Fishing Report

Friday, February 05, 2010
GIANT BLUEFIN TUNA PROGRAM.........,
Quick correction first......,the May 1 Tournament website is reelinforresearch.org.....,not .com........,The History Channel's Modern Marvels aired a program last night about the history and plight of the Giant Bluefin Tuna....,it shows that the fish face extinction if some changes aren't made.....,the program will air again this Saturday night, February 6, at 7:00 and is well worth watching....,there is also some footage on the Sensation as we did our tagging last year and features mate Alan "Big Country" Scibal on the wire along with Franklin Miller in the chair on an 800 pounder and our own Joey Smith in the chair on some other fish.......,Dr. Barbara Block is interviewed along with several others and the program gives you an indepth look at the Japanese fish market and their insatiable appetite for the most valuable fish paddling around in the ocean.......,worth watching.......,Sensation is close to being finished and with a little bit of decent weather early next week, we should be able to get her bottom painted and splash her.......,sure hope so........,

Wednesday, February 03, 2010
REELIN FOR RESEARCH................,
The boys that are handling the fundraiser for Children's Cancer Research called Reelin for Research are getting cranked up for the annual fundraiser which will be held on May 1, 2010 on the Morehead City Waterfront.....,the fundraiser is a fishing tournament that will include the boats from the Big Rock Landing as well as a host of private boats.....,and last year raised over $30,000 for this worthwhile project....,the offshore tournament was started by Richard Montana and is being headed up by Mike Kilpatrick and is open to all boats that would like to participate.......,a great way to kick off the tournament season and raise money for Children's Cancer Research....,check out reelinforresearch.org and reserve a spot for your boat......,otherwise, not any action here on the waterfront...,most everyone is getting the winter boat chores out of the way....,and the very few Giant Bluefin Tuna that paddled through here......,have migrated on, if they weren't shipped to Japan........,I hope to have Sensation off the hill by the end of this week, back in her slip, and ready for action......,taking bookings for the Springtime Yellowfin Fishing......,give me a call.........,

Monday, January 25, 2010
RAINING CATS AND DOGS...........,
It's early Monday morning and the rain is beating hard against the window with a driving gale force southwest wind........,the sun shined over the weekend but the wind blew.......,I don't think that any of the fleet had trips so no one would have gone anyway.......,it's that time of year....,all of the fleet is at different stages of haulout repairs or planning haulouts.....,but the Redheads and the Black Ducks have been in trouble.......,Sensation is looking really good and she should be splashed by the end of the week.....,getting ready for another season of friends....,and laughs and smiles and sunburns, and catching lots of good eating fish......,and watching the Blue Marlin, White Marlin, and Sailfish jump away from the boat as they peel the line off of those Penn Internationals...............,boy o boy...,the sun's gonna be shining hot again soon.......,let's get ready to go fishing....,

Friday, January 22, 2010
BOAT YARD BLUES.................,
My ole girl the Sensation is back at home for a few days......,in the Jarrett Bay boatyard getting a facelift........,and she's starting to look pretty darn good.......,not much to report on the fishing side.......,north wind for the past several days and no boats have been offshore......,the last one that I saw leave the waterfront was on MLK day......,in search of a Giant Bluefin Tuna........,and came home emptyhanded......,but the good news is that the Sensation is taking reservations for Springtime Yellowfin Tuna charters, beginning the first of March........,also, we are open for the Hatteras Village Marlin Tournament, the second week in May........,which is one of the most fun tournaments of the year.......,give me a call and let's get pencilled in.....,

Saturday, January 16, 2010
WINTER TIME WAHOOS..................,
Unbelievable winter time Wahoo fishing here along the Crystal Coast..,only a couple of boats fished offshore yesterday while a little shy of a hundred boats plyed the inshore waters in search of the pot of gold......,the chance to catch one of the few Giant Bluefin Tunas that is fortunate enough to still be paddling around..........,but only a very few boats....,maybe four.....,were lucky enough to catch a Giant Bluefin.........,but the couple of boats that went offshore absolutely smoked the Big Big Wahoo.......,Capt Gene Ward of the Sea Witch came to the Gulf Dock with a box full of huge Wahoo...,and Michael Tickle, his dad, and a friend were on Michael's boat and whacked a big crowd of the toothy monsters.......,Michael told Big Country that he pulled one off on the leader that was triple digits......,in addition to that Michael caught four big Gaffer Dolphin and each boat caught Blackfin Tuna...........,

