Shark bite

In over 20 years of drum fishing and thousands of drum that I've caught, tagged and released, I have never had one taken off the line or bitten by a shark.  I've seen some big bull sharks and every couple of years I'll hook one, this year included.   I hooked a sea monster this year, took 250 yards of 65 pound braid, never slowing down before chafing through the 80# crank-on leader.
I've heard of 2 other bull sharks that have also been hooked with similar results.   Check out this drum, at least it was a male, who knows, maybe that bull shark tuned into the drumming.  I bet he made one heck of a run before getting "caught".    Thanks for the pic Howard.

Justin/George

 "Here is a little 47" fish we caught today, Thanks for all you all did to make this trip great". 

----Jeff

Nice 'uns

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EPIC

Who says that the fishing is slow?

"Hey George, great trip yesterday!!!  We've been going down to Oriental for the last 3 years fishing with you guys and this was the best trip we've had!!!  Just wanted to let you know   Warren, Keith, and myself  felt like this was an epic trip!!   (XX double digit) drum on a half day trip , some for dinner and also some big 'uns 51,49,48,47,46 and lots of fish over 40.  It was epic!!!    Thanks again, and we will see you again in a couple of weeks!!"

----Frankie 

Fishing with Capt. Brian Harrington

"

Still running the mental movie of the day through my head.  Thanks for everything." ---Eric

As predicted

All of the Down East Guides with full days and boats big enough to take this nor'easter had double digit days, myself included.   The guides with afternoon trips got the pups and the big ones.   I saw no one throwing popping corks in the 2-3 footers, but the drum were munching on mullet chunks.   Very, very good fishing.    Should be really, really good form here on out, even for the corkers as soon as the wind lays down.

Fishing with Capt. Brian Harrington

"Capt. George, thanks again for a great trip.  After fishing with Brian on the Neuse, we want to reserve our dates for next year and a day of dolphin fishing on the Run Off" ----Jason

Jason, I know it's a long ways off, but we are already taking reservations for 2015.  Let me know when you want to go and we'll get you on the calendar. 

----George

 

Nor'easter approaching

....or at least the forecasts shows a pretty good northeast breeze gearing up for a few days.  What is  this going to do to the fishing you ask?    It may slow down the corkers for a few days, but they'll come on strong when the fan blowing that breeze shuts off.    The morning popping cork trips have been tough, with a lot of casting and tired arms, but the guides who are using this technique are  rewarding their customers with a near 100% success rate of hooking up.

The bait guys are getting what they need, but they've had to work for it.   I had a tarpon trip yesterday and I was impressed at the huge area that was marked by occasionally rolling tarpon.  Over several miles of river, from where I had tarpon in my slick to where the popping corkers were working, everyone had a few tarpon making appearances around their boat and lines.   No biters, but that's tarpon fishing.   We did get a few drum, as did the corkers.

Those of you who have fished with us on nor'easters should know that it may be rough, but it's going to be very, very good and will fire off the best of the year.

That was more like it's supposed to be

Great afternoon, almost double digits of the big drum.   Chasing silver today.

Tough day, but seems like we got just what we needed and not much more.....

.....the corkers did have a decent morning.

Blue Marlin on the Dragin Fly

on the fly on the Dragin Fly.
Photos courtesy of Jake Jordan

I love catching fish on the fly, but this one looks like a little more than I want at one time.

"We had a great time!" (with Capt. Greg Voliva)

----Donya  

Notice that in a lot of these shots it's pretty late.  We have a No Vampire policy, trying to get in our licks and be back at the dock before the restaurants close.   This week the fishing has been good, with Greg and Brian having a couple of double digit days, other days some of us have struggled, but we've tried to do what we needed to do to put smiles on faces.

Very Kind Words

"George,

         As I am sitting here and reflecting on this day, first I have to thank God creator of heaven and earth. He gave us dominion over all creation. Bur I also must thank you and Ellis for your experience and such an awesome trip. You all went above and beyond all expectations. You were always exceptional with my son Christian and again today with my youngest daughter and my 77 year old dad. I don't know how many trips I'll be able to take him on, but today for him was a trip of a lifetime and a fish of a lifetime. This is one off his bucket list. I expect to have him around for a long time but one never knows. Murphy can't stop taking about it .....thanks again for a great day and lifetime memories" ----Barry 

Fishing with Capt. Joe Ward.   Things is starting to fire off.  Great guides like Capt. Joe, Mitch and Justin have some openings.  I've even had a couple of last minute cancellations and have some open time on the water.   Drop us a line now and you still have a chance of getting into the peak to come. 

 

silver and gold

Nice first trip back on the Pamlico Sound, I don't know what everyone is whining about.   Found some silver, mixed with some gold and caught a double header of each on this afternoon tour.  

It's about the size of the smiles

Pics from Capt. Mitch Blake

Silver and Capt. another Extreme report

A lot of silver showed up in the river today, but it sounds like they are acting just like tarpon and not very user-friendly.   I'll mess with them soon enough, but for now I'm tied up unpacking and catching up from a great trip to Alaska.   Here is a  Capt. Brian Harrington report from a trip earlier this week.    After about 5 hours of watching "hundreds" of tarpon roll around the boat, it sounds like he moved on to a little more action today.

"A great day with a great captain and person who worked very hard all day.

As we made our way back to Raleigh – Marissa  asked me if I'll take her fishing more often  – magical words!

Thanks to you and Brian for creating a memory for us forever – she leaves NC to start as a Freshman tomorrow  – so thankful for our day on the water -- it was simply a wonderful day.  Thanks so much!"  -----Rob

 

Capt. Ray gets a day on the water

Those of you who know Capt. Ray know what a super nice guy he is.   Keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers as they take care of his wife Chris through some tough times.  Glad to see that Ray got to get out on the water.

 

Fishing with Greg this weekend

 George,
Although the conditions weren't right for the tarpon, plan B "worked out great catching the puppy drum. Greg did a wonderful job!  Look forward to another trip!"
---Freeman

 

George,
"Here's the fishing Report;
Fished with Greg 8/9-8/10. First day, "xx" (double digits, but no numbers) fish with only 4 slot drum that we could keep, the rest were a couple inches over slot or 15 pound yearlings with the exception of 2 citations.......
Day 2. Final count on day two,"xx" Drum, 1 keeper flounder, 1 citation drum and 3 slot limit fish. First cast this morning produced a drum. Beautiful day.
Greg is a great guide! I brought my youngest son and his best friend. Greg put us on fish and let us do most of the work, “our choice”, the boys loved it! Everything is more enjoyable when you put something in to it. Great learning experience and a lifetime memory for them!"
---Kelly

It's beginning to happen

Nice push of fish gathering up with this recent full moon, the toughest of the days should be behind us.  Looks like my timing was just right, I'll be on the water and getting after them in a couple of days.  Tomorrow we are flying out of one of the neatest cities I've visited in any of my travels, Vancouver.   Sounds like I robbed NC of all the good weather and brought it up to Alaska with me.   The folks up here said that they usually get 300 days of snow, rain and clouds each year, the weather for our trip has been fantastic.   Look forward to bringing it back to NC and catching some fish with you.

Meanwhile, in Costa Rica.....

Does that look like the "rainy season"?   Hate that some folks miss out on great summer vacations because they are afraid that they might get wet.  We are now taking reservations for next summer on the Dragin Fly 

 
"5 for 11 on sailfish O/ 1 on blue marlin and one nice mahi mahi,  quit fishing at noon,  they guys had a great time"   ----Capt. James

Couple of pups and 5 or 6 specks with Capt. Chris

more Alaska pics