Whew, this year is just rolling on by!  Before we get into June, I wanted to take a quick minute and look back at May.  What a great month, both inshore and nearshore.

We spent most of May in the nearshore waters, with a few trips out to the wrecks to look for bigger targets.

We saw a handful of Cobia in May even though we weren't neccesarily out looking for them.  It's nice to see a few of these guys around.  It makes me miss the great Cobia fishery we had more than a decade ago.

Got to put some new fishing gear to the test too, while photographing it for their advertising.  I am so thankful to be working with great companies like Hatch, East Cape, TFO, Florida Fishing Products, Bajio, Free Fly and others who let me beat their products up to show my anglers an amazing time.

That's a lot of pulling!

The real story for May, was the unbelievable Bluefish fishery off our beaches.  We have just been blessed the last few years with some really big bluefish from April through November along our beaches, inlets and shoals.

Not only are they abundant, they are also hungry, big, and user friendly!

I had the privilege of doing multiple trips in May with different anglers who had never tangled with Bluefish, never saltwater fly fished, etc.  The Blues did their job on multiple trips and put some smiles on the faces of several newly converted Bluefish-believers!

Whether we are chasing Bluefish, Spanish, Albies, or Cobia, its always an amazing day when you are fishing along the Crystal Coast.  This place is a blessing and I am so fortunate to live here.

We've also been poking around the inshore waters around Swansboro chasing Redfish and Flounder.  We've had some easy days and some tougher days, but as the month progressed the fishing seemed to get better and better.  Hopefully we have a great summer chasing Reds this year!

One of the biggest flounder that's ever been in my boat.  Would you believe this fish was caught in less than 8" of water?  Big flounder love to hunt shallow.

Thanks for taking the time to catch up with me.  I have plenty of openings for the summer, whether you want to fish inshore, nearshore or offshore.  I'd love to spend a day on the boat with you!

A huge thank you to all of the anglers that spent a day on the water with me so far this spring.  I couldn't do what I do without you, and I appreciate you all so much!

April has come and gone, and my goodness it was a good one.  Over the last few years, April has become one of my favorite months to be on the water chasing fish.  April is the month that everything comes back to life and the ocean wakes up.  Up through March, I'm generally targeting Redfish inshore or running up to the Roanoke for Shad.  When April rolls around, and the nearshore water temps approach 60 degrees, the predators show up along our coast.  The first fish most local anglers think about in April, and for good reason, is the Atlantic Bonito.  These fish love hanging around our nearshore structure when the water temps are between 60-70F.  They are a great sportsfish, and good to eat too.  This year, it seems like the majority of the fish staged further south off of Wilmington, but we still had our fare share.  In fact, the last few days (first week of May) has been excellent with more fish showing up that there were a few weeks ago.  It ain't over yet!

Targeting Atlantic Bonito generally involves fishing over nearshore wrecks.  Due to the specific locations these fish hang out, it can get crowded in some of the more popular areas, so we leave very early morning to find some happy fish.  We target them on spin with plastics and jigs, and on fly with both sinking lines and floating lines and topwater. 

The fact that we only see these fish for about 4-6 weeks each year makes them a special opportunity for me.  I really enjoy variety, which makes my job exciting, and the Atlantic Bonito fishery definitely adds some variety to what I do.

A fish that continues to make a great comeback is the Bluefish.  Once over-fished, and only found as 1-3lbers, these fish have had a population explosion in recent years.  Not only are there numbers way up, but so is their size, with the average fish being 3-6lbs and many 10lb+ fish being caught.

They are a great target on both fly and spin.  These big bluefish can be super encouraging for new anglers, while still being a blast for more experienced anglers.  These fish don't just save the day anymore, they are the day!

Although Bluefish can be found in our nearshore waters from March to December each year, the biggest and most numerous fish seem to be here in April/May and again in October/November each year.

Who doesn't want to sight fish and catch a bunch of hungry, angry, hard fighting fish schooled and finning on the surface?  Add a few big sharks to the mix and it can hit Nat Geo levels.

Bring some wire and extra tackle if you plan to play with these yellow eyed monsters.

