The Native Son Fishing Report

Lake Mattamuskeet Youth Hunt

2011-11-26T10:40:00.001-05:00

D-mans first Swan

The days results

This is my son Dylan with his bounty for the day at Lake Mattamuskeet youth hunt. He had a great day shooting his first Swan, two Gadwall, a drake Widgeon and a drake green wing Teal. Good going D-man I'm proud of you.Thanks uncle Brian.

Big Fat Wahoos

2011-11-19T21:33:00.001-05:00

Pair of citation Wahoo's! 40 and 65 lb.s

Marshall's first citation Wahoo of the day

Steve's 65 pounder

Marshall's Sailfish form August

Steve and Marshall Wilson from Springfield,Va. fished with us today. It was our first charter since hurricane Irene.Funny thing is that Steve and Marshall were our last trip before the storm. The fishing today over all was scrappy. We had lots of bites but the fish were not very aggressive today. The count was probably 4 for 16 on the wahoos as well as pulling off a couple nice yellow fin.We wound up with four Wahoo three of them were citation size. Steve caught a 65 pounder and Marshall caught a 40 and 43 pounder. That makes three citations for Marshall in their last two trips. He caught a sailfish with us in August. He's going to have a wall full of them if he keeps it up. Some of the boats that went searching for tunas had decent catches of black fins. The king mackerel fishing turned on this afternoon and the guys did really well with that also. The fish are here, where are you? Come on down and see us, the fall fishing is getting cranked up.

Looks like a beautiful weekend

2011-10-19T11:34:00.002-04:00

Hey guys, it looks like a great weekend for the weather. We've got the boat home and all back together and ready to go fishing. There have been lot's of wahoo and a few dolphin and tuna around lately. The king mackerel have made a good showing this week as well , right on time for them to get here. We have plenty of open days so come on down and spend a day with us. If you need a place to stay the cottage is open as well. 252-216-5565 is the number to best reach me on. Hope to see some of you soon.

Hatteras Is Open For Business, Finally!!

2011-10-12T10:35:00.000-04:00

Hwy. 12 reopened Monday evening at 6:00. Man what a welcome sight it was. You can get here to go fishing now so come on and try to get a group together. The wahoo fishing was as good as it gets a couple days ago. One boat had his limit of them in three hours. The tuna fishing has been good on several days as well. Looks like a great fall shaping up.

FINALLY !!!!

Give me a call and lets get a fall fishing trip set up. Call me on my cell 252-216-5565 since that is usually with me at all times anymore. Hope to hear from some of you.

Road should be open soon

2011-10-04T11:28:00.000-04:00

The long awaited highway to and from the island will be finished within the next week we hope. They are saying the 10th of Oct. Hopefully they will start letting people back on here around the 15th. They will need a few days just to get supplies in to the stores and lumber and building supplies to the lumber yards and homes of the people who are needing them to rebuild. I myself am waiting on 30 squares of shingles to redo my roof. Kind of hard to get them here on the ferry.
I was planning on bringing the boat back to the island on Monday but my father in law had a bad accident on his boat Saturday and had to be air lifted off the island to Greenville so my plans got changed. I may go the beginning of next week and get her so we can be ready to go when the road opens. I have plenty of available days through the end of the year. The fishing has been good for the few charters that have been run. Everyone here sure could use the business.
I'll make another post in a few days to update everyone on the status of the road and being able to get here. Hope to hear from some of you out there in the real world.

Temporary Bridge Update

2011-09-25T11:17:00.001-04:00

http://nc12repairs.blogspot.com/
Click on this link to keep up with the bridge and road updates. We are getting along over here and there is a little offshore fishing going on. It has been really good for the few who have been fortunate enough to have a charter here. The wahoo and dolphin have been good along with some nice Blackfin tuna and a few Yellowfin tuna mixed in. There have been some sails around as well. Looks like it will be some great fishing when you can get here. One group that traveled here to fish a couple days ago took 14 hours to get here instead of 3 that it usually takes. The only way on is by ferry from Swan Quarter or Cedar Island then through Ocracoke. In some cases these are booked for weeks.
I have been wanting to update my blog some but I have been putting in 12 to 14 hour days the last couple weeks and I'm whipped when I get home. I will try to do better.
Give me a call and lets do some fishing this fall when the road gets open. I'm thinking by the 3rd week of October we should be good to go. Call me up 252-216-5565 would love to hear from some of you. I think I'm going to go to my couch for the rest of this rainy day and catch up on some rest. We had to shut down today with the weather like it is. You guys have a great day.
DM

Check out the Swell from Katia

2011-09-10T17:26:00.000-04:00

Set rolling in under the Frisco Pier

Big Set on the third bar

Look at that set off in the distance

The Frisco pier and an angry ocean

Shoving the dunes back up on the Hatteras Beach Stretch

These are some pictures and a video that I took when Hurricane Katia was about 300 miles of our coast. It was breaking in about 40 feet of water. If you look in the distance you can see some of the big sets rolling in and breaking. It's a good thing we didn't have 80 knots of wind on this swell cause it would have been ugly. It was washing over on the Hatteras beach stretch in three places as well as washing over in Rodanthe where they were trying to fill the small breach as they call it. Keep checking in. We hope to be up and running charters by the second week in October when we hopefully have a road to get here. I will be working for Crowder Gulf ( crowdergulf.com ) the next few weeks as a supervisor for the cleanup and Peter will be working with another crew doing the same. These are the same that were here after Isabel in Hatteras doing the work.Fishing will come when the cleanup is done and there is alot of that to be done. Stay in touch with me and lets do some fishing this fall. Take Care.

Home At Last

2011-09-07T12:57:00.001-04:00

We finally got back on the Island Monday Morning and man am I glad to be here. I still have not brought the boat home but may on Saturday depending on what newly formed Maria is doing. The darn things are popping up everywhere right now. Katia is going to pass about 250 to 300 miles offshore of us so no major wind involved in it just some huge surf. The surf will surely hamper road rebuilding efforts until the storm passes. The island can't take another punch like we just got. Some in the old village of Avon and all through the tri-villages of Salvo,Waves and Rodanthe lost everything they owned. Houses and all. Some have just left and some have just not come home. It's sad to see it again. It looks like Hatteras village after hurricane Isabel wiped us out except on a bigger scale. Keep all these people in your thoughts and Prayers. They need them and we do too. Hatteras, Frisco and Buxton fared much better with some wind damage but minimal flooding compared to the north end of the island. Don't get me wrong we still had tide but not like up above. The water was 8 feet deep in places up there. If you would like to help there are organizations here that are helping. Supplies are needed as well as money to buy food for the kitchens that are feeding people. You can contact me and I can direct you in the right direction or get it to where it needs to be.

As far as fishing goes Sometime after the 17th of September we will be able to have tourist return to the island. There will not be a road until the first of October you will have to travel by ferry until then. The docks are all intact and the boats are as well. Most are still tied up where they were for the storm and probably will stay there ready for another blow until it looks like we can get you here to fish. Alot of the motels are taken up by workers but there are still rooms available at the marina and next door at Village Marina. We also have the cottage that we can work with as well. We will need your support this fall to get back on our feet so please try to reschedule your charter if you have one booked or try to get a group together and come and enjoy some of our great fall fishing. I hope to hear from many of you in the future. Hopefully the Native Son will be able to hang on and make it through this along with the other boats. This has been and will continue to be a big economic blow to our business. I will try to post everyday or so right now I have to go and get on the chainsaw for a few hours. Take Care and be safe.
DM

Dare County Re-entry Bulletin

2011-08-28T14:35:00.000-04:00

The Dare County Control Group has announced the beginning of a limited re-entry procedure to portions of Dare County, to be done in priority phases, beginning at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, August 28 for Residents and Property Owners. However, The 2:00 p.m. limited re-entry procedure will not include access to Hatteras Island or the Town of Duck.

