Fall Fishing
September 22nd, 2008 by Michael SavageSorry its been so long since my last report, but due to some technical problems with my website I was unable to log onto and write a new report. Since my trip back from Costa Rica the fishing has been pretty good. Throughout August and into September there have been some large 2-3 pound Spanish and bluefish hanging around the beach eager to eat a silver or gold Clark Spoon. Also good numbers of King Mackeral are showing up on the beach and on local artificial reefs. Most of these fish are in the 15-20 pound range with a few fish topping 30. Kings are targeting huge schools of mullet that are making their fall migration south.
On the offshore side, i have been catching some fat 10-20 pound Red Grouper on the East Side of Frying Pan shoals. Most of these fish have been in the 80-120 foot depth range. The majority of my fish have been caught on live bait, but a few are still falling for big pieces of cut bait. The Scamp and Gag Grouper are also making a pretty good showing. My charters have been managing limits of Gags and Scamps on a full day trip.
If you would like to get into this action feel free to shoot me an email or give me a call anytime!! I’m going to post a few pictures from some recent trips.
Roosterfish Video
August 9th, 2008 by Michael SavageThis will be my last post from Los Suenos, Costa Rica. As I noted in an earlier post on Thursday we had a great trip on Roosterfish. George Brookins from Lincolnton, N.C., my father Austin, and brother Alex, joined me on the “Fandago” a 31′ sportfisher. We headed North out of Los Suenos about 10 miles to fish some rocks in shallow water. Once we arrived at the spot, there were acres of Bluerunners, a great sign that the fishing was going to be on fire. It didn’t take long to hook up our first Rooster. Over the course of the next two hours we didn’t go more than 15 minutes without a strike, catching 6 Roosters and several other species of Jack’s.
This is not the first time that we’ve fished on the Fandago, with Captain Thomas, and he never fails to put us on some world class fishing. If you interested in coming down to Los Suenos, feel free to contact me and i’ll make sure your connected with this great crew. Our flight leaves at 1:00 P.M. Sunday, and God willing i’ll be at Holden Beach on Monday ready to get back on the Twister.
My brother Alex has made a great video of the Rooster fishing on the “Fandago”. The video is around 9 minutes long, so sit down and be ready for great action.
Sailfish Video
August 7th, 2008 by Michael SavageClick on the Link to view the video of three good looking and talented anglers going to battle with some big pacific Sails on YouTube.
Costa Rica
August 7th, 2008 by Michael SavageSorry I haven’t been posting about our trip to Los Suenos located in Playa Herradura, Costa Rica, but we’ve been having such a great time its hard to sit down at the computer. So far we’ve fished two days, Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesday we fished on the “Marlin Muyer” a 48′ Custom Sportfisher. We were targeting Sailfish and the Captain warned us that it was probably going to be a slow day. We ended up the day catching 3 sails, missing 6 or 7 other fish. The mate on board was very experienced, but was just having one of those days. The guys decided that this was a ladies day because we were fishing later on in the week, and let them catch all the fish.
Today we fished a 31 foot sportfisher for Roosterfish, Snapper, and Grouper. In the morning the Roosters were biting like bulldogs and went 6 for 6 with my brother Alex catching a nice 50″ fish around 40 pounds. The Snappers and Groupers didn’t cooperate as well, but the AJ’s were willing to bite everything. I’m going to post several pictures from the fishing over the past two days. We’ve got some great video, but are in the process of condencing it down to small clips that will be interesting to watch. Stay tuned for more great pictures and videos in the coming days.
If you still want to go fishing back at Holden Beach feel free to shoot me an email or give my cell phone a call. Capt. Ryan Williams will take your call and make sure you get a date secured for some great fishing.
Capt. Patrick Bryant
Rough Weather
July 31st, 2008 by Michael SavageThe past few days the winds have been blowing hard out of the SouthWest. These strong winds have been made fishing very hard, especially near shore. The constant wave action in the shallow water has really stirred up the water, moving the Spanish offshore in the 5-10 mile range. If you can get out that far, the Spanish bite has been fairly consistent in the late morning hours up until the middle of the day. I am currently getting ready to head down to Costa Rica for a few days to do some fishing. Susposedly the Yellowfin Tuna are chewing really good and a few scattered Marlin are in the mix. While there i’m also going to try to find a captain that will take us out and do some bottom fishing for Snapper, Grouper, and maybe a Roosterfish. I think the place where i’m staying has internet access so i’ll try to post some reports from way down south. While I’m gone, my charters are still up and running with some of the best captains in Brunswick County, so give me a call and leave a message. Your business is important to us and i’ll try my best to make sure you get to go fishing. Tight Lines!!