After Bluefish were way overfished in the 80s and 90s, they made a tremendous comeback in recent years with better management.  I hope this fishery continues to grow, as it's one of the best things we have going presently. 

Here's one species most people don't think about in the spring.  False Albacore.  We often have good runs of False Albacore March through May.  Not as numerous as they are in the fall, but they make up for it in size class.

The average Albacore we saw in April was 20lbs, with the smallest being 15lbs and the biggest around 25lbs.  A lot of my fall anglers would kill for a big fish like this, and although they can show up in October/November, April has been a pretty safe bet the last few years.

These buffalo albacore are the reason the legends of 200yd runs and blown up 10wts exist.  They are a whole different class of fish compared to the 10lbers when it comes to fighting.  

One of my secret favorite fish to look for in April are the big ocean run Bull Redfish.  These are the same fish that make the Neuse and Pamlico legendary each summer, but most people don't realize they roam the open ocean October through April each year.  

Most of the time when I'm hunting Bonito in the spring or Albies in the fall, I'm secretly out there hoping to run into these big orange giants.

Although these fish are often found by running open water searching for signs and then scanning below the surface with sonar, they can often be found feeding on the surface.  Theres nothing more exciting than locating a giant golden blob on the surface, and the anticipation as you approach them and prepare to make your cast.  

I swear these fish act like a completely different animal than the smaller Redfish we target in the marsh.  The slot size Reds in the inshore locations are very technical and very aware of their surroundings.  These big fish in the ocean are just aggressive killing machines, waiting to attack anything you can get near their face.  

They are tough on a spinning rod, but it's a whole different game to hook one on fly.

We stay rigged and ready even while targeting other species, because sometimes these giants can just fall in your lap!

Can you tail how much I like these fish?

Speaking of Drum, we have been blessed the last few Aprils with schools of giant black drum on the surface.  These monsters are always spotted moving north as they migrate from their winter haunts up to their summer vacation homes in the Chesapeake.  Sometimes when we find a pack of fish cruising under the surface, it takes a second to figure out if they are our local reds or a school of migrating black drum.

Although the reds are extremely aggressive feeders, the black drum take a little more finesse.  Often in migration mode, and being picky bottom feeders, it can be a challenge to feed them while they cruise the water column.

A bucktail fished up from below the school or a big fly on a sinking line cast well ahead of the school is often rewarded.  One thing is for sure, they don't chase a meal, and you have to put it right in front of their face for a bite.  But what fun is fishing without a challenge?

A properly executed cast is rewarded with a hook up.

These big breeder black drum are probably 30-40 years old, so every one of them gets handled with care and put back in the water to continue their life.

This big girl fell for a giant half and half fly stripped up from below the school.  What a fight.

Oh and if you catch one, be prepared to throw your clothes aways afterward.  They are slimy!

What a treat it is to find these fish moving through on a pretty April afternoon.  An awesome experience that doesn't happen every day, and that's why it's so special.  I remember a time, when I was so jealous of the anglers and captains that found the buffalo albies, giant bull reds or a school of prehistoric black drum.  There wasn't a big secret to what they were doing, it was just time on the water, something that I lacked back then.  The more time you spend out there, the more you figure it out, or get lucky (I'll take it either way.)  You never know, until you go, so I keep going.  

Hope you'll join me some time.

I just got back from a week on the Roanoke River targeting Hickory Shad on fly and ultralight spin tackle with my clients.  I've been visiting the Roanoke River, where it flows through the town of Weldon near the NC/VA state line for close to 20 years.  The Striped Bass fishery has had its ups and downs over the years but the Hickory Shad fishery has continually been first rate.  This year was no different.

Last year I fished the Roanoke in May while it was at 5000cfs, one of the lowest I had ever seen.  This year, a new record was set for me, as far as lowest water fished on the Roanoke.  Most of my fishing was done at 2400cfs, except for the last day when it was brought up to 3300cfs.  Normally the river is flowing between 6,000-12,000cfs or higher.  With drought in the mountains of Virginia (where the Roanoke starts) and the Corps of Engineers holding back water for the reservoir lakes upstream, this was the most treacherous I've ever fished the Roanoke.

