2005 Fishing Reports

Fishing Report 12/29/2005

Live Line is still out of the water for now getting new motors and should be ready for break-in hours next week. We went down to warm Miami over the holiday to see my wife's family. I took the opportunity to fish with a guide I have used several times in Key Biscayne, Joe Gonzalez on the "Funny Bone" and have never been disappointed. My main objective of the trip was to have my son David catch his 1st bone fish. We were successful in getting his 1st bone fish 23 inches about 8 lbs and tagged and released. My brother in law caught a nice 26 incher around 10 lbs. We hooked several other fish that spooled 300 yards of line and broke us off in the sea fans. We did catch a couple of small snook and bonnet head sharks. The bone fish are schooled up this time of year off Biscayne Bay so we so a lot of large schools. If you are ever in the Miami area and want to fish with a great guide give Joe a call at 305 642 6727. Like I said I have gone on several trips and have never been disappointed. Just fishing on the flats is an experience.

Update 11/18/2005

Live Line will be out of the water for a couple of weeks. She is getting new power 2005 Yamaha 300 HPDIs.
I will update the site when I am back in the water after Thanksgiving.

Fishing Report Sunday Nov 13th

Seas and winds were calm light SW with a 1 to 2 ft swell. I had the pleasure of taking our 4 of our troops from Bragg on Veteran's day weekend. The 1st line in the water caught a 300 plus lb Sandbar shark. We continued to catch fish all day and had a blast. Final count was 5 keeper Gag grouper( 6 short Reds and Blacks released) , 6 AJs with a couple over 40 lbs all released and 12 kings the largest around 14 lbs. We all had a great day and it was my pleasure taking these guys out fishing.

Charter 12 Nov 05

Fished with Capt Mike Jackson of Liveline Charters, along with Jeff Pittman and Jay Hill from Goldsboro and LaGrange NC. We left out of Mansboro Inlet early that morning and headed out to the 23 mile rock area to try for some grouper and lite line for King Mack's as well. We were not disappointed, almost immediately we were hooked into the Groupers, the biggest one for the day was a 21.05 pound Gag which earned a citation for Jay.
The day continued with lots of bites and landings including a 41 and 61.5 pound amberjack ( also a Citation ), 10 king mackeral, several Red Grouper which were released as well as nice seabass and a grunt. Mike Jackson is a true professional, worked as both captain and mate, kept everything baited and ready to fish. If you want fish and a quality charter, this is the man to see. Thanks again Mike for a great day on the water.

Wade Moore
NCCoastalFishing.Com

Fun Fishing Sun 11/6/2005
The weather was great no wind and seas and clear blue water at 73 degrees. This was a pleasure compared to the last few tournament fishing days. We took a father and son fun fishing day to go offshore and try our luck at bottom fishing. We stayed VERY busy all day. Caught 5 Amberjack most over 40 lbs, 3 large sharks 2 Sandbars and the last was a nice Tiger over 250 lbs see pictures, 5 kings with one over 20 lbs very long and skinny, 4 Black grouper, 1 keeper Red Grouper and 8 to 10 shorts released. Needless to say we had a great day but Dad was a little worn out at the end of the day.

Tournament Update 10/22/2005: Rumble in the Jungle

We fished the tournament put on by the Little River Fish club called Rumble in the Jungle. This was a 1 day and they did a great job on the tournament and I would recommend this tournament to others. The bad news was the weatherman was WRONG again. The light SW winds turned into 15 to 20 SW and the 2 to 3 ft seas were more like 3 to 6. Everyone had to check out of Little River and we took the long and painful ride back up to Southport. The fishing was finally the way fall fishing is supposed to be. We had fish skying on baits and I had baits eaten on the drop back 4 times. We had a bad hook up ratio I think because of the rough seas. Ended up with 6 fish all teenagers to the largest was 22.3 lbs. We had at least 12 strikes in 5 hours of fishing. We finished 14th out of 115 boats and my son David won 2nd place Jr. angler in the SKA. Next weekend is our home tournament Wrightsville Beach and hopefully Wilma will be gone and the fish will stick around.

