Capt. Ray and the pumpkin patch

No he wasn't shopping for a jack o lantern.

He took the airboat to Drum Inlet to check out the flounder gigging. It was so calm they slipped out into the ocean and ran into a HUGE school of drum. Little ones and big ones all mixed up. They only had trout rods so they caught fish and lost fish for about 3 hours, mostly yearlings, but PLENTY of big ones that they had trouble slowing down......water was too dirty for gigging so they came home at dark.......meanwhile, I was on the couch, taking a nap.

Capt. Brian's day in the big nor'easter

"One stop in the white water......we kept 2-4 on for 4 hours. Pups, upper slots and yearlings, a bunch of them. Probably caught 45-50 fish. Slid
back across the river at 5:30 around the Thicket and caught One Old Drum, 48" in the first 10 minutes, sat there for another hour, had two more bites. Picked up and ran home. A good day to rap up the season."

I told you the puppy drum fishing was really good.....

Pat's fish

Pat and his fish.......



Pat and his fish.....after he realized what it was doing to his leg.....

end of season drum pics

The party is over, but good fishing remains....

Although Ray caught 4 big uns this afternoon, I couldn't get the big bite. The big drum fishing has dramatically slowed. I heard that Stormin Norman Miller saw one of the largest schools that he's ever seen leaving the inlet. There are still some around and there is still a reasonable chance at catching some fish, but nothing like it was 4 days ago.

The good news is that the puppy drum fishing is really good, mix in a few "yearlings"(27-35 inch fish) and an occasional big fish, fishing in general is really good. Things are also starting to heat up with other light tackle stuff. This morning we had 8 nice stripers, 3 black drum, 2 pups and a couple keeper flounder. In the afternoon, no big 'uns, but pups for everyone and a few yearlings.

Albies are at the Cape and the big kings just a little offshore. I'll be taking the week to gear up for fishing out of MHC.

Whether it is out of New Bern, Morehead or Oriental, fishing is looking good for this fall. Give us a ring and we'll make it happen with one of the Down East Guides.

Some pics to follow.....

Quote of the Day

82 year old Mr. Ford, after fishing 3 days with his sister and brother-in-law. They fished with Capt. Brian for the big drum, each getting citations, with me for some light tackle black drum, flounder and stripers, then with Capt. Ray for the pups:

Mr. Ford was commenting on Capt. Ray's youngest son's 19th birthday:

"If I knew at 19 what I now know at 82......I would've never lived to see 25."

God Bless ya Mr. Ford.

customer pics.....

....still getting them, but it is getting tougher. Double digit day yesterday, but barely.

should've stayed out there yesterday......

Excellent sight casting bite in the middle of the day today by Capt. Brian and Capt. Ray. I got there just in time to "piss on the coals". The fire had gone out.

We fished for a couple of hours. Nada. Then beat the banks for 30 minutes, catching 3 keeper pups for dinner. Charged out accross the river and put the lines in the water at 6:35, lines out of the water at 7:20 with double digits of big 'uns. Sometimes the day is made in just a few minutes......should've stayed out there yesterday.

The Lance Brown Family Trip a few days ago

From yesterday morning

Don't get on my boat!!!

Don't get on my boat if you have a piss-poor attitude and are full of "negative energy".

Don't get on my boat if you are going to tell me at 6:15 in the evening, an hour before sunset and during the best of the drum fishing that YOU don't believe that they're going to bite so I might as well just take YOU back to the dock.

Don't get on my boat if you don't plan on FISHING, if you want a boat ride, go on a sailboat, Oriental is full of them.

Don't get on my boat if you don't plan on dedicating as much time and effort as I'm willing to dedicate to the success of your day.

Don't get on my boat if you need to go home because after 4 hours you are worried that your dogs might piss on the carpet. If my 16 year old lab can hold it, so can yours.

Don't get on my boat if you're going to spend the whole afternoon telling me how YOU catch halibut or salmon or ling cod or or whatever it is that you catch where you used to live; then spend the rest of the day telling me that I should be fishing the way that you used to fish. When in Rome.......learn from the Romans, you can do whatever you want when you're on your own.

And for "Never Enough"....Don't get on my boat and tell me that "They've all gone to Ocracoke".

And for the offshore charter customers......Don't get on my boat and tell me "Well, the last time that we fished out of Oregon Inlet, we caught over 800 pounds of tuna on a half day trip."

Finally, don't stand on the dock, eating a banana and plan on getting on my boat!!!!

Enough venting......for those willing to FISH, they're catching fish, still double digit days, including Capt. Joe Shute who had a double digit day yesterday. Things are beginning to wind down, the bite is a little later in the day, but yes, we're still getting them.

Some pics from yesterday morning are to follow.

Citation Applications

We're starting to work on the citations, red drum over 40 inches and tarpon caught with the Down East Guides. Let me know your complete contact info, date fished, guide fished with, number of drum over 40 inches, etc.

Looks like we got our nor'easter back today.....

Some more pics from the last one......

some more customer pics

From Capt. Joe Shute:



From Capt. Joe Shute:

Funament

Here are the totals from the all-lady angler "funament" that we had a couple of weeks ago. The ladies from the International Women's Fishing Association were all angels. www.iwfa.com The Down East Guides are already looking forward to fishing them again next year.
The theme was centered around the Carolina Blues, hence:
138 bluefish
42 puppies
7 yearlings
18 old drum
2 spanish
20 flounder

we lost our nor'easter

and the bite slowed a bit. Capt. Brian Harrington got his double digits....we were almost there, as was Capt. Ray. Great fishing for the pups on light tackle. No they aren't leaving, but the change in wind has scattered them. They're not going anywhere until the next full moon. I think that the tarpon have left the building.

Hope to get some pics up soon.

Customer pics

Well, Del, you got the timing right, but the weather wrong, nonetheless, the double digit days continued through the rain.

Some customer pics:

epic

You timed it right Del.

As in years past, I'm not going to get in the habit of posting any specific numbers. After all, if everyone on the boat catches 1 or 2 big drum, that's a great day. Let's just say that the Down East Guides are having consistent double digit catches of big drum.

Congrats to John McCracken, fishing with Capt. Brian Harrington and under the tutorial of Jim "Never Enough" Copland. John set a single angler record two days ago. I think that this record will stand for a while.

nor'easter drum fishing

is pretty darn good. A bit rough, but really, really good. Plenty of pups, yearlings and the big 'uns, all right there together.