2004 archives

12-30-04; Chris and I went out today to do a little speckled trout and red fish fishing. In a couple hours I got a spec and chris nearly got himself a citation spec, missed by 1/2 lb. Don't usally keep any red fish, but, we got a good blackening size one of around five lbs. so he is in the cast iron pan here shortly. We had several fish on that got off, think mostly were reds though, but not sure didn't see them. If you have a few hours to kill grab a few 1/4 ounce floresence orange jig heads, a handful of 3" xmas tree curly tails and head to the back of a creek on a falling tide and catch yourself a right tasty dinner!!! The latest up date on the TV show we will be helping to host along with Capt.. Barry Phillips of the lucky fisherman restaurant, is slated to start filming next week if the weather will co-operate and let us offshore. Will up date as we progress, it has been in the works for a while now, but looks as if we are about ready to start putting "the show on the road" now!! Will be doing a commercial king mackeral trip tomorrow, 12-31-04, will post results tomorrow nite or saturday, depending on how late we get in. The weather is supposed to be nice the next few days, if nothing else run to an inshore ledge and get in on some of the good winter time black bass fishing we have now. Till next time, FISH ON!!!! CAPT. BUTCH.

12-27-2004; OK boys and girls, the weather looks as if it finally going to give us a break. The later part of the week into the weekend right now looks to good to be true!! If it isin't real calm, the black sea bass will be on the inshore ledges on out. They are usually the big ones this time of year, last time I went I got myself a 4.4 lb. black bass, a NC STATE CITATION. If it is nice, the king mackeral should be sw and ne of the tower on the ledges. They really stack up this time of year and are hungry!!!! And if it is really nice, take off to the gulf stream, you should find a few wahoo along with a decent amount of blackfin tuna bites and may even possibly pick up a yellowfin . In my opinion, and it is my taste, I think the blackfin steak on the grill is rivaled by none other. And if by some chance all this gets blown out, the speckled trout should be biting in the rivers and creeks. It is also getting time for the red drum, they may already be biting, I haven't been or heard, just know it is time. So put on some warm clothes and get out there!!! The fish are biting. They eat all year long just as you do. I can't think of a better way to start the new year than with a fishing trip!!!!! The "YEAH RIGHT" will be completed with its annual overhaul in a few days. She should be ready to go before this week end. All the renovations and remodeling have made her better than ever!! I wish you the best NEW YEAR ever, tight lines and following seas. CAPT. BUTCH

Went out saturday, 12-18-04, to a live bottom area still in sight of land out of the cape fear and Chris, my son, home from NC STATE this weekend and our friend Derek, and myself found the black bass biting very well. We were just fishihg for our supper so we caught a few good meals and decided to go try and see if the trout were biting on the WOFES. There were a few of those still willing to bite also. We left late in the day to go fishing, and after a couple of hours the winds picked up a little with a chill to them so we decided to head in and cook our harvest. We broiled the bass using the recipe, HEAVENLY BROILED FISH, can be found on my web site, and if you haven't tried this one you don't know what your missing. The fish are biting here in Southport, planning to do a little speckled trout fishing in a few days, or mabey a few days, depends on how my schedule goes. But either way I will let you know how it turns out. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! FISH ON!!! CAPT. BUTCH FOSTER

DEC. 16th, 2004. The winds have kept us inshore all week but the fish are doing pretty well inside. The speckled trout are biting good in creeks and around bald head, striker island, battery island, elizabeth river, and all the usual trout hot spots. Live shrimp and grubs best bait. Trout are very color concience if one color grub doesn't work, switch colors, it can make all the difference!! Near shore reefs are producing bluefish, black bass and some gray trout. Double dropper bottom rigs baited with squid or cut bait work well. You may want to try a 1 oz. diamond jig, we have good luck that way and don't have to fool with cutting bait. Offshore, the king mackeral should still be in the tower area, just watch for the temperature break on the way out. Trolled cigar minnows, dead or alive, will be the choice of baits. Don't overlook the #31/2 drone spoon, this is a "king killer" this time of year. Grouper bite is still good, find a good ledge and anchor up and you should have fair action. Live bait is always best for grouper, but not always necessary!! The stripers are starting to show up in the cape fear river up towards wilmington. Large white grubs have been reported working well. Still some red drum around, should be going shallow before long. Good for site casting! You can still catch a flounder for now. Don't know how much longer this will last, probably not long. The winds are supposed to sub-side some in the next few days. Hope to get offshore again to bring another report for offshore. But don't sit in the house, visit your local tackle shop, grab some gear and go fishing!! They eat when it is cold, just like you do!! good luck!!! FISH ON!!!!

On sunday, Dec. 5th 2004 the "YEAH RIGHT" went to the tower on a commercial trip. We actually had a bad day. We only boated 284 lbs. of king mackeral and 93 lbs. of bonito. Sure wish we were fishing a tournament, for we landed a 55 pounder that day. Yeah, the fish are biting.