Tournament Update Wrightsville Beach KMT

The tournament was Friday and Sat but I went Thursday to prefish and scout for bait. It turned out to be a bait searching trip. We caught about 50 large mullet and finally caught pogies after looking for 5 hours. This worked out because I put everything in a holding pen for the tournament. Friday the winds were 15 to 25 N-NW all day and even 4 miles out the seas were 4 to 5 ft. Most teams spent the day trying to catch live bait or fished with dead bait. I decided to anchor up and chum and we caught 3 kings the largest was 20.8 lbs which put us in 2nd place on the 1st day of the tournament. Needless to say the fishing was very poor. Sat the winds left off a little but still NW 10 to 15. The fish still did not want to feed until later in the afternoon. We caught a 19.05 lb fish. The 4th through 6th place in the tournament was a aggregate weight so we finished 5th overall and my son won Jr. Angler and 1st Place SKA Jr. Angler.

One bonus on Friday was I caught and released a 41 inch drum (28 inch girth). Well over 30 lbs. Pictures to follow.

Tournament Update "Fall Brawl"

We could fish Sat or Sun and based on the weather forcast we picked Sun. As usual the weatherman was wrong. The winds were lighter on Sat and the fishing was much better. We fished Sunday at Shallotte Inlet where a lot of fish were caught on Sat. Bait was tough and it took until 10:00 AM to start fishing and about 70 gallons of gas running from Oak Island to Little River. The fish turned on for about 1 hour around 11:30 AM at the tide change. After all the effort to catch live bait the only strike of the day came on a dead ribbon fish. Not a banner day but we did weigh in a 16.55 lb fish that put my son David in 1st place as the Jr Angler in Division #9 of the SKA.

Fishing Report

Wed 10/12/2005 Winds were hard NE 15 to 20 with overcast skies all day. Headed to Southport which was the only area we could fish and the fish were on the beach prior to all the rain last week. Unfortunately, the week of wind and rain has shutdown or moved most of the fish off the beach. We caught plenty of bait with one throw of the cast net but fished hard for 9 straight hours for 1 fish. Although the pros in the FLW tour would have liked to have this fish, it was still a very long day with small rewards.

Sat 10/15/2005 Winds NW 10 to 20 I took David my son and did a little inshore drum fishing in the morning. We had a lot of fun and he caught a nice drum. The water off Wrightsville Beach is still seeing the effects from the rain run off but I hope the water will clear up in the next week and the fish will move on the beach again.

Steves King Mack Son Daves Drum

Tournament Update : US Open
2 October 2005

We fished the US Open tournament Friday and Sat. Winds were hard out of the NE both days and Sat had a lot of rain and thunder storms to make it more interesting. Saturday we tried anchoring by our selves by the river channel and played hero or zero. We came up with zero on Friday not even a strike. Saturday we caught bait 1st then checked out to beat the storm headed into Southport. We went to the river channel and before I had all the lines in the water we had our 1st strike. (what a difference a day makes). We caught the the fish in the middle of a driving rain storm and winds. A very long and skinny 22 lb fish. Put the lines out again and before I had the downriggers out the medium line went off. The fish did not take much line but ran under another boat anchoring to start chumming. The fish cam up pretty quick so we thought it was small. Once I looked over the side in the cloudy water I saw how long it was and immediately reached down with the gaff deep and stuck h! im (I hate to reach straight down with the gaff in cloudy water). We weighed her in when the scales opened at 11:00 AM and took 2nd place for a while 35.55 lbs. We fell to 3rd later in the day by .05 of a lb. We finished 3rd out of 345 boats in one of the biggest tournaments in the area. A fun day for all.

Fishing Report updates
9-17-2005 thru 9-24-2005

Fished Sat 9/17/2005 Tried fishing at 10 mile and 23 mile areas for kings and grouper but the ocean was still very dirty from the storms and 2 weeks of hard NE winds. Very slow with almost no bait holding on the ledges.

Tournament Update 9/24/2005 Fished the South Brunswick KMT out of Holden beach. This was a 1 day tournament with check outs. Had about 150 boats with great weather. We checked out of Southport and fished the Youpon area to start based on the previous days reports. Not much action with a few fish being caught. We had a couple of large Spanish hits but no kings. Moved off shore to the tide line and caught 2 nice fish quickly. The largest was about 19 lbs. The bite slowed for a couple of hours so we made a move to the other side of the shoals at the fairway area but no bait and the ocean was still a mess from the storms. Moved back to the river channel area and caught the late afternoon bite. It was fall fishing with kings skying on baits and multiple hook ups. We had a double header and a couple of other nice fish. Weighed in a 24.78 lb fish. We finished 17th out of 150 boats. David my son won 1st place SKA Jr. Angler and 2nd place Jr. Angler for the tournament.