Hatteras Island is not accessible due to multiple areas of overwash on Hwy 12 north of Rodanthe.

The Town of Duck is not accessible, at this time, because of impassable roads.

Other than Hatteras Island & the Town of Duck, the 2:00 p.m. limited re-entry applies to –

PRIORITY 1 – ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL
(Yellow Card)
Utilities, Government, Damage Assessment Teams, Medical/Health care, Hotel Employees

PRIORITY 2 – RESIDENTS & CRITICAL BUSINESSES
Light Blue Card)
Non-Resident Essential Personnel - Food Service/Supply, Drug Stores, Banks, Gas Stations, Property Management, Insurance, Building Supply, Local Contractors, Tree Removal.

PRIORITY 3 – PROPERTY OWNERS & NON-RESIDENT BUSINESSES
Re-entry Sticker from 2008/2009 or drivers license with Dare County address or tax bill)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Further assessments are needed before re-entry will be permitted to Priority 4 for Visitors and the General Public. At this time, there is no re-entry for Visitors and the General Public. Look for further bulletins from Dare County Emergency Management for this information.

On Hatteras Island electric and phone service crews are on site and working to restore service as quickly as possible. NCDOT is making arrangements to deliver emergency supplies to Hatteras Island, but there will be no transport of people at this time.

People who have been displaced by the storm should call 252-475-5655. Although non-evacuees needed to be able to sustain themselves for at least 72 hours, food and shelter will be made available to those in need as quickly as possible.

Additional information -

Whole Island is flooded

2011-08-27T22:27:00.001-04:00

Hey guys just an update if any of you check this thing. Breaches in the dune line all up and down the island. Not sure about the road in some places due to the amount of sand and water on it. This evening the water that flooded the other side of the sound this morning has come back. 3 to 4 feet middle of the highway in Tri-villages and Avon before dark. Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras flooded now but not to deep for us so far. Rodanthe north has gotten hammered. 5 feet of water on causeway going into Manteo with tide all up through Nags Head and Kitty Hawk. Depths have been reported as deep as 4 feet up there. Good amount of flooding in Currituck as well along the sound. Trees and power lines down in places and propane tanks broke loose everywhere. Highway 64 is closed at Columbia due to flooding. If you are planning on coming this way this week call dare county emergency Management first. They will have the info on wether you will be able to get here or not. Dare county and Currituck county are closed at this time and Dare will not be open to non residents for some time. Assessment will not be able to begin until tomorrow morning when the water recedes and people are able to get to places. Road below Oregon Inlet has been closed to all since early this morning so no one knows what it looks like but it is a sure bet it's a complete mess. Check back in tomorrow and see what the update is.

Steve Wilson and the kids

2011-08-24T22:41:00.000-04:00

Marshall with his first sail

Not alot but we had fun

Steve has been fishing with us for three or four years now with the boys. They brought Elizabeth along for her first run today and she did great. The fishing was slow compared to yesterday but they were happy at the end of it. Several of us came home early because of a squall with a lot of lightning in it coming after us and we didn't want to deal with it. Thanks Steve. Hope to See you later this fall when the big winds are gone.

Tim Powers group

2011-08-24T22:34:00.000-04:00

Tim Powers from Boston, Mass. had us booked for the day. We got a little bit of a late start but we wound up with a good catch of fish. We had three wahoo on but couldn't hang on to any of them to save our butts. Maybe tomorrow. Thanks Tim, hope to see you next year.

8-20-11 Silvers half day charter

2011-08-20T17:12:00.000-04:00

We had the same group that we had yesterday for a half day charter this morning. The fishing was great with lots of Spanish Mackerel and blue fish. Some of the Spanish were 2 to 3 pounds. We called it quits about 10 o'clock to get on in and get their fish cleaned so they could get on the road. They have a 9 to 10 hour trip home today. Thanks for coming with us Danny. Keep Roger straight and hopefully we will see you in December for some tuna fishing.

Danny Silvers 8-19-11

2011-08-19T17:28:00.000-04:00

Danny and the boys

Rainbow after a morning shower

Today we had Danny Silvers and friends from Burnsville, N.C. It's like nine hours west of here somewhere. I told them that Chapel Hill was all the riding I wanted to do. There were a few squalls and showers offshore early this morning so we were in no hurry to leave and took a nice ride out. We found a school of dolphin early and caught 25 out of it. When that died out we went on off and caught 5 nice blackfins before going back to the change and finishing up on our dolphin. We had a shot at a marlin today but he wasn't very aggressive and then we had the tunas balling bait but we only were able to get one pass on them before they went down. Danny and the crowd are fishing with us for a half day in the morning before beginning the long journey home tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for the day guys.

Chip Myers Group 8-18-11

2011-08-18T16:20:00.000-04:00

Chip and the gang

Brandon and his wahoo

It was another beautiful day on the ocean today. The fishing was good to go along with it. We found a big school of dolphin early this morning and caught 50 out of it before they left us. We went on offshore form there to look for a wahoo or sail bite and caught a few blackfin tuna and bonito. After awhile we went back in around the first change and caught a nice wahoo and a few more dolphin before calling it an early day. Thanks for fishing with us guys. Hope to see you for some Bluefins this winter.

Larry StClair and Family

2011-08-17T18:12:00.000-04:00

Catch of Dolphins and Tunas

We had Larry StClair and family aboard for some fishing today and what a pretty day it was. We found a school of dolphin right out of the gate this morning and caught 50 out of it. After that we went back to where we had caught the blackfin tuna at yesterday and caught a few of those. We spent the afternoon looking for a sail but they eluded us. Good to have you with us today Larry, looking forward to seeing you again next year.

The Motley Crew 8-16-11

2011-08-16T17:50:00.000-04:00

Peyton and his Motley crew

Payton hasn't fished with us in a few years. That's what happens when you get married and have kids, play time gets cut short. Not much was happening this morning so I fished up the beach to see if we could maybe pull out a blackfin or two. We found a place of them that stayed up and bit for a good while. Nice size fish as well for this time of year. We were catching them on 20's and 30's so it was a blast. We also had young Riley, who is 12, catch his first sailfish today. The dolphin fishing was pretty good down the beach but we were to far away from them to get close today. It was a pretty day and good fishing with some old customers.

August 6th Larry and crew

2011-08-16T17:34:00.000-04:00

40 pound citation dolphin

Good crowd today with some pretty weather. We found some bailers along a color change this morning and stayed there until we caught 55 or so. They were not the classiest things around but they were biting and nothing else was any where else at the time. We trolled on offshore after that and caught a nice wahoo and lost another. I found a place of bait with the birds on it and we caught the two big gaffers around it, one which was big enough for a citation weighing in at 40 lb.s . We also saw a couple of sails catching one of them and jumping the other off. It was still pretty to watch. Come back and see us soon Larry.

August 5th

2011-08-16T17:23:00.000-04:00

Not 40 below here

We had a mixed up crowd today. Two form Va. and four from Minnesota. One said that it got to -40 up there. I asked what the hell do you do in that weather. The answer was "We go ice fishing". Not this boy, 40 is to cold for me much less -40. We had a good day fishing with some nice wahoos and some nice bailers and a couple gaffers to go along with them. Thanks for the day guys.

July 30th Sails and Dolphins

2011-07-30T21:54:00.001-04:00

Brian, Jackie, Randy and Larry

On the Leader

Randys sail

Back at the dock with a happy crew


Another Sail getting ready to be released, Nice T-shirt isn't it?