DEC. 4th, 2004: Saturday morning was a picture perfect days beginning. The reason I said beginning was because the light winds predicted never materalized. Instead we got a stiff southeast blow that made the ride back to the hill rather uncomfortable. But before we headed back, my crew which consisted of Mary Seiferth, Mindy Killian, Bud Cunningham, and Josh Seiferth, all four had several rounds apiece with the first king mackeral they have ever caught. Somehow, I get the feeling from what I overheard, it won't be the last time the kings will see them!! OK, The reason I listed the ladys first. Mary proved her fishing ability by landing the largest king a high 20 pounder. Now Bud says he caught the second biggest, but that will have to be between him and mindy!! Thanks guys, you all were a pleasure to have on board. Hope to see you again soon!! Well the fish have schooled in the 60 to 80 ft. range and are pretty hungry. The bottom fishing is good if you get on them. The " YEAH RIGHT" is down for its winter maintence so it will be fresh and ready to go this spring. So now we are running the MAKO center console for a little while till the other boat is refurbished and refitted. Come on down, the fish are biting!!!!!

NOV. 26th, 2004; Bodie, the fishing pomeranian and myself picked up JAKE, BLUE, and BEAU HARRISS at the dock at 12:00 noon today. We went out for an evening of fishing for whatever would bite. We found the black bass to be biting fairly descent along with some above average size trout. I believe we could have limited out on trout and black bass if the blue fish would have left us alone. The blues are as thick as molasses and getting through them to the trout and bass was nearly impossible, but we managed a cooler full or bass, trout, sharks, and we kept a few of the blues. JAKE,BLUE and BEAU, it was a pleasure to share an evening with you guys in the boat and watch one of the most beautiful sunsets GOD has ever painted on the horizon. FISH ON!!!!! CAPT. BUTCH

NOV. 23, 2004. I could go on and on about the way the fish are biting. We fished the past 3 days straight for king mackeral, and our three man crew was limited to one rod each. That was all they could get out. Most of the time a hit would come as they were letting out the baits, or before they could get another rod baited and put out. But yesterday, monday, the 22nd. the wind shifted to the east, a bad wind for us, and we only managed 175 lbs. of kings. So at 1:00 pm we decided to catch some bottom fish, and caught a limit of 60 black bass which were BIG with some citation size in the mix, yeah mix, also caught a citation flounder, big triggerfish, and some of the largest white grunts I have ever seen. I guess it's hard not to go on about the fishing. Fall/winter fishing is very misunderstood and just not known about. It is the best time of year to go fishing!!!!!!    FISH ON!!!!!! CAPT. BUTCH

11-18-04, Are you wondering if the king mackeral are biting? Well wonder no more. I had previous engagements today and could not make it out today. But a friend of mine did, he ran a commercial trip to the spot I fished two weeks ago and came back with seven boxes. To those who don't know what a box is, that is 700 lbs. of king mackeral. If you have not tried winter king fishing, you won't believe it till you do. IT CAN BE AWESOME!!!!!! Also the bottom fishing is still great along with good gulf stream action. Trout are on the reefs and some trophy red fish are still here. This is why I used to hunt ducks and deer. The winter fishing was so good I gave up hunting and now fish year round. The bite now is on!!!!

On thursday, NOV. 11th, 2004, we went out 20 miles on a 1/2 day bottom trip. The fish were stacked at the coral bottoms. The first line down immediately was attacked by a gag grouper. It wasn't but just a short time till we were reduced down to one and one half fishermen. Yep, I said one half. Let me explain; Out of our four man fishing group, one never picked up a fishing rod, another fished for about 15 minutes, the other would catch a fish, then fight off the terrible feeling we know as sea sickness, then would catch another fish and repeat the process. This left me with Wesley catching all but a few of the fish. Now I really do feel sorry for these guys for I myself have experienced this terrible sickness. Understanding this, we decided to cut the trip short, but still had a good catch for the short amount of time we were there. Grouper, trigger fish, grunts, and black bass with several real nice sharks brought to the boat also. The grey trout are biting well now and the king mackeral are really starting to school up off shore as are the bottom fish. THE FISH ARE BITING!!!!!!!