Normally, you have a cushion of 6-20ft of water under you each spring.  This year, I found myself idling with 2-4ft of water in most places and occasionally finding a 10ft deep hole.  Rocks were everywhere just under the surface, for the first mile heading downstream from the ramp.  Let's just say a lot of zigging, zagging and praying was going on.  Fortunately, the East Cape and Suzuki made it through the week unscathed by the subsurface rocks.

There were plenty of fish in the normal places, and quite a few more downriver, with the low flow.  Once thing I noticed this year, was that there were a lot more fish in the center of the river, again, likely a product of the low water.  With the water extremely clear (the only time I've ever seen the bottom of the Roanoke) the best bites were early and late, although we caught fish steadily throughout the entire day.

Plenty of other boats joined in, from poling skiffs, to aluminum river boats, to trout stream drift boats, and even canoes.

Shad are one of those fish that are easy to catch, but still extremely fun and rewarding.  The perfect fish for kids, for new anglers, for beginner fly fishers, and for old-timers who still know how to have a good time!

Everyone had a good time!  

Everyone stayed busy on these shad trips, a sure sign of a very healthy fishery.

The all important "tripled up" shot.

Last year, we caught a couple of these invasive Alabama Bass.  This year we averaged 5-10 per half day trip.  I've heard these fish are making short work of the Largemouth Bass population, displacing them right out of their own habitat.  

Always good to have clients come back for multiple years on the Roanoke.  

Lamprey! One out of every ten shad have a red mark on them, from where a Lamprey was once attached.  Most of the Lampreys drop off before the fish make it all the way to Weldon, but some stick it out and make it the whole way.

Not a shad!  Doubled up on a shad trip, in a shad hole, on a shad fly, with a baby Striped Bass and an Alabama Bass.

Even with the dodging of the rocks, I had a fantastic time chasing these little silver bullets on 4wts and ultralights.  They are a sure sign that spring is here and what a fun way to kick off the season!  I can't wait to get back next year.  Enjoy!

If you missed out on shad this March, I hope you'll consider giving it a go in 2027!  Thanks.

It's nearly the end of January and that puts us halfway through the 4-month long winter Redfish season.  This week in particular, has been painfully cold, with temps barely getting above freezing, so what better time to look back and do a report.

Although this week has been miserably cold, most of the last two months have been really pleasant.  Hopefully we'll get on the other side of this cold front soon and have 2 more solid months of sight fishing Reds.

It's been a great winter so far with really impressive numbers of Redfish in the marsh.  The water has been extremely clear all winter and the fish have stayed schooled up, providing for some really amazing sight fishing opportunities.

Our Redfish have ranged from rats around 16" long up to some upper slots a few inches shy of 30"s.  The average fish over the last few weeks has been a solid 24" and the schools have ranged anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred.

We've fished both fly and spin.  And on both types of gear, we've found that live mudminnows and live shrimp work best.  Ha ha, just kidding, we don't do that.  On spin we've had a lot of luck with small Z-Man baits on very light jigs and Gulp baits if they are extra cold or picky.  A variety of flies have gotten the job done, but small, lightly weighted, white and tan flies have produced most of our fish. Black and purple flies have been working in situations with dark water or on overcast days.  It really is more about the approach and the presentation, than the bait.  I always say it's 10% fly, and 90% presentation.

Don't look at that fly, nothing to see here.

Bye my guy!

Nothing better than happy kids, first Reds and PB (personal best) catches, all at once.

The look of regret.

The fight is finished.

First saltwater fish on fly!

Brian tight to a flood tide winter Red.

Let 'em go and let 'em grow.

Hanging on...

My clients are the best.

Revive time.

Someone got their tail chewed off.

Mouthful.

Putting on a show.

Lee putting the heat on one with the Waterman 890.

Pretty fish...and a naked one!

One more back in the water to catch another day.

Back-lit fins.

When you coordinate the color of your fly to match the color of your fish's parasites.

Hooked on Redfishing...litteraly.

I'm a little jealous of that sweet reel.

