It's not always rough!
May 25, 2025 Hampstead 1 photo
Spanish Mackerel
Spanish Mackerel
Bonito
Bonito
King Mackerel (Kingfish)
King Mackerel (Kingfish)
Dolphin (Mahi Mahi)
Dolphin (Mahi Mahi)

Trip Summary

Ali and his crew booked an 8-hour day for Memorial Day. The weather was looking a little unsettled for the Monday, but Sunday was looking amazing with light winds and slight seas. Fortunately, we all had some flexibility and rescheduled the trip to take advantage of a gorgeous day on the ocean. The weather forecast was dead-on, and we rolled out into a gentle, 1-to-2 foot seas which allowed us to run at a comfortable speed out to one of my spots about 28 miles offshore. I've been itching to try this spot this season, but the weather hasn't been too accommodating. The water temps are still in the low-mid 70s, which is perfect for kings, cobia, and other early season fish. I figured it's still a little cool for dolphin (mahi), but you never know! There weren't many signs of life when we arrived on the site. I didn't see birds or baitfish, and the sonar wasn't showing much underneath us either. Nevertheless, I got some cigar minnows out on the light lines and settled in to start working the area. Ali and his crew are experienced pier fishermen, but were eager to extend their experience to offshore trolling. Like most of my offshore customers, they were really focused on the possibility of mahi, so I tried to keep their expectations realistic. I guess Mother Nature thought it would be funny to prove me wrong, and the first solid strike turned out to be a nice, slinger dolphin! Ben was first up, but after a couple of minutes, the fish threw the hook. Just as it did, though, another line went off. Ali grabbed this one, and after a sensational battle, the mahi came aboard and into the ice. Dolphin move in schools and feed together, and no more had I put the baits back out, we picked up a third fish. Seth took this one, and it was a tough fight. I'm guessing this was a hefty, male dolphin by the way it fought. Unfortunately, after plenty of sweat equity, the hooks came out and the fish took off. Things slowed down after that. The school must have moved off and I could not pick them up again. I kept us in the general area, but eventually spread out to the series of ledges hoping for a king, cobia, or even an amberjack. As I was watching some boats bottom fishing nearby, the downrigger rod started screaming. This had to be a king mackerel! Ali was first to the rod and I could tell when he lifted it up that he was in for a fight. However, the fish wasn't acting like a king anymore. It was thrashing some, but Ali said it felt like he was pulling dead weight. I was afraid we'd traded the king for a shark, but told him to keep at it until we got it in. After some time, Ali reeling and me moving the boat to close the circle, the fish finally came to the surface... sideways. The hooks had slipped out of the king's mouth and dug into his belly. I held my breath as Ali pulled him closer, hoping the hook would hold until I could get a gaff into him. Thankfully, it did! After that, things really slowed down. Most of the boats that had been in the area were leaving by this point, but I wanted to keep at it. I won't deny, I was hoping to get some more mahi action. That didn't happen though. After we'd covered several miles of ocean without so much as a good strike, I asked if the guys wanted to relocate... possibly moving close to the beach to put some meatfish in the cooler. The Spanish mackerel are running hard, and I figured this would be a nice addition to a mahi and a king. They agreed and we made a long, fairly smooth run back to the beach. The guys wanted to try jigging for the Spanish, so I set them up near the inlet. There were fish everywhere, but they did not seem to be interested in the jigs. Ali even tried a Rapala, but it was no go. Finally, I offered to set out the Clark spoons and do some trolling. By the time the lines were out, I was deeper than I wanted to be, but before I could turn the boat one of the rods went over hard. It looked a lot stronger than a Spanish, and when Ben got it in closer, I could see it was an Atlantic bonito. I was surprised to see that so late in the season.. and then surprised again when Ali pulled in another one. I made a few circles hoping for more, but the school must have moved off. There was no time to think about it, though, because suddenly we were into the Spanish. I was only running three lines, and two of them were constantly hooked up. After boating an even dozen Spanish, Ali said they had enough and were ready to go. That's always a good sign! Overall, we had a heck of a day and the season is just getting cranked up!
Phillip Loughlin
Hampstead, North Carolina, United States
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Katfish Kayak And Fishing Adventures have a simple motto: If you don’t want someone to bring the fish to you, let them take you to the fish. They offer traditional fishing charters but also provide a mothership for Kayak fishermen. They can take you...

Other reports from this charter

Busy week - mixed fishing
Busy week - mixed fishing
July 31, 2025
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.
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Getting the youngsters on some fish and
Getting the youngsters on some fish and
June 22, 2025
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!
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