March Marlin Madness

If you've got a little time to "wish you were there", check out this link that Hard Core put together of their overnight marlin trip in Costa Rica last March.   For the serious fishermen only, ideally 2 or 3 anglers.  We will do over night or multi-port destinations n the Dragin Fly.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx7tPDq8WQs&feature=youtu.be

Fishing with Capt. Joe Ward before the blow

Joe had a couple albie trips last week, they got the albies and ran into a school of these.   I love catching those jokers in the sound, but when you catch 'em in the ocean, they really tug. 

 Capt. Joe also fished a recent trout tournament.
"Congrats to brothers Dustin & Matt Rush who took 1^st & 3^rd place in the tournament…
good fishing boys !"

No problems with Sandy

Pretty good blow, lots of water in places, but things should be back to normal in a couple of days.  Will give an updated fishing report as soon as anyone gets out there.

Jim "never enough" does it again....

One man, 66 tarpon releases, 6 days.  Only in Costa Rica.   Actually, Jim had one bad day, only catching one tarpon, so that was really 65 tarpon in 5 days.  His best day he hooked and landed an amazing 18 tarpon, no jump-offs.   I'd like to know what kind of hooks he's using.  In total, Jim put 80 tarpon in the air in less than a week.  

Want some?  Give us a ring to set up your next Costa Rica Tarpon Catching Adventure.

Pics from Belize

Me hard at work: 

 .....but some of that work is scoping out my bonefish hole from the balcony.

 Dr. Orvis and a bonefish.  Pretty work Harry.

Again, me working on getting a tarpon bite.  

 Covered up.

 .....and what you've all been waiting for, a picture of dads permit.......like he said:
"A permit is a permit"

Report from Capt. Greg was 25 topwater stripers this afternoon.

Report from the Run Off:

"Yesterday we caught 7 wahoo, 9 blackfins, 3 mahi, 3 kings and a sail.   

Today we caught 9 wahoo, 2 blackfin, 3 mahi and released 4 sailfish.  RUN OFF."

Inshore?  Offshore?  I'm sure that the action will still be out there after this squall passes by.....

Brett's floating rods

http://networkedblogs.com/DT3sk

I know some folks who could have used one of these........

Cramped Office

Yeah, I'm getting a lot done, but 3 days locked up is about all I'm going to be able to stand.  Light and slight winds forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.  Anyone want to go for a boat ride?

fishing this week

From Capt. Brian on the Run Off:
"Wahoo fishing is ridiculous good.  Sails, blackfins and mahi too.  Several openings over the next two weeks in case anyone is interested.".

I'm splashing the tower boat and have some openings for the alibes/kings/groupers/aj's in case anyone wants some pulledge, light tackle or the fly.

Up the river the trout and stripers are snapping.

Better get out there this week, got a little storm that may be on the forecast.....should fire 'em off.

Back in town.......

......and ready to go fishing again.  Still waiting on the pic of dad's permit.

Got a bit of catching up to do in the office this week, pulling together our Costa Rica trips this winter and the details are coming together for Argentina next year.   We have plenty of room for singles who want to add on with another group.    Anna is charging  up to Washington D.C. for fisheries stuff and I've got a fee pass to slip out of my 10 x 10 office and on to my 23' office.    Weather looks good and the fish are biting, drop me a ring and let's go.

Dad got his permit

You gotta see the picture of this one.....will get it up when I get some better service.

I gave up on them today, settled for a couple of bones.  Got to feed lion fish to giant groupers, snappers and green moray eels today.   Meanwhile, dad was doing battle with his permit.  We met up with him this afternoon to do some snorkeling with us.........and got to see the pictures of his permit.  I did not believe that he caught one, but the proof is in the pictures.   Stay tuned.

one more day

After charging out on the flats on my own, finding and stalking a permit, making the perfect cast and snatching the fly out of his mouth just as he inhaled it, I have officially missed another BIG permit.   Caught a few bones, unguided and under the tutelage of  "Pop", catching a bone with one of his flies.

Anna fed more lionfish to groupers and was harassed by another manatee.

Anna got a 700 pounder.....

After her two dives this morning, she went snorkeling and came across a HUGE manatee that swam up to her to say hello.  That and feeding lionfish to a 40 pound black grouper were the highlights of her day,an afternoon of bonefish for me, have a date with that dang blang permit tomorrow.

This is where I was standing when I hooked my first bonefish of the day.   Anna took our guide and the dive master and went out for a morning of scuba diving….I opted to wade the flats in front of the cabina with my dad.  

With the help of the great guides here at Turneffe and numerous bonefish schools, sometimes with hundreds of fish, I wanted to see if I could do it on my own, maybe point out a school for dad.   I felt like I had a decent shot at it and was thrilled to hook up with my biggest bone of the trip only a few minutes after stepping into the water.  After blowing out that school of bones, we wandered down the flat and I saw what looked to be a huge sickle-shaped fin of a permit on the other side of the lagoon.