Today was a different day and it was beautiful on the water. I saw a big place of bait on top on the way out and stopped around it. We circled it a couple times and had a couple dolphin bites. A school followed them up and we went to bailing them. While we were catching the dolphin a boat offshore of me had caught and released 4 sailfish. I was chomping at the bit to get going. We caught 25 dolphin before they quit biting for us. We got out our sailfish spread and went to fishing. We caught one out of a double, missed a couple, caught a double and caught a single all by 10:00 this morning. We had a couple of wahoo bites but they won the battle. One of the ladies onboard was not feeling well at all and they told me to take them home. I didn't want to leave with the bite going on but that's the way it goes. A really fun day and with a great group of people. Thanks Randy and everyone else. Look forward to seeing you again. Check out this link for the 1080 video of the one above. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMmulW5tWXU

July 29th zigging when I should have zagged

2011-07-30T21:20:00.000-04:00

We had a make up charter on board today, the first of the year for us. Really nice group of folks. The fishing was spotty today and bites would happen here and there. My problem was that when I was here I should have been there. We caught a decent catch of dolphin today and had a couple wahoo bites and a couple sailfish bites but no luck in hooking them. That's the way it goes some days. Tomorrow is another day and we'll try it again and see how it goes.

Two half day trips today

2011-07-28T16:14:00.000-04:00

We ran two half day inshore trips for spanish mackerals and blues today. Our morning trip was a group of canadians that decided they would like to try their hand at some fishing. They had never been before and did a great job. We caught 50 or so spanish and probably 25 bluefish during our morning trip.

This afternoon we had a family trip. Dad, mom, two sons and a daughter. The inlet was a little snotty where the tide was running out so hard. We got into the ocean and started catching a few mackeral. About the time I felt like we had gotten to where we were going to get a continuous bite we had a bout of sea sickness got through the crowd. Dad figured it best to bring them home and away we went. We did manage to catch 20 Spanish before we had to come home so it was a great trip. They just wanted enough for supper so they got that and a little bit more. Sounded like offshore fishing was pretty decent today with some good catches of dolphin and a good number of wahoo starting to show up. We've got some open days so give us a call and lets do some fishing.

Dolphins and sails July 18th 2011

2011-07-19T23:36:00.000-04:00

Kristina, Matt ,Carl and a young friend with their catch

Sunrise making the turn at the inlet

Kristina and her gaffer

Kristina and her Sail Fish

We just had three people on board today. Matt , his father Carl and Kristina. They wanted to start the day out looking for some dolphin and then put in some time for a sailfish. Luckily for us we found a school of dolphin early on and caught what we needed out of it. They were nice fat bailers too. We trolled around the grass for a few minutes more and caught a couple nicer fish then went to the shallows where some sails had been seen and caught. We saw one fish and he bit but very lazily and never got hooked. A little while later the right flat goes off and we have a nice sail on, during the fight we had another sail , a very small one, swim in behind the shortrigger but did not eat. Matt caught his fish and we went back to it. We found a ball of bait a couple hours later and started to marl some on the machine. We had a double come in the spread and I hooked one from the bridge while trying to crank anther fish in closer to get him a smaller bait. Kristina caught this one. I love it when a plan comes together. Pretty day, good fishing, what more can you ask for.

Frog Level VFD fishing trip July 16th 2011

2011-07-19T23:11:00.000-04:00

Morning Sunrise

The crew with some of their dolphin

Back at the dock. About 35 bailers for the day

Joe Dowdy and some of his fellow fire fighters had us booked for today. They are all volunteer firemen and all work for the city if Spotsylvania, Va. The grass was really scattered today into streak after streak. The SE we had blows across the current so nothing will line up. We found a nice school of dolphin in the morning that didn't act right and caught a few. We scrapped along for the rest of the day catching one here and one there then found a float at the end of the day and caught 7 or 8 around it. The weather got nice in the afternoon and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Hopefully they'll be back to see us.

July 13th -- Tony and Linda Logan charter

2011-07-14T11:55:00.000-04:00

Tony and Linda with their catch

Tony's White Marlin on the leader

Tony's White Marlin swimming away after the release

We had the pleasure of having Tony and Linda along with us today. The day started out a little choppy with a really confused sea but it was almost slick calm in the afternoon and it was flat out HOT and I mean HOT. I couldn't wait to get off that bridge and into the AC. We had a nice catch of Dolphin and Tony caught a White Marlin in the afternoon. We had a Blue Marlin chase the flat line and crash it in the morning but he missed the bait and never came back. That was exciting because he showed hisself really well, if you ever see it you'll understand how awesome a sight it is. It was a very enjoyable day with a couple very nice people. You guys are welcome back anytime.

July 11th -- The Yeager family

2011-07-14T11:36:00.000-04:00

Look at that Sunrise and that ocean. Don't you wish you were here?

The Yeagers

Evan with his Amberjack

And with what's left of one after a Barracuda got him

Joe, Anne, Evan and Leslie Yeager fished with us today. What an absolutely gorgeous day it was. The ocean was flat and it wasn't too hot and the fishing was good. We went to look for dolphin first and found a nice school after a little bit of trudging around in the grass. They didn't want to catch a limit so we caught about 30 and quit. No need to kill them if you aren't going to eat them. We spent the rest of the day looking for something different. We caught some Amberjacks around a wreck, a big false albacore on a light rod and had a bite out of a sailfish that we didn't get hooked. We stopped around an inshore wreck on the way home and let them see all of the barracudas swimming over top of it. I think we counted atleast 15 there. Everyone had a good time, even Leslie who was worried about being on the boat in the morning but soon got over it and enjoyed herself. Enjoyed having you along and hope to see you again.

July 10th -- Timmy and cindy Jennette family and friends

2011-07-14T11:17:00.000-04:00

The Motley Crew

Timmy and Cindy are locals and Timmy and I were in school together. Cindy's brother just retired and wanted to go fishing so he booked me for the day. They also brought along Doug Dorris, another local and Daniel ,Joe and another that I can't remember his name for the life of me. The fishing started out a little slow as the grass was scattered to heck and back from the wind the previous two days. We caught a few dolphin and a nice gaffer during the morning in the scattered grass but gave it up for a bit for a break from picking all the grass constantly off our baits. We went back to the grass in the afternoon and it had gotten together where we could fish it. A big school of dolphin found us and we caught most of of a limit of really nice bailers out of it. When we were picking up our lines to go home we had a sailfish come in the spread and hooked him. He put on a great show and then we released him. I'll put up some better pictures if Timmy ever sends them to me. Come on Timmy get with it. Had a fun day guys. Lets do it again soon.

July 9th -- Day Two Hatteras Grand Slam

2011-07-14T10:59:00.000-04:00

We awoke to no thunder and lightning this morning but we had alot of wind during the night. They upped the wind forecast for today so we decided once again not to go. We've got next year to fish it so it's not the end of the world. I still got to spend the weekend with some of my best friends just not fishing. Looks like tomorrow should be nice so hopefully I will get my charter in. Have a good day.

July 8th -- Hatteras Grand Slam Tournament Day 1

2011-07-14T10:54:00.000-04:00

We were supposed to be fishing the Grand Slam Tournament today but due to the weather report for today we held our money out until this morning to see what the weather was really going to be like. Lightning, Thunder, rain and wind is what we awoke to. We decided we were not going and would look at the weather in the morning and if fishable will put our money in and go tomorrow and if not then my party is not a few grand out of pocket. 6 Boats fished today and they can have it. I watched some of them leave in the lightning and rain and was glad I was where I was. Guess we'll see what tomorrow brings.

July 7th -- Rob Graff party

2011-07-14T10:46:00.000-04:00

Gaffers and nice Bailers = lots of Good Eating

We had Rob Graff and crew aboard today. The weather was great and the fishing was good to go along with it. We caught some nice gaffers and finished off our limit with a nice catch of bailers. Esther was the best fisherman (fisherperson) of them all once she got the hang of bailing those dolphins. Thanks for the day guys. Hope to see you next year.

July 6th -- Danette Meredith Fishing trip

2011-07-14T10:37:00.000-04:00

Fish for dinner and a pretty day on the water

We had Danette and Some of her family along today for some fishing. It was rather scrappy today but we still wound up with a few bailers and a nice gaffer. The porpoise found us in the afternoon and stayed with us for 10 minutes or so and put on a great show for us. The weather was great we caught some fish and they got to see some neat things. Great day all in all.

