Blackfin, Mahi, and Wahoo
May 30th, 2009 by Patrick BryantJust got of the phone with Captain Derek, who took the Yellow Dog toward the Steeples looking for Mahi. I believe he said that they had double digit Mahi Mahi, 8 Blackfin Tuna, and one nice Wahoo. Even though it is close to June, the Gulfstream is still producing good numbers of fish. He’s going back again tomorrow, so hopefully the fish will still be chewing. He’ll post some pics sometime this week when he gets a break from his real job, selling Metal Roofs. I’m off to Fourchon, Louisiana for the 3rd leg of the Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour. Hopefully we’ll catch two good King Mackeral and bunches of nice Red Snapper. I’ll have some great reports when I get back next Sunday. In the mean time Twister Charters is still running strong, so if you would like to get into some of this Gulfstream action feel free to email or give me a call.
Capt. Patrick Bryant
Spanish Mackeral
May 28th, 2009 by Patrick Bryant
I fished a morning half day charter on Wednesday and Thursday this week. The Spanish Mackeral have been thick on the beach this past week so thats what we targeted. On Wednesday I fished off of Oak Island with pretty good success. We managed to land 21 Spanish. I quit Spanish fishing early to try and catch some sharks, but never found any sharks that were hungry.
One of my buddies really got on the Spanish in front of Holden Beachon Wednesday, so that is where we started Thursday morning. The Spanish were still hungry and caught around 15 before deciding to go try to catch a big shark around 9:30. The shrimp boats were about 6 miles away off of Oak Island, so we picked up our gear and cruised that way. Once at the shrimp boats Eric managed to hook into a decent Blacktip Shark around 50 pounds. He fought the fish for 10-15 minutes before breaking the wire at the boat due to captain error. After an hour of shark fishing and only one shark we decided to go back to Holden Beach and try our luck again for the Spanish. Something happened in that hour and all of a sudden the Spanish were everywhere. You couldn’t look at any one direction and not see multiple Spanish in the air, chasing minnows. Once we got the lines out it only took another hour to quickly fill up the cooler with 41 nice Spanish Mackeral.
The weather is beautiful and the fish are definately biting. If you would like to go charter fishing and get into some of this action feel free to call my cell or email.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Patrick Bryant
910-540-1743
Grouper and Rough Seas
May 25th, 2009 by Patrick Bryant
This Saturday I got to fish with my dad, brother, and Randy Robinson on a grouper trip. We had plans to buzz out, jig bait, catch our limit of grouper and be back at the dock by mid afternoon. Well Mother Nature had a little different plan than what we were thinking. The seas were nice the first 10 or 15 miles, but once we got out past the tip of Bald Head the East winds took over and made a decent 4-6 foot ground swell out of the south east. I was heading over toward the shoals to jig enough bait for our quest of grouper. The south east swell slowed our trip down to a 15 knot crawl, taking over 2 hours to get to the area where the bait was. But one we got there the minnows were biting pretty good and it didn’t take long to catch a live well full of nice Cigar Minnows. Once the well was full we headed straight out to some of my favorite ledges and rocks to try to fool some nice Scamp and Gag Groupers.
The bite was never on fire, but we did manage to catch one or two fish on each stop. Most of the fish were nice 10-12 pounders with a few smaller fish mixed in . Our total catch included Grouper, Amberjacks, Black Bass, Beeliners, and Sharks. Even though our limit was never met, I still got to spend some great time with my dad, brother and good friend. Some times the quanity or quality of fish caught is not the reward, but the memories from a great trip that will never be forgotten.
I’ve got another 1/2 day trip on Wednesday where Spanish Mackeral and Big Sharks will be the target. I have several more openings for the rest of the week, then I will be leaving on Sunday for Fourchon, Louisiana for the 3rd leg of the Yamaha SKA Pro Kingfish Division. This place is the mecca of Salt Water fishing in the United States. There you can target so many differerent species in any one day; including Red Drum, Speckled Trout, Red Snapper, Cobia, Wahoo, King Mackeral, Yellowfin Tuna, and Mahi Mahi just to name a few. While I’m gone I will still have a captain running my boats so if your interested in heading out on a great trip just give me a email or call.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Patrick Bryant
Grouper Time
May 17th, 2009 by Patrick BryantOn Saturday I took Luke and his father Mike on a full day Grouper trip. We left early and begin the search for some fresh livies. After running 15 or 16 miles I began to see birds diving on schools of minnows. Once the sabaki riggs were pulled out we were able to see these were boson mackeral, a great bait for grouper. After jigging several dozen bait we headed out another 25 miles. It didn’t take long to figure out that the grouper were biting. I checked several spots each yielding a scamp grouper or two. Most of the fish were around 10-12 pounds. After catching all the grouper we could handle, I begin to troll cigar minnows and caught several king mackeral and a mahi. The next couple days are not looking good due to a front pushing through the area. I’m planning on fishing the Swansboro next weekend, hopefully the weather will get straightened out by Friday.