Gotta get to 'em, right Perry?

The one and only Gumby admiring a fine specimen of a Redfish.

Healthy fish, and better yet, a hungry one!

Walk of shame.

Send it.

The Winter Mouse fly.

Mud happens...

Best day ever kind of days.
​
These are the days that I absolutely love my job.  And a lot of those "best day ever" days happen every winter from December through March.

Plenty of days to go chase these schools of Redfish in crystal clear water over the next two months.  Give me a shout if you'd like to go.

Twelve months a year, I'm out chasing Redfish, Stripers, False Albacore and other species in coastal North Carolina.  Along the way, I get to see some amazing scenes, landscapes and animals.  I always have my camera nearby and try to document what I see.  My anglers are always my focus, so I miss a lot of things that I'd love to capture, but sometimes I manage to time it just right and catch something worth editing and sharing with the world.  Here are 96 of my favorite images from my 2025 guiding season.  I hope you enjoy!

Now that Albie season is complete for 2025, I wanted to pick back up with that second half of the season report I promised.  If you saw the first report (late August through mid-October), you'll remember that we started off with a bang.  We had Albies that showed up really early and by mid-September the fishing was just top notch.  Coming into late-September, we had a couple nasty storms push through that kept us off the water a few days and began a series of constantly changing weather patterns.  And with those completely inconsistent weather patterns, we struggled to get the fish to do the same thing 2 days in a row.  

Well, that continued on into late October and early November making it nearly impossible to pattern these fish.  Quite a few anglers and guides talked a lot this season, about how much the fishing sucked.  Let me be clear, the fishing did not suck, and there was not a lack of fish.  We just couldn't anticipate where the fish were day to day.  Literally these fish would be east of Cape Lookout Shoals one day, offshore the next, and then sitting outside of Bogue Inlet the day after that.  I was constantly reminded that I cannot predict these fish, and if the weather was safe for us to be out there, we needed to go hunting!

During the 3rd week of October, we had some really cold and windy weather.  We spent a lot of time being wet, and a lot of time riding and looking for fish.  The hard work paid off when enough time was put in.  Most of the anglers who stuck it out, ended up with enough fish to keep them entertained.  It was not easy pickings, by any means, but we got it done.

Thankfully we had some great schools of quality Bluefish around.  If you are open to a species other than Albies, on days when Albies are AWOL, then you can have a heck of good time.  I appreciate these fish so much!

So much aggression and anger in such a pretty fish.  They destroyed our leaders, our wire, our flies, our swivels, and our top-waters.  Money well spent!

The 4th week of October brought better weather and better fishing.  We had a good showing of Albies along the beaches.

On some pretty days we slipped off the beaches to some of the deeper wrecks.  We found a ton of small Amberjacks and Almaco Jacks but we were lacking in big Jacks on those trips.

The water temps were too low for Spanish Mackerel along the beaches, but the wrecks still held some nice Macks with water temps above 70 deg F.

There were Albies on the wrecks too.

Back along the beaches, we still had plenty of Bluefish.  

Was the season tough?  Sure, tougher than normal, but we still caught plenty of fish!

Had some more weird weather the final week of October but we caught fish.  We had a few days that I would have never expected the fish to show up, and they arrived in droves.  I couldn't wrap my mind around it, I just went, and often showing up paid off.

The first week of November brought enough Albies to keep us entertained.  They weren't jumping in the boat, but my anglers didn't have a problem catching some each day if they put in the effort.

There were several days where we found them piled up in some spot in the middle of nowhere.  Some days when they weren't on the beach, we just went riding open water until we found them.  Burning gas and constantly scanning for activity paid off more often than not.

A lot of days we found fish a good bit west of their normal stomping grounds.  These fish like to feed into the wind, and we had a lot of west in our wind this season, so that westward push makes sense.

The second week of November brought good numbers of fish and kept my anglers busy.  

Most of my Albie anglers are repeat clients (Albie Fanatics), and it's great seeing everyone show back on my boat each year.  Catching up and catching fish!

The quality of the fish finally began to increase too.  We were getting some occasional biggins throughout the season, but we were now seeing an overall general improvement in fish size.