2011-07-04T08:08:00.000-04:00

"God bless America. Land that I love. Stand beside her, and guide her, Through the night with the light from above. From the mountains, to the prairies, To the ocean, white with foam. God bless America! My home, sweet home, God bless America! My home, sweet home."

July 2, 2011 Afternoon Kids trip

2011-07-02T18:07:00.000-04:00

The gang and some of the catch

My daughter Bailey with a Spanish

Double Header

Delaney with a nice Spanish

Chris and Dylan with a double

Flying Spanish

Surfers and paddle boarders at the pier

The fishing was so good this morning I called home and asked my wife to get the kids going and I would take them fishing for a couple of hours. They invited some friends who are pretty much family for the trip. We left about 11:20 and ran up the beach after we got out of the inlet to where we were this morning. The conditions had changed and we had to go up by the pier to get in the water where the fish were. We caught 35 or so in a couple hours of fishing and came on home. They can't wait to have it for dinner tonight and I can't either. It's gonna be some good eating. Come and see us if you're interested in doing a half-day inshore charter or if you have kids and want to do something fun with them. Spanish fishing is a blast. You guys have a Happy and Safe Fourth.

July 2 , 2011

2011-07-02T17:47:00.000-04:00

Sunrise over the Island

Wind in the squall

Brian with a Spanish

Amy with one of her Spanish

Counting to see how many we had. 20 more to go

We had a half-day charter this morning. Brian and Amy a couple form California went with us. Brian is in the Army special forces and is in fort Bragg for some training. Amy is a kindergarten teacher. That's a good thing having to deal with Pete and I because she's used to children. We had a beautiful day other than a 20 minute squall with wind and rain. The fishing was spectacular especially when it was raining and blowing 35. We caught our limit plus a few more that we let go. Thanks for coming with us it was good to fish with you. Thanks also for your service to our country.

West Virginia Boys

2011-07-01T09:09:00.000-04:00

The guys

Fresh Dolphin sandwich

Gaffer getting ready to be surprised

Today we had Dave Andersen and friends from around Charleston , WV onboard. It was a rather pretty day after the wind from the morning squalls subsided. It blew long enough and hard enough to scatter the grass and blow the change apart. Luckily we got on it long enough before hand to catch a few fish, nice bailers with a few gaffers mixed in. We had a couple of wahoo bites in the afternoon but didn't hang onto any of them. They were sneaky as usual. Thanks for a great day guys. Hope to see you again.

Blown out today 6-24-11

2011-06-24T10:34:00.000-04:00

Too much wind again today for offshore fishing. Hopefully we can make it in the morning but it will be rather iffy at best. Looks like the weather will straighten out on Sunday for a few days. We certainly can't complain because we have had some great weather this spring and early summer. You've got to take the good with the bad. You guys have a great day.

Western Branch Diesel 6-23-11

2011-06-24T10:30:00.000-04:00

We had half of the Western Branch Diesel group today. It was a little to windy and the seas a little to large for going offshore today. The guys wanted to do something so we went for a half day inside the inlet to try for some spanish mackeral. We had some luck and caught about 20 Spanish, half a dozen bluefish and an 18 inch flounder on a trolled clark spoon. That was a first. Thanks for the day guys, hope to do it again.

Kimball Party 6-22-11

2011-06-24T10:24:00.000-04:00

The Catch

Ready for the gaff

We had Blake Kimball and some of his family aboard today. It was a beautiful but hot and sticky day. We finally got a little breeze in the afternoon that cooled it off some. They only wanted enough fish to feed the family of ten that they had in town. We found a couple big schools of dolphin and caught a few out of one and gave the other away to another boat that was having a hard day. We caught a couple of nice gaffers while trolling around and had a couple of sail fish bites but didn't get lucky and hang on to one of them. Everyone had fun and enjoyed a beautiful day on the water.

One Stop Shopping

2011-06-21T15:59:00.000-04:00

Russ and Group

Thomas and Hunter bailing dolphin

Sunrise over the island

Today was what we call one stop shopping on the rip. We found a school of dolphins putting the first line in the water and caught our limit out of that one school. It was a pretty massive place of fish. Russ Ayers had some family and friends along for the trip today and they had a ball. The weather was nice and cool, the seas were calm and the fishing was good. You can't ask for much more than that. We trolled along for awhile afterwards and caught a couple of nice gaffers and Hunter caught a nice barracuda that he got a release citation for. Today was his birthday so Happy Birthday Hunter even though you are a Duke fan. See you guys next time.

Happy Fathers Day

2011-06-19T08:46:00.000-04:00

My Dad, Damon M. Gray Jr.

Happy Fathers Day to all of you Dads out there. We got blown out this morning so I'll be spending the day at home or maybe the beach for the afternoon. We'll be back at it tomorrow so check in and see what's happening. Hope you all have a Great Day.

John Juba party

2011-06-19T08:34:00.000-04:00

Derek, John and John

We had along John Juba his son in law Derek and Grandson John from the Charlotte area today. We thought the day was going to be a little choppier than it was but it turned off fairly nice in the afternoon. We had a nice catch of Dolphin today. Mostly nice bailers but also a few gaffers mixed in as well. Enjoyed fishing with these fellows and hope to have them back aboard sometime soon.

Terry Family Day One Photos

2011-06-17T08:39:00.000-04:00

Sunrise over the Island

The Terry Family

I opened my email this morning and Cindy had sent me the pictures from the first day of the Terry Family trip. So here are Cindy, Andy , Brooke and the boys from the first day of fishing. Great people and alot of fun.

Bill, Rory and Josh from Kentucky

2011-06-16T11:32:00.000-04:00

The Kentuckians and their Dolphins

We had the Meeks family from Kentucky with us today. Just the three of them showed up this morning and off we went. The weather was nice and cool today and fishing was a little scrappy but we ended up with a nice catch of dolphin. I certainly enjoyed having you guys with us today and hope to see you next year for another day. Show this picture to the women so they'll believe you went fishing.

Tuesday fishing

2011-06-16T11:25:00.000-04:00

The Catch

Nice Gaffer

Scratch my belly

Sean Kierney had us booked for today. He had his son and daughter and two of their friends along today. The weather was once again beautiful with some good fishing. We found a rip in the morning that was just forming up and turned on it to fish. We caught a couple of dolphins but could never get get a school going until we finally found a big school of fish. We caught what they wanted out of it and went looking for a marlin for the rest of the day, unfortunately we didn't see one today. We did catch a couple nice gaffers through the day and enjoyed watching some playful dolphins that stayed with us awhile. Enjoy the rest of your week. Hope to see you next year.

Andy Terry , family and friends

2011-06-16T11:15:00.000-04:00

Andy, Brooke and friends

Nice Gaffer

Andy had us booked the last two days. The first day he had his sister and her three sons, his niece and himself on board. The second was his niece Brooke and a couple of his friends and him The weather was a little choppy on day one but the fishing was good, day two was calm with great fishing again. I left my camera on the table the first day so all the pictures are from day two. Thanks for coming and enjoying the fishing and the island with us.

S.B. Ballard trip

2011-06-16T11:06:00.000-04:00

We had a group from S.B. Ballard construction group in Va. Beach with us today. The fishing was rather slow today but the weather was gorgeous. We caught a few dolphin and enjoyed the beautiful day and all the sights. Thanks James and Rene for getting the trip together. Hope to see you back soon.

Gaffers

2011-06-16T11:03:00.000-04:00

Dean and the boys

Dean Gray and the crowd fished with us today. Fishing was kind of slow today but we managed to catch a few gaffers for the day. The weather was beautiful. See you guys next year.

