Now, we picked up David Wrench, Jon Wrench, Matt Wrench, and R A Wrench for an afternoon 1/2 day trip. Black bass fishing was our quest. Well, that was no problem, we had a good school marked on our GPS that we had just left, and they will still be there, so, let's go get them. Well, we might as well had put an "X" on the side of the boat!!!! Let me tell you something, the only sure thing in fishing is the fact that us, as humans, DO NOT have a clue as to how a fish thinks. We like to think we do, but, WE DO NOT. We returned to that location and the ocean floor looked on our color scope like a wet desert. I mean  there was not a trace of a fish. OK, they haven't gone far, we'll find them, I said. Another one of our "ego boosting beliefs"!!! After a few hours of searching to no avail, we were just on the verge of throwing in the towel, I had already said this trip was going to be on me if we don't find anything soon, when I got call from Captain Ron Farnsworth and "Admiral" Helen. They were on a set of numbers I had given Capt. Ron last year and he reported the bass were plentiful and big. Well, we were 15 miles from where he was at and I told these guys If you want to make the run, we will fish until you get you some fish . We do that when time and the situation permits us too. We WANT you to catch fish on your trip, probably MORE than you do!!! These guys are in the picture on the right. Well, Capt. Ron, you saved the day, and that's the way it's supposed to work!!!!!! Hopefully, one day I'll be able to "save the day" for him and return the favor, but until that day, THANK YOU, you and Helen are good friends!!!! Well, it was a tough second half day. The kind that makes you wonder why you are a charter captain, but when it was all over with, and our crew had some fish for our efforts, you remember then why you do this. It's not for the money, sure, it takes money to operate, but the good times and smiles are priceless!!, and we try our very best to keep all our fishermen and fisherwomen SMILING!!!! Till next time, FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and "Private Bodie", the fish dog says HI!!!!.

 

4 King Mackerel on at a time video

 

We fished with Rossilea & Tommy Wrenn of Lexington,NC today. They operate Lexington Fire Extinguisher Sales & Service,Inc. and even have accounts down here in Southport, for honest service you can depend on, give them a call at (336)236-6804. After locating bait just west of Yaupon Pier the crew of the Yeah Right headed out in search of a King Mackerel or two.  Not to be let down, as soon as the first line entered the water a King about 20lbs. "skyrocketed" on the propwash bait peeling off just enough drag to get us excited as he dropped the bait and "cackled" his way off to another meal.  We continued trolling around AR-425 for a couple of more hours to have several other short strikes and one 18lb. Kingfish.  As the forcasted 15 knot winds seemed to lay down to about 10 knots the Yeah Right moved on offshore about 6 miles to find multiple strikes and another King Mackerel in the 20lb range and a couple of Sharks.  After releasing two Blacktip sharks about 30lbs each and boating the Kingfish the Yeah Right ventured onward finding a good concentration of bait around Tom McGlammery Reef where Tommy masterfully reeled up another 20+lb King Mackerel.  It sounds like the Kings are finally starting to heat up on their annual fall bite(hope the offshore hurricane doesn't mess things up again) Reports of Spots beginning to show up in the river and nearshore.  Till next time, FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and "Private Bodie" the fish dog, says HI!!!

 

   SATURDAY,9-17-05: This morning we left SOUTH HARBOUR MARINA with Rusty Bost and Gary Saine to do a day of bottom fishing. This is the middle picture. We started off SW of the tower. The first stop and the first drop boated a 13 lb. Gag Grouper. But that one turned out to be the only keeper grouper on that rock. We caught some more fish here, grey snapper, B-liners, Black Bass, etc. Then the tide went slack and they quit biting. They were already slowing down before then so I decided to make a move to another ledge about 10 miles to the SE. We got here and got anchored up , and here we were able to finish up our day with a good catch of fish even though the water was still pretty dirty. But it was obvious to me that the water was starting to get back to normal and the fish seem to be getting  more hungry as the days progress. The water is cleaner on the SW side of the tower and today I seen some bait and a few flying fish starting to show back up. There were a few kings caught today on the SW side about 12 miles from the tower. The fall fishing is getting ready to explode any day!!!! The water temps. are dropping, when they hit the 70's, look out!!! Another great day of fishing on the "YEAH RIGHT" !!!!! Guys, we enjoyed it, we hope you did also!!!

  SUNDAY,9-18-05: OK, here we go!!! Today we had the guys from DC and  MD back with us, we even had John's best friend James from Hawaii with us today. The group today consisted of John Blakeney,Vander Covington,Ray Johnson,Tony Fouch,and James Young. We went back to the ledge South of the tower today. The fish were biting fair, but not like I wanted them to. Well, I knew of a ledge on the SW side about 10 miles from where we were and I just believed we would do better there. I don't know why, I guess after you do this long enough you sorta get a 6th sense or something, I don't know!! Well we pulled anchor and left out for the ledge. When we got there and got anchored up, IT WAS ON!!!!!!!!!!!! Take a look at the shark Vander  pulled to the surface, this was a BIG SHARK!!!! The picture does not do this fish justice, Capt. Chris and I both estimated this fish in the 600 + lb. range!!! At this ledge we were catching fish two at a time, some of the biggest B-liners I have seen in years, Huge Trigger fish, Big Grey snapper,Tony caught  a nice Yellowtail snapper, John, he was the trigger fish king with the most, but Vander caught the biggest one. Oh yeah, take a look at Vander's Hog Nose Snapper he also caught!!! We even picked up a few Grouper here. Tony gave us a good compliment today I would like to share with you; He told us that they go on the 24 hour fishing trips where you ride out for three hours, fish for eighteen hours then ride back, but he said, "we catch MORE FISH fishing on the "YEAH RIGHT" in a ten hour trip than we do on the 24 hour trips fishing for 18 hours." I don't know, maybe we just try harder, THANKS Tony!!! The fish you see here were caught by 3 1/2 fishermen, and that's all I'm going to tell about that one!! Guys, this is what it's all about, as always, we had a great time Capt. Chris and I were still laughing last night at some of the days events. We would like to take a moment to let all of our fishermen and fisherwomen know that we appreciate all of you, for without all of you, what we do would be useless!!! THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND KIND COMMENTS, IT MEANS A LOT TO US!!!! We will continue to try our hardest to provide you with the best fishing trip you have ever had!!!  Till next time,  FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie (the fish dog) says HI!!!

TUESDAY 8-9-05; Today we went fishing with Tim Jackson, Kenny Jackson, David Rich, Jean Perryman, and Dylon Lester. We were after bottom fish again today. We got most of the day in before the thunder storms made us head back to the hill. I want to let you fishermen know to be aware, there is an up coming fisherman by the name of Dylon Lester, this young man is quite an accomplished angler!!! Not only did he catch the two biggest fish on the boat, he also caught the most!!! I told him he was welcomed to go fishing on the "YEAH RIGHT" anytime. Dylon, I was very impressed with your fishing ability, you are a great fisherman. Although our trip on the bottom grounds was cut short due to weather, Dylon saw to it they had enough fish for their fish fry, A GREAT JOB!!!!!!! And a GREAT TRIP!!!!! THANKS!! Till next time,  FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie"the fish dog" says HI!!!.

MONDAY,8-8-05; Today we met up with Andrew Smith, Zack Smith, and Powell Smith at SOUTH HARBOUR MARINA for some bottom fishing. We found the seas a little rough but not too bad to run in. We were able to go around the rain showers. Although it rained hard on the main land, we never encountered any rain other than a light sprinkle on the way offshore. But once we got to the fishing grounds it was dry all day. The first stop we made was the last and only stop we made today. Here we found all the fish we were looking for!!! At about 2:00 PM the guys said thats enough fish, I can't catch anymore. Not only did this place produce all the bottom fish we wanted, it also provided a few Mahi-Mahi and king mackerals to the creel. A good day of fishing and comraderie!!! Thanks for a great trip. Till next time, FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie"the fish dog" says HI!!!

Sunday 8-7-05; Today was a tough day. One of the toughest I have had in a while. The EAST WINDS were blowing hard, the seas were roughed up and dirty, the king mackeral bite was off, we couldn't get offshore it was too rough (5-8 ft. seas) the spanish mackeral only wanted to bite sparingly. All the boats were kept on the beach today with the same reports of no fish to mount to anything. Well, David Deese Jr. David "Fat Baby" Deese, Sr., Eric Mullis, Gary Lear, Chris Conley, and Bo Hood were real sports about all this. That made me want to get them something on the line that had some fight in it. So, we went SHARK FISHING!!!!!!! Just ask these guys if that is fun or what!!! I think I have created a few new shark fishing advocates. Get rested up guys, we will do it again!!!! Thanks for a great ending to a slow beginning!!!  Till next time, FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie"the fish dog" says HI!!!