Friday, January 15, 2010
HEADING OUT TODAY..........,
Ole man winter has loosened his grip on the Crystal Coast and the wind has laid out...........,today the high should be in the 50's combined with that 70 plus degree water offshore........,should be a nice day off there....,Good Lord willing we are taking our Duke friends offshore for a sighting project then hopefully tomorrow we will have a chance to wet a hook.....,that would be special because the boats that got off there yesterday and wet a hook came up with fish on them........,the Energizer had the circle hook CMAST crowd yesterday and they had 23 bites and came home with plenty of Blackfin Tuna and Wahoo.....,one citation sized Wahoo....,Capt Gene Ward on the Sea Witch also caught Wahoo, Blackfin, and Albacore yesterday. Capt Zook on the Energizer also told me of an unconfirmed report of a private boat going 6 for 9 on the Sailfish in the past few days......,the Bluefin Tuna activity has been almost non-existent with one report of a fish yesterday out of a sizable fleet............,check out the photo page for some new postings........,

Wednesday, January 13, 2010
GETTING AFTER IT................,
Maybe, just maybe Big Country and I will be heading offshore on the Sensation on Friday.......,the thing is that the forecast for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday is awesome.......,highs around 60 degrees and no wind........,and we are open for charter both Thursday and Saturday. It has been too cold for too long......,and we are ready to get back out on the Gulf Stream.........,check out the photo page today.........,I am posting a photo that Capt Bob Lucas of the Instigator sent to me....,Capt Bob has moved his boat to Costa Rica for a period of time and has been into some outstanding fishing.......,especially big Sailfish.......,he sent me a photo of his son along with his mate and his son with a nice fish........,look's like plenty of fun....,okay, give me a call.......,and let's go fishing this weekend........,

Wednesday, January 06, 2010
OLD MAN WINTER....................,
Old man winter has set in here in Morehead City just has he probably has in your hometown.......,the focus here right now is to keep the water from freezing in the bilge...........,but that Gulf Stream water is still in the mid 70 degree range and the fish are paddling along out there wondering why we aren't out there with them.......,not a lot to report.......,only a scattering of Bluefin Tuna bites over the past several days......,and only a day or so have been fishable because of the winds and heavy seas.......,it has been a very unusually windy fall and early winter.....,I was asked a couple of months ago by my friends at Duke Marine Lab, just what percentage of days the wind would allow us to fish offshore, year round.......,after consulting with my dockmates we determined that number to be around 65-70%......,well that has not been the case this fall and winter so far.......,before you know it, the seas will be calm, the air warm, and the Yellowfin Tuna will be making their annual migration down the coast.......,give us a call and let's book a trip..........,

Thursday, December 31, 2009
HAPPY NEW YEAR.........,
We are all in hopes that 2010 will be a Dandy of a year for all of us.......,at least a big improvement in everyone's economic situation. It would be hard to improve on the fishing out of Morehead City because the fishing in 09 was absolutely outstanding. Keep in mind that Sensation has a few tournaments open in this new year including the Swansboro Rotary, Cape Fear, and Pirates Cove.......,fishing has been slow because of high winds and heavy seas for the last while, however a fleet of roughly 60 hopeful boats fished on yesterdays nice water and around a dozen Bluefin Tuna were caught. The only boat from the waterfront to score was Capt Gray Hall on the Bluewater......,let's go fishing in 2010. Give me a call and book your Spring trip.....,and Happy New Year !!!!

Monday, December 28, 2009
LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND.........,
Been blowing hard down here since before Christmas, except for a short window yesterday, it is back to blowing big time again today....,We all learned about the theories of supply and demand back in junior high school.........,and it rules in all areas of economics......,and it certainly is ruling the Giant Bluefin Tuna industry.......,five years ago, we on the old Forty Something, along with Capt John Jenkins on the Calcutta, tagged and released one hundred and eleven Giant Bluefin Tuna in fourteen days right here off of Cape Lookout......,last year we tagged four in eleven days....,the average price on the Japanese market five years ago brought the local commercial fisherman an average of $8-10 a pound because there were a plenty of fish hitting the market......,this year, the few fish that have been caught have brought over $20 per pound....,Supply and Demand...............,yesterdays fishing for the fleet......, as Capt Brian Harrington of the Run Off reported, was in capital letters, NON EXISTENT..., no Giant Bluefin Tunas caught!!!!.........,but today, there is at least one boat from the waterfront that left the dock , in near gale force winds, in search of that pot of gold......,