stripers on the Neuse

 

You can refer to an older newsletter on my striper rant, but as you can see, the Neuse is benefitting from a bumper Albemarle Sound crop of striped bass, catching them in good numbers on mixed bag trips on the lower Neuse.

Capt. Ray Report

This wind switch is just what we needed to turn on the Red Puppy Fish. Chad and I went on a Recon trip. One stop in the white water was all we wanted.

Next Year

The legal hunting season is short.  May, June, July
Demand is increasing.
Dates need to be set now.   Whether you have a group on your own or you would like to add to a hosted group, in order to gurantee availability, we have to pick dates now.

The consistent success of this duck hunt cannot be compared.
Yes, we have doves, our group of four chose to take an afternoon away from the ducks and shot over 1000 doves in less than 3 hours.
Let me know your ideal arrival and departure dates based on the itinerary below.

Day 1 Afternoon departure from USA
Day 2 Morning arrival in Buenos Aires, check into hotel, city tour, dinner and tango show.
Day 3 Morning flight to duck lodge, afternoon duck hunting.
Day 4 Full day, morning and afternoon duck hunting.
Day 5 Full day, morning and afternoon duck hunting.*
           *Afternoon perdiz, dorado or doves availablle, but not required.  No additional charge.
Day 6 Morning dove hunting, afternoon transport to Buenos Aires, depart Argentina
Day 7 Morning arrival in the USA.

Additional days of duck hunting may be added.
Price varies with group size, specific dates and details.

Serious inquiries can e mail info@downeastguideservice.com
or call 252-671-3474

On my way home

This is what 150 ducks in a half day hunt looks like. 

 66 ducks from first light until the sun just cleared the horizon

more pics of Capt. Brian's swordfish

Thanks Capt. Stewart ......

.....for helping Katie get her first (of several) flounder

Pretty Catch Capt. Brian

Yes, that is a swordfish.  Yes, that is Brian's center console and yes that is fishing out of MHC

pics from the last few days......

Golden Dorado-great action on the fly

Wine tasting Malbecs

Tango Show

Two Man Teal Shoot

Two Man Limit of Big Ducks

Nothing Goes to Waste

Duck report from Argentina

We started the afternoon standing in water and when it was all over we were standing on dry land, a mountain of empty shotgun shells.  Yes it was pretty good.

Congrats Capt. Wade and the General

They swept the meat categories: dolphin, tuna and weighed the biggest wahoo ever brought to the scales of the Barta tournament.

fishing with Capt. Chris

very calm seas, caught nice king and dolphin, undersize groupers and some sea bass.  

some shots from last week at the seamounts

 

Capt. Rod says that there are more on the way

He got this one in South Carolina, but he will be following up here in a few weeks

Greg got another one today

That is 10 tarpon he has put in the air in the last week or so.......

This one took about 30 minutes before he got the bite, plenty of fish.  Really an amazing tarpon season

Triple Grand Slam

Fishing 3 days at the seamounts:
46 blue marlin bites, landed 20.   Not a great hook up ratio, but when blue marlin are coming into the spread in pairs and triples, it gets a little confusing.
6 for 8 striped marlin bites
3 for 6 sailfish.
and 1 big dorado.
Pics to follow.

For red drum and sailfish catches, I don't reveal more than a double digit day "XX".
You know how I feel about posting numbers, it can too often set unrealistic expectations.   Catching a third of this catch is phenomenol.

The Dragin Fly has no openings for the next month, but this moon phases is available in August.  

Serious inquiries from serious fishermen only.   This is not a day trip.  Max of 3 anglers.

Testosterone Poisoning

I had not heard that one before,

"Yeah one my sons at age 12 asked me how it lasted. Told him to go ask his grandfather. Dad was still suffering from a bad case North of 80."   ----J. Josey

Do NOT try this at home......or anywhere

Please don’t try this at home, very irresponsible behavior and my death as a result of such actions would enact Anna’s clause requiring only a minimum of 3 month mourning period due to husband’s death from stupidity.  What I did yesterday made me top candidate for Darwin Award.  

I caught six big “saige-hog” mullet (about a 2 pound mullet) in one cast of my cast net three days ago.  I fed one of them to a really big snook, but the little hook with which I was prepared to impale sardines was way too small for the back of this giant mullet, but I had to give it a try.  Right about dark, I got the bite, but missed him.  I did get the murdered mullet back, without a scale on him.

Two days ago, larger hooks in my possession,  I threw the cast net for two hours and could not catch mullet or sardine.

Yesterday, after enough effort to really appreciate the one mullet I did catch, the impeding thunderstorm was not going to keep me out of the water.   So there I am pondering life and mortality, neck deep in waste deep water, trying to remain as a low profile as possible although holding a nine foot light action surf rod.   I did keep the rod flat,  just above the water, trying to keep that antenna in my hand from humming as bolts of lightning crash all sides.  I count the seconds between the flash and thunder, hoping that they don’t arrive at the same time.   I didn’t think about it as much as I should have because that mullet was really lively and I was sure about to be bitten during the height of the storm.   My biggest concern was that if I were to get a bite, I would have to raise that rod up in all that electricity.  I justified that a bent rod was less likely to get struck by lightning than one that didn’t have a bend in it so I was OK…..and even if I was doubled over with a snook of a lifetime, what a better way to go?