SATURDAY,8-6-05; Went fishing today with Jerry Rush, Greg Rush, Darrell Rush, and Tommy Thompson from Greensboro area. We started off at the wreck, plenty of bait marking up but had no takers. We didn't stay there long till we moved to the horseshoe. Here we found a couple of mahi-mahi and some small kings. The bait was marking up good until we had a pretty potent storm move over us and after that  all I had been marking was gone!! We left there and went to the south 40, here we finished up the day with mahi-mahi, Darrell's citation size barracuda, an 18 lb. king mackeral(even though a 'cuda eat 1/2 of it) and we were able to hook up with a reef donkey.Be sure to take a look at the leopard shark which is a juvenile tiger shark. As they grow larger the leopard spots develope into tiger stripes, then they are called tiger sharks. Good fellowship, good conversation, and even a few fish, A GREAT DAY!!!!  Till next time, FISH ON!! Capt. Butch, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie "the fish dog" says HI !!!.

FRIDAY, 8-5-05; Well, I don't have pictures for this one, I thought the batteries were charged up in the camera!!! We went fishing today with Tony Locklear, Chris Strickland, Mark Cummings, Anthony Bullard,and Tommy Chavis. We caught some nice king mackeral and some nice spanish mackeral along with a few other fish. If we had boated all the fish we had eaten into by barracudas and got off the hook we would have had a load of fish. Still did good anyway!!! We had a  Bull Dolphin on," how do we know it was a bull dolphin", because when it jumped 10 feet in the air, we got a good look at it as it threw the hooks!!!! I keep getting reminded why it's called "FISHING" and not "CATCHING". We still had a good trip, the fish are just an added bonus!!!Enjoyed it guys, keep up the good work!!!  Till next time, FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie"the fish dog " says HI!!!

Thursday 8-4-05; Went fishing today with George and Jane Smith. We went out just to catch some fish. Nothing in particular, just some fish. George had never caught a King Mackeral, well he can't say that anymore, he got one. We got him some bottom fish also. George wanted a fish that would put up a fight. He got an Almaco jack, he thought that was the fight we had in store for him!! Little did he know that was just a warm up!!!  Well, we had a jack rod, which consists of an 80 lb. class rod with a 50 lb. class reel on it, out while we were drifting and bottom fishing, then it happened, the rod tip shook, I told George "get ready" about that time the rod doubled over and the fight was on!!!!! For a little bit I wasn't sure who was going to win the battle, but George prevailed. I went to put out another bottom rod when I heard George say, Oh no, that's enough, let's go home!!!  Good job George, that fish was a hand  full!! Till next time, FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie "the fish dog" says HI!!!.

WEDNESDAY, 8-3-05; Today we went fishing with Ryan and Elizabeth Carricker, Micahel "Moose" Cole, and Donald and Martha Terry. Our quarry was to get a mixture of fish. Well we were fishing against the Southport "curse", an East wind. We fished from spot to spot with our good places producing nothing while the less desirable places seemed to hold a few fish. We had a good day of fishing and fun and we even caught some fish. Really enjoyed it guys, hope to see you again soon!! Till next time, FISH ON!!!!  Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and until it cools off some, Bodie "the fish dog" says HI!!

Tuesday8-2-05: We left out this morning with a weather report of 5 knot winds, YEAH RIGHT, no pun intended!!! As what seems to be more than not, the forecast was wrong again. We started at the offshore wreck. Put out the baits and it wasn't long before a barracuda jumped all over it. My group today was on their first ever charter boat. After landing the fish I heard someone say, that fish fought sorta like a bass. I'd like to catch something that has some fight!!!!  WEEELLLL, Be careful what you wish for!!! OK, let's get out the big tackle. Just ask Kyle Mish and Travis Saracena from PA. if there are any fish out there that can fight. This might give you a clue, Jack Mish got to fight one for maybe a minute before the 150 lb. test leader broke!!! Sharon Mish got herself a nice barracuda, we even caught a shark and Jack Mish finally found a king mackeral that was suicidal. This was pretty good considering we had a stiff 25+ EAST wind. And everyone that fishes this area knows that an EAST WIND is sure "shut down" on the fishing here!!! Yes, the ride back in was rugged. We had 6 to 8 ft. seas with limited visibility. At one time I thought I saw a shrimp boat ahead of me but it was a whitecap on top of a swell. As always, the "YEAH RIGHT" handled the seas with amazing stability!!! Despite all the winds and rain, I think we had a good trip. These guys handled this day like veteran old salts, and I would rate todays weather on a scale of 1 to 10 at a 3. GOOD JOB GUYS!! Till next time,  FISH ON!!!!  Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie"the fish dog".

SUNDAY 7-31-05: Today we got offshore with the MD & DC gang. There was not any lightning showing so we left for the tower area in pursuit of bottom fish. I was informed when we got back that it had rained on shore all day. We had  perfect fishing weather all day, overcast and cool with a light breeze. From past trips I knew that the black bass had been scarce for me on the W and SW side of the tower, mostly grunts and B-liners were over there. I knew of a spot to the E of the tower, about 12 miles, that I felt like would hold some black bass. I pulled the "YEAH RIGHT" up on the rock and  as I did, I told Capt. Chris, we are marking some fish here about 30 feet thick. We were in 120 feet of water, the rock came up to 60 feet, and on top of that were 30 feet of fish. We got anchored up and the catching was on. These were big black bass mostly. It wasn't too long before here we got 5 limits of bass and even pulled a decent king mackeral off a light line. Also, got a shark that we invited in for a photo shoot before he was released. Yours truly got the honors to pose with this one, all of a sudden, everyone else was too busy to hold him up!!! We left there in pursuit of B-liners and grunts. I told them they have been on the SW side. We went there and in short order, we were on these fish. Everyone strung their fish up seperately on stringers and they are pictured with their catch:From L to R. Jerry Covington, John Blakeney,Vander Covington, Ray Johnson, and Tony Fouch. Capt. Chris and I look forward to our trips with these guys. They have fished with us several times now, and it is always fun!!!!!  THANKS guys for another great day on the water!!! Till next time, FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster,and Bodie,"the fish dog".

SATURDAY,7-30-05: All the storms kept us at the dock this morning. It is one thing to get caught offshore in a storm, but to go offshore in a storm, no thanks!! From what I heard, I made the right decision. I moved our full day to a half day and met the guys at the dock at 2:30 PM after all the storms had passed. We went to Lockwood Folly Inlet and in 2 1/2 hours we had 60 spanish mackeral. I'll have their names tomorrow, for we are going to try to get offshore tomorrow. Also, there wont be any pictures, somebody forgot to bring the camera!! I will try to do better!!!!!! Till next time, FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster,and Bodie "the fish dog"....

THE FISH CAUGHT BY SCOTT  LOSITO ON 7-26-05 WAS A RARE CORONET FISH. SUPPOSEDLY FOUND IN THE CARRIBEAN SEA CRUISING AROUND AT NIGHT.

THURSDAY 7- 29-05: Before I get to todays fishing report I would like to thank all of you who have e-mailed and called me to make sure I was OK since I hadn't up dated my reports in about a week. That means a lot to me to know that I have such a close following on my reports and web site. Again, THANK

YOU, for without all of you, all this would be useless!!!!!  Today we left South Harbour Marina with Mark Sunyak, Betty Sunyak, Jacob Sunyak, Rachel Sunyak, Liz Patterson, and Hillary Balsega. This was their first ever trip on the ocean fishing. It was an honor that they picked my charter boat  for their trip!!!! We went to a wreck today and it was awesome. We were hooking jacks that were breaking 100 lb. test leader. We had barracudas hitting our baits and jumping 20 feet in the air. We had one hit and jumped so high that when it landed it threw water on everybody in the boat. This 'cuda took Betty Sunyak nearly an hour to land on king tackle. But she got him in and she was able to get a NC Saltwater Citation for this fish to hang on her wall back in PA. You should have seen the show we saw when the king mackeral we had on was attacked by the barracudas and the big jacks moved in and took the pieces away from the 'cudas, it was amazing to see. Later, we did get a king mackeral to the boat before the 'cudas got it!! Also, feeding along with the jacks and 'cudas were some rays, these were black on top and white on the bottom, feeding on the bait that was holding the other fish. These dudes were probably in the 100 lb. range. Just another awesome day on the water with an awesome group of fishermen and fisherwomen. THANK YOU for fishing with us. Till next time, FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster,and (until it cools off some )Bodie "the fish dog" says HI!!!  

