I'm never confident with easterly or northeasterly winds, even when it's just a breeze. But Thursday morning felt so nice, cool, and calm when I pulled away from the dock, so I was sure we were in for an epic day. I collected my client crew in Surf City and headed out with plans to run offshore and find some mahi. I hadn't gone far out of Topsail inlet before I realized that "light" breeze must have been blowing all night and had kicked up a sloppy cross swell. It was just enough to slow me down and make me realize that I didn't really want to pound through this for 25 or 30 miles. The crew was still all smiles in the back of the boat, although they'd taken a couple of splashes in the chilly morning air. I changed my plan and stopped us on the AR about 8 miles out. I was hoping we might pick up a king or two over the reef, or at least a shark or barracuda to make things interesting. If the wind died down, we could make the rest of the run. Otherwise, we could work this area and move nearshore to some of the other ledges and rocks. I put out a couple of cigar minnows, one right on top, one on a jig head to run a foot or two deep, and one on the downrigger. We hadn't been trolling long when I saw the first taps on the top line and knew we'd found the needlefish. If you know, you know, but needlefish can be a mixed blessing. The bigger ones can be exciting to catch. They jump and skip the water like a sailfish, and for something so streamlined, they can pull pretty hard too. But they're also notorious for missing the hooks and just slashing at the baits with those long, toothy jaws. You can free spool and try to feed them to hook up, but even then they get away more often than they get hooked. In no time they had ripped up three or four cigar minnows. I put on a couple of ballyhoo instead, since they're more durable, but the needlefish ripped them up too. We eventually managed to catch two, including one real monster that was easily over four feet. I think the crew enjoyed that, and the constant strikes certainly kept everyone excited, but after a while it just got annoying (and I was starting to worry about my bait supply). I decided to make a move. Since the wind was not showing much inclination to slow down, I opted to move us inshore to some ledges a couple miles off the beach. I figured we could at least find some action with the sharpnose sharks, and maybe a big Spanish or a stray king. It turned out to be the right call, as one of the crew had started turning a little green and would probably have really struggled with the 12 or 15 mile ride offshore. As it was, there was some light chumming action when we stopped to fish the nearshore ledges. The conditions were a little better nearshore, but slow trolling was not helping our fellow back aft with his mal de mer. We picked up one small shark and trolled a bit more over good marks, but I felt pretty bad for the poor guy and thought he might do better if we switched up to trolling for Spanish off the beach. I ran us in to about 30' of water and put out the Clark spoons and planers. Trolling on a zigzag, with the swell and wind kept things pretty smooth, and the faster pace kept a nice breeze across the cockpit. Everyone started feeling better, and we picked at some various fish, including a couple of undersized Spanish, a few lizard fish, and some nice-sized blues. We even caught a ladyfish, which was a first for me on Clark spoons. Finally, we started to hook a much nicer class of Spanish as we worked along Figure 8. It was scattered, and we struggled to get some fish all the way into the boat, but by the time we got to Wrightsville Beach we were starting to get into some good schools. Unfortunately, time was almost up. I was fine with letting the trip run over, but they had to be back so I didn't work the schools as I'd have liked to. Nevertheless, by the time we pulled the lines in at Masonboro inlet, they had seven keepers on ice. This worked out, since the crew wasn't really looking for a whole cooler full of fish anyway. The run back up the waterway was beautiful, with very little traffic on a Thursday afternoon. I got them back to Surf City about an hour later than scheduled, but they had plenty of time to get to their dinner plans. Overall, it was a fun, young crew to have aboard. I think everyone had a chance to fight some kind of fish, and they were all tired, but smiling, as we said our goodbyes.

