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July 6th, 2009 by Patrick Bryant
Great Day
July 6th, 2009 by Patrick Bryant
Last week I got a chance to fish with some of my closest family members, something that in the past was common, but due to my busy schedule gets harder and harder to schedule. I took out my Grandmother also better known as Mama Dot, my mother Beth, uncle Jim, and cousin Paxton. Momma Dot has not been out in several years, but back in her day was one heck of a fisherwomen. It wasn’t too uncommon for her to always catch the biggest fish on a fishing trip and show up all the men. She didn’t do much fishing, but gave Paxton all the moral support he needed to catch the biggest fish he had ever seen. This was Paxton’s first, but definitely not last trip out on the big pond. We started the day trolling around Lockwood Folly Inlet and found the Spanish very eager to bite the 00 clark spoons on #1 planers. Most of the bites were on the planers, but several fish did bite the top lines with trolling weights. It didn’t take long for Paxton to catch 9 nice Spanish Mackeral. He reeled in all the fish while Mama Beth and Uncle Jim hand-lined them in the last several feet. After we caught enough Spanish for supper, I spotted a shrimp boat about a mile off of Lockwood picking up his nets. This was a perfect opportunity for Paxton to witness first hand all the life that depends on the boats for survival. When we pulled up there were hundreds of seagulls and pelicans flying around and several porpoises swimming, trying to get all the tasty morsals of chum that were being dumped back into the ocean. Not only were there plenty of birds and porpoises, but the sharks were there too. At first Paxton spotted several nice sharks in the 30-50 pound range right under the surface of the water. I quickly filleted a Spanish for bait, hooked it up on a #4 J hook and tossed it right behind the shrimp boat. It didn’t take long for a shark to grab the bait and the fight was on. Paxton fought the first fish for 15 minutes before I could bring it along boatside and get some quick pictures before release. We ran back up to the boat which by this point was heading in and threw out one last bait. This time it took a little longer, maybe a minute before Paxton had the second shark on. By the way this fish was pulling line off the reel I knew this was a better shark. I tightened the drag and Paxton made quick work of the shark, which I lip- gaffed and swung the 40 pounder into the boat. We took a few more pics and released it back to fight another day. All in all we had an awesome day catching several nice Spanish Mackeral and two big sharks for my good buddy Paxton. I can’t wait for him to come back to Holden Beach and try to catch something even bigger.
Capt. Patrick
Scamp Grouper/Red Snapper on the 4th
July 6th, 2009 by Patrick Bryant
On Saturday, July 4th I took a group fishing from Columbus County. They wanted to go out and strictly target grouper, and that sounded good to me. Due to it being the 4th of July I wanted to get a early start of everyone so we left the dock at 5:30 am. It didn’t take long to catch our livewell full of pogies in Lockwood Folly Inlet and we headed the Twister offshore 30+ miles to find some 90 foot water. The wind was blowing around 10 knots out of the North and it made the ride out nice due to the following seas. By 7:30 we were dropping down our first baits and the action was pretty constant for the rest of the morning. By lunch time we had our limit of Scamps and one nice Genuine American Red Snapper. The scamps averaged 12-15 pounds with a few fish bumping the 20 pound mark. Once we had our limit I began trolling dead cigar minnows in hopes of finding a few Mahi or King Mackeral, but the top water fish were not biting for us or anyone else as the radio chatter was suggesting. All in all we had a awesome day and got in time to enjoy some of the 4th of July festivities at the end of Holden Beach.
Capt. Patrick
Full Day Trolling
July 6th, 2009 by Patrick Bryant
On Friday I took out my buddy Chad McCumbee and some of his friends. We had seven fisherman and one fisherwoman, who I might add caught the biggest Mahi Mahi. We split up the group, I took four guys on the Twister and Captain Derek took four on the Yellow Dog. After catching a livewell full of pogies in front of my house on Holden Beach, we headed the boats toward the Horseshoe. On the way out the seas were pretty messy due to the strong southwest wind that had been blowing for several days and then switching to the North at about 15 knots. The two seas were running into each other, giving it a washing machine effect. But the wind was forcasted to quickly die out making the ride home slick as glass, which it did. Once we got to the spot, the fishing was hot as a firecracker. We didn’t go more than 30 minutes all day without a strike. I ended the day with 11 Kings, 3 big Amberjacks, and one throwback Gag Grouper. Derek had about the same except he nailed two nice Mahi Mahi to go along with the mix. We had a great day fishing and a great time trying to one up the other boat.