The picture of the Yang Ming was taken as the ship cruised by while we were fishing.
Captain Patrick Bryant
Big Mahi and Marlin Bite
May 17th, 2009 by Patrick BryantI took a bachelor party out Friday to the Gulfstream. We headed the Twister out to the 100/400 and begin trolling toward the Blackjack. This plan worked awesome last Friday, so I decided to try it again. The Mahi Bite was not as consistent as a week prior, but the fish still were biting. Right off the bat we lost several fish close to the boat due to the “Mad Gaffer”. Once we got the scope on the gaff sighted in, the rest of the mahi were landed successfully. Mahi were not the only fish biting. Around mid morning a nice wahoo grabbed the black and purple Braid in the propwash, but threw the hook about 15 feet from the boat. I estimated this fish as mid to upper 40′s, maybe 50. It hurts to lose a fish of this quality so close to the boat especially when its on video.
I found several buoys and begin to troll around them hoping some more mahi were calling the floating structure home. We were taking by surprise when a nice Marlin grabbed the Green Zuker and ballyhoo on the long line. We were not connected long, maybe 20 seconds, but the fish greyhounded away from us at a 45 degree angle jumping the entire time. The Zuker was rigged with 100 pound test mono and the line broke due to his bill chaffing the line. This was my first sighting of a marlin off Holden Beach, maybe next time i’ll be lucky enough and land this awesome fish. I’ve got a full day grouper trip tomorrow so stay tuned for more reports.
Captain Patrick Bryant
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Mahi Mahi
May 8th, 2009 by Patrick BryantThe Mahi Mahi bite today was on fire. Most of the fish were averaging around 15 pounds, but we had several over 20. We put the lines in at the 100/400 and begin to troll toward the Blackjack. Almost instantly we got a Mahi bite and it never slowed much for the rest of the day. Most of the fish were caught around the Blackjack. I’ve got another trip tomorrow ,but due to the weather were going to have to postpone to a later date. Stay tuned for more reports
Captain Patrick Bryant
Jensen Beach SKA Pro
May 5th, 2009 by Patrick BryantI left last Tuesday for Jensen Beach, Florida with Alan and Shane Holden on the “Holden On”. We prefished several days and found a school of Large Kingfish off of West Palm Beach. With high hopes of catching two monsters we went back to West Palm on both days of the tournament. Even though we were in the right place, we could only muster a 33 pounder on day one and a 27 pound kingfish on day two. I would have been tickled to death to have these fish here at Holden Beach, but in Florida its going to take a lot more than than to get into the money. I think we ended up finishing in 24 place. I would like to give a congrats to team OIFC; Brant, Barrett, and Rube McMullan on their 4th place finish with two 40 pound kingfish. The next tournament is down in Fourchon, Louisiana in June. This place is a fishing mecca, offering some of the best fishing in the world.
Bluewater Video
May 5th, 2009 by Patrick BryantHere’s a link for our Bluewater Trip last week.
Saturday Gulf Stream/Bottom Fishing
April 27th, 2009 by Patrick Bryant
I ventured back out on Saturday to find the tuna that were thick as thieves on Friday. We put the lines out a little north of where we fished on Friday and immediately hooked up with a blackfin tuna. I thought our luck was still strong from Friday, but after trolling for a few more hours without a strike we decided to pick up the lines and head inshore for some bottom fishing. The bottom fish were biting pretty good. We had good success on B-liners, Pink Snapper, and Grunts. It took us awhile to find the grouper but ended the day with several nice reds, one around 20 pounds.
I’m off to Jensen Beach Florida on Tuesday to fish the second leg of the 2009 SKA Pro Division. I’m sure when I get back on Sunday I’ll have some good reports and Pictures. The weather is beautiful at Holden Beach today and is susposed to stay that way for several more days. If you would like to go charter fishing feel free to give me a call, both of my boats are staying here and i’ve got some great captains that would be more than willing to take you fishing.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Patrick Bryant
Gulf Stream Friday
April 27th, 2009 by Patrick Bryant
On Friday I ventured out to the Steeples in search of some Tuna And Wahoo. It didn’t take long for us to find the tuna, as they were jumping everywhere. Its been a long time since I’ve seen the tuna busting on flying fish like they were. Being conseravative I would be willing to bet that we saw over 200 fish sky during the course of the day. Most of the fish were small 10-20 pound blackfin, but I did see several big yellowfin launch themselves 5-10 feet out of the water. We ended the day with 7 blackfin tuna, 2 mahi mahi, 1 wahoo, and several little tunny.