Capt. Patrick Bryant
Spanish Mackeral and Dead Batteries
July 28th, 2008 by Michael SavageI had a 1/2 day Spanish trip today with some guys from the Hickory, N.C. area. They brought along two children for their maiden voyage on the big pond. The weather was alittle bumpy early and we decided to fish the beach. The shallow water bite was slow, and the seas gradually decreased so we decided to push out around 7 miles. Once there the Spanish were eager to bite and ended the day with around 15 keepers. I brought my camera but soon found out that the batteries were to dead to take any pictures. I have two half days tomorrow so stay tuned for more reports. Tight Lines!!!
Capt. Patrick Bryant
Grouper and Mahi
July 27th, 2008 by Michael SavageOn Saturday I took a fun trip with Susanna Ward, Harriet Ward, and Capt. Allen Williams. The weather was so beautiful it was hard to spend my Saturday on shore, so we went after some grouper. Bait was fairly easy to catch, as it only took one throw of the 10′ cast net to load with boat with more than enough Pogies for a full day of bottom fishing. Once we had cleaned up from sliming the boat, I headed the Twister 40 Miles to the south toward some good bottom that I felt should be holding good fish this time of year. The bite was never really on fire, but we did manage to catch several fish at each spot. We kept moving all day and ended up with a nice variety of Bottom fish and Mahi Mahi. This was Susanna and Harriet’s first time fishing on the Twister, but they learned quick and added some nice fish to the cooler. A full day trip would be sufficient to get out to the areas that are holding fish like this, if you would to join in on the fun give me a shout. Tight Lines!!
Capt. Patrick Bryant
Spanish and Big Sharks
July 27th, 2008 by Michael SavageI had several half day charters this week. On most of the trips I have been targeting Spanish Mackeral and Big Sharks. Earlier in the week the Spanish bite was slow, but over the past few days the water has cleared and the Spanish are on fire. Most of the fish have been good size, averaging around 2-3 pounds. Once we have caught enough fish for a good meal, we’ve been targeting big Black Tip Sharks off of Bald Head Island. These fish have been ranging from 40-200 pounds, with more fish being over 150 pounds. If you would like to come down and go on a 1/2 day summer special feel free to give me a call or send me and email. Tight Lines!!
Capt. Patrick Bryant
Wednesday Report
July 20th, 2008 by Michael SavageWednesday was not much better weather wise than Tuesday. A cold front had pushed over the area causing a strong NorthEast wind which really chopped the water up. Bait was really hard to find and I had to throw the cast net 15 or 20 times to catch enough bait to run offshore. Once we loaded up on Pogy’s I pointed the Twister to the South East 25 miles to a local wreck. Once there it didn’t take long to pick up a nice AJ and Cuda. We gradually worked our way offshore hitting spots picking up a few fish at each spot. These guys were interested in catching some grouper so I went to a good rock about 38 miles offshore of Holden Beach. Once there it didn’t take long to get the grouper fired up. We would catch one or two then move about 100 feet and repeat the process. On anchor I left out a light line and managed to pick up a nice Mahi when a line of sargasm grass washed by our boat with the current. Within two hours we had our limit of Gag Grouper and Jacks and it was time to prepare for the rough ride home. At the dock we counted 6 nice grouper ranging from 10-15 pounds, three Jacks ranging from 20-40 pounds, one Mahi, one Barracuda, and several nice Sea Bass. Overall this was a great day with a great crew. I wish Al lived alittle closer to H.B. because he could definately become a regular on the Twister. If you would like to get into some of this great action feel free to give me a call.
1/2 Day and Full Day Trips
July 20th, 2008 by Michael SavageI fished a 1/2 day Monday morning out at the Shark Hole. The seas were perfect and the weather was beautiful. Over the course of the morning we caught 6 King Mackeral, averging around 15 pounds and one giant Spanish mackeral. I thought the fish would be enough for a citiation with the state of North Carolina, which is 6 pounds, but it fell only ounces short. This was the biggest Spanish that has been caught on the Twister this year.
On Tuesday I had a full day trip and we ended up fishing around 30 miles straight off of Holden Beach. Today was a little different, we were greated with a strong northeast winds from the start. This allowed for a easy ride out, but I knew the return trip was not going to be any fun. Even though the winds were out of the North East, which typically shuts down the fish, they decided to bite anyway. We ended the day with 4 nice AJ’s, and one huge Barracuda. The Barracuda fell for a 5 pound King Mackeral that we caught and put back out into the spread. You know its a good fish when something eats a 5 pound bait. We lost several big mysterious fish that were never seen. I’m not sure what these fish were possibly grouper, big AJ’s, or Cobia. Overall the day was pretty successful and the guys had a great time.