After the storm, gone are the large torrential rain drops which violently pounded the surface of the ocean into a haze.  Now the wind is calm, the surface is slick, greasy calm, only occasional tiny rings on the smooth surface indicate where an light droplet gently fell.

The calm is interrupted by a dozen mullet erupting in all directions from a boil and white water left by a pursuing predator.   The  showers of rain now replaced by showers of mullet coming from several directions.   Occasionally one would be singled out, pursued by a wake and comb of a roosterfish probably better than 10 or 12 pounds but not big enough to give my giant bait a try. 

I’m  still waiting on that snook when the second lightning storm fell in behind the first one and right over my head.   I can’t leave now, not with all that activity around and still enough life in my bait to get a bite.   For some reason the rain was a lot colder this time, so squatting down in the water wasn’t as much to be less of a lightning rod but more to submerge in the warmer waters of the ocean, but that didn’t last long.  

In the height of the storm the cooler rainwater and runoff from the first storm started flushing out of the river behind me, along with coconuts and big green leaves and palm trees.   I thought of being cognizant of the rising water and debris, not to be caught in a flash flood and swept to see, but it wasn’t being swept to the bull sharks that was on my mind.   I  couldn’t help to think what else might be getting washed out of the jungle.  I started to feel like I was being watched…..I could almost here the tic tok of that clock in the belly of Capt. Hook’s croc and I decided it was finally time to get out of the water.   No bites......fortunately for me. 

Marlin Porn

Pretty good marlin shots at our other site:  www.draginflycostarica.com 

Marlin on the fly rod.

Tarpon and giant snook

Greg got his tarpon again today.  I missed my giant snook yesterday.....but the croc did not get me.
Ask Ray, he knows what I'm talking about.

Greg's streak continues

Meanwhile.......

 
this is a little of what I've been helping get done......

Sails this week, will be after the silver in a couple of weeks with one stop along the way........

Greg got another one yesterday

and if the wind is blowing......

....plenty of these from Capt. Greg:

Got tarpon?

There are only 3 guides in North Carolina who can consistently give you an opportunity for a bite.  Two of them caught tarpon today, one of them is currently in Costa Rica, but I can get you connected.   Ring us up, serious inquiries from serious fishermen only.  
From Capt. Brian:

 
From Capt. Greg:

Ring me up if we can help get you out there. 

252-671-3474

All you internet fishermen

be advised, this 52 incher was not caught on a cork

Tarpon Fishing

Catching a tarpon anywhere in the world is a special thing, but catching one in NC is REALLY special.   Anyone can get lucky and put one in the air, but there are only a few people in this state who can consistently get a bite, I was with a couple of those guys yesterday.  

For the last decade tarpon have been rare in the Pamlico Sound, so much so that I have not actively marketed or targeted the few fish only occasionally making a showing.   Looks like this year is different.   I have been receiving reports of a "good sign" of tarpon from all over the Neuse River and Pamlico Sound.  Last week I poked my head into the river under less than ideal conditions and was surprised to see several groups of fish.    Yesterday I had a chance to ride along with Capt. Greg Voliva and Brynn "Tom Cat" who always has a rabbit's foot in his pocket.

Conditions were not ideal, but we saw enough fish to get in position.  After about 5 hours of hard fishing, running through 50 pounds of bait, catching at least one sting ray for every pound of bait used, we connected with the right one.    It was a bite that we would have never gotten, if we had given up and "went fishing for something else".

We would have never landed that fish if attention had not been paid to the details.   Keeping hooks sharp, leaders fresh, knots strong and line unchaffed while shagging multiple sting ray hook ups is almost impossible to do with customers who don't know a thing or two about fishing.

I'll tell you like I told folks for over a decade of guiding tarpon trips every day for about 60 days in a row.    "You are not going to catch a tarpon if you are not tarpon fishing."

If you want to catch a tarpon.  I mean if you REALLY want to catch a tarpon, then you better be prepared to put your time in and plan on booking a full day TARPON trip.   Bring plenty of water and we will bring plenty of bait.  We will NOT have any "little rods" on the boat to go and catch something else on "plan B".     Do not expect to get a bite, but expect best efforts and if you keep your eye out, you might even see a fish or two.

Sure, we can  book you with a good guide who can "fish" for tarpon if conditions are right, then go looking for something else if it doesn't happen, but if you want a realistic shot at catching a NC tarpon, then you need to say you want a TARPON trip.......and ask Tom Cat to borrow that rabbit's foot.

Cool Argentina dorado video

Still a couple of spots left on my 4 day duck hunt to Argentina the end of the month.  I'm going down a couple of days early to check into a more accessable golden dorado destination. Take a look.  Anyone have any interest? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6LqnGmNQFI

https://vimeo.com/200918739

from my lawn chair yesterday

Anna and I caught a double limit of trout, meanwhile, Capt. Jennings was introducing Harrington to a Pamlico Sound Slam.