WEDNESDAY 7-27-05: Today we picked up Steve Brown, Jason Brown, Jay Boyles, Tommy Mcleod, Chasity Russel, and Jodi Hatley  at  South Harbour Marina for a day of bottom fishing. We stopped on a offshore wreck to jig up some live cigar minnows and we put out a light line while there getting bait and it didn't take long for a 'cuda to jump all over it. It put up a good fight with a lot or acrobatic jumps and runs. Put out another line and this time Jason was greeted with an amoco jack. Ask him how those fish fight!!!! From there we proceded to the bottom grounds in hopes of finding some willing bottom fish. It was an eventful day with a lot of willing fish ready to make the ride back to the marina with us. Jason even caught a larger jack while we were grouper fishing!!! As you can see, we had a good catch of a variety of fish. Good people and good times, throw in a few fish as an added bonus, what more could you ask for in a day on the high seas fishing!!!! It was fun guys, Till next time,  FISH ON!!!!  Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, Bodie "the fish dog", says HI!!!.

Tuesday 7-26-05: Today we went bottom fishing. We had Ronny Harvey and his two sons Ron and Adam. We worked our way to SW of the tower. Here we found a decent bite in about 90 feet of water. Ron Harvey is shown holding his 33.8 lb. 'CUDA that got him a NC citation to place on his wall in West Virginia. We got 3 limits of reef complex, some black bass, seven grouper(that we could keep), some B-liners,and check out the tile fish that Adam caught. We had a good day of fishing with some great guys on board. As always, it was a pleasure!!! Till next time,  FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch Foster Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie "the fish dog" says HI.

TUESDAY 7-26-05: I have been slack in reporting , but lately there hasn't been enough hours in a day. I have lost track somewhere along the way, so if I leave someone out, I apologize, and I probably will. Here lately, if there wern't road signs, I wouldn't know if I was coming or going!!!! Monday we went for some african pompano at the tower. All we found were baracudas. There was not even any jacks there. You know it's bad when you pull up to the tower and can't get a bite. Other boats were reporting the same at other spots. Things were tough, but the bottom fish were biting real well. OK, no pompano, lets get some grouper, don't want any bass, grunts, etc. We managed a couple grouper in the boat. Don't know how many pull downs we missed. Not a real good day of catching. I was fortunate enough to have a crew of Captains from Swansboro that know how fishing really is sometimes. They consisted of Bill McCoulough, Allan Warnhoff, Rod Phelps, and check out the Coronet fish caught by Scott Losito. This fish is considered rare and is usually found crusing the carribean waters at night. How's that for a once in a lifetime catch off the NC coast???? Stopped by the tower that evening and tried it again, still no sign of the pompano. Last week there were a few caught there. Sure hope they are not already gone!!!!!  Till next time,  FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie " the fish dog".

Tuesday 7-19-05: Tim Champion, Brandon and Mark Hayes, Brett (Jello)Parliman, Shawn Johnson, and Jim Davis all from the Mebane, Graham, NC area called and said they wanted to spend a day out fishing for bottom fish. The nick name in Brett's name was attached to him after his battle with the approximately 300 lb. shark pictured. I can make this report short, the pictures will speak for themselves. Got a 1/2 day tomorrow, will most likely be spanish mackeral fishing. Will let you know. Hey guys it was fun, looking forward to next time!! Till then,  FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie "the fish dog" Says HI!!!

Monday 7-18-05: Today we left out of South Harbour Marina with Eric Gould, his dad Mike Gould, and Phil Schrader. This was Eric's and Phil's first time out on the offshore grounds. Our quarry was to be King Mackeral. Our first stop was nearly immediate action. We quickly hooked up with 3 kings then as it often does in fishing, things died. We kept checking out places until we made contact again. But this time we bit off more than we could chew!!!  Mike would have the first turn at the reel. Well, as I pulled the baits over a large school of bait soon came the cry "FISH ON!!!" Mike settled in for this was no normal hook-up. Mike would gain a little then loose a lot. This scene went on for nearly an hour. We all thought he had him wore down by this time, but as he was approaching the boat, he made a charge for the bottom. This caught everyone by suprise and made short work of the fight!! We all saw the most feared sight in fighting a big fish, the sharply bowed rod flew straight, and he was gone. The sudden charge was more pressure that the line could handle!!!! Next time was Phil's turn. To make a long story short, we relived the same scene over again, however, this time it didn't take as long!!! We never did see these two fish, but they were big. Next turn was Eric's. It didn't take long till that familar cry "FISH ON!!!" was heard again. Eric played the fish like a seasoned pro. He worked the fish up to the boat, this one we saw. It was a king mackeral in the 20's. The fish was making his rounds at boat side, slowly coming to the surface. Capt. Chris said: One more turn, and he will be in gaff reach. That was the "KISS OF DEATH", for at that time the hooks just pulled free and we watched him swim off. Today was one of those days that no matter what you did, It Was Wrong!!!!!! If you fish much, you know what i'm talking about. Well, after all this, the Barracudas moved in,and they were more than eager to bite. We caught a few of these and decided to call it a day!! Eric and Phil, I see some good future saltwater fishermen in the making here. And Mike, it's always a pleasure to fish with a seasoned pro such as yourself. Got to go, it's late and will be back at it again tomorrow, weather permitting!!! Till next time,  FISH ON!!!!  Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie "the fish dog".

Saturday 7-16-05: Capt. Chris and I met up with David Gorsline, Bobby Smith, Bobby and Beau Williams,and Rocky Hamby at South Harbour Marina and we headed offshore for a day of fishing. We were met with some pretty rough conditions in the channel, when asked if they were comfortable with the conditions the responce I got let me know that I had some seasoned offshore fishermen on board. Once we broke through and crossed Frying Pan Shoals to the east side the running was good. We were able to push the "YEAH RIGHT" throttles up to a speed of 28 knots and the ride was one that rocks you to sleep on the slow rolling swells. OK, upon inquiring about todays preference of fish I soon learned my work was cut out for me. Today was going to be a variety of fish...... Lets start with a few bottom fish, the tide was about to go slack, and any good bottom fisherman knows that when it goes slack the bottom fish shut off. Stopped on one spot, small fish, next spot, small fish, we repeated this scenerio several more times then "BAM", here they are!!!! Fished for these a little while then as predicted, the tide went slack and the fish shut off. Allright,  let's troll until the tide turns. We started picking up some kings, but the action was slow and spotty! Bobby Williams told we "I have always wanted to catch a dolphin, but never have", well Bobby, you can't say that any more!!!!!!!! David Gorsline and Rocky Hamby said "we want something big and pulls hard", ask these guys if Amberjacks fit this description!!! Rocky was wore out to the point he had the shakes after landing his fish, now that's a battle between man and fish!!!! Beau Williams, he had a tough day, between not so pleasant times he landed a few king mackeral and had a round with an Amberjack until it broke 50 lb. test line like sewing thread. But the fight was on for a little while. Hey guy, that's why it's called fishing and not catching. Next time, we may be the winner, this time the fish won!! Now Bobby Smith, he was quiet, but he didn't have time to talk much, he put fish in the boat steady all day. Between all the Grey Snapper, Vermillion Snapper, Trigger Fish, Sharks, Black Bass, Silver Snapper,king mackeral, sharks, Mahi-Mahi, Amber Jacks, and the fish that broke off, pulled off, short strikes, I don't think anyone had too much trouble going to sleep last night, I know I didn't!!! A great day on the water, Guys like this make my job one of the best jobs in the world, the days start early in the morning and end late at night, But, I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be!!! Thanks to all of you for a great day of fishing!!!!, hope to see you again soon!!!! Till next time, FISH ON!! Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and (till the weather cools off some) Bodie"the fish dog" say's "HI".

