those gaffers on a light outfit instead of a Tiagara 50w. I think I now on my combo jigging and trolling trips I am not gonna have to wash so many outfits because my Talica /Spinal jig sticks were perfect for the trolling job at hand, and excel when it comes to hitting the bottom.

For all you popping fans, now is the time to come down and catch these nice mahi on stickbaits. There are plenty around and they will be here for quit a while. We are also seeing a better showing of breaking blackfin tuna after a spring which was less than average.

I was a busy fella and didn't have a chance to get many pictures, but here are a couple to wet your appetite.