I've fallen off on my reports lately. Between fishing trips and other business, I haven't had a lot of time for updates... but there are updates to make! First of all, the Spanish mackerel have been a little finicky the past few trips. On our Kid's Fun Trip last Saturday, we couldn't seem to get rid of the bluefish long enough to get a Spanish on the line. That's not a bad problem to have, as the group was catching fish and they really weren't interested in bringing any home to eat. On Tuesday of last week, we ran a 3/4 day trip with Kyle and his boys. You couldn't have asked for a prettier day with calm seas and light winds almost all day long. This enabled us to run out 25-30 miles to hit some of our distant spots. Out there we were able to pick up a couple of mahi before the needlefish moved in. Needlefish can be fun to catch as they like to jump and run all over the place, but they're not for the table. They also tend to take over an area when they show up. As we were bringing one of the needlefish to the boat, something erupted underneath it and a huge barracuda came out and cut the fish clean in half. The 'cuda circled back to get the other half, and I was able to put a bait right in front of him. He struck and the fight was on. This barracuda must have thought he was part sailfish because he jumped and flipped and put on one heck of a battle before the young fisherman was finally able to haul him to the boat. We released the fish in the water (they smell really bad so I didn't want him on the deck), but I would estimate that big boy easily at 40 pounds. As usual around noon, the fishing started to slow. We hit a few more spots and then I suggested we go nearshore and see if the Spanish mackerel wanted to cooperate. We were technically out of time, but I thought I'd extend the trip at least long enough so the guys could catch enough to make a good dinner for the family. Fortunately, once we found a good school, we were able to sling several fish onto the ice. Our final trip on Thursday, another 3/4 trip ran into one challenge after another. The clients wanted mahi and maybe kings, and I figured we had pretty good odds based on the offshore conditions previously in the week. We got off to a great start with nice conditions for a run out to some ledges about 27 miles offshore. I had been watching the weather for a couple of days, but the forecast looked good after some early morning thunderstorms moved offshore. At first I thought the forecast was actually right, for once, but we had not been trolling long when I could see storm cells lining up across the horizon. We hoped they'd go on by, but when the wind and rain started to really pick up, I decided to try to run to another spot where radar showed clear skies. Unfortunately, these summer squalls come up fast, and by the time we reached the new location, more storms were surrounding us. With some lightning in the air, I made the call to run back close to shore and see if conditions were better there. It took a while, but as we got closer to the beach, the wind died down and it stopped raining. I put out the Clark Spoons for some Spanish, but we weren't having a lot of luck. We got into some small fish and some blues, but the big boys just weren't having any of it. The water was pretty murky and we had fairly heavy cloud cover, so I'm guessing they just weren't feeding heavily. We trolled about fifteen miles, picking up little Spanish and blues, as well as some unusually small false albacore (something I don't recall ever seeing before). At the end of the day I think everyone had a great time, along with the adventure of running before the storm. Everyone had the opportunity to reel in fish, even if the fish weren't really what we were hoping for. Some days are like that, though. As I've said before, if I could swim down and put a trophy on the hook for you, I would do it in a heartbeat. But it's a big ocean and fish have their own schedules. Like many captains, I'm pretty good at figuring them out, but sometimes Nature is just going to win.

I think one of my favorite things about running charters is getting the kids out on the water. They're always good for a surprise, whether it's handling rough seas or finding the fun in silly things... making up a fish dance, for example, or spotting things that some of us adults might take for granted. They're always curious and always learning. This is why I created our three-hour "Kids Trip" charters. This past Sunday, we had two kids' trips, back-to-back. It made for a long day, but it was a very good one! Our morning group was a rescheduled Father's Day gift, due to an iffy weather report on Father's Day. The wind and seas were about as nice as you could ask for, with just enough breeze to keep it from getting too hot, but not enough to chop up the gentle swell. These guys weren't really interested in keeping fish to eat. They just wanted to get out and catch some fish, spend time on the water, and have a fun morning. This is just what we did! I dropped the Clark spoons back as soon as we cleared the inlet, trolling south in 20-30 feet of water. With water temps near the mid-80s, I knew the fishing wouldn't be fast and furious, but there were plenty of hungry Spanish mackerel around to keep it from getting too boring. 13 year-old Mason did the bulk of the fishing, while his 5 year-old brother, Carson, explored the boat, ate lots of Sour Patch Kids, and basically had a blast. He'd occasionally ask to reel in a fish and was generally obliged. I think Dad had a great time just watching his boys do their thing, and he did a great job keeping them engaged during the lulls. As we wrapped up the trip, the catch was well over 20 Spanish mackerel, with a couple of blues and lizard fish for good measure. Our second trip of the day, with Chris, his the two youngsters, Stella and Solomon , and their granddad was just as much fun. The afternoon wind had kicked up as it usually does this time of year, so the seas were a bit choppy, but I don't think they even noticed once we got the lines in the water. There was some good-natured sibling rivalry as each child claimed a rod. Dad and grandpa played supporting roles, cheering the kids on with each fish. I'm afraid I lost track of the scoreboard, but they both did a pretty good job... especially considering how bumpy the ocean was getting. Stella definitely got the big fish of the day with a chunky Spanish, but Solomon made up for size with numbers. By the time we brought in the lines to come in, they had 15 Spanish on ice with a couple of shorts that we had to throw back, several bluefish (also released), and a couple of bonus lizard fish. I'd seen a lot of menhaden pods around, so I dropped a cedar plug way back, just as a Hail, Mary, in case a cobia or king was lurking around all that bait. Chris claimed that rod for himself. Sadly, that one didn't score for us on this trip, but I think just knowing it was out there added to the overall excitement of the day. I will always love running way offshore to chase big game fish, but it's hard to beat a day right off the beach with excited kids hauling in the Spanish mackerel. It's a reminder not to take the simpler times for granted. I know, for me, it will never get old!