Thursday7-14-05: Left out of South Harbour Marina this morning with Chris Hunt, Ricky Dukes, John Willis, Dale Houser, and Tim Lail, the Maintenance X-Crew from PPG Ind. in Shelby, NC. we started at the South 40 where we marked a lot of fish and was hooked up with a big fish for a while but it made a charge and broke the line. Well, at this time we were looking and getting reports from back on shore of some severe thunder storms heading NE off of Bald Head Island. We also had one to the south of us,well what to do??? OK, I told everyone, if we try to go back in, we will drive head on into the one off Bald Head. That didn't make good judgement too me for it could turn and we were in a position to go in any direction to avoid it where we were. I just sat and watched a little before making any calls. The one to our South was going East, didn't have to worry about that one, The one from Bald Head was turning more ENE so we ran out to the tower where we were able to avoid all the storms all day and had a good day of fishing. I think the falling Baromectric pressure from all the storms had the fish in a slight non active mode, but we pulled it off anyway. Tim Lail said he wanted a BIG fish that fights HARD. Tim, be careful what you wish for from now on!! Just ask him what I mean!!! the barracuda's were feeding but most of those toothy creatures would crash our baits and promptly cut the line. As we were trolling around, I marked a school of bottom fish, the trolling bite was slow so we went to the bottom. They caught some of the biggest grey snappers I have seen in a while. Didn't get the kings and dolphin  we wanted but got a cooler full of fillets for the freezor!! Enjoyed it Guy's, we had to dodge a few storms but we caught fish and no one got wet !!! Till next time, FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch, Capt. Chris, and Bodie"the fish dog" say's HI!!

Wednesday, 7-13-05: This morning we picked up Dave Germain and Jeff Adams from the local Wal-Mart and Dale Westall, a local Tatoo Artist for a day of grouper fishing. Well as mother nature would have her way today. We were greeted with a strong SW wind. So that meant we couldn't get offshore out of Southport, in fact, you didn't even want to be on the beach at Southport this morning. There were 4 to 5 foot seas on the beach. So, with Bald Head Island blocking a SW wind, we took off up the river to Snows Cut and went out of Carolina Beach. There we found a calm and tranquil beach with plenty of bait like glass minnows on the surf. OK, this means the Spanish Mackeral should be feeding here, WRONG!!! NO-BODY was catching any Spanish. Just an occasional one here and there. We even got our occasional one also. Allright, time to go to plan B. Cruised on offshore a little,(you can't go out too far or you will lose the blocking effect of Bald Head), to an artificial reef. Here we marked a lot of fish and bait. We put the baits out and it wasn't long before a king mackeral wanted to join us in the boat.Then shortly after that, Dale hooked up with a nice barracuda. We put the lines back out, and this time it was Dave's turn at the reel. I made a few passes when all of a sudden it looked and sounded like someone dropped a Volkswagon in on top of his pogy. At that point on it WAS ON!!!! they went toe to toe for nearly an hour before it was revealed that Dave had hooked up with a NC Citation sized Jack Crevalle. If you have never hooked one of these brutes, you can't imagine the power they have, don't believe me, just ask Dave in the sporting goods Dept. at the Southport, Wal-Mart. Well, next it was Jeff's turn, we think he had one on for a little bit, but we will never know, his pulled the hooks. Well after that, we started dodging Thunder Storms the rest of the day, picking up a few fish here and there before we would have to leave to miss another storm. Dave, Jeff, and Dale, as always, it was a pleasure, we had a tough day with all the storms around, but as always, you guys caught them again!!! Till next time, FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch, Capt. Chris, and Bodie"the fish dog".

Tuesday, 7-12-05: What a day, Our Props were overnighted to PROP-TECH at the NC/SC line. We picked them up at around three PM that afternoon, that's when UPS delivered, and headed back to Southport. When we got them put on we picked up  J P Baumann, Chris Barbe, and Charles Lloyd at 5 PM for a short evening excursion. We picked up some pogies and ran out to Lighthouse Rocks hoping for a late evening king mack. bite but it never materialized. for what ever reason, only they know for sure why, they didn't want what we had to offer, but we did manage a keeper sized shark that put up a good battle and by that time it was dark thirty and time to head in. It was a refreshing break for a change!!! Guys, it's always a pleasure to share a fishing trip with you, Till next time,  FISH ON!! Capt. Butch, Capt. Chris, and Bodie"the fish dog".

MONDAY 7-11-05;Well, just as things are going good, something decides it wants to quit!!! Left the dock this morning with Bob Townsend of WECT -TV , Barry Phillips of the Lucky Fisherman Restaurant, Capt. Chris and myself to shoot an episode for the TV. Well we got about 300 yards from the dock and spun a hub in a propeller, and to make matters worse, before we got back to the dock, we spun the other one. What a way to start the week!!! Had to cancel that trip and tomorrows trip but I have some new props being overnighted and are supposed to be here tomorrow. SOOOOOO, we are supposed to be back on the water wednesday. We''ll keep our fingers crossed. To those of you whose trip fell prey to this misfortune, I APOLOGISE, I know that doesen't help any, but it's all I have at this time!!! Till next time, FISH ON!! Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie"the fish dog".

Thursday JULY 7th, 2005, Today we had Mitch Chaney, Dick Chaney, Shane Chaney, and Joe Pesanky out for a trip to the tower area. After talking to them about the different species they said they would like some amberjacks. Well we finally got those jacks and a small dolphin, but the fishing was slow for us but we got our quarry afterall. Got to go for now, Till next time, FISH ON!!!

Wednesday, 7-6-05: Today we left out of St. James Marina with Jim Freudenberg, Jim Goodman, Mike Vignole, Joe Bukay, Jeff Cates, and Herb Hudson . We were in persuit of  Mahi-Mahi and King mackeral. The weather man didn't promise us to good of a forecast. A SW wind down here more than 10 knots is not to good. 15 knots as predicted would not be good either, but we could fish it. Well as it does so many times, we had a 15 knot wind but they forgot to add the other 10 knots to it. But as you can see, we managed to pull some out. the fishing was slow everywhere. Other boats were reporting slow fishing. We found a concentration of bait and fish SW of the tower so I stuck with them for a while and managed a few fish from the mix. Just moved from spot to spot, hitting weed lines and fishing structure till we caught some fish on each place. Even dropped on one school and caught a few bottom fish before the tide went slack and they quit feeding. When things are slow, fish slow and methodically and change up patterns and tactics and you will usually find a technique that will trigger some bites. Another great day of fishing with a group of great guys!!! Thanks, Capt. Chris and I really enjoyed fishing with all of you!!!  Till next time, FISH ON!! Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie, "the fish dog".

Tuesday,7-5-05: Carried Chris Wilson and his dad Melvin Wilson out today on a 1/2 day trip. The spanish mackeral were pretty dog gone co-operative. Well, we wern't expecting to limit out on spanish quite as fast as we did, so, we left the spanish grounds and headed out to see if we could find any bottom fish. Well the water has gotten mighty warm inside and has pushed most of the good bottom fish back offshore. Things were looking pretty slim but we noticed a lot of bait fish pods around light house rocks and markings in them like fish were feeding. Yep, they were king mackeral!!!! Didn't have any pogys, (hey, we were going spanish fishing) but we did have some cigar minnows, and they liked what they saw!!! We managed to boat only three, but, if all that bit had stayed on, we would have limited out on those in about 30 minutes. We ran out of time and had to leave. As Capt. Chris was bringing in the lines he had one in the upper 20's to follow it to the boat, of coarse he wouldn't take the bait."he didn't get big by being dumb". Looks like things are getting better finally!!! Back at it tomorrow, keep in touch!! Till next time, FISH ON!!!! Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster,and Bodie,"the fish dog".

MONDAY, JULY 4th,05: Today we left South Harbour Marina with Mark Nethery and his daughter Jillian (Jill) Nethery on a mission to catch several varieties of fish. We started at the tower area to find the bite slow. We managed one king mackeral before we left to find "greener grass". We found some amber jacks, Mark said he had caught those but Jill had not. Well it turned out that Mark had never caught one as big as this one, and Jill's fish took me and her to land him. All I did was help hold the rod, this little gal showed that big "brute" who was boss. Great job there Jill !!! You can go fishing with Capt. chris and myself anytime!!! Well we left there and found a weed line about 10 miles SW of the tower, here we hooked up with 4 more king mackeral and lost a small dolphin at the boat. Now with nearly a limit of kings and two of the biggest amberjacks they had seen we would try for a few bottom fish. Now we had a long ride back to the dock and needed to be back pretty soon, we only had had about 30 minutes to bottom fish. We went to one of our favorite spots and boy I would like to have seen the catch if we had a couple of hours to spend there!!! Mark and Jill, it was a pleasure to meet you and to fish with you two. Hope to seen you again soon!!!  Till next time, FISH ON!!  Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie "the fish dog",.