We were also blessed with a few big Albies, that really put my gear and anglers to the test.

I really love these fish, and probably appreciated them even more this season due to the fact that they weren't exactly a dime a dozen.

As the third week of November rolled in, the weather started feeling much more like fall, and the whole deal felt much more like Albie season.  The Spanish were gone, the big Bluefish were missing, and we had yet to run into a school of big Bull Redfish, but the Albies finally started acting like Albies.

Water temps were hovering right around 60 degrees or a little under, the winds began to more steadily blow out of the North, and the fish were waiting for us each morning along the beaches.  

Felt good to see birds working the second you broke the inlet and to be hooked up before the sun even got up in the sky.

The full grown Albies started making more appearances too and we lucked into a handful of studs.

By the 4th week of Albie season, we were back in the game big time with some incredible blitzes down the beaches each morning and afternoon.  It felt great to be back to normal, but I wished it could have come sooner.  I guess late is better than never!

I had a few last-minute cancellations, and my amazing, awesome, fantastic clients came to my rescue, by answering the call and re-booking them last minute.  And it paid off!

Felt good to be winning again.  I put so much pressure on myself as a guide.  I really had to come to terms with the fact that so much is out of my control (the weather, the fish, errant casts, other boats), and that I needed to control what I could and let the rest go.  The last week of Albie season was a sigh of relief after fighting all season to control what wasn't mine to control.

I freaking love happy anglers during Albie season.  

And there's nothing better than a boat full of smiles!

I really do have the best job ever.

Scott has come out fishing with Travis the last few seasons and I've been really impressed with watching him go from not knowing what an Albie was, to being a skilled Albie marksman.  I love seeing these things develop over the seasons.

Scott brough his daughter Haley, who had never done this type of fishing before, and she put everyone to shame.  

And guess what?!  The Bulls showed up!  (Thanks Gumby for the call!)  Man everything really started to come together and I had so much to be grateful for on this week of Thanksgiving!

What's thanksgiving without a pumpkin blitz?

Not to be outshined, Travis went to work and put one in the boat that made me need to back up a few steps when I looked through the camera. 

The following morning, Travis brought Cyndi and Rose out for some more Albie madness.

It didn't take long before we were into doubles and triples along the beachfront.

My favorite kind of family portraits!

Rose came through and ended my 2025 Albie guiding season with one to remember.  She's been fishing with me and her mom and dad for several years now, and its a blast to watch her go to work when a school of Albies pop up in front of the boat.

At that point, I was officially done with my booked Albie trips, and I left town with my family for Thanksgiving.  After Thanksgiving the fish were still blitzing like crazy down the beaches, so I went out and finished out the season catching a few on my own, and just taking it all in.  Our Albie bite finally tapered off at the end of the first week of December.  This may have been one of the strangest Albie seasons ever, but it was also one of the longest, with the first fish arriving in mid-August and the last leaving in early December.

There's a good chance you heard someone say that our Albie season was terrible this year.  It wasn't terrible by any means.  It was really challenging compared to last season.  We really got spoiled last season.  This year, we did miss some days on the water due to storms, and we did have a few days when the fish were very hard to find.  That's fishing.  I think we've set the bar very high when it comes to Albie fishing after having some spectacular season in past years.  I was thinking about how a fly angler would be stoked to see a few dozen Redfish and catch 2 on fly during a trip but is let down when they see a couple hundred Albies and catch 3 or 4.  It's all about expectations, and we all, myself included have to be mindful about that.  I had my moments this season, but all in all, I had a very good fall on the water with friends and fish, and I already miss it!

A huge thanks to all of my amazing angling clients that came and fished with me this fall.  I love you all!

The November issue of Tail Fly Fishing Magazine is out on newsstands everywhere and I couldn't be more excited.  I'm extremely honored to have now taken back-to-back cover shots for Tail Mag.  Honestly, I've spent years dreaming about getting the cover of a nationally recognized magazine, and now that it's happening, it's pretty surreal. 

