multiple double headers

We only had 4 double headers today....OH, and a triple that turned into a quad, here are some double header pics from last week.

Dove hunting?

If I don't get some trips rebooked this weekend, then I'm going to be forced to go dove hunting....and after Argentina, it just ain't the same....at least I can feel confident about going into the field with a box of shells in my pocket instead of rolling them out in a wheelbarrow.
Some pics with Capt. Brian:

For you surf fishermen

Shack, The Point and Core Banks has changed a bit, here are some aerial pics:

https://picasaweb.google.com/105554853016113762404/CapeLookoutNationalSeashoreAerial8_29_2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

I love it when I get reports from folks that have fished with us before and are now getting them on their own....here's one from yesterday:
"Hi Captain George ...We caught xxx biguns on Monday afternoon ....Beware of LOTS of debris floating in the river! We even spited a trailer floating upside down in the ICW!" ---Johnny

Debris and Drum

Four Down East Guides braved the debris fields today and when it was all done, we counted drum on our fingers and we took off our white boots and counted drum on our toes.....and we were still counting..... It was good out there today.

But there is a lot of debris on the water, if you are on your own, be careful and get off the water before dark. Really guys, get off the water before dark, there is a lot of crap out there.

Due to coastal residents who have had to deal with hurricane clean up, we have some unexpected openings, including myself for this weekend. Fishing is excellent, come on down and let us help you get yours. 252-671-3474

Oriental has some power back

About half of Oriental has had electricity restored including the Oriental Marina 252 249 1818 that has half of their rooms open for customers. The River Neuse Motel 252 249 1404 is open as well.

Bayboro House has power

An alternative for some of you that are heading this direction, The Bayboro House 252-745-7270, just got power. They are a b and b for duck hunters and fisherman friendly. Give Gus a call if you need a clean bed and a hot shower.

Capt. Craig Price, who brings a few folks down from Charlotte for a few weeks, braved it out on the Neuse today, catching 2 big un's before dark. That's a good sign.

All the difference a block makes

As power has just been restored to our block in MHC, we are very thankful to have come out as well as we did in this storm. Other than a few lost shingles here and in Oriental, our houses made out OK. In Oriental, the Marina Hotel got 6 inches in the first floor, I'm not real sure when they will be reopening. The River Neuse 252-249-1404, did not get water and they are open, but phone service in Pamlico County is sketchy. The Oriental Marina Restaurant got an inch in the restaurant. Whether an inch or a foot and whether for 10 minutes or 10 hours, a little water in the house is devastating. M and M's and the Steamer are shut down with knee to waste deep. We have friends in Oriental that have lost everything in their house. Pete and Maureen, our bait guys, made out OK with their house, but Pete lost his ice machines and is going to need some help with them. Our boats are OK, as is the boat landing in Oriental. The river is flat calm and beautiful, we're planning on resuming charters on Tuesday, helping folks dig out tomorrow.....but for some it's going to take longer. The freakiest thing that I did see today was a coffin in a cotton field.

Anna demands a rematch from her losses in both Rumy and Dominoes....now that the power is back on, the tv is going off and she'll have a chance to redeem herself.

We’re OK

Power went out right after I got home last night. We crashed and woke up to the calm of the eye of the storm. The sun never came out, but we did get to ride around the neighborhood, off 20th St. and towards Blare Farms in Morehead City. All was well. Trees down in on Country Club Rd. and a little high water on 20th, but that’s as far as we went. There are reports of upside down sailboats that are stuck in the trees across the waterway from the Morehead City Waterfront. We’re on the back side of the storm and it’s windy, but it looks like we’re going to be A OK FINE. God help those in low lying areas of Pamlico County.

In the lowest lying areas there are reports of people taking refuge in the attic during the worst of the storm, but the water quickly dropped 4 ft during and after the eye and should be really dropping now. There are reports of water up to the steps of the swimming pool of the Oriental Marina and lots of water in houses on Hodges St. towards the boat ramp. Oriental got 9 feet 6 inches. There are a couple of trees across 55 and windblown water coming across the road from the fields, but that all should clear up as soon as the wind lies down. Either way, we’re not going that direction until daylight tomorrow to see how we can help out.

huddled down for the evening

Back at home, steady 30+ and lots of rain, but no flooding yet on the roads. All is well. Not sure about Oriental.

afternoon nap

Rain, wind, full belly and an afternoon beer buzz make for a great nap, just woke up. Heading down the road to the hurricane party in a little while.......no worries

Fishing today

Capt. Greg Voliva got his licks in this morning, catching his one customer a couple heavy handfulls......if you know what I mean. Looks like Capt. Justin Haddock got his also. He is off the water now and just sent me these pics of a couple bruisers.....