SUNDAY, 7-3-05: Today we had the crew of Johnathon Pigford, Andrew Rothkopf, Linda Cardamore, Courtney Cardamore, Michael Truman, and Jamie Truman out for a 1/2 day excursion. We started at the Lighthouse Rocks where we picked up a few bottom fish, then we went NW of there and caught some spanish mackeral. We had some first timers on board, but Johnathan and Courtney, the two youngest, suprised me. These two really know how to fish!!!! Capt. Chris and myself were really impressed with this crew. Hope you guys enjoyed the trip, I know we did!! Till next time, FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie"the fish dog".

Saturday, 7-2-05: I understand now why charter captains that haven't lost their hair naturally  keep it cut short. It is so they can't get hold of it to pull it out!!  The fishing has been great, a slight front passes and BAM!! I only had a 1/2 day this morning, but we ran out to the 15 mile rock where some kings and dolphin were being caught only to find nothing in the way of fish but was greeted with a massive amount of weeds. We couldn't fish it if the fish were there!! Being a 1/2 day and having a party waiting at the dock when we get in for a second 1/2 day trip, I was pushed for time. Here it was 10:00 AM and we were 18 miles from the beach, and only had 1 1/2 hours till we had to be back at the dock. If I figured this right, take the run back in to try for some spanish mackeral was going to take 45 minutes to an hour, fish for spanish, and leave there in time to get back at the dock at twelve was only going to give us 30 minutes fishing time. Well lets make to best of what we have!!! Just as I was about 5 miles to the chosen spot to start, I heard other fishermen talking about how "the fishing was turned off", well that was REAL ENCOURAGING!!!!, then to top it off, another boat reported that they had trolled from Lockwood Folly to Yaupon Pier and had only caught one(1) spanish mackeral. Well by this time I was ready to turn to my guest and say, "today the fish have won". But no!!, I was going to give it a try anyway, just because they haven't caught any didn't mean we couldn't!! Well, I pulled back the throttles and Capt. Chris dropped in the first planer, as he reached for the second rod I heard "FISH ON!!" we put 10 fish in the boat before we could get two rods out, Well we had Tim and Maryann Whalen and their two daughters Kaylee Whalen and Abby Whalen. Let me tell you, these gals can fish. This was their first time out and after Capt. Chris showed them how it was done, he was mostly in the way from that point on!!You should have seen them working the rods and hand lining the spanish in. Notice to all future husband prospects, if you don't like to fish, you better find you a different lady for a wife!!! Well you knew this had to come to an end , and it did, we caught a few more and just as it started, IT QUIT!!!!!! But you know, a great fishing trip is not always measured in how many fish you catch. I was honored  to be with this fine family for a little while this morning and get to know them a little bit, it was great guys, hope to see all of you again soon!! Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster,and Bodie'"the fish dog"

 

As for the second trip, I told them about the way the fishing was off and for a 1/2 day trip, we didn't have time to run offshore. So it was decided to maybe do it again when we had more time to fish!!!

FRIDAY,7-1-05: All you have to do is just ask a few local guys and a few not local if the fish are biting. Today we had Doug Kirkpatrick, Terry Miller, Eric Lortz, Greg McLure, Kevin Brooks, and Paul Jasinkiewicz; These guys know how to catch fish, and catch fish they did!!!! I will make this short, it's late and at it again tomorrow!! Right now I will let the pic's do most of the talking. It was another great day with some great guys, this is what fishing is REALLY all about!!! Till next time, and I have more time, FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie"the fish dog".

Thursday 6-30-05, This game of charter fishing has a lot to do with "the luck of the draw" as far as it goes to getting a good day of weather to go fishing. Well, today was one of the good weather days. We had with us today Dr. Aaron Wilharm, Tommy Rickman, John Neuner,3rd., and John Neuner IV. The seas started off a little choppy so instead of a gulf stream trip we opted for a day in the tower area. The winds had moved all the grass out today and the blue 80* water had moved in. There was a weed line that had formed to the NE of the tower, this is where we caught the Mahi-Mahi and king mackerals. The  grouper, black bass, triggerfish, B-liners, Pinkys, sharks, amber jacks,(I think that's all) were caught at various spots around and in sight of the Frying Pan Tower. A great day of fun and fishing was had by all !!! At it again tomorrow, keep check, Till next time, FISH ON, Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster, and Bodie"the fish dog".  

 NEWS ALERT!!!!!!!!! Have seen some AFRICAN POMPANO on the offshore reefs. Not here good yet, but they are on the way!!!!!!!

Wednesday, 6-29-05: OK, I said we were back at it today, and too some degree, we were!! But, yesterday we hadn't planed on Mother Nature throwing us this curve. The winds and rain and rough conditions made us along with Bill Gluck and Rocky Hager, do a change in plans. We wanted to go after some kings and dolphin but it was plain to see that was out of the question this morning. Besides, the way the kings have been lately, we probably would have only found the dolphins. But we will never know, we didn't get the chance to go!!!! All we could do was bounce out to the 18 mile rock area and do a little bottom fishing. All this barometer changing has even the bottom fish unstable, but don't worry, you can catch all the sharks you want. I do not believe anything bothers those fish!!!! Hopefully the winds and weather will co-operate tomorrow. We may go to the stream if we can get there, or where ever the weather will let us go, if anywhere. Check back tomorrow, if we do good it will be here, and if we don't do too good, that will be here also!!! Till next time, FISH ON, Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster and Bodie"the fish dog".

Tuesday, 6-28-05 Well just ask Curt Eyler, John and Tara Dixon, and Justin Kerns from Maryland if the fish were biting today!! They suggested that they would like to bottom fish, not the grouper type, but just plain old bottom fishing. Well according to the boats that were out yesterday, the bottom was slick everywhere. All our normal hot spots were not looking too promising. We were on the way offshore when Capt. Chris threw back the throttles and yelled, "man did you see that bottom". Well everyone was half asleep, but not after that!!, he circled around and I took the helm while he maned the anchor windlass. As I pulled the boat past the clutter on the bottom he let the anchor down, we didn't have to move from there till we left to come back around 1:00 PM. Another set of numbers are now logged in the "old log book" of hot fishing spots. the other boats were reporting slow action today on top and on bottom, I will say it was not slow where we were at, these fish, four limits of black bass, were caught in about 2 hours. The fish are out there, just don't give up till you find them!!! Back at it again tomorrow,  Till next time,  FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster

Thursday, 6-23-05, What a great time you can have fishing when you have great people on board. And today we had just that with the brother and sister duo of Maria and Mark Capparelli and Pete and Scott Sturm. We left the dock this morning in pursuit of kings and dolphin. We headed towards the tower area where we found a somewhat weed lind among 10,000 other broken up weed pieces. If you have tried to fish this before, you know what I mean. We did manage two Mahi-Mahi off this line and two sharks and some hard hits only to pull the hooks. Moved on to the tower to check out the fishing there and the amber jacks were co-operating, but we were after kings and dolphin where we hooked up several times only to attain some quick releases. Checked to see if any African Pompano may have moved in early, doesn't look like they are here yet. Things have been running late this year, wouldn't be suprised if they aren't late also. Everyone decided to try to catch some grouper, well, we started the process of getting the boat anchored on top of the rock and were picking up some nice triggerfish, b-liners, white grunts, black bass and just as we were about on the rock the winds shifted and picked up to a steady 20 to 25 out of the East and we had to head back in to safer waters where we finished up the day. Never did boat a king but had some hard runs on pogys that pulled the hooks. The pogys are starting to get  back on the beach. This morning they were just East of the hot hole. Hope you can do something with them for the winds are forecast to blow from the East through saturday, that makes for tough fishing here out of Southport, but if there are some out there that want to bite, we WILL find them. The water is slowly starting to warm back up after last weeks major cool down, so things should  start to get back to normal. (how many times have I said that this year). Hey, come on down, a bad day fishing is still better than a good day at work!!  Till next time, FISH ON, Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