Not only was I blessed with the November cover, but I also wrote and photographed the feature story for the issue.  This was a really special one for me, as the story is one of brotherhood and adventure with some folks that are very special to me.  On top of seeing some of my best buds featured in the magazine, my favorite brands like East Cape Skiffs, Hatch Outdoors, and Mauser Fly Fishing also got some airtime.

I'd love for you to swing by your favorite fly shop or go online and pick up a copy of the newest issue of Tail Fly Fishing.  Better yet, get yourself a subscription.  Theres a decent chance that it won't be the last time you see me in the magazine.  

It's early November and I'm a little bit past the halfway point of the fall False Albacore season here on the Crystal Coast.  This makes my 20th year chasing Albies, and my 14th year guiding for them.  In all the years I have pursued them, I've realized more this year than anything, that I don't know squat about these speedsters.  We have experienced the weirdest weather of any fall I can remember, and with no consistency day to day, the Albacore have been nearly impossible to predict.  Tough weather days that turned out excellent, and perfect weather days that left us scratching our heads...  I'll get more into that down the road, but for now, I wanted to look back at the first two months of Albie season.  And when I say, the first two months, I mean August 15th to October 15th.

Yeah, you heard me right.  I said August 15th.  I don't mean we saw an Albie in mid-August, that's not that uncommon of a thing.  What I mean, is that we started being able to consistently target schools of Albies in mid-August.  The first ones that showed up were these tiny micro Albies.  Let's just say, they were Al-Bae's.  Within a week after that, we started seeing the 4-6lbers that have been common in September the last few years.

Along with Albies, we had a great run of Spanish Mackerel in August.

And for another year, we have continued to enjoy a great Bluefish fishery.  

And although we still have those little 1lb snapper Blues like we have had forever, the influx of larger 3-5 blues have been consistent.  

By the end of August, we had a good number of False Albacore off the beaches.  I was still mostly running Redfish charters, but we had several days that were pretty enough to slide out the inlet and go hunt along the beachfront.

We kicked off September with a continued consistent Albie bite.  Keep in mind, this is a full month before most people (and guides) start pursuing these fish.  They were here from Bogue Inlet to Cape Lookout and in really good targetable numbers.

Most of these fish averaged 3-5, maybe 6lbs at the most, but they still fight incredibly hard at that size.

We caught a few oddballs in September too, like Leatherjackets and Houndfish.

Our offshore wrecks in the 10-15 mile range produced some good Amberjacks too.  September seems to give us some of the best weather to get out after these bulldogs.

The Spanish Mackerel continued to be an ample target along our western beachfronts and eastward to the Cape.  

By mid-September, the Albies became the star of the show, becoming much more dominant on the scene.

A predominant North to Northeast wind kept the bait flowing and the Albies gorging themselves off our beaches through September.

Honestly, it was so good that I even got to catch my yearly Albie.  It's got to be pretty good for me to agree to pick up a rod, and on this day, my anglers had hooked enough that I was presented the opportunity.  I love living vicariously through my anglers as they catch Albies we team work to get, but every once in a while, it's nice to feel the pull!

Those September Albacore, although not giants, really put an 8wt setup to the test.  In this shot, Colin is putting the heat on a diving fish with a Mauser Waterman 890 and a Hatch Iconic 7plus.   The line is a RIO Outbound Short Intermediate, which is one of my favorites for Albies lately.

We send every Albie back to fight another day.

Surf Candies are a go to fly for these fish.  Tied in different sizes and colors, they do a great job matching a lot of the Albies favorite forage fish, like Silversides and Bay Anchovies.

As we entered the third week of September, the Albie bite showed no signs of slowing down.

The final week of September was no different.  Lots of quality single digit sized fish around, and although we had a few days when they were picky, most days it wasn't too hard to match the hatch.

The last 3 or 4 years, I've taken anglers fishing for Albies in late September with the understanding that there was no guarantee.  We knew we'd have Mackerel and Blues around as a backup, but we could find Albies about half the time.  After this past September, I'm convinced that September is becoming a go to Albie month for me.  At this point, I'm pretty comfortable recommending people to come target Albies with me at any point in September, with the second half of the month having lots of potential.