Capt. Justin has a fishing machine with his new 23' Sea Hawk with a tower. He is doing a good job and has some openings, along with Capts. Gary Dubiel, Ray Massengill, Chris "Mountmaker" Kimrey, Joe Ward and Joe Shute among other great guides. Let us know when you can go and we'll help get you out there.

This announcement from hurricane central has been brought to you by Down East Guide Service......

reporting from Morehead...

Anna, Shamrock and I are holed up in Morehead. Great idea, looks like we'll get the eye, but not the east side of the storm. Seems that she is sucking in some dry air from our droughted area. She's speeding up and wind speeds are laying down a bit. Bands of rain and wind, up to about 25/30, no big deal.

Keep going east Irene

Latest model has her coming ashore between Cape Lookout and Hatteras.....maybe we'll get a new inlet out of this deal. The easterly drift is good news for us.

Center of the bull's eye

So much for this storm drifting to the east, the latest track has us in the middle of the bull's eye. Getting things out of the water and tied down tomorrow, then heading to Morehead to get things covered there, where I will be reporting from hurricane central through the storm.....as long as we have internet service and power. Hopefully she will pick up speed and be over quickly, not lingering long enough to blow a lot of water up the river. We haven't had too much rain, so the ground isn't soaked, which will help, but the lack of serious storms over the past few years means that a lot of trees are going to get trimmed. Hopefully roads will be clear enough to get back to Oriental.

NO GO on Saturday

Looks like we're going to get to go fishing tomorrow, but pulling the boats out of the water Friday afternoon. Back after the drummies on Sunday....assuming we're all still here and the boats didn't float off the trailers

and the fishing is?

This is my response to Del and the Georgia Boys, heading this way next week:

"George,
All the details for next week sound good . Hope the storm doesn't do any thing bad... Just heatup the drummies." ---Del

"Del,
If the fishing gets any hotter, the river is going to catch fire. When you head this way, just look for the smoke, that’s where we’ll be." ---George

storm pulse

This thing is looking better, sliding to the east, which means that we won't get the east side of the storm, typically the worst. https://secure.www.stormpulse.com/?fsd=1

I'm much more optimistic....but maybe another great day of drum fishing helped out. Here are some more pics from the ladies' trip last week:

Blind date with Irene

I don't like the way this one looks, kind of got a bull's eye on us for this weekend. The good news is that just before and after a big blow, the fishing is incredible. Even the day after a hurricane, the winds are calm and the fish are biting. Barring a direct hit on Oriental, if you can get here, we should be able to get you fishing.

This weekend we have 6 Down East Guides that are booked with our customers. We want to fish, but will not put anyone in un safe conditions. We also understand that some folks will have to do some preparation to get ready for this storm and this may impact their travel plans. It's too early for us to start making weather cancellations, a near miss could allow us to fish every day.

If you have a trip booked this weekend, stay tuned and stay in touch with us.

stumbled into a nest of them

Really good day for me yesterday, as in years past, we're not going to get into the habit of setting unrealistic expectations by posting the numbers of big drum that wer'e catching. If everyone can catch 1 or 2, maybe 3 big drum, that's a great day. Yesterday, we were just a few fish away from my best day ever.

Fun with Capt. Ray

"Attached are a couple of pictures from our trip wtih Capt. Ray on Saturday pm, one is my daughter and the other is David wtih the drum they caught at sunset. Great trip wtih Ray. He had to work hard for every fish we found, but he found them. " Todd

Some pics from the ladies' trip

fising with Charlie Brown

Capt. Charles is off the tug for a couple of weeks and running some drum trips for us. This is the feedback we got from his trip last night:

"Thank you very much for putting us on with Charlie. It was an experience we will not soon forget. If Charlie had a TV show I would watch it every week ! " Dixon

Word has gotten out

There were as many boat trailers in Oriental last night as I've ever seen, sounds like the word has gotten out. Many of these folks have hired guides in the past and know how we fish and how to find fish. Best tip that I can give the "pilgrams" is to pick a spot and stay there; riding all over the river (and around other boats looking for a spot) doesn't help the fishing. The water is shallow and these are spooky fish. In most places in the river, swimming pools are deeper. Think about all those outboards zooming around on top of a big swimming pool. It spooks the hell out of the fish.

