The dog days of summer can make for tough fishing. Getting out early, being flexible, and staying positive are critical tactics to put fish in the boat (and on the table). Had two groups this weekend, with different expectations and plans. First, we had Marie, Mike, and their youngsters, Eli and Emma. Here on vacation from West Virginia, the main goal of the trip was to have a new experience... offshore fishing. Marie told me that they would like to have some tasty fish to cook up while on their vacation as well. We chose to keep it simple and do some fast-trolling for Spanish and King mackerel along the beaches. With a lot of bait nearshore, there was a good chance that the fish would cooperate. We had to cover a little territory, but once we found the fish, the excitement was on! We put 11 Spanish mackerel on ice, along with a cutlass fish (ribbonfish). Eli almost topped it off with a nice king mackerel, but the fish made a run under the boat and broke the line. We all finished the half-day trip with smiles. The second group had to reschedule from the Saturday trip, due to rough weather, so we booked them for the afternoon. This group, Jessica and Adam, and Kristin and Joe, are from here in North Carolina, but are new to offshore fishing. The initial plan was to go 15-20 miles out in search of dolphin (mahi-mahi) and big king mackerel. The group was most interested in catching fish and having fun, but not so much in filling the ice box. We got out to the first stopping point, but did not see much indication of fish on surface. Due to the heat, the fish were deep and lethargic. I knew that, with patience, they would start feeding as the afternoon temperatures started to fall. The sea conditions were really nice, but there was a solid ground swell rolling through every 7 or 8 seconds. On a hot day, these slow rollers are a challenge for some fishermen, and it didn't take long before we found that it was too much for some of the crew. We changed the plan, ran back toward the mainland. Sometimes it helps to get back in sight of land, and fast trolling is easier for some people to tolerate than the slow grind of live bait fishing. In this case, it definitely helped, so we pulled spoons for Spanish, and I watched some of the crew's color return to "normal". It took a little while as the afternoon temperature finally started to abate, but then we got into the fish and everyone got pretty busy. We caught a handful of Spanish for the crew to take home, along with some more ribbonfish. As the sun set, we pointed the boat back to the dock. As we entered the inshore waters, the last of the seasickness left and everyone was cheerful and excited by the time we tied up and sent everyone home.