Memorial day 2011

2011-06-01T10:39:00.000-04:00

We had Ricky Harrington and his boys today. The fishing was rather slow for us today. We caught three gaffers in the morning saw two marlins and had one more dolphin bite for the day. We looked and looked for a float that would hopefully hold some fish but to no avail. Some years it's just not meant to be. We've had plenty of good days the past few years so sooner or later there's a slow one mixed in. Hope to see you guys next year.

Miss Polly and crowd

2011-06-01T10:36:00.000-04:00

Miss Polly with her Gaffer

This was miss Polly's first trip this year. She always gets the pretty days. It was almost flat calm with a few dolphins around. We spent a little bit looking for a marlin but the conditions just didn't feel right to me for it, not that it means anything. We ended up catching a dozen or so gaffers for the day, most of them were nice ones. See you guys again in a couple months.

Saturday May 28th - 1st Blue Marlin of the year

2011-06-01T10:27:00.000-04:00

We caught our first Blue Marlin of the year today. Man what a bite, flat line to the teaser to the short rigger. It was a pretty site and a pretty bite. We caught a few dolphins today as well. Sorry for no pictures today.

Danny Lilly and firends

2011-05-27T11:00:00.000-04:00

Today we had Danny, David, Jimmy and another buddy of theirs whose name I just can't remember. It was a slick calm beautiful day and we had some decent gaffer dolphin fishing. We started out way in the deep on an edge and fished it most of the morning, it fell apart as the day went along and as the water shoved in and up the beach. All in all we had a good day and caught some nice fish. Thanks guys for the day. Hope to see you again some day.

Kenny Lewis Trip

2011-05-27T10:48:00.000-04:00

We had Kenny Lewis and some friends from the Raleigh area on board today. Kenny grew up here on Hatteras in Frisco. His family owns the Frisco Woods campground. It was a pretty day but the fishing left a little bit to be desired. We scrapped out a few nice dolphin but once again when I plugged my card in the pics disappeared. Maybe it will work tomorrow. Thanks for the day Kenny, it was good to see you.

Mark Tressler trip

2011-05-27T10:44:00.000-04:00

We had four mark's aboard today so I only had to remember three names. That's good for me. We caught some nice gaffers today but do to some problems with my camera card reader the pictures are gone. Where they went I don't know. Thanks Mark for a great day. Come back and see us soon.

Monday May 9th fishing

2011-05-15T15:09:00.000-04:00

Monique with some tunas and gaffers

Pair of nice gaffers

We had a beautiful day on the water today with some great fishing to go along with it. We only had two anglers today and we kept them busy for most of the day. The Blackfin tuna bite was really good throughout the day. We took a break from the trolling about noon and put up the kite for an hour or so to get some experience with it. I've had a kite and kite rod on the boat for years and have never flown it til today. We did have a couple of bites on it but no contact. It was fun watching the tunas go after it. We went back to trolling at the end of the day and caught 4 gaffers a couple more tunas and had a big fish on for 20 minutes until he chaffed through the leader. I'm not quite sure what it was but it left a hell of a hole in the water when it ate the bait. Not many trips this week and the weather looks good. Give us a call and lets go fishing!!

Saturday May 7th

2011-05-07T23:09:00.000-04:00

One of our gaffers

Another Gaffer

Today we had some guys from Harris Mechanical Services inc. in Richmond Va. It was a little bit choppy this morning with pretty stiff breeze blowing after we got fishing this morning. We wound up with a few Gaffers and a blackfin tuna. We had probably 10 tuna bites this afternoon but couldn't hang onto them. It was just one of those days. It got pretty this afternoon and made for a nice ride home. Thanks guys for the day,

Friday May 6th

2011-05-07T23:00:00.001-04:00

Well today was the last day for Bob, Dave, Skip and Jerry. We actually got to fish 5 days this year. First time that has happened in a long time. Fishing was slow for us today but we had a great week already. Enjoyed it guys and we'll see you all next year.

Thursday May the 5th fishing

2011-05-07T22:56:00.000-04:00

Bob and the boys once again today. Everything had changed around over night so we just had to go looking for anything today. We caught a scattered Dolphin through out the day and a wahoo. One more day for the guys. Lets see what tomorrow brings.

Tuesday May 3rd

2011-05-07T22:38:00.000-04:00

Grass edge where we were catching our Dolphin

The Days Catch

We went in search of Dolphin today because the cold water had shoved out over the rocks. We caught a couple right away and then went awhile with no bite. After some time an edge that had been making up came together and it was holding some dolphins. We managed to catch 35 or so for the day. Another good day. We are taking a weather day tomorrow so check back in on Thursday.

Monday May 2nd

2011-05-07T22:31:00.000-04:00

We struck out up to the east this morning in search of some tunas. It was a beautiful day. We started out our day with a couple of albacores and then a Mako that was to short to keep. We got a little further up the line and found a mark of bait and got some bites. We ended the day with 6 yellowfin and a dozen what we call Bonito Mackerel .They look like and albacore but longer and have a good set of teeth on them. They are also delicious to eat with beautiful meat on them. I had some for Sashimi that night and on the grill. Fishing is good guys some come on down. All in all a good day.

Sunday May 1st

2011-05-07T22:13:00.000-04:00

Today was the first day of a week long crowd. Bob,Skip, Dave and Jerry have been fishing this week with me for 15 years now. Always the week before Mothers Day. They are from Massachusetts so it's a long ride. We try to fish 5 out of 6 days if the weather will let us. Today we caught a few dolphin and went vetical jigging for some jacks, which was very successful.. I got to far away from the tuna fleet today and they caught a few in the afternoon. No picture today because for some reason I didn't take one. I'll have one tomorrow. We are going to try our hand at tunas tomorrow.

Saturday April 30th. Winford Hill Group

2011-05-07T22:06:00.000-04:00

Mr. Winford Hill and some of his buddies fished with us today. They were from Richmond and Greensboro. The fishing was a little scrappy but we managed to get a catch and have a good time which is the most important thing. We caught a few dolphin and did some jigging for some jacks. We caught some nice Almaco jacks that afternoon. Thanks for coming and fishing with us guys. Hope to see you again.

Easter Sunday fishing

2011-04-25T12:20:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter Everyone. Nick Palisano, his father, brother and soon to be brother in laws went fishing with us today. Nicks brother Phil got the trip together for a prewedding gift for Nick. He gets married this Tuesday. He is in the Coast Guard here in Hatteras and is marrying a school teacher from our elementary school. Good luck to the new couple. We wish you many long years together. The fishing was better today than yesterday, thank goodness. We wound up with 10 or 12 Dolphin and a few jacks that we caught jigging for the day. The dirty cold water was over the rocks and the tuna bite was pretty much shut down for the day. Looks like the dolphin are going to start showing up for us just about on time. They may be a week or so early. The tunas are still here and when the water straightens out I am sure that we will be back on them again. Looks like a little weather in the middle of the week and then a nice weekend coming up. Hope to see some of you soon. They took the fish off the dock before I had a chance to get a picture this afternoon, they had some things to deal with and were in a hurry. I have posted a video clip from today though.

Saturday April 23rd fishing

2011-04-25T12:05:00.000-04:00

We had a crowd from Williamsburg, Va. on board today. The ride out was rough this morning but was fairly nice once we got there. The fishing on the other hand was not so nice to us today. We wound up with one Blackfin Tuna and some Big Blue's for the day. We had maybe two more tuna bites and lost a nice wahoo that bit through the leader. It was slow up and down the line from Morehead up to Oregon Inlet today. When they don't bite they just don't bite and you can't do anything but ride around and hope you go over some hungry ones. Hoping that tomorrow will be a better day. Sorry no picture for the day.

Tuesday April 19th Fishing Firemen

2011-04-25T11:59:00.000-04:00

Montgomery County Fire Fighters Rule

Today we had a crowd of Fire Fighters from Montgomery County Maryland. I was off of the boat today going to the Jimmy Buffet concert with my wife and some friends and my old mate, now Capt. Barry Jr. had the helm. He spent eight years on her with me so he knows her almost as good as I do. I couldn't have had a better person run her. They had a great day of fishing today with some nice Blackfin and Yellowfin tuna as well as a nice Mako. The guys took a video of the gaff shot and boating the fish. When I get it I'll edit it and post it to the site. I'm glad you guys had a great day fishing and we had a great time at the Jimmy Buffet concert so it all worked out well for both. Looking forward to seeing you guys next year.