Hopefully the fall fishing will only get better. Give me a call for a fall King Mackerel trip.e me a call for a fall king mackerel trip.

Fishing report 9/4/2005

Winds were NE 15 to 25 (not the forcasted 15 mph and 2 to 4 ft seas). Took the long boat ride to fish off Soutport since this was the only option. Caught plenty of bait in the way down and fished the beach off Youpon. Caught a nice 5 lb spanish quickly and then a nice 21 lb king. The winds then increased to 20 plus and shutdown the bite. Fall is coming based on the NE winds and the mullet running down the beaches.

Fishing Reports.

Wed 8/17/2005 Seas and wind light all week S/SW. The ocean has been flat all week. Took a 1/2 day group of 6 out from NY and Virginia. A great day full of action with flat seas. We had multiple double headers and finished the day with 3 on at once. Final count at the end was 4 large spanish (3 to 6 lbs), 5 kings and 3 large cudas. We had at least another 6 to 8 stirkes.

Fri 8/19/2005 Same sea conditions. Took out another 1/2 day group from NY from the same family as Wed. Had 3 boys and fathers that said they had to out fish the group from Wed. Had another day full of action with less but larger fish caught by the boys. We also had multiple kings eaten by cuda and lost at leasst 3 AJs in the wrecks. (20 lb tackle just doesn't cut it with the AJs). At the end of the day we had a nice king that was eaten by a very large cuda. see attached picture. Had 2 large kings one 20 lbs and the other 18 lbs and 6 large cudas

Sat 8/20/2005 Tournament report Top Sail Beach KMT Seas remained flat we we fished the Southport area going for the hero or zero. We had 1 king strike a 28.44 lb fish (sorry no picture forgot) which put us in 7th place in the tournament. Fishing was slow due to the full moon but it worked out for us. We did catch about a 7ft Tiger shark which was fun but not in a KMT. see picture.

Sun 8/21/2005 Seas flat. 1/2 day trip. The action was good in the morning and could not keep a line in the water for the 1st couple of hours but then the light swtiched shut off. Not sure why they shutdown because the bait was everywhere. Still caught a few nice kings, large spanish and a couple of large cudas.

Nice Cuda Tiger Shark

Fishing Report 8/13/2005

Winds were light and sea flat. The ocean was like a lake. Had a great day of fishing with 2 youth angler Dan and Matt. Dan caught a 30 lb cuda and Matt caught couple of nice kings. Matt's day Joe was not to be out done and caught a 30 lb king. It was 50 inches long and 23 inch girth. I thought it was larger than 30 but no stomach. The final count at the end of the day was 8 kings, 2 small Mahi and a couple of sharks. A fun day of fishing and a citation king.

Tournament Update Fished the Industrial KMT "GE/Corning/Dupont" 8/6/2005 .Winds were SE 10 to 15. Fished Southport area. Bait was everywhere and fished a nice tide line 1st thing but only caught a 5 lb spanish. Started fishing the river channel around 9:00 AM. Around 10:00 the med line went off but didn't take much line to start. The fish went off shore and when it was gaffed it was the fattest fish I have ever caught. It weighed 37.9 lbs at the scales and we won 1st place in the tournament. The fish was only 48 inches long but a girth of 23 inches. My son won Jr. Angler of the tournament. The angler David Joyner did a great job and the team had a great day.

Fishing Report 8/7/2005 The weather man was wrong once again and the light SE winds with 2 to 3 ft turned into 15 to 20 mph with 3 to 5 ft seas. Base on the conditions around Wrightsville we took the long boat ride to Southport to fish the river channel and fish with a following sea. Bait was in the river and easy to catch. A little rough fishing but around 10:00 AM again the long line started screaming. The fish headed offshore and took 350 yards of line. We ran it down and with only 30 yards to go it tail whipped the line. No doubt another large king. We had a few other strikes and caught a small hammer head. The weather didn't cooperate with the winds/rain and clouds but the crew made the best of it and had a good time. Great group of guys from Ft. Bragg.