This past weekend nov. 6th and 7th was quite a fishing event! The king mackeral were HUNGRY!!!!. Myself, Derek Savage, and Rowdy Moretz went on a king mackeral trip on saturday. I myself did not fish, I had the honors of controlling the vessel speed and position while these two were reduced down to two rods. That was one rod apiece was all they had time to put out. They would no sooner get it out, put it in the rod holder, start to reach for another rod and the one they just put out would start screaming. It was one of the times when you actually heard a fisherman complain because he couldn't get another rod out. If he could, he wouldn't have had time to work it anyway. Yes the fish was biting. We finally wound up with around 50 kings boated. If all that were hooked had been boated we should have probably had nearly 70 to 80 kings. These guys were wore out! Don't you just feel sorry for them!! You know, you can do the same thing, This is fall fishing here in southport! It is the best fishing of the year!! Give us a call and come on down and try some of this action for yourself!! The next day we went out again only to find the weather man had missed the weather report as usual. The seas were sloppy and conditions were not nearly as good as saturday. The wind has shifted 180* and was blowing out of the southwest, our worst wind down here, but we still managed to boat 18 kings and a decent catch of bottom fish. Just think, 18 kings and bottom fish is not considered a good day of fishing in the fall. Go figure. Come on down, the fish are CHEWING EVERYTHING IN SIGHT!!!!   FISH ON!!!

If heaven is half as nice as the fishing and weather was tuesday 11-2-04, i'm ready to go!! People I am telling you if you ever wanted to catch king mackeral, grouper and all kinds of bottom fish, NOW IS THE TIME!!!!! The fishing is as HOT as i've seen it in several years. I was afraid a few months ago that the hurricanes was going to mess up the fall fishing. Well it delayed it a week or two, but, it is making up for it now. If the weather holds half way decent the fishing should stay good for at least through this month. Oh yeah, the gulf stream is still producing wahoo and a few tuna. What are you waiting for, you can deer hunt when it is too nasty to fish!! THE BITE IS ON HERE IN SOUTHPORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sat. OCT. 30th. 2004 was a beautiful day. It had been so long since we had had a day this nice you sorta didn't care if the fish bit or not. ( YEAH RIGHT ). well the kings bit, started off with a double hook-up. Now thats the way to start a fishing day! After a few more hits, a few cut off's, a break off or two, a cut wire, and another nice king boated in the upper twentys then the tide went slack and the action slowed. Our party decided instead of waiting for the bite to pick back up they had plenty of king mackeral so we went to the wofes and caught some grey trout. The weather man said sunday was going to be a better day than sat. well, it wasn't. We were going to the gulf stream, but had to settle with trout on the wofes again. After a few moves, trying to get anchored up on the school, my son CHRIS, who came home to fish with me this weekend and mate worked his magic again and put us "on the spot" again. Three of us were pulling them in 3 at a time as fast as our jigs hit the bottom. It doesen't take long to get 3 limits that way. What a wonderful weekend, My son home from NC STATE and the fish biting, it can't get any better!!!

OCT. 28th, 2004;    The wind decided today it wanted to blow from the north east. This made the seas very sloppy, tough fishing conditions,so after a couple hours everyone decided to try again on a calmer day. But before things got to rough there were 2 king mackeral boated in the 30lb. range each. Have heard of a good spot run but can't say for sure, haven't tried it myself, so i'll just have to pass on what i've heard. FISH ON!!!!

OCT. 25th, 2004 WOW!!! we are running like a blind dog in a meat house!! The fishing is GOOD, no, GREAT!!! The king mackeral are at the old sea buoy, at offshore spots, in the cape fear river channel, 90/90, lighthouse rocks, etc; etc;. Now is the time you can go bottom fishing, load up on grouper, grunts, joltheads, black bass, and light line at the same time and also catch kings. Ran two bottom trips this weekend,10-23-04and 10-24-04 and loaded up again! THE FISH ARE BITING!!!!!!!

OCTOBER 9th, 2004, The wind was not blowing, it was HOWLING. We made it to the horseshoe ares but it was so strong we couldn't fish. When we tried to drift our baits the wind was pushing us at 6 knots. So, we elected to come back to the inshore structures and we picked up several limits of grey trout, had a few sharks, and got three NC STATE CITATION RED FISH!!!

OCTOBER 10th, 2004 After miserable conditions on saturday we woke to nice conditions on sunday morning. Our party from the piedmont area was sailed away to the south forty area where we almost immediately started with the king mackeral bite. But here is the fly in the ointment. We managed to put 8 kings in the boat, but I have never seen so many fish get off the hook, cut the wire,get eaten by cudas, and to top it off, we had a fish to slam a bait on a downrigger so hard we thought it had torn it off the boat, now get this here we are in the ocean, 30 miles offshore, and this fish gets tangled in a rope on a ghost fish pot. Don't know what it was but would guess a wahoo. Even with all the misfortunes, we still had a great time!!! Came back inside on the wofes and caught 5 limits of grey trout. Good fishing and good people two days in a row, and my son CHRIS came home to mate for me on sunday. Things could not have been any better!!!!!         P.S. THE FALL KING RUN I BELIEVE HAS STARTED AND SOME OF THE FISH ARE RUNNING IN THE 40 LB. RANGE. IT'S TIME!!!!!!!!!!