Tuesday, 6-21-05 Well the winds were still from the NE and it was a little "Bumpy' heading offshore this morning. but at least you could go offshore today. We started at 15 mile rock where we had all the action last Friday to find it dead today. Checked out the Shark Hole and 18 mile rock, nothing!! So we headed to the Huston Wreck and found the 6 to 7 degree water temp. drop to hold true all the way out, I couldn't believe it, where did all the warmer water  go? Today we had Jim Bragg, Jimmy bragg, Jeff Bragg, Amy bragg,  Allan Hindley and Joe Lamm onboard the "YEAH RIGHT". Got to the Huston dropped the lines in and "BAM' three King's immediately. I mean 1-2-3- and that was it!!!!! I thought we had found the "motherlode", That's why it's called fishing and not catching. Thought mabey it was me but all the other boats I talked with were having trouble finding fish also. Think it might be the East Winds we have been experinceing for the past week along with a major temperature drop and a lunar tide along with a full moon, hey, when you look at all this, it's a miracle if you get a bite!!! But we managed some fish today, caught some of the biggest Triggerfish I've seen in a while, along with some big b-liners. some white grunts, black bass, some sharks, and yes, a few king mackeral. Things are supposed to improve as the week goes on, so, we'll try to get back on schedule one more time so the fish will know what they are supposed to do!!! Till next time, FISH ON, Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

Monday, 6-20-05, Sometimes things just won't work out no matter how hard you try. I picked up our fishing crew for the day that consisted on Randy Millar, Denise Millar, Katie Millar, Jenny Millar, Greg Millar, and Seth Seaward. We were greeted with strong East Winds, and anyone who fishes down in the Southport area knows that for some reason a East Wind will shut the fishing off like flipping a switch, and today was no different. We trolled from shallotte inlet to the hot hole and only managed three Spanish Mackeral. Not too bad considering other boats were reporting only one and some reporting none. Well, it was pretty rough but we managed to get to Lighthouse Rocks and we picked up a few bottom fish before we decided to call it a day and we would try again at a better time and different day. No matter how much we would like for it to, sometimes things just don't work out. Why am I reporting this you ask? Because we all know that if you fish, you do not load the boat everytime, and I feel it is my job to let you know about the bad days just as much as the good days!!!! So keep check on the fishing reports, you might not like what you see, but, it will be the truth!! Till next time!!1  FISH ON, Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

I said to check back for a grouper report today, Sat. 6-18-05, but a weather report will have to take presidence over the grouper. We had a 20+ NE wind and getting to the grouper rocks today was not an option. I talked to some other captains who went and they just confirmed my decision, they said they got the living h--- beat out of them and it was so rough they couldn't fish anyway. Will be trying it again next week starting monday(weather permitting), so keep in touch, we will report as it happens, good or bad!! Till next time,  FISH ON, Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

Friday, 6-17-05  Started out today at the Shark Hole and picked up one snake King Mackeral. the bite wasn't showing much sign of improving after a school of large bottle nose dolphin moved in. In fact, the small school of bait fish I was working decided to move on to safer waters. So, we decided to move to 18 mile rock and there we found a decent king bite along with some large Spanish mackeral, a couple of Mahi-Mahi, and even a few sharks. There is no telling how many short strikes, pull-offs,and we even had a line broken twice. Dan Farrell, fron San Francisco, CA.  landed the big one today, a 21 lb. King  Mackeral. Patrick Farrell, from Buffalo, NY, got the biggest Spanish Mackeral, he weighed in at 5 lbs. Jack farrell and Tom Annen, both from Rochester, NY helped out with the landing of the rest of the catch. A good time was had by all and it looks like mabey the fishing is finally starting to get back to where it is supposed to be at this time of year, or a least closer!!! Keep in touch, will be after Grouper tomorrow!!!  Till next time,  FISH ON!!!!! Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

Thurs. 6-16-05, As the old saying goes,"what a difference a day can make"!! We left the dock today with Greg White and his two sons Gavin and Garrett, along with their friend Bob Gerlach and his son Henry. We were on a 5 hour fishing trip so we started along the beach Spanish Mackeral fishing. the action was hot enough that we were regularly having doubles and triples hooked up. It was happening fast enough that it didn't take long to get "boring". We had a load of Spanish in short order when someone said, "Let's go try some bottomfishing" well  being on a short day that put the pressure on me. I replied, you know I have a spot about 10 miles from here that has been real productive for several years, but  this spring it hasn't been doing much but it should be, It's a shot in the dark, but if you are willing we will try it. Sure, let's go! We went and the fish were stacked!!!! Capt. Chris was watching the color scope and replied " They're back!!! And they were, we had two hours left to fish and these guys liked to worked Capt. Chris to a frazzle!!!  It was fun guys, where else can you get a 48 quart cooler full  of fillets on a 1/2 day fishing trip!!! Wish it happened that way all the time, but if it did they would call it "catching" instead of "fishing". Till next time, FISH ON!! Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

Wed.6-15-05 Started out today at Lockwood Folly only to find the Spanish Mackeral bite sorta slow so we decided to head on offshore to the 390/390 to find the bite there sorta slow also. All the boats were reporting fishing action slow at best. We worked the area and picked up some King Mackeral, a few sharks, and a few Black Bass. Went back to the inlet that evening and picked up a few Spanish Mackeral. Fishing was slow but Ethan Carswell is pictured in the center holding his BIG KING, it was his first King Mackeral ever. Along with Ethan was his Mom, Kim Carswell, his Dad,Sandy Carswell, and his Grandpa,Kenneth Rhoney, and Kendall Shull. It was good to see you guys again, hopefully next time the seas will be a little calmer!!! Till next time, FISH ON!!!! Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

HEY, THINK THE FISH ARE NOT CONFUSED THIS YEAR. CHECK OUT THIS PICTURE OF A FLYING FISH CAUGHT IN A NET IN SOUTH HARBOUR MARINA, IN SOUTHPORT,NC..

Tuesday,6-14-05, Mike Rowe, from my home community of Churchland, NC and a business associate, Dean Chavis, join us today for a day of fishing. Although we were planning to go offshore the SW winds were too strong and most everyone cancelled their trips today but we went to an area that was not roughed up too bad and you guessed it, we were Spanish Mackeral fishing. This is the only thing going on right now right on the beach. Well , we caught them again. These fish are a lot of fun to catch and great eating also. We had them cornered for a while today on the shoals and would motor up ahead of them and drift through them casting small spoons on light tackle. If you can get them surfacing like this, then stop trolling and break out the light tackle and you will have a blast!!! I hope you two wern't as tired as I was this evening, Mike and Dean, you guys are  welcomed in our boat anytime, It was fun!!!!  Till next time, FISH ON!!!! Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

6-13-05 Here it is Monday, the East winds have been replaced by  Southwest, not the best winds for conditions as far as the ocean is concerned, but, a good wind for the fish to bite!!! Capt. Chris and I met up with Barry Phillips of the LUCKY FISHERMAN RESTAURANT, and Bob Townsend from WECT TV in Wilmington to go shoot some video to air on the morning show. I was telling them how the fish had shut down on the EAST wind but that it had shifted and was expecting things to be better. And better it was!!!!! In no time at all we had all the Spanish mackeral we wanted and all the film we needed. So we went back to the dock, I dropped these guys off and headed to Holden Beach to pick up Ralph Vanaken, and Bobby and Eric McBride for that afternoon's fishing. We went back after Spanish Mackeral and found them to be still biting fairly well. At the tide change they seemed to shut down but after some searching, I found them in about nine feet of water just off the shoals, and we were back at it again. Be sure to check out Eric's Spanish Mackeral, it was his first ever and I might add, he caught all the big ones, he doesen't mess with little fish!!!! Good job Eric!!!! It was fun and all you guys were great!!! Till next time, FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

6-11-05- Well as luck would have it, Darrin Yountz, Tony Horton, and Brian Pegram came down from King,NC to fish with us only to find a STRONG EAST wind blowing. And you can ask anyone in the know what that does to the fish here in Southport. And Saturday, the eleventh was no exception. On a usual Saturday, the VHF radio will have nearly constant chatter from friends telling others where and what they were catching, well, this past Saturday sounded like we were fishing in a deserted ocean. When that happens, you know that things are dead!!! We fished hard, real hard, but could not show much for our efforts. Sometimes, they will just not co-operate as all good fishermen know, but hey, we still had a good time and had some good laughs, and guys I WILL change your luck for the BETTER, I hope. Look at the bright side, we can only improve!!!!!  Till next time!   FISH ON!!!!!  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

6-10-05, Had a couple of friends on board today, Collin Baggett and Raoul Martin from Texas were fishing with me and Capt. Chris. Went to Shallot Inlet and literally slayed four limits of Spanish Mackeral in about 2 hours,including throwbacks. The action was almost non-stop with many times loading up 2 and 3 rods at a time. We left there and went to the Little River Offshore Reef and caught several King Mackeral that were too small, the kings are running smaller than usual this year, but we did manage 3 keepers. Got to go, it's late and we will be at it again tomorrow. Were going to the stream but due to the forecast we are staying in close and probably be back after spanish and kings. Will let you know.  Till next time, FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