Boat yard time

2011-04-16T15:51:00.000-04:00

Looking good

Starboard Side

Stern

Port Side with Peter hanging out in the Stern

In the slings getting ready to get splashed

Prop and rudder

This week was our yearly haul out at the boatyard in Buxton. Thankfully all in all things went smoothly and quickly. I hired another mate for a couple of days to compound and wax the hull and we did the topsides when we returned to the slip on Tuesday afternoon. It was a quick haul this year. We got pulled at 8:00 Monday morning and put her back in at 11:30 Tuesday. Of course we stayed until dark on Monday. We cleaned the running gear ,put on new zincs all around, painted the bottom , got the whole hull compounded and buffed out and the port side waxed before we called it quits for the day. Tuesday morning we waxed the starboard side, put the prop on, hooked up the rudder, picked her up and painted where the blocks and jack stands had been and came home. We compounded the topsides that afternoon and got half of it waxed before the rain came and we finished the rest on Wednesday. Now for some painting in the cockpit and getting the other fighting chair finished and we'll be good to go. The pics are from this week. Come and see us , The Fish Are Biting!

April 10th fishing

2011-04-13T10:33:00.000-04:00

Mixed bag of tunas today

Switched yesterdays party to today due to the weather and it was a good move. Blew 25 all day yesterday and about 10 top 15 today, much better. The fishing was a little spotty today compared to Friday for us. A couple of boats got covered up by the yellowfins and some of us just couldn't make it happen. I'd get two bites and be thinking the rest of the spread was going to go down but it never happened. That's the way it goes sometimes. We wound up with a decent day with mixed bad of yellowfin and blackfin again. The yellowfin were a little nicer class today. We rn the boat up to the boatyard after we got in today. It's time for the yearly haul out and some TLC. Be back in business in a couple of days I hope. I will post some pictures later this week. Fishing has been good folks so come on down and lets go catch some tunas.

Great day of Tuna fishing

2011-04-09T11:13:00.000-04:00

Todd with a nice Blackfin

Nicki with Her Big Blackfin Tuna

Alan with a nice Yellowfin

Man what a beautiful day on the water it was today. It was halfway calm, warm and the fish were biting. I went away from the fleet this morning just because I had it in my head where I wanted to go and I stuck with my plan, thanks goodness for that. It took a little to get started but we found some marks and started getting a couple of bites around them. We picked a few for the first couple hours then some bigger marks started showing and we got into a better bite. We wound up with 24 for the day, mostly Blackfin with a couple of Yellowfin mixed in. This crowd was supposed to fish with me last weekend but we got blown out. Thanks for coming down today. And Todd thanks for not letting Candace beat me up, my body hurts bad enough already. Looking forward to seeing you guys again soon.

Saturday March 26th Fishing

2011-03-30T11:14:00.000-04:00

The Cable Guys

Looks like tuna is on the menu for tonight

Today we had the other half of the crew that we had yesterday. We stuck with trying to catch a yellowfin or blackfin today and it all panned out fairy well for us. We crossed the change and started fishing out towards the rocks in the morning and caught a nice blackfin. I made a circle and we had another bite which was another blackfin. Halfway through the next circle while we were setting back out we hooked three fish and caught two blackfin and a yellowfin. Needless to say this is where I fished for the rest of the day. The water did change around a little as the day went on and the fish moved with it. All in all we wound up with 4 keeper yellowfin and I think 15 or 16 blackfin's as well. It was a fun day of fishing. The party shared some tuna with us which excited my kids to no end about getting to eat some sashimi that night. We polished off a whole loin. Never thought I would see my kids eating raw tuna but they absolutely love it. Hey it's good for you too. Hope to see some of you soon. Looks like the fishing is shaping up to be good this spring, now if we can just get the weather to cooperate a little more we'll be alright. Have a great day.

March 25th fishing

2011-03-30T10:51:00.000-04:00

Well We ended up chasing Bluefins today and had some success at it thankfully. Fortunately we caught some fish , on the unfortunate side we didn't catch one small enough to keep. Most of the time you worry about catching fish big enough but with these things lately you have to worry about catching one small enough. Under 73 inches is what we can keep. Oh well that's the way it goes. We'll get up in the morning and see what tomorrow brings.

Windy day today

2011-03-10T12:40:00.000-05:00

Man we have had some windy days lately and then it's beautiful the next. This is what the ocean looks like here today. It's blowing around 30 with higher gust and some rain but it's warm. We've got plenty of open days so come on down and lets do some fishing. The bluefin are still around and a few yellowfin were caught day before yesterday as well.

Another Great day of Bluefin Tuna fishing

2011-02-25T11:30:00.000-05:00

Coming by Diamond Shoals light on the way home . It's still standing.

Yesterday was another great day of Bluefin Tuna fishing. Lots of big fish around right now. Actually there are all kinds of sizes but the last couple of days the bigger ones have been biting. We had them rolling in the chum yesterday afternoon when we found a place of them off to ourselves. That is a pretty sight to see. The video clip is of one of the bigger sized fish we caught when we lip gaffed him to measure him. We had to turn him loose because he measured at around 78 to 80 inches. Would be nice to be able to keep one a day that size but that's the law and we don't break them. Still a great day of fishing with some spectacular trolling bites. It gets your heart pumping when you see a 300 pounder blow up on your flatline about 30 feet off your transom. There's a good showing of these fish so if you ever wanted to come and catch one take a couple of days and come on and do it now.

Another beautiful day in Hatteras and the Bluefin are snapping

2011-02-17T13:05:00.000-05:00

63 degrees here today, woo hoo! I am so ready for the spring to get here so I can get some boat work done and be halfway warm when we're fishing. The Bluefin bite was excellent yesterday and it sounds like it's on again today. Get some friends together and come on down and catch a few while they're here. Here's a little video I put together just goofing off of Sundays fishing day, just click the link.
Bluefin Fishing on The Native Son 2-13-11

Bluefins are biting again today

2011-02-16T10:03:00.000-05:00

Video clip of one of the nice Bluefins that we released on Sunday. The gaff was just for lip gaffing the fish to get the hook out. If you ever wanted to catch a Bluefin now's the time. Today was the first weather window since Sunday and the bite is on. Give us a call and let's go fishing.

2-13-11 Bluefin Tuna Fishing was off the hook today

2011-02-14T12:36:00.000-05:00

Richards Bluefin

Mikey and Jake with his 1st Bluefin

Richards Bluefin

Hooked Up

We got lucky and set right out on the Tunas this morning. We never went more than maybe 10 minutes with out a fish on and there were some spectacular bites to go along with it. We saw the fish several times on top rolling and shoving water and had a continuous mark for a lot of the day. My buddy Michael and some of his friends had the boat chartered for the weekend. He brought his grandson along and he caught his first Bluefin that weighed in at 105.lb. The video clip is of his fish. He was wore out after that. We also took our trophy fish for the year as well with a 74" 210 pounder. We caught three or four more fish that size or bigger before we called it an early day around 11:30 and went home. The guys had a long drive back home and were tired from the butt whipping we took Saturday and the good fishing Sunday. We ended up catching 10 Bluefins between 100 to Probably 250 lb.s for the day. The weather was beautiful and the fish were biting, couldn't ask for much more than that. It looks like it's going to get nice for Wed. and Thursday of this week if you can get here. We have a few more trips coming up so check back in.

A few more after snow morning pictures

2011-02-01T17:08:00.000-05:00

Gonna throw that dummy or what?

Bailey in the backyard.

Snow people and friends

Side yard

Down The Road

Back of Truck

Just a few more pictures from around the home.