Needless to say, fishing was a little more sporadic yesterday afternoon.....in the morning however, it was red hot, with double digit big drum releases and at least 5 tarpon that were hooked, including another release by the Big Dipper.

Mornings or afternoons from now for the next month should be good for the big drum. Some of the Down East Guides still have openings.

Here are some pics and comments from this past week:

"The trip was great, Cpt Brian in a top notch guy. He worked hard the entire time and put us on some great fish. Thanks a ton, George highly recommended Brian when I initially e-mailed about the Guide Service. I also really appreciate how easy it was to communicate with you guys and love that you emailed to follow up. We will definetly use DEGS again. Thanks!"
Eric and Jody

"Hey George and Anna. Had a great trip Monday. Brian worked his tail off to find us some fish on a tough day. As with all the Down East guides we have been around, he is a class act. I wanted to share a few photos with you as well. Thanks so much!"

David

Last night with the ladies....

....the totals are still being added, but the last night with the ladies was pretty good. They released 41 "big drum" yesterday afternoon. The flounder and pups from yesterday morning were fixed up by the folks at River Dunes for their awards cermony. Details and pics to follow....

Ladies are getting their drummies

Capt. Gary Dubiel was the hot boat today, getting all three ladies that were fishing wtih him this morning 3 citations each, then this afternoon, he had another crowd of 3 and got them their's also! The rest of us have been getting what we've needed, but Gary showed us all up today.

fishing anyone?

We have some great guides open next week. Fishing is heating up and I would love to get those last spots filled. Give me a all if you want to fish Mon-Friday. I have every afternoon open with at least one guide.
;-)
Anna

First day with the ladies

Yesterday afternoon 5 boats got a late afternoon start out on a flat river to find scattered busting drum, inclining most of the guides to set up for the big 'uns. Capt. Greg and Capt. Brian were top boats, getting each lady at least two big drum. We had a little confusion on our boat with 3 ladies and 4 bent rods at one time. It was nice seeing them compete, first one to get their fish to the boat got dibs on the unattended bowed over rod.

The ladies are back in town

If you hear some high pitched yelling and screeming from some of the Down East boats this week, it's the ladies. The International Woman's Fishing Association is back in town.

Madam Commissioner protecting her red drum.......from Shamrock

How bad is the tarpon fishing?

The tarpon fishing is so bad that the one I caught yesterday didn't even jump!

Drum pics and pics of "the tarpon" are to come, getting after them early this morning with a siesta in the middle of the day, back out after the afternoon drum bite.

love an east wind

East wind and a full moon are two things that really fire the drum off and the last couple days have demonstrated that. We are starting to count them by the handful.

This short e mail passage kind of sums things up:

From Capt. Gary Dubiel
To. Capt. George

"I booked Aug. 24 today, not many more openings. Great topwater striper bite at New Bern today."


From Capt. George
To: Capt. Gary Dubiel
"Very cooperative busting drum today in front of xxxxxxx, 3:30 pm, nice way to start an afternoon trip, but after that triple header, the next bite didn't come until after dark."

Madam Commissioner's Day Off

The Marine Fisheries Commission meeting for this week was cancelled due to the anticipated lack of quorum, now rescheduled for Aug. 30-Sept. 1. Anna has been "studying up" and was ready to go, but enjoyed her afternoon off.

Capt. Gene Wooster at Mobile East Marine is finishing up putting on my new powerhead, so I took her and Shamrock drum fishing in the skiff. No GPS and a marginally working depth finder, but shortly after sunset we got the right bite with a head shake at the end of the line. Pic to come.

The afternoon bite is very consistent, the morning bite will be improving after next week's full moon.

Drum Pics

No tarpon, but the guys enjoyed catching the big drum last Wednesday.

Thanks for pics.

Taking the day off

This quote from my guy yesterday pretty much sums things up, even though it's super calm out there today and probably THE day that the tarpon bite, but I'm taking a day off the water and inside the a/c.

Capt. Ray caught 5 big drum last night, the afternoon bite is getting very consistent.