6-9-05, Had Gene Smith and Tim Jackson on board today from Lexington, NC. we went to the 390-390 and found a slow king bite there, but it was a king bite, those have been rare this spring. Got their limit after a lot of short fish and short strikes by 11:00 AM. We left there and went to the mouth of lockwood folly inlet and found the Spanish Mackeral  willing and ready to ride back to the dock with us!!!! Caught a lot of throw-backs and a lot of keepers. A lot of times we would have one on every rod. Gene and Tim, it was good to see you guys again, tell everyone back in Lexington I said hello. I enjoyed fishing with ya'll again!!! Come on down and grab a fishing pole, the fish are starting to bite !!!!!  Till next time,  FISH ON!!!   Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

6-9-05, It's pretty late and I have got to do it again tomorrow, so I'll just make this one short and let the pictures and Jerry Price, Jason Price, Paul Warner and Wesley Rutledge tell you about the wild fishing trip we had in the stream today. These Bull Mahi-Mahi were charging out from under weed beds jumping and crashing our hoo's like mad dogs. We lost some bigger ones than we boated. Just too much brute strength to hold. Yeah, we even stopped on a couple of Grouper Rocks on the way back and picked up a few grouper along with some nice triggerfish, black bass, white grunts, B-liners, and be sure to check out the pic of the Queen Triggerfish, one more pretty fish!!!!!! Check back tomorrow, will have report from a new adventure!!  FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

6-7-05 I wish I could report every time that we wore the fish out, but if you are a true fisherman then you know that does not happen. We left the dock this morning with Eric, Phil, and Bill, on a short day trip. The bait and kings and spanish that were here a few days ago were GONE. To say the inshore fishing on the Cape Fear River end of the beach was tough is an understatement. But we tried hard the whole time to piece the puzzle together, and we did find a few pieces of the puzzle!!! At one time we were trolling for Spanish Mackeral and they were jumping all around the boat but would not hit anything!!. the next thing we knew we were catching them 2 and 3 at a time with steady action , but none of them were big enough to keep, all throw backs!!!!  We live baited for King Mackeral, not a hit, put out the planers and some drone spoons, and got some, GO FIGURE . Later on we tried for some bottom fish, didn't have much faith in that, we were too close inshore, but not too close for the sharks. It was a tough day of fishing inshore. The fish are not doing right this year inshore, or at least not in the Cape Fear Area. But now that the weather is somewhat stabilized, it should straighten out shortly, I HOPE!!! Will be heading back offshore tomorrow, don't know yet where we will be going. Had a friend today who went to the Black Jack Hole and reported to me this evening that the weed line we fished yesterday was gone and  he pulled everything from Hoo's to hardware to lures and said he drew a blank there. Left there later in the evening and managed to boat some nice scamp grouper and gag grouper, along with some good bottom fish. So, grouper fishing tomorrow, mabey, will know for sure tomorrow night. Till next time, FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

6-6-05  Took the team of (LtoR) Bob Ballard, Josh Ballard, Aaron Burris, and Martin Burris out to a weed line about 45 miles offshore and these nice Mahi- Mahi were lurking in the shadows waiting to ambush our baits, and, we accomodated them. They range from bailers to around 35+ pounds. We had just as many to earn their freedom as we captured!!!! After the sun got bright and seemed to shut the bite down, we left and tried to get anchored up on some bottom fish, but the tide was straight up and it was nearly impossible. So we just caught a few by drifting over the rocks. The kicker is that we were not even considering dolphin fishing when we left the dock so we did not have a thing in the boat to fish for them with but after finding  such a big weedline, we improvised and put together a plan. Would love to have seen the outcome if we had had some ballyhoo's instead of bottom fishing baits!!!  Till next time, FISH ON!!!!  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

6-3-05, Left out this morning for a 1/2 day of fishing. We went to the rocks about 10 miles out only to find all the recent rains had shut down the inshore bottom fishing. But to the SE of light house rocks, the bait was schooled up in big balls and some decent sized spanish mackeral were jumping and feeding around that bait. We had several schools of porpoises(bottle nose dolphins) move in and if you stayed in front of them, the spanish hit real good with several times all the rods loaded up at the same time!!! Our crew of Don McClelland and Bob Marriott made short order of getting their limit of spanish mackeral. Well here it was, about 10:00 AM and were limited out, well this was a 5 hour trip and we had  2 more hours of fishing left. We went back to the bottom and stopped on several schools of fish only to find they did not want to bite. We kept moving till we found some sharks that wanted to accomodate by keeping out two anglers busy for the rest of their trip. The seas were laid down real nice with overcast skys to keep out the hot sun, a beautiful morning to fish and great guys to fish with. It was fun, hope to do it again soon. Till next time, FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

5-31-05, Today was one of those days that you earn your keep. We wanted to go offshore but the stiff NE winds prevented that from happening. WEEELLLL, I haven't fished inside now for over two months, mainly because there wasn't a whole lot to fish for due to the cold weather and winds we have had this spring. but today that was just what we had to do and our quest turned out to be bottom fishing. After searching several of my most productive rocks and reefs, I soon realized my work was already planned for me. I would find a spot that looked promising and Capt. Chris would drop down to either find very few or very small takers waiting on the other end. OK, now the pressure was on!!! With this info. and the fact that there were no large schools of fish to be found, I started looking for the small schools that were located  on the rocks in what seemed to be at a feeding position, and that was the key element, the fish that was on top of the high spots were feeding. With this in mind we proceded to anchor up right on top of these fish and our crew consisting of, Michael Snapp, Jay Snapp, and Joe Snapp were able to each get their limit of black bass along with several other species. They also hooked up with a Hammer Head Shark about 10 feet long was not able to hold on long until he prevailed victorious!!! But, it was a good battle for a while!!! Hey guys, really hate the weather made us stay inside today, but believe me, we didn't want to brave those elements today, but we still managed to have a great day of fishing and fun. Even finished the day off with some tasty spanish mackeral for the frying pan. Good fishing, good comraderie, and every one had a good time, what more could you want. Till next time,  FISH ON!!!!  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

 

 

 

 

 

  5-22-05 OK, I will try to get caught up here a little. I will start with the bottom picture and work my way up: Capt. Chris and I picked up Brad & Shawna Needham & Laren & Harvey Blackwelder for a half day of fishing only to find that the full moon in May had things pretty much shut down. All boats were reporting fishing bad at its best. However we kept looking and searching and came up with a few fish. A long way from what I would have liked to find but sometimes no matter how hard you try, you get reminded why it is called fishing and not catching. We had a good trip and everyone was happy to share in Brad & Shawna's Anniversary, a real special couple!!! It is an honor to know you!!!

 5-27-05 Well as fishing goes, the full moon passed and the fish got hungry again. I had the pleasure to go fishing with one of my old bass and striper fishing buddies. Dale and his wife, Ella, share the same last name as I but as far as we know there is no kin involved. We got to thinking about when we used to fish together back in Lexington,NC and was shocked when we figured out that somewhere around 20 to 25 years have already passed. That's nearly impossible to believe, time waits for no one!!!! We had a good day even though we didn't find any king mackeral and all the other boats that were looking for kings reported not finding any and the seas built to around 8 feet so if we did find some it would probably be too rough to troll for them so we went to the bottom. A good catch resulted of many different bottom species. If you see Dale, ask him which one pulls the hardest, a 20 lb. striper or a 20 lb. Gag Grouper. Dale, it was nice to see you again and meet your wife Ella, who by the way I believe showed Dale she can hold her own with a fishing rod, This lady knows how to fish!!!! When you check out the picture, remember this catch was done by two people. Really enjoyed it guys, hope to see you again soon!!!!

 5-28-05 The next picture is of Tim Martin, John Rest, Van Ellis, Randy Poe, and Gary Hurley. It was Saturday now and we were headed to the gulf stream. The farther we went the bigger the waves got and the predicted 10 knot winds were already blowing a steady 25 knot plus. I didn't want to but for the safety of all I suggested we abort the stream trip to a full day and stay in a little calmer waters of 6 to 8 feet. Everyone agreed and we turned the boat east,  went to some grouper rocks and the catching began and lasted all day!!!! Even though we didn't make it to the Gulf stream, we still caught Mahi-Mahi and king mackeral. The grouper holes we were fishing that day were in close proximinity so we would put out the "hoo's" and troll to each spot and that strategy worked out real well. It was a ROUGH WEATHER, and I mean a ROUGH WEATHER DAY, but we managed to pull it out. Ask these guys how it is to fish in a "hurricane". That's why when I am asked what size boat do I need to go out in, my reply is always" don't buy one to go out in, buy one to come back in".  When we left it was nice, and after we went nearly 40 miles we were already committed and it turned bad fast, But the "YEAH RIGHT" proved her seaworthy characteristics again and brought us home safely with a load of fish which consisted of Mahi-Mahi, king mackeral, trigger fish, grouper, pinkys, B-liners, black bass, joltheads, and two sharks one about 5' and one about 8'. ( We released the sharks) One of the guy's wife said they cleaned fish for nearly 5 hours. Capt. Chris offered to clean them for them. I got a feeling they might take him up on that offer next time!!!! Good trip guys, Chris and I really enjoyed the trip!!!