The day after the Big Snow

2011-02-01T16:57:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from the day after the snow we had here in Hatteras. It was pretty the next morning. The ocean was beautiful as well with a lone dolphin swimming along. The Brant and Geese were so close you could have hit them with a slingshot, notice the snow covered dredge island in the background? And how would you like to go fishing and stand in the cockpit of the boat in that snow. We wouldn't have to worry about keeping the fish cold.

January 22nd Snow at the beginning

2011-02-01T15:46:00.000-05:00

This is some video from the beach about an hour into the snow. The wind was blowing it right off of and over the dunes. Sometimes you could not see the ocean for the big clouds of snow blowing down the beach. It was neat to watch for awhile. I'll have some pictures of the morning after in the next post.

Sunset before the big snow

2011-02-01T15:36:00.000-05:00

This was the sunset the night before we had TEN inches of snow. You Read that right, Ten Inches. It was pretty the day after and I will post some pictures of that after this.

January 30th

2011-02-01T14:00:00.000-05:00

We went fishing for the last day of commercial Bluefin tuna season today. We had one bite from a nice fish but couldn't hang on to him. Lost a nice fat wahoo right at the gaff because he chewed through the leader, what a bummer. Would have been nice for dinner on the grill. The Bluefins are here folks if you want to come and catch some now is the time. There are also some makos and blackfins around as well. Finding the days for the weather has been the struggle. I guess it's just like every where else in the country right now. It's been a long cold windy winter and I'm ready for it to go away and to go fishing.

January 4th Sunset

2011-01-05T12:35:00.000-05:00

January Sunset

This was just to pretty not to share with everyone. What a beautiful sunset yesterday evening.

New Years Eve fishing

2011-01-04T12:55:00.000-05:00

Last Sunrise of 2010

We left early this morning in search of a Bluefin Tuna. We had some good friends and hunting buddies of my brother in law Brian on board today with their sons. It was a beautiful day and by the afternoon was slick calm. The water had shoved back offshore of the rocks this morning which is not what I had hoped for after yesterday afternoon. We spent awhile trolling and finally took a break from that and went and spent some time jigging to let the kids have some fun. It was just as hard as you could go on the jacks with a scattered blackfin mixed in. One boat did hook a bluefin while jigging right next to us. After the kids had enough back to trolling we went but to no avail. I marked a couple places of the tunas and we tried everything to get them to bite form jigging to chumming but they didn't have eating on the brain. They were on the move and hard to stay on. All in all it was a great day and we had a ball. We'll see you guys soon for another round. Happy New Years everyone.

December 30th

2011-01-04T12:40:00.000-05:00

We had Todd Kief , Candice and a friend of theirs along for some fishing today. The water was not right on the rocks first thing in the morning so we ventured on offshore to look around. There were a couple of yellowfin bites here and there but nothing concentrated to one specific area so we just fished around hoping for a bite. We went by a 1/3 sheet of plywood and had a couple of bites, I figured small tunas because of the water temp but I was wrong. I went back by it and there were 20 or so dolphin swimming around it. They had their coats on in that 68 degree water. We managed to catch I believe what was 10 out of the school. Glad to have them. The water got to the rocks in the afternoon and we hooked a big bluefin tuna on our second pass and spent quite some time on him before the hook pulled. That would have made our day , he was a nice fish but that's the way it goes sometimes. See you in the spring Todd for your birthday trip. Hopefully the tunas will be biting. Sorry No pics today.

December 26th , Snowing in Hatteras

2010-12-26T15:41:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a great Christmas day with their family and friends. I know I sure did, I love this time of year except for when the weather is like today. Raining, now snowing, blowing 35 knots with higher gusts and getting colder every hour. Looks like Wed. and Thursday are going to be beautiful and warm and calm. 52 degrees here on Thursday and in the 60's Friday through the weekend. Can't wait. Here's a little look at today's weather. Only thing it's fit for is duck hunting. Come see us this week and lets go chase a tuna.

Christmas Morning

2010-12-26T15:20:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone. What a beautiful morning it is here in Hatteras. If Santa had known the ocean was going to be this calm he would have parked his sled and gone tuna fishing today. Hope you guys have a Merry Christmas.

MERRRY CHRISTMAS from the Capt.

2010-12-24T19:23:00.000-05:00

Here's to all of you having a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy 2011. Hope to see you next year. A few of you I'll see this coming week for some tuna fishing. God Bless.

Capt. D.M.

YellowFin Bite was on

2010-12-17T13:18:00.000-05:00

Choppy Day off Hatteras but the fish were biting.

It was a choppy day yesterday but the Yellowfin bite was happening. Most everyone was Bluefin tuna fishing with the bigger tackle and heavier leaders out but the Yellowfin didn't seem to mind at all. Looks like a little weather until around Christmas then maybe we'll get a few nice days. I have a couple days booked after Christmas and hopefully we will make them. Going to give my arm a break for a few days and try to get healed up a little bit. It looks like a great tuna bite is going to stay with us for the winter so gather up some friends and come on down.

First Blue Fin Tuna of the winter season video

2010-12-14T12:22:00.000-05:00

This is the first one we caught on Saturday. We caught another fish as well that was to short to keep and may have another video of that up soon. It's a little chilly outside but the fishing is HOT right now. Remember we have a heated cabin as well. Give us a call and lets go.

BLUEFINS ARE HERE as well as Blackfins and Yellowfins.

2010-12-11T18:19:00.000-05:00

Chris with his Bluefin Tuna from today

Bluefin

Rest of the catch for today

My daughter with the Bluefin

Fishing is happening right now folks. The Bluefins have shown up and we are still catching some blackfins and yellowfins as well. We spent a little more time looking for the bluefins today plus it takes awhile longer to land one of those. I feel that if we had more time trolling our smaller baits that we would have wound up with a real nice catch of Bigger class blackfins and maybe a yellowfin or two. We decided to go for the gusto and caught two nice Bluefins for our effort. One was an inch short and we had to turn him lose. There are very strict size limits on these tunas and we have to follow them to a tee. I know it's the holiday season but you need to come and get in on some of this fishing. Looks like we'll be off the next few days because of weather but hopefully the coming weekend will be nice.

Yellowfin Tuna on the Native Son

2010-12-07T12:12:00.000-05:00

Nice Yellowfin tuna from Saturdays trip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOkuUhXHUME

Tunas, Tunas, Tunas

2010-12-06T10:21:00.000-05:00

50 Pounder

Nicer yellowfin

Yellowfin

One on the way to the box another one on

Nice Blackfin

Fishing is Good folks. Better get here while they're still here. Hopefully that will be all winter.

Another good day of TUNA FISHING and snow to end it

2010-12-04T21:38:00.000-05:00

We had another good day of tuna fishing today with Roger and Cheryl Flury and some of the family.Roger and I first fished together back in 1989, believe it or not, and still does every now and then. It's always a fun time with them. The weather was actually much nicer than I expected it to be this morning when I got up and looked at the buoy report. We started out the day catching a few smaller blackfin and pulling off three nice fish which I would say were yellowfins. Fishing up the beach we had a few more blackfin bites then got hit by the yellowfins but only caught two out of 5 or 6 and that is kind of how the rest of the day went. two or three bites and one fish four bites and one or two fish, it's just that way somedays.We did also have a couple shots at a white marlin today but he won,can't catch them all no matter how bad we want to. At the end of it all we ended up with a nice catch of yellowfin a few larger blackfin and a few small ones as well. We probably caught 10 throw back bluefin tuna this afternoon late. Maybe that will be a good omen for the bigger ones to be on the way. When I slowed down to come through the breakwater this evening it was snowing believe it or not. It only lasted a few minutes which is enough for me. Thanks guys for such a great day.

