While on vacation at OBX with family, the Minn. men wanted to try fishing.  Capt Bud asked what we wanted and did he deliver.  Being in a stubborn stretch of cold weather he suggested we drive to find warmer productive water to catch enough for some good eating.  We had 11 keepers and numerous throw backs.  Our group of 12 had 2 great meals of Speckled Trout.  The drive to a remote boat access was a pleasant experience to see North Carolina Agriculture land.  Glad we followed his suggestions because he was the great guide we had hoped to find!

We had a great day fishing with Captain Stephen!!  Started off loading up on live bait then headed out for some Speckled Trout.  Captain Stephen worked hard to get us in the right areas and by the time we were finished we had reeled in about 25-30 trout with 13 solid keepers.  We had a great time and will definitely look to book this charter again next year!!

This is our 3rd year to fish with Mott Ridge. Weather was tough, high wind, rough water. Capt Stephen didn’t let that deter him.  He kept at it until he put us on the fish. Very friendly and personable.  You have many choices of boats to fish with. The 3 of us got our limit. If you want a great experience, Mott Ridge is the right choice. Looking forward to 2025 with them

What a great fishing trip, even for the off season. Bud took us out of Plymouth for Stripers that were still deep in the bay since the ocean was still quite cold. Unfortunately our trip was cut short by a thunderstorm but we still caught 5 and lost just as many. Bud knew the fishing area well, guided our casts, and was very gracious with the lost tackle as we were fishing over submerged stump fields. Bud also graciously charged us for the portion of the trip we were able to get in before the storm.
It was a very fun trip and a great fishing experience.

This is now the second time I’ve been out with captain Bud. There are a lot of fishing charters that will take any tourist that comes down the pike out for a quick buck and do not care if you catch fish or not. This is not one of those charters. Last year I went out and caught fish until I was too tired to reel. Bluefish, striper, reds and more speckled trout than you can imagine. This year I wanted my girlfriend to have this incredible experience. We went out before the sunrise (because he wants to put you on fish and that’s when the fishing is good). We fished popping corks and topwater over grass beds and got into some incredible red drum. We are talking 15 pound fish on light tackle 8 pound test. Highlight of my trip was my girlfriend (novice-intermediate angler) catching the biggest red of the day and landing it. Then we ran over to another spot and got into an absolute speckled trout frenzy. A fish every cast. Several times we were tripled up on trout. We are talking a 2 man limit in 15 min or so. Fish on top. Fish on corks. Light tackle.

All this set aside, captain Bud is a good guy. He is from here/grew up here and knows these waters like the back of his hand. He is constantly working the conditions and the situation to give you the best experience. He wants you to catch fish as much as you want to catch fish.  Like I said, I will probably never go out with any other charter.