We had the Stiles family from Barryville, Va. with us today and wanted to get some spanish and just catch “fish”  Due to continued muddy waters inshore we headed offshore approx. 5 miles and found some spanish but  was hit and miss so decided to do some bottom fishing and had no problem getting black bass but again due to size limit of 12 inches were only able to keep a few.  Seas kicked up as day went on and was very hot but still had a decent fishing day.  Enjoyed Taylor, Devin and dad Chris Stites and nephew Rowdy.  Was a nice trip!

We had the Comer family from Va. for their first ocean venture.  We had Garry, Kim and son Alex Comer from Halifax, Va and their son Matt with wife Lauren and daughter 3 yr. old Savannah Comer from Nathalie, Va. aboard.  We started with spanish mackerel fishing and picked at them but was still slow from the muddy waters and high winds we have had the past few days.  We then decided to do some bottom fishing and got into some really nice black seabass and also a couple atlantic sharknose sharks which they really enjoyed bringing in.  Alex even got a sea robin which he thought was really a neat and different fish.  A great time enjoyed by all and really nice people to spend the day with.

Haven’t been out recently due to high winds and muddy waters but after much debate our party today decided to try going out.  We headed out to the 440 area since the inshore waters were still very muddy.  We actually had cancelled our first two charters of the season on Saturday and Monday.  The winds today were still approx. 15K - we had  dad Mike Midgley and 2 of his children, Matt and Marissa with their friends, Nat and Amanda.  The teens enjoyed the ride out but the longer they were out the more they decided they best come back in so we headed back in.  Matt did get a nice size spanish and enjoyed the trip  most of all.  Very nice and enjoyable kids and just wish the weather had been nicer for them but they are all ready to come back next season.

The Lacy family from Bluefield, WV returned today for another chance at getting more spanish and possibly a shark.  The waters were rather choppy and overcast skies but decided to give it a try.  We headed back to the 440 from our charter yesterday and found a few spanish which were  all  good size.  Waters remain muddy in the shallow waters again today.  We then headed back closer inshore the last hour to try for a shark.  We had one hit, hooked up and brought in a nice approx. 60# blacknose to the delight of 19 yr old Matt Lacy.  It was  approx. 15 minute fight so it gave Matt a good run.  Had another nice trip with super nice people - it  sure seems people we carry from Va and WV are really nice folks.

We had a group from Pa. Jeff Kelley with son Jacob; Denver and Charlie Burket, Rick Musser and Jeff Stauffer.  We put lines in for spanish near Lockwood Folley Inlet and found muddy waters from the thunderstorm yesterday and last night so headed to deeper water and ended up at the 440.  We got one spanish in the muddy waters and several near the 440 but definitely not a hot fishing day.  We came back in to finish up with sharks and got one hit.  All the other charter boats out today in our area were having the same type of day so hoping next trip will be more productive.  Overall a slow day!

Weather was a problem today.  We had booked a full day charter to go offshore and get some kings.  We had people from  3 different states that were here to fish and enjoy the day together.  Most were here just for 2 days and this was only day they could go fishing.  We told them we couldn’t do kings and go offshore - seas were rough but might be able to get a 1/2 day in spanish fishing.  They choose to do this.  We were able to pick up enough spanish for their dinner tonight and then the thunderstorms came in so decided we would call it a day.  We had Jake Williams from Pa., Sam Odum from NC; Kip, Andrew and Jacob Freeman and Brock Glover all from Va. for this trip.  Really nice guys and wish we could have had good weather and got some kings for them but sure they will enjoy the fresh fish tonight.

Had some folks from Bluefield, WV that have been going with me in the past  years, They have been on the Sea Hawk I and Sea Hawk II we all have some great memories of past trips.  The are Roger Lacy, Sr, Roger Lacy Jr, sons Matt and Travis and Tim Lacy.  They just wanted to “fish” and catch  up on old times.  We put the spanish lines in and got two on right away and thought this would be a great day of fishing.  Well, things slowed down after that and remained slow - we went from 20 ft. water to 40ft and could just pick at them, one here and there.  Last hour come in closer to shore and tried some shark fishing and got two hits and got a blacknose in the box.  They will be back Friday for another day of fishing.  Fun trip but slow fishing.

We had Charles Alvis, Rock Hills, SC and his friend Derek Waldron from the United Kingdom.  Charles wanted Derek to enjoy some fresh fish from the Atlantic Ocean.  We returned to the 36-38 ft. waters where we had left spanish jumping from our morning charter but didn’t see one jump, no birds working and nothing much on the screen so went back to shallow waters and we started putting spanish in the box.  The guys said if they didn’t get enough fish for supper they would have to stop and buy some since their wives told them they probably wouldn’t get enough  for the evening meal.  Well, we actually ended up with more spanish than the morning charter so was a good afternoon charter and very nice people and enjoyed so much this trip. 

We had Ken Haupt, Novato, Calif.; Dan Crowley and son Daniel, Bethesda, MD and Col. Mike Warmack from Fort Bragg, NC.  They were staying at Holden Beach for a special family and friends get together since Col. Warmack will be leaving for a year tour in Afghanistan next week.  They just wanted to go out into the ocean and catch some “fish” and enjoy the views and visit.  We put the spanish rods out and things started off very slow, caught a few in the 20ft water but found out they were jumping out in the 36-38ft so headed out there.  We ended up with 20 spanish and one little tuna.  The spanish were jumping everywhere but would go down very quick so felt we should have gotten more but our people were thrilled and said they plan to have them for dinner tonight and  they enjoyed the beauty of  the Holden Beach shores. Was a very interesting charter and nice folks.

We had Dean Durbin from Mooresville, NC; Mike Bryant, Gastonia, NC; Chuck Lowrey, Jackson, NJ and Jeff Corbett, Monroe, NC for an all day charter.  Weather was beautiful and seas were good so heading out to get some kings.  We had mentioned that kings have been slow past few days but they still wanted to give it a try.  We hooked up 5 times but only got one approx. 10# king so decided we would go back in to the Cape Fear River area and do some shark fishing, some of the guys had never shark fished before so wanted to try it.  In one hour we hooked up 10 different times, ended up with 5 sharks in the boat, of course only kept one due to regulations. The blacktip we kept was approx. 85# and gave a very good fight!  Time to head back in and decided to troll for a few spanish for about 1/2 hour since we saw birds working in the area. It was a really nice trip and appreciate Dean getting his group together each year and going out with us.