Tunas,wahoo and a Hatchet (white) marlin

2010-11-28T19:34:00.000-05:00

Hatchet Marlin (Round scale Spearfish)

Looking for a bite

Mikey, Jimmy and the boys and girl

We had Michael Ray ,Jimmy and the rest of the crowd today. It was a little breezy and cool but we ended up having some good fishing. I think the count was 16 yellowfins , 8 blackfin tunas a wahoo and a hatchet (white) marlin. It was a pick for most of the day but we did get semi whammed a couple of times catching 4 or 5 at a time. We had another white marlin come in behind a teaser but never offered to eat anything and just disappeared. Looks like the weather is going to get good towards the end of the week so if you're looking to catch a tuna now is looking like a good time. Some of this crowd will be back in a couple of weeks, maybe they'll go try it again.The top Picture was taken off of another charter boat today and emailed to me, thanks Kyle.

Hello

2010-11-27T10:46:00.000-05:00

I've been having some problems lately with getting my reports to post. I don't know what has been up with it. It said they posted but obviously nothing ever showed. I'll try to get them together and repost. The tuna fishing is happening right now folks so you need to come on and go. It has been a mix of big blackfin tuna and yellowfin with more yellowfin the last few days. Still a few wahoo around as well. Hope to see some of you soon.

Roc Solid Foundation Benefit tournament

2010-10-05T15:18:00.000-04:00

We donated a charter to a cause called The Large Mouth Brown Trout Charity Fishing Tournament that benefits the Roc Solid Foundation , http://www.rocsolidfoundation.org/home.php . The money raised goes to help better the lives of children battling pediatric cancer. What a better way to give than to give to a child. They are our future and even one smile makes it all worth while. I thought I would share with you just part of an email we received from the founders of this cause. If you would like to support just copy and paste their link that I have posted and check out the site and see some of what they are about and watch the video below to see some of what they do. It feels good to feel like you have done just a little something to make a child's day just a little better.

Michael and D.M. - First off, I would like to thank you once again for the generous donation to the Large Mouth Brown Trout Charity Fishing Tournament. The Native Son charter raffle was a huge success and as a direct result of your generosity, we were able to raise approximately $15,000 to be used to help brighten the lives of children who are battling pediatric cancer! We are already planning something bigger and better for next year and we hope to include you guys in the festivities once again!

Rain, Wind now Tide.

2010-10-03T17:04:00.001-04:00

Man what a week this has been. We had our last good week of charters on the books and didn't get to run one at all. We had those low pressures come up the stalled front that dumped record amounts of rain inland. We had 40 knot sustained winds with gust up to 70. Now all the water from inland is draining in the sounds and the way the wind is blowing it is all coming here. The streets here in the village are flooding as I type. Hopefully we won't get anymore wind than what we have or we will get a dose of it. To top it all off, all of this hard south wind we had closed up our channel and no one could go fishing if they wanted too. The ferries to Ocracoke have been shut down for 5 days now from Hatteras. The only way on and off Ocracoke is to and from Swan Quarter or Cedar Island which I would think is probably flooded this afternoon with all this water. It sounds like the end of the week is going to get nice so hopefully we'll get to go fishing sometime soon. Hopefully they will have a channel opened up and marked for us tomorrow. The Dredge has been working hard and so have the USCG ANT (aids to navigation team) fellows. These guys keep our channel marked and buoys lit for us to get you out safely. Check back in later this week for further updates. Guess I'll go watch the tide come up some more.

Tennessee Crowd

2010-09-26T19:08:00.000-04:00

We had Mike White and some of his friends from TN with us today. They have us booked for two of the next three days if the weather permits and it looks like tomorrow will be it for a couple of days. We started the day off fishing along a change trying to catch some dolphin. We found a couple of schools but they were very uncooperative today. They were swimming fast up the beach and were hard to stay with. We managed about half a limit. We caught a couple of wahoo out of 5 or 6 wahoo bites and then we caught a nice sailfish. He was a big one for around here, I'd say 60 lbs or so. We are hoping to head out again in the morning , weather permitting so check back in and see what's up.

Great Dolphin Fishing

2010-09-25T20:49:00.000-04:00

We had a Make-up charter today and had a nice day on the water. There was a little rain around in squalls earlier but they didn't last long and nobody melted so that was a good sign. We found a few small schools of fish and would catch 4 or 5 here and there. Finally after a little while we found the mega school of hungry nice fish and finished up on our limit. From there we went and tried to catch a wahoo but only had one bite which came off. Trolling up inshore late in the day we had a sailfish come in and follow a short rigger and I switched him off to a naked ballyhoo I had on my shotgun and luckily hooked him. After a struggle we finally caught him, he had got tail wrapped during the fight somehow. Left my camera home today so no picture of him. My wife bought it to me when I got in so I could get the picture for the site. I had to take a picture of the Halloween car that was at the marina today. This guy from New York comes here every year and has his car all done up like this. Every body stops and checks it out. Fishing in the morning then it looks like a couple of days of weather. Have a good evening.

Day at the Docks

2010-09-19T08:42:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was The Day at the Docks. It is a celebration of the Hatteras waterman from charter fishermen to commercial fishermen. We have the fortune of being asked every year to be one of the display boats on the main row at Odens for the day. On this row they have charter and commercial boats all intermingled. This year there were two charter boats, a long liner, shrimp trawler, drop net boat, mullet skiff, beach dory, a side picker, shad boat and the head boat the Miss Hatteras was also in the line up. The event takes place from Odens dock to Hatteras Harbor with all kinds of food, music, displays, contest for kids and adults. A fishing tournament at Hatteras Harbor for the kids,crab races, the concrete marlin, net hanging, survival suit races and to many mpre to name. The USCG is there with their with 47 ft. rollover boat as well as the water wagon which is a big hit with the kids. The day ends with a parade of boats entering the harbor and all gathering at Hatteras Harbor and village Marina where after all have arrived we have the blessing of the fleet. It is a time to remember those that have crossed the bar(passed on) this year as well as give thanks for the safe return daily of our fleet,for our lively hood, families, friends and the well being of our little community. It makes me proud to be a part of this fishing community and to do what I do for my living. I am thankful for all of you who fish with us every year and for those of you who may have only fished with us once. Some have become close friends over the years. The evening ends with a band and lawn dance right in the middle of town at our community center from 8 PM til midnight. You should make a plan to come and join us next year for the day and take in the sights. Looks like the swell from Igor will keep us at home for the next few days so there probably won't be much for a fishing report until Wed. or Thursday. Fishing is great and we have open days. Get on down here and do some fishing with us. It's good for your soul,I know it's good for mine.

West Virginia Pittsburgh Steelers fan

2010-09-15T22:31:00.000-04:00

We had a crowd from West by god Virginia that said to make sure that I told everyone that they were Steelers fans. Why? I have no clue. We had a great day if fishing today with another nice catch of dolphin with at least a dozen gaffers mixed in with the bailers we caught. We had to make a long run this morning to find the edge where the down current had pushed the water out so far overnight. I was 32 miles when i set out this morning. 36 when I started trolling for home. On the way back in we had a great big Blue Marlin on briefly before we pulled the hook on her. I'd say a good guesstimate would be 500 plus on the conservative side. It was an awesome bite with the fish all lit up like a Christmas tree. No trips for a couple days and then the swell from the hurricane gets here so probably no fishing again until early next week. Give us a call, fishing is good for you.

Ernest Matney and crew

2010-09-14T22:21:00.000-04:00

Today we had Mr. Ernest Matney and some of his crew along for the ride. It was a little choppy at first but turned out beautiful later in the morning. We started our day out by watching an awesome sunrise on our way offshore. Soon after we started fishing we hooked and caught three nice gaffers along an edge and caught a couple more plus a few bailers before going on further offshore. We found some grass in the deep that was holding some nice dolphins and finished up with our limit along it and around an end patch. We also caught a couple of wahoos today and lost another or two. Back at it again tomorrow and maybe Thursday as well so check back in tomorrow. Looking forward to a good day on the water.