Bens Monster Drum

Ben came down from PA to visit the Outer Banks as well as join me for a few guided fishing trips.  We hit the sound a couple times and caught a few puppy drum.   The bite was OK at best, and I was hoping for better.

The last mission of the trip turned into a hunt for monster drum.   When we talked a couple months ago, I told him the timing of the trip was spot on to try to get one from the sand.  Well, it really hasn’t started yet.  Alot of resident fish have been caught on the piers during hard NE blows, and a handful have been caught in Corolla.  The big push from Virginia hasn’t really happened yet.

I told him it was a long shot  – but we gave it a go anyway.   The conditions were doable at best. NE wind 10+ and some 1-2ft chop.  You really want a SW wind to fish Corolla.  When I paddled the first rounds of baits out – I was dropped them in a big pod of bunker.  That was a huge confidence boost. We soaked them for an hour and reeled them back in.

Put another round of baits out and soaked them for an hour as well.  Reeled those back in without a bite.   Finally, we decided we would run one more round of baits out.  I was starting to lose a little hope – I just didn’t think it was going to happen.  We hung in there and grinded it out though.

After about 10 minutes one of the rods finally jumps.   It wasn’t the typical screaming run of the clicker. It was a slight bend in the rod and a couple clicks off the reel.  Ben was standing right there to bring it tight and bury the circle hook.  The whole fight I was saying in my head “shark shark shark” .

Finally got the beast in the wash and I saw the first glimbse of the big ol beautiful red.  I was ecstatic and so was Ben. What a way to cap off his trip.  I knew this mission was going to be make or break for his trip down – and the plan came together!  What an awesome afternoon!

Thank you so much Ben , I thoroughly enjoyed your company and look forward to a lasting relationship.  Here is Bens 45″ beauty.

Multi-day report

Been running a few trips lately – the fish are still chomping…  We have been mixing in the speckled trout early morning before heading to the drum beating grounds.   A few shots from some of my recent trips.

Back at it

Got a few trips booked up the next couple days –  the wind is going to keep the conditions challenging.   Luckily the drum are still hanging around and are always crowd pleasers!   I had 4 with me this morning and we had to bounce around a little to find a bite but we found em good .  We had pretty consistent action for an hour or so hooking one about every 5-10 minutes.  We decided to use the last bit of the trip to fish for specks.  Mission accomplished! Thanks guys

Back from Nova Scotia

Hello out there!  I just got back from an awesome vacation with my wife to beautiful Nova Scotia.  We did some sight seeing, hiking, and stuffed our faces with some delicious seafood.  It was a nice kidless getaway as we were both in need of some “disconnecting” after a busy summer.

Well, I’m back – and I actually have quite a few charters lined up.   Stay tuned for some reports! Here are a few shots from our trip.  Thanks for checking!

Fall Fun

I had Josh and company yesterday morning for a 3/4 day trip.   We ended up with a decent , we didn’t set the world on fire, but we caught plenty of fish.  It just seemed like every bite was 15 minutes apart.   We caught a handful of drum, specks, greys, skate, pig fish, pin fish, lizard fish, and I’m probably missing some other random species in there.   Enjoyable day with this crew – thank you guys for fishing with me!  Here is one of Joshs over slot drum that had some serious shoulders on him. Beautiful fish!

Heading to Nova Scotia tomorrow for a short getaway with my wife!  I will be back on the 22nd.  Plenty of open dates in October.  The rest of September is almost slam full.  Call me to book your trip!