Capt. Patrick
1/2 Day King Mackeral and Mahi Mahi
July 6th, 2009 by Patrick Bryant
I had a couple of very successful 1/2 day trips last week for Kings and Mahi. Most of these fish were caught in the 15-18 mile range off of Holden Beach, North Carolina. The Kings and Mahi Mahi we caught averaged 10-20 pounds, but there were a few caught by other boats that were 25+.
Capt. Patrick
UPDATES!!
June 27th, 2009 by Patrick Bryant
I have been fishing everyday for the past week. Most of my trips have been 1/2 days trolling for Spanish and Sharks along Holden Beach and Oak Island. The Spanish bite has been on fire, most days we have caught around 25-30 fish with most being of keeper size. There has also been several fish in the 2-3 pound range mixed in with the 14″ average fish. The shrimp boats have been shrimping all week off Oak Island, chumming the sharks up within casting range. One day I pulled up to a boat and there was over 10 sharks working in the chum slick that the shrimpers were putting out. Most of the fish were around 50 pounds, with several around 80-100.
The Inshore bite is not the only thing happening at Holden Beach, the Mahi Mahi and King Mackeral have been on fire. Most of the fish are in the 15-20 pound range with a few over 30 mixed in. These fish have been biting between the Shark Hole and 18 Mile Rock. I can run this trip on an extended 1/2 day.
On Thursday of this week I ventured out to try my luck at some Grouper. The fish were still in the same 90 foot depth that I’ve been concentrating on for the past several trips. We were lucky enough to limit out on Scamp, with a 5 pound Yellowtail Snapper to throw in, a rare fish for this area, and an even rarer one at that size.
If fishing is your thing give me a call, and come on down to Holden Beach, North Carolina and get hooked on some of this world class saltwater fishing.
Tight Lines!!
Capt. Patrick Bryant
1/2 Day Spanish Trip
June 22nd, 2009 by Patrick BryantToday I had a 1/2 day charter with Brian and Lynard. We started the day at Shallotte Inlet trolling Clark Spoons and managed to catch several Spanish and Ladyfish. I put the Ladyfish in the livewell and took them to the offshore reef to troll. Using the Ladyfish for bait we managed to catch several nice Barracuda’s around 30 pounds. We then moved back in shore near the Big Hill off of Oak Island and the Spanish were biting pretty steady. I think we ended the day with 10 Spanish, 3 Bluefish, and 2 nice Barracuda. I would post a pic, but forgot my camera at the house, I promise i’ll have some pics tomorrow, i’ve got another Spanish trip.
Capt. Patrick Bryant
Jolly Mon Tourny
June 22nd, 2009 by Patrick BryantI fished the Jolly Mon with my brother Alex and friend Brandon Garner. We fished the whole day at the Jungle and caught King Mackeral and Cobia all day. Most of the fish were around 12-15 pounds but we did manage to catch one King that weighed in at 17.5 pounds. We didn’t win the tournament but had a great time catching fish all day.
Capt. Patrick Bryant
Monster Amberjacks
June 22nd, 2009 by Patrick Bryant
On Saturday I took my good buddies on a full day bottom fishing trip. We stopped on a rock and the Amberjack eagerly attacked anything that we could put on our hooks. The Jacks were so hungry we had them in a feeding frenzy under the boat. After a couple hours of fighting the Jacks we had our limit of 8 and moved on to catch something else. The rest of the day was not as exciting as the morning but we did manage to catch several more King and Spanish Mackeral. These guys are a great charter and I can’t wait for you to come back.
Capt. Patrick Bryant
Grouper and Mahi
June 22nd, 2009 by Patrick Bryant
On Friday I took Ryan, Pete, and Art out on a mix day trolling and bottom fishing trip. We started the day off with a nice Mahi Mahi and several kings at the Shark Hole. We then moved off several miles and added several nice grouper and Amberjacks to the box.