another little wave

few of these around Oriental

More like a ripple than a wave

I'm sure that it would have been more of a wave without 100 boats cruising around either trolling for Spanish or looking for cobia, but there were multiple cobia caught by those with the patience and persistence needed.   I didn't have it and was off looking for ghosts in other places.   Had some decent fishing, but no crazy cobia show.    Anna did catch a couple with me yesterday, but she had less patience than I, so I found her a beach before she turned into one.

They pull harder in the ocean

No, we do not have the cobia like they do up the road, but we do have some pretty good fishing on the Crystal Coast.   Big drum, cobia and over sized bluefish yesterday, all sight casting.

finally

Hopefully this is the beginning of a good wave of fish.  There have been a lot of little cobia around, usually that happens at the end of the run after the bigger fish move through.   I hope instead we are seeing signs of a really good year clase of young cobia vs the end of the run.   With an 80 pounder caught yesterday, and with what I saw today, along with some of the other guides, this is far from over. 

Today it was all sight casting, we started with a 48 pounder and quickly saw another keeper that will not make it any futher north in its migration.  With those two in the box the pressure was off and we got plenty of practice casting at singles and pairs paddling along on the surface, most of those were "keepers" with some as big as the one in the box.   I did not see any bait balls, but those who did see

them also saw a few cobia.   Other guides were duplicating my success about 20 miles in the opposite direction. 

All in all, things look pretty good for  a decent seasaon.....just got to hold on to this good weather and keep 'em coming.

picking at them

seem to be a lot of small cobia around this year, we are picking through them to get a keeper, a long with the spanish, we're making the day.    The sw wind has finallily subsided enough to venture around further than the Cape which has provided some excellent sting ray fishing for those trying the cobia with bait......along with some cobia as well

don't listen to the weatherman

If you do, you may never go outdoors.   Cancelled a perfectly good day of fishing yesterday.   At 9 am I couldn't stand it and went out by myself to catch a limit of spaanish and a cobia.   

dropping water

but Capt. Greg says:

"We are still grinding out a couple hundred each day on the River. Unless the water falls dramatically we should have at least another good week!!"

from the riva

big snappa

28 pounds and released unharmed. 

Got cobia?

No need for bait

When they are crushing top water baits. 

 

Over 350 striped bass on one boat

That's right.  It's right.   No other NC striped bass fishery can hold a candle to what is going on the Roanoke this year.  With stable water levels, it's going to be good on the riva.   When you want to go?

Triple digits and some of these

30+ inches on a jig.   Very consistent excellent striper fishing on the Roanoke with triple digit half days. 

ready for deployment

No other charter operation has invested as much as the Dragin Fly in the seamount trips.   If you want to do it right, you need to be going with us.  With very few exceptions, going with any other charter operation is just getting the leftovers and feeding remoras and leeches. 

Why book your Costa Rica vacation with Down East Guide Service?

Dear Anna,

Our thanks to you and George for making our Costa Rica vacation so wonderful! 

You made our travels effortless.  I did not know the huge task I was creating when I asked you to plan our trip to Los Suenos and the Arenal volcano areas, and it went off smoothly.  The several transfers worked out very well so get us to all the spots we wanted to see.  We had considered driving ourselves, and the unmarked gravel roads were a surprise, so we were very glad to have knowledgeable people in charge.  The drivers were very helpful and shared their knowledge freely, which added to our enjoyment  and understanding.  They arranged our monkey boat tour and recommended El Avion, and we never would have found Manuel Antonio without them! 

The condo you recommended in Los Suenos was perfect for our three couples.  The girls really had a nice area to enjoy while the guys were fishing, and the golf cart is a fun way for them to get access to the entire resort.  One day they ventured to Jaco and enjoyed that outing as well. 

Fishing on the Dragin Fly was the real reason for our trip, and they exceeded my expectations.  They are extremely professional and knowledgeable, and I’ve never seen a more conscientious crew.    A blue marlin, 5 sails plus the tuna and dolphin gave us a great couple of days fishing. I know they ran some extra miles in order to find the sails for us and we are very glad it worked out so well. The fruit breakfast is a treat, and having tuna and mahi sashimi on the boat is a new level of fresh!  I’ll pull a naked circle-hook ballyhoo beside the teaser next time I go offshore, and I’m still working on that knot they taught me….

Our group split at Selvatura, some opting for the zip line and the rest of us for the hanging bridges.  Either option was great!  I’ll admit to being confused when we stopped on the road beside Lake Arenel with nothing in sight – until the ferry boat came across the lake!  We enjoyed that ride and the views of the volcano, and the ride is then very short to Tabacon.  The Tabacon Hot Springs are a treat!  The resort and restaurants are very nice, and the complex of pools in the hot springs is beautiful.  We spend most our time in the Shangri LA Gardens, as those are reserved for hotel guests. 

We are very glad that you recommended Peace Lodge!  Sharon loves waterfalls, so we especially enjoyed the La Paz Waterfall gardens.  The grounds are extensive, and we enjoyed the separate habitats for the aviary, reptiles, big cats, butterflies and hummingbirds.  The girls loved the very unique rooms as well! 

Thanks for making this a very memorable trip for our family!  We look forward to doing this again!

Clark and Sharon  

George,
We had a great time out on the water today with Captain Greg.  We got into fish immediately and the action didn’t stop - catching them on bait and consistently on the fly until late afternoon thunderstorms chased us off the water.  Greg worked hard and was a pleasure to spend the day with.  Thank you for the opportunity and trip arrangements.  Best regards,  ----Tom

This action should continue as long as they have enough water to run through the river.    Give us a ring to get out on the sweet water or the salt.

Excellent fly fishing for stripers

Capt. Greg said it was all you want wtih plenty of doubles on the fly today....until the storms ran 'em off the riva.

Quad

We did not get our cobia, but all the ingredients have arrived.   We did land a quadruple header of big drum, that was pretty cool. 

user friendly

Only saw one cobia today, but a lot of albies and found a very, very user friendly school of old drum, caught a couple on the fly and wore the paint off of a hookless topwater bait.   It would have been ugly on spinning tackle.....

Water warmer on the Roanoke than at the coast

Stripers continue to fire off in the river, the water is still a little cool at the coast but it's going to warm up quick.   I made a bluestery stroll out there yesterday and never found anything warmer than 64.   We did catch some sea bass, a 26 inch drum in 90 ft of water on a sting silver, a really nice American Red and an oversized bluefish.     Saw no cobia, but it's going to happen very, very soon.