 5-29-05 Ok, all this bad weather finally passed, for one day at least, and we had a beautiful day, the prettiest day I had seen since back in January. Our crew consisted of John Blakeney, Vander Covington, Ray Johnson, Rich Lee, and Tony Fouch. These guys showed up with their own grouper and bottom fishing tackle. I told Capt. Chris we better know what we are doing today, 'cause if not, these guys will know it. The targeted fish for today was bottom fish. Well they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so in light of a thousand words, check out the pic's. These guys were a well oiled fishing machine. They knew their stuff. We didn't get a chance to get to any grouper rocks. We were cut a little short on our trip due to unforseen circumstances, but for a trip cut short, we did quite well with 5 limits of black bass, b-liners, trigger fish, white grunts, joltheads, sharks, pinkys. When the fish were divided up 5 ways they had 5 coolers full of fish. Got the day off because of the weather. Supposed to be back at it tomorrow if the weather will improve, keep check!!  Get on out there, this is what we waited for all winter and spring. The weather has started giving us a few breaks so hopefully you can work a day or two into your schedule. If you can't you are working entirely to hard!!!! Hope to see you on the water, Till next time, FISH ON!!!!! Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

5-21-05, OK, Just let me report that the fishing is hot and look at what happens!!!!!!!!  A cold front passed through last night with storms and rain and it felt more like february today than may, and the fish wern't too happy with it either. Tim Leonard and his dad came down to fish with us only to find a 20+ NE wind that abruptly put us on the beach trying to catch some spanish mackeral. Tim, man, this fishing thing is a lot "the luck of the draw" surely it will be better next time!!! They didn't want to co-operate at all, all the reports from the other boats were following suit to our luck also. The boats that were king mackeral fishing were reporting that the kings had been replaced with blue fish, small ones, just big enough to kill their baits and the baits that were not hit by blues were being hit by sharks. MAN!!!!!!, what a difference a day can make!!!! But, the low is supposed to be replaced with high pressure tomorrow, this will settle the winds back down and we can get back offshore and get back to the great fishing that is going on out there at this time. The gulfstream is still producing well, although tuna's are spotty and finiky right now, the flying fish are really getting thick so this should bring in he bigger fish. The grouper bite is hot now, we are catching more scamps than anything else, (WHAT A PROBLEM). If we can keep the good weather here we have great fishing going on now, but when the winds blow, you have to take what mother nature will let you get to. And today we couldn't get to very much. Although we do catch a lot of fish,sometimes we have a not so great day of catching, but, we still had a good trip, enjoyed it guys, I promise, it will get warm again!!! Till next time,  FISH ON!!!!! Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

I know today is the 20th but I just now got the chance to put the report with the pic's. Our crew consisted of Dave Germain, Terry Lemaster, Jeff Adams of the Wal-Mart Sporting Goods section of the Southport,NC Wal-Mart and Dale Westall, a local Tatoo Artist!! We headed out for a day of bottom fishing and found them to co-operate pretty well. We had a front to pass through and the were a little reluctant to bite so we had to keep moving from rock to rock, with picking a few off each rock till we wound up with what we were after. We had a pretty good day considering the conditions we had to endure!!! The king mackeral are starting to show up inshore, not at their early run yet but believe it will happen any day now. The Spanish Mackeral numbers are increasing as I write this and so should the cobia numbers be picking up. The Gulfstream action should remain good for at least a few more weeks with mahi-mahi, wahoo, and possibly a tuna here and there, but you can expect the tuna action to taper off even more than it already has. The chances of a bill fish hook-up are better now and will stay good for the next couple months. The blue fish fishing has been hot around the inlets and shoals, just look for the diving gulls and cast  spoons to them  on light tackle and you will have a blast!!! Inshore fishing, flounder, trout , red drum, black drum, sheep head, all the inshore species will just get better as the weather keeps to improving!!!! Come on down, we have NOT increased our rates this year due to the increase in gas prices, instead, we re-powered the"YEAH RIGHT" with new Honda four stroke engines so we wouldn't be eat alive with fuel cost this year, this has proved to be a win-win situation for both you and I. Soooo, if you will absorb the extra cost of fuel to get down here, we will absorb the extra cost for the fuel for the boat. The fish are biting!!!!!!!  Till next time,  FISH ON!!!! Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

5-15-05 Went to the stream today. The weather mans forecast wasn't too promising, but, proved to be slightly off (again) so we ventured on. And a good venture it was. After all the fish we missed and all the fish that got away, we still managed to get 8 mahi-mahi in the boat. Todays fisherman consisted of Cliff Greeno, Clyde Adams, Chick Eanes, and Ricky Billingsley, for a little while they were kept pretty busy. It was overcast the biggest part of the day and that may have been a big factor in the dolphin bite lasting as long as it did, for when the sun broke through, they seemed to let up. We were hoping for some tuna and some wahoo, but it didn't happen. Capt. Squid who was on the SHOWTIME had caught some wahoo so he told me what he had caught them on so we followed suit but it wasn't in the cards for us. Also they caught two yellowfins and we still drew a blank on those. Well mabey next time it will be our turn, GOOD JOB, Capt. Squid. The spanish mackeral are on the beach now!!!! There are also some good ones showing up. My friend Capt. Ron on the boat, "SHE"S SLICK" along with admiral Helen (his wife) caught some good ones this past saturday!!!!!  A report of a 30 lb. king was caught off sunset beach. It want or shouldn't be long before the spring run starts, but everything has been late this year, so far!!! The atlantic Bonito seem to be gone. They are catching some blue fish inshore now and are also reporting a few cobia being caught. It is about to blow wide open!!!!!!!!! Come on down and get in on some of the hot fishing that is about to explode!!!  Till next time.  FISH ON!! Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

5-14-05 Met up with Tim, Tom, Josh and Jonathan to do a little fishing. Well we had a pretty good day. We went to the tower at the end of frying pan shoals and commenced to terriorize the king mackeral. Johnathan landed his first Kingfish while everyone else got to join into the fun of reeling in some of these "reel" screamers! We caught a few  of those then we went to the bottom to get some bottom fish. King Mackeral and bottom fish at the tower!!! only problem is deciding which one to fish for!!! Why not do both!!!!  Till next time, FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.     

5-13-05 The winds have been laid down real nice for the past few days with reports that today wouldn't be too bad. WELL, mother nature proved again that when you think you have a handle on things, she will throw a wrench in the cogs. We headed to the tower and the seas actually looked one time it was going to lay out, wrong!!!!!!! We got there and was able to fish for about an hour until the winds decided we had fished long enough and a blow she did, building the seas to a good 6 to 8 feet. We had a little bit of a trough coming back which made the ride in not quite as bad but boy did we ever have a cross wind as we were running a 330 north with a steady 15 to 20 mph NE wind. But, we had a good crew on board who understood how the sea  can deal you a bad hand sometimes!!! Our fishing team consisted of Mike and Sherri Gould, Brian Gould, Kim Smith and Erik Danner. These were Kim's and Erik's first king mackeral. Erik also was able to weigh his king mackeral in to place in the junior division of the "Oak Island Fishing Club". WAY TO GO ERIK!!!!!!!!!!!! Capt. Chris and myself really enjoyed the short time we were  able to fish with you guys,and hope we will be able to do it again with better weather!!! Till next time, FISH ON!!!!  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris, and Bodie,(the fish dog).

5-12-05, OK, here is todays catch as promised. Pictured in boat from left to right is Capt. Chris Foster, Josh Savage, and his brother, Capt. Derek Savage. Yours truly is taking the picture. There were several limits of white grunts and some nice b-liners, but with grouper like these and american red snapper, we didn't even bother to picture those. The american red's are not real common off our coast anymore . They are a true prize!!! Got to go for now, got to get ready for