The last few days of September were pretty interesting for me.  We had tons of fish well inside the inlet, with many being in the no wake zone of the State Port.  We spent 4 days targeting tons of fish on tiny larval bait inside the port among the fuel docks and large cargo ships.

The first few days in the port, the North winds were blowing pretty hard, and the fish were blitzing bait everywhere you looked.

On the final day of September, with two major tropical storms off our coast, the North winds were gusting to over 30mph.  The only safe place to be, was on the lee side of the port wall.  At the same time, we had a big southerly swell pushing into the inlet from the passing storms.  On that last day, we saw a fraction of the fish return to the port and inlet.  Most likely the huge swell in the ocean kept them offshore that day.  We still managed to stick a couple fish before calling it a half day and running home to hide from the gale.

The storms passing along our coast cost me four back-to-back days of charters.  And unfortunately, this wasn't the last time we lost trips in October due to crazy weather.  It seemed like that first storm set in motion a month of the most random weather patterns.  Throughout October, the wind seemed to blow a different direction and speed every single day.  Some days, I think it blew every direction and every speed.  It's normal to get a few days of NE 25-30 (which is still fishable) in the fall, but it's unheard of to get a day of NE 30 sandwiched between two days of SW 30.  Even on the pretty days, the Albies were unpredictable, because of something that happened a day or two before.  Consistency makes for good Albie fishing and thus began the battle to guess what the Albies were going to do next amidst extremely inconsistent weather.  I've never worked so hard, ran so far, burned so much gas, and tried so many things to make for successful days during Albie season.

Hard work pays off though, as they say, and sometimes it's not as important to catch a bunch of Albies, as it is to catch a few important Albies.  

We had good days and tough days in early October, and I appreciate all of my amazing anglers that kept a great attitude when the day challenged us.

About the 5th of October, we started finding Albies in places we don't normally have to look, like 10 miles off the beach in 70ft of water, over shipwrecks.  Same old Albies, just not running along the beaches like we prefer.  

Most of these fish offshore, were feeding on tiny larval baitfish, something we often refer to as "snot bait".  Snot bait is something more commonly seen in September.  Where were all the bigger 2-3" baitfish?  Fortunately, with a tiny enough fly and a fast enough strip, the Albies still fell for our offerings.

Although we mostly fly fish for these speedsters, we can easily (often more easily) catch them on spin.  Whether on 2"-bait, 4"-inch bait, or 1/2" bait, I have a few tricks up my sleeve for catching these fish on artificials.

The fish started to get a little chunkier in October and we upgraded the size of our gear, but honestly, any size Albie brings on a smile.

We also found some Reef Donkeys (Greater Amberjack) on those wrecks while looking for the Albacore schools.

For the third year in a row, we have also been tagging some of our Albies.  Every bit of information we can gather, helps in the challenge of managing a very misunderstood species.

By the time we entered the second week of October, I had some great regulars in town, and we worked hard and stuck some more Albies.  At this point, it had been a few weeks since we hadn't had to earn an Albie.  We caught fish, and maybe those catches were just a little sweeter, based on the amount of sweat equity we had to put in to get them.

The second week of October was a rocking week to catch Amberjack.  The topwater bite on our wrecks was absolutely insane.  I could throw a giant hookless popper out over a wreck and give it a few pops and instantly have 20 Amberjack breaching the surface fighting over it.

This bait and switch technique works really well for getting AJ's up from the depths and close enough to the boat to sight cast a popper fly to.  A lot of these brutes were fed and hooked less than 10ft off the tip of my anglers 12wt fly rods.  What a show!

There are much bigger AJ's than these on some of our offshore wrecks, some fish approaching 100lbs.  That being said, a 20-30lb fish is perfect on a fly rod.  Even at that size, with heavy fly gear, you are grunting and breaking a sweat trying to get that fish off the wreck and back to the boat.  Pound for pound, these are one of the strongest fighting fish in our NC waters.

I love targeting these fish, but just being out there, in the blue water, without a shoreline in sight, is pretty exciting.  On any given day, you will see anything from Barracuda and Cobia to Spotted Dolphins, to Sea Turtles, to giant Bluefin Tuna around these wrecks.