 I have found that my passion is with the permit.     I caught my first on the fly here last year after a long two days of casting and multiple refusals.  The permit here in Belize are plentiful….meaning that an angler can have multiple shots during the day, but there is nothing easy about them.    My  permit last year was on the deeper flats outside the mangroves  and from the boat.  Even when casting at schools of a hundred or more permit, they don’t always eat and can be extraordinarily frustrating.  

I had no idea that catching them in that deeper water was the “easy” way to do it.  On my first day here, I was introduced to stalking them on the flats.   They are very wary, but much more so when in only a foot of water.   They are often hard to see, only a slender fin protruding the water’s surface for a brief second or two.  After spotting one or two, perhaps three traveling together, the hunt begins.  They have to be stealthily stalked, sometimes walking more than 200 yards to get in range for the perfect shot.  Then you have to make the perfect cast…..which is a struggle for me.   Chunking a 10 wt at albies or a lobbing a sinking line on the Roanoke is far from quietly dropping a crab fly in front of a permit at 60 feet. 

Even with the right cast, refusals of your offering are more common than a bite.   When the bite does happen, you’ve got to hook them…..without breaking them off after all the pent up adrenaline and enthusiasm is suddenly unleashed on both ends of the rod.  Keep it tight, put him on the reel, deep into the backing, deal with all the obstacles of the flat such as coral heads and mangroves, then beat him down…..again without breaking him off.  It’s not an easy thing to do.

Sure enough, what I saw was a permit on the other side of the lagoon, but I had no crab flies with me, surely a well-placed cast with one of the larger bonefish flies could get a bite.  I successfully stalked within range, made the perfect cast and bam, I’m hooked up with a 6 inch snapper.  The permit blows out and away, off the flat as I dehook my little snapper.  

I’m beginning to “get it”, when fly fishermen claim that they are satisfied with merely the opportunity and that they don’t have to measure success with how many fish they actually catch. 

Same tide tomorrow and I’ll be on that same flat, but I will have a crab fly or two in my pocket.  

Fishing with Greg

"Erik and I had a great time fishing with Greg this past weekend, a productive day on Sunday.  I had a nice, fresh mackerel steak for dinner and Erik is on his way home with some for the the freezer.  We are very happy with the outcome."   ----Milton

Customer comments from last Friday

George,

Thanks again for the EPIC trip on Friday 10/12.  All of us agreed it was the best trip of our lives and we can’t imagine ever topping that again, we could only hope to equal it.  When we added it all up, we caught over 40 fish representing 8 different species.  Included in that was 1 citation king mackerel and 2 citation Spanish mackerel, twelve grouper and the 16 amberjacks at the end of the day which made us actually “no mas” was a terrific day.  As usual we laughed a lot, caught a lot and had one of the most memorable days one the water we will probably ever have.  I attached some pictures and look forward to seeing you next year.

Rick  

Richmond, VA

If you want in on some of this hot fall action on the Crystal Coast, just pick a pretty day and give us a ring. 252-671-3474......better yet, drop me an e mail, I'm still wandering the flats of Belize this week, but will be ready for some deeper water when I get back......although I guess that I was in deep water today.   On the bottom of 60 feet of water trying to figure out how to get sunblock out of my eyes with a scuba tank on my back.....I think that Anna is trying to collect the insurance. 

Another permit.......

......lost.  Yesterday was my fault.  This morning I had several shots, always presenting the fly to the left......or to the right......or too short.  Finally got it where it needed to be, got the bite....and the hook broke.   Ouch.   Going diving this afternoon.   Weather is here, wish you were beautiful.

Wahoo Tourney

 Congrats to the Run Off for their 2nd place finish int he wahoo tournament this weekend.   Some great offshore action going on out there, wahoo, few dolphin and sails, even a marlin or two around.  The Run Off just has a few openings left for this season.  If you cannot get 4-6 guys together, we may be putting together a "make-up" trip, open to singles, for Nov. 7 and/or 8.

No tarpon this morning.....going back after that permit after breakfast......

Plenty of bones, lost my permit

Got the bones good today, lost my permit, all my fault, rushed to get him on the reel and gave too much slack......replaying that one over and over.   Going for a tarpon in the morning.

Bonefish Before Breakfast

Arrived safely in Belize, lunch in the city, then a 90 minute ride offshore to the Turneffe Atoll and the lodge.  A little breezy in the afternoon, but this morning we awoke to clear skies, calm winds and bonefish tailing within casting distance of our doorstep.

Epic

Had a crowd on the boat today and we were into a little of everything.  Started out live baiting, caught 2 citation Spanish and a citation king on light tackle.  Left them biting for some bottom fishing, caught a limit of gags, few triggers, released a few American Reds, including one of them in the teens, then finished the day off with amberjacks, catching a dozen of them.  All are tired. 

Off to Belize tomorrow......  