"Hi George, Just wanted to say thank you for an enjoyable trip today. I appreciate all of your hard work to put me on the fish. While they didn't cooperate, it wasn't for a lack of trying. I hope the skates have sore mouths and stay away for a while! I enjoyed our day on the water. I most certainly will contact you again when we return to the area. Thanks again! Ed"

good day gone bad

It's bad enough that the military is trying to take over the Pamlico Sound with more and more "temporary" restricted areas......only a matter of time before they try to make them permanent.

It's bad enough when waters available to fishermen for generations without interference with military operations or injury to the public are closed because the military decides to change it's enforcement policies, recently eliminating 5 miles of available Neuse River shoreline.

But it is outrageous when fishermen who are legally fishing outside of the restricted and prohibited areas are harassed and intimidated. The prop wash killed the puppy drum bite and put salt spray all over everything, including my camera. It's a shame that they cannot be better neighbors.

I support our troops, they have given me the freedom to denounce some of the bonehead decisions that their superiors make. Through all of this, I continue to be shocked at the lies and the lengths that the military will go to intimidate anyone who questions their decisions or desires.

Gary had a good day with the pups and found the big drum, catching a couple sight casting. Thankfully they are showing up in good numbers, looks like it's going to be a great season for the big drum.

Tarpon report from Costa Rica

Captain James of the Dragin Fly and a friend of mine went tarpon fishing in Costa Rica yesterday, this is their report:

"We arrived around 3 went out and caught bait and started fishing around 4:30. I hooked and landed 3 in an hour, plus a couple of Jacks. James and his friend hooked and landed 6 more, one of which we kept for the village"

Tarpon therapy

Spent 9 hours on the Pamlico River today, we drove there and put in Aurora. We looked for 4 of those hours, fishing hard for 5 hours. I ran accross a pod of 3 tarpon, surely there would be others to arrive on the scene after the chum slick that I produced today......nothing but skates, saw not other fish after 3 hours of setting there before having to restock the cooler with more beer....not for me of course.

Man it is tough fishing, they are there and are not showing NOR biting or they are scattered all over the sound and her tributaries, my guess is the latter.

I am very much looking forward to some pay back, the week before this upcoming full moon is usually the best week of the summer for tarpon......we'll see.

If you share my frustrations with these fish, come join me in Costa Rica in October, where the tarpon do more than taunt and torture.

Shoot me an e mail and I'll reply with the details. I will be hosting the trip and it's a good one.

Long, long, full day

We try to describe our half days as "long half days" or "3/4 days" because we don't want to let a couple hours get in the way of making a successful trip. Our full days are long full days, not the typical get on the boat and 8 hours later step off the boat which is the norm with other guides accross the country.

Yesterday was a long, long, long full day. After 14 hours, 60 pounds of spots/croakers and 10 pounds of mullet, I was out of bait and strike-less. We saw NOTHING. I'll blame the clounds, rain and changing wind directions. The good move that we did make was stopping along the shoreline to catch a few pups for dinner. That did work out, but barely, otherwise, it was a pretty good skate bite......but as my customer from Ireland said the other day..... "The skates fight better than those big drum anyway!"

I'm taking up sailing

and giving up tarpon fishing.

Anna and I were poking around in the skiff looking for live shrimp and black drum when we saw a young couple enjoying a Sunfish sailboat. "Oh sure, I can sail one of those, no problem." The next day I had to prove it. It's been at least 20 years since I've been on a sailboat, but with 4 years of Camp Sea Gull under my belt, getting on that Sunfish was like riding a bike. Wish I had a pic of Anna and I leaning into the wind to keep that sucker right side up.

meanwhile in Costa Rica

2 sailfish one blue marlin about 250 plus and 1 yellowfin tuna between 70 & 80 lbs

motor troubles

It's hard to sneak up on the drum with a severe metal on metal knocking noise in your motor. Gene and the guys at Mobile East Marine have got parts on order and will get me back on the water soon enough. Sounds like Capt. Greg may be having some similiar issues with one of his motors.

No worries, we're still getting everyone out on the water and will make things happen.....the big drum have been helping out, fishing for them is getting much more consistent with a steady afternoon bite and more and more opportunities for sight casting on the slick calm days.

See Wilbur, that shot isn't so bad once we cut your finger off.