At the midpoint of October, everyday was a variety show.  We spent a lot of time looking for Albies, but we also spent a lot of time chasing big chopper Bluefish on the shoals and running offshore for wreck species.

Almaco Jack, another common wreck species.

Paying the Tax Man....

We'll stop there for now.  Once I finish out my 2025 Albie season in another month, I'll put out a second half of the season report.  How will it end?  Did the fishing get easier?  Did the weather get its act together?  Did I lose my mind?  Stayed tuned for the next episode!

Although online media has continued to grow in popularity over the last decade, I am still a huge fan of printed publications.  I love flipping through a good book, magazine, or seeing my photos printed vs on an electronic screen.  

The last few years, I've been building relationships with wildlife, lifestyle and fishing magazines.  Although photography is a big part of what I do, I'm also working towards improving myself as a writer and storyteller.

It was a huge thrill for me this month, to see my photo on the cover of one of my favorite fishing magazines, Tail Fly Fishing!  I have been printed on three other covers, but this one is by far the most thrilling.  Partly because I love the publication, but also because it is sold at fly shops across North America, along with news stands at major retailers.  What a thrill to have my cover shot sitting at Bass Pro Shops, Orvis, Books a Million, and Barnes and Nobles.

Along with the cover, my images were featured in an 8-page photo essay chronicling the insanity and beauty that is Cape Lookout Albacore fishing.  I'm so thankful that Tail Magazine gave me this opportunity, and I can't wait to work with them more in the future.  Grab yourself a copy, or better yet, get a subscription.

As I post this report, it is the last day of Summer.  Tomorrow officially kicks off fall, but honestly, we've been getting a pretty good taste of it already.  Not only have we seen some cooler days and NE winds, but we have already seen the arrival of some of our favorite species.  Before we jump headfirst into fall fishing, I wanted to take a look back at our summer inshore season.

We had some early summer hot days with air temps pushing a hundred degrees.  In the past, the hottest I've ever seen the inshore water temp, was 91 degrees.  That's enough to push the redfish off the shallow flats and make them lethargic.  Imagine how tough it was when I saw water temps hit 94 degrees this summer.  I put my hand in the water, and it made me nauseous.  Fortunately, it was short lived and pretty soon the Redfish returned to the shallow flats.

We had our fair share of rainfall this summer which kept the water stained and sometimes just plain muddy.  If the water was low enough, we could still pick out sight fishable reds a few feet in front of the boat.  If the water was high and muddy, we relied heavily on gurgler flies and walk the dog style plugs to find the reds along the grassy shorelines.

We had a good size range of redfish this summer, from 18" up to 30".  In some spots we would have mixed size groups, while other locations would have fish that were all the same size.

I spent some time with great repeat clients, and we had a fun time chasing reds.  I also got to fish with some wonderful anglers for the first time, and I hope to see them again down the road.

I'll just say I became a big believer in this little foam fly this year.  I generally shy away from topwater flies for my anglers, because most of them struggle getting enough distance with them.  Between dirty water and lots of high-water days this year, gurgler style flies saved us more than one day.

As the summer season wore on, we had a ton of shrimp show up in the marshes.  Late August and early September, the reds absolutely started crushing the shrimp.  This led to some amazing low tide action with reds acting in ways I haven't seen in years.  There were a few days when I just had to stop and look around at the wakes, muds and splashes as big reds busted shrimp in inches of water.

I'm all Albies for the next few months.  After that I will be running some more Redfish charters in December.  When I reach December 31st, I will have completed two full years of 100% catch and release on Redfish.  I don't have a problem with people keeping fish, I only have a problem with waste.  I'm proof that someone can make a full time living as a fishing guide, while releasing 95% of the fish we catch throughout the year.  I hope I see more anglers and guides following this path in the future.

#makeconservationcool

Well, that brings my summer of Redfish to a close.  The Redfish aren't done, but I'm done with them for a while.  Time to turn my full attention to Albies and other nearshore species.  Redfish, I love ya, and I'll see you again in December.