My last trip on the lower Neuse, now the Crystal Coast and Belize

I finished up my season on the lower Neuse yesterday, tried for the big drum for a while, but no takers, so we headed to the shoreline and started beating the banks.  With the excellent tarpon/big drum fishing, I had not done much of this light tackle fishing this summer,  so it was nice to make only a couple of stops and start catching fish.  

It wasn't red hot other than a good flury of pup-pups and yearlings that lasted for over an hour. We had a fish on every cast, mostly 16/17 inch pup-pups, but we also had two double headers of 30 inch yearlings, plus a couple more, several flounder, black drum and trout.  We ran into a really good trout bite at Swan Island and saw a school of yearlings.  Everywhere we stopped we caught fish.  

Although this fishing should be good until the water temps get way low, the fishing up the river around New Bern and Oriental is keeping most of the Down East Guides up there.   Capt. Ray had a great day of topwater stripers, trout and yearlings and Capt. Greg had an epic afternoon of topwater stripers this past weekend.  Capt. Joe Ward has been working on the trout in the creeks with nice limits of keepers that are big enough they don't need to be measured.  All of those 12 inch trout that we had last year have grown into nice keepers with several "gator trout" in the mix.  The guides will be running these light tackle trips through the fall, long half days are only $450 and full days are $600, up to 3 anglers.

I moved the boat to Capt. Joe Shute's Bait and Tackle yesterday afternoon,  I have a trip tomorrow out of Atlantic Beach, hopefully getting in on the last of the grouper season.   While we're out there, the plan is to work on those big kings that Capt. Joe Shute got into yestereday, also 5/6 pound spanish on light tackle live bait and plenty of albies and bait balls up and down the beach.  

On Saturday morning, I'll be taking off to Belize, hosting a group of anglers there for bonefish, permit and tarpon.   While gone, I will not be answering the phone.....I do have phone privileges reinstated.....but we will be checking in via e mail and can still get you out on the water with one of the Down East Guides fishing  on the Crystal Coast.   Half days are $500, 3/4 days (recommended) $600 and all-day trips are $800.

Argentina January Dove Hunt, need 2

Looking for at least two people to join a 3-day Argentina dove hunt.  Only $1500/person.

Jan. 15 Depart USA to Cordoba
Jan. 16 Morning arrival in Cordoba, afternoon dove hunting
Jan. 17 and 18 Full day of dove hunting.
Jan. 19 Morning dove hunting, afternoon departure to USA
Jan. 20 Morning arrival in USA

Confirmed

There are still some big drum in the river, I got a little first hand experience with them yesterday afternoon.

I'm sure there will be some scattered around for a while.   This nor'easter should continue to fire off the fishing up the creeks with topwater stripers and trout, plenty of little pups.   On the coast, the nearshore bottom fishing has been really good, with some scattered cobia, including an 80 pounder that was attached to my line.....briefly.   Kings on the east side, live bait and light spinning tackle, big spanish, albies on bait balls.  It is a good time to go fishing.

Trouts/drums and grouper/cobia

Here is what Capt. Greg's limit catch of trout looked like yesterday, I'm sure that his folks are very happy.  Still some big drum around, I'm going today to check out those report and hopefully get a mess of trout for my guys. 

Yesterday I was out with a friend doing some commercial grouper fishing, we had a nice box full, plus one of the biggest cobia that I've seen all year.......come unglued beside the boat.   Lots of big spanish, plenty of kings and a good showing of albies for those heading to the coast. 

Costa Rica calling

Report from Capt. James yesterday:

"We was 2 for five with blue marlin today and 1 for four on the sailfish,  we found an old log floating and there were hundreds of mahi mahi around it.  I'm not sure but I think we catch about 15 or 20 that averaged 25 to 30 lbs.   All you wanted to catch "

Can you imagine what its going to be like during the peak season?   Better get your trip lined up asap.

Back in Town

Had a quick business trip to LA......no, not La Grange.   Looking forward to getting back on the water and I am happy to hear that there is still a very good sign of big drum around.   Getting the boat together today and will be after them this weekend.  

Feedback from fishing with Capt. Chris

Capt. Chris Kimrey has done a great job for Down East this year, here is a little feedback that we got from a recent trip.   Drop us a line anytime if we can help get you out on the water, things are really firing off on the coast and in the river with good reports of big keeper trout and some slot sized red drum, even a few big drum still around.

"We had a great time!   Chris was a fantastic guide and the kids caught 40+ mackerel.  He was very good with the kids.

I'll put in a good review in Trip Adviser later this week."

Thanks,

David

Tag A Long Dan doing some tagging

My good buddy Tag A Long Dan was thrilled to kill this blackpowder 4 pointer.......after getting it skinned out..... 

.....he went back to the stand and out steps this super nice 8 pointer

Dan has not had the best "gun control" with the past few deer/turkey seasons.......but he's had a lot of opportunities.   Nice to see him get some pay back.