Need to spend a little more time with my friends......

Sharing a few pics from my friend Tiderunner and his annual trip to Cape Lookout, reminding me that I need to plan some time to spend a little more time with my friends right here in my back yard next year.  That's a good resolution. 

Auto-Reply from one of our friends on our mini-newsletter that went out.

"After 46 years, I have gone fishing."  ----Alex

Merry CHRISTmas, Happy New Year and Mini-Newsletter

Captain's Message: 
I am Blessed, with a "B", thanks to God, with a "G".  A beautiful and supportive wife with whom I am very proud and very happy.   Great friends and family with whom I would like to spend more time.    My mom and dad are still with me and I'm old enough to appreciate that gift.  My health is better than I deserve, especially considering the abuse under which I have put my body.

This path that Anna and I have chosen is not and easy one and forces us to pick up our belongings and relocate every few months.   Hopefully we leave a little more root in the ground than when we arrived, making it easier to "reconnect" when we return.  It seems that once we are settled into an area  it's time to pack up the "office in a box" and head off to the Roanoke or River Dunes or Morehead or Costa Rica or explore some other exotic locale.  We may not see our friends or family for many months.

As this year winds down and I reflect on the past 12 months, I have to admit that I have enjoyed slowing down a little and spending more time "on the hill" or more specifically "in the office".  I finally came to the realization that I can't continue to work on the water as many days as I did 10 or 20 years ago.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to be out there fishing, but I will be spending more time helping people with their trips to Costa Rica, Argentina, Belize or getting them hooked up with a Down East Guide right here in North Carolina.

Who knows, maybe this is the year that I come out of the Dark Ages and get an I-phone, start managing a facebook account or maybe sign up on instagram...whatever that is?  For now, the best way to stay in touch is to pick up the phone and dial 252-671-3474 (FISH) or send us an e mail at info@downeastguideservice.com.  If you go through the effort of calling, please, please leave a message and remember DO NOT SEND TEXTS, there is now way we can receive texts if we are in Costa Rica.

This past year I spent some time riding along with customers on trips with our Down East Guides,  learning some of their tricks and passing out some from by bag.  In 2015, I look forward to fishing more often with our guides, getting to know them better and making sure that they have the tools, knowledge, patience and desire to give you the best fishing trip possible.  I know that they are doing a great job because our 2015 calendar is already getting very, very full. 

I strongly encourage you to make your reservations as soon as possible for the following peak seasons: 
Roanoke River Stripers:  April keeper season.     May is catch and release and the best fly action.
Sight Casting Cobia in May                                 August and September:  Giant Red Drum

Not Too Late for Costa Rica
Although the Dragin Fly is booked until April, there are still some other great boats with openings.
We're looking for two or three couples or a group of  at least4 anglers for a Valentine's Costa Rica trip.   Send us an e mail and we'll pass along the details.

May brings in Costa Rica Discounts
Beginning April 15, save $1000 on our Costa Rica packages. For trips in May, we will discount an additional $500, including our overnight seamount trips.

Overnight Seamount Trips    
The word is out about the best blue marlin fishing on the planet and the popularity of these multi-day trips has soared.  Availability in June, July and August is extremely limited for overnight trips to the seamounts.  We still have openings in May and will extend a $500 discount for May only.

Looking for July Duck Hunters
The dates are set for two trips that I am organizing in July for duck and dove hunts in Argentina.  Send me an e mail for the dates and details.

Belize Anyone?
I'm ready for some shallow water flats fishing and maybe even some scuba diving.  Belize is the place to go, anyone want to join me?  Let me know when you want to go and we'll get a group together.

Two Dates set for Down East University 
Details are still coming together, but the dates are set for two Down East Universities, based out of River Dunes on the lower Neuse River and Pamlico Sound:   August 24-26  or September 13-15.
To make recommendations on classes, topics or to sign up, shoot me an e mail.

Merry CHRISTmas and in 2015 we wish you tight lines, calm seas and Blessings.

Capt. George

  

The Christmas Goose

first striper trip

and boy did they put on a show on the Pamlico

" Birds working, diving, busting and a little drag running on the Pamlico"

---Mitchell

Should've gone

"I told you to come along. Lost two nice fish and tossed back a couple just short." ----Capt. Phil

Da striper swiper

These came from the Pamlico River.  In the last week, Capt. Mitch Blake has been swiping limits of stripers from the Roanoke, Pamlico and Neuse Rivers!

Roanoke firing off

Capt. Mitch is getting them good!  Consistent action.  Want some?

3 at a time on 3 different colors

Excellent Costa Rica actionSushi

Fishing still great "double digit"  sailfish  6 yellowfin tuna and 1 mahi today

Sushi and Sunshine

DO NOT SEND TEXT!!!!!

For those of you who don't know, I'm still in the dark ages and do NOT do text and I do NOT do facebook.  If you send me a text or message on facebook, you are only wasting your time and getting your feelings hurt because I am not going to respond.

If you want to communicate with me, then you have to pick up the damn phone and call me or send me an e mail to which I will promptly respond.

When in Costa Rica, about half the year, we can have phone calls forwarded, but there is no way to forward text messages so do NOT send them now and do NOT send them later.  

From an earlier post that still stands:


Social media sucks.   I don't do it.  No facebook, twitter, linked in, whatever.   Don't do it.   Yeah, we've got a facebook page, but Anna updates it from my posts here.  I have never looked at it and I probably never will.   I have no idea who likes me....and less of an idea of who dislikes me.  

I refuse to get one of those dumb phones...I'm not going to submit to whatever spell those phones put on people.....causing them to ignore the world around them or the people with whom they are having lunch.
A bunch of zombies walking around staring into that voo-doo device, poking and swatting at it with their pointer finger, it's just plain stupid.   Put the damn thing in your pocket and look around before you walk off the end of the dock.  And on the boat?   REally?   Might as well bring a frigging television to watch fishing shows.   Had a guy bring a newspaper tarpon fishing one time, with tarpon rolling all around the boat, he was reading a frigging paper.  I carried him back to the dock. 

   I don't give a damn how much more productive I would be if I were able to immediately answer someone's   question or give them a fishing report.  They can send me an e mail or look at this blog.   Anyone who doesn't have the patience to wait a day for me to call 'em back isn't someone that I would probably want to spend a day on the water with anyway.   Who wants a fishing guide that is waiting around to answer the phone instead of being out on the water fishing?   And for that matter, who wants a fishing guide who is on the water but on the phone all day?

Heck, I don't even read texts.  It annoys the heck out of me when the phone makes that little beep saying that I've got one.  Don't send me one, I ain't gonna read it or I'll reply several days later with my calloused, swollen, cut fingers trying to bang out " I domt do txt, cal me"

The only benefit to those smart phones is the live radar, that has been very helpful avoiding thunderstorms.   I mention something about the clouds and approaching storms and I've got a regular Skip Waters on the boat with his little gadget......"hey, lemme see that......naw, we're alright"     I hear that I can get the same thing with one of those fancy global positioning devices that tells you where you're at........I'll have to look into that.

Social Media, the only reason that I can see any use to it, other than telling people what you had for dinner and when you are going to the bathroom...... is to try and reach a lot of people and give them some news.

Costa Rica sailfishing is on fire

Consistent double digit days and a grand slam yesterday

This cat is a fishin fool

Tunas in Costa Rica, Tunas Here and Trout for those who are in the know

Capt. James report from Costa Rica:  Tunas are back

"Another good day of fishing today, "double digit" sailfish, "double digit" yellowfin tuna and 1 mahi mahi....on the loosing side, we lost one mold craft soft head teaser to a wahoo and one rod and reel"  ----Capt. James Smith 

www.draginflycostarica.com

Tunas in NC.  For whatever reason, maybe all the bait and kings around, but the bluefins showed up in force over the last three days.  In his career, Capt. Chris Kimrey has caught and sold more than a dozen big bluefins, all caught on small boats.  He knows what he is doing.   DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME  These fish will kill you.   Less the head and guts, over 500 pounds.  Rumors are the big ocean stripers are right around the corner. 

While the above was going on, I was struggling to get a single bite from a speckled trout.  Although I found a lump of fish and caught, then released easy limits of nice trout on mirror lures one day last week, I have not yet been able to duplicate that success.   I keep getting the reports and I briefly saw it myself, that there is some good trout and striper fishing in the Neuse, but if you want to go, let me get you rigged up with one of the Down East Guides who is a little more tuned into the bite.    After two days standing on the bow of a skiff, running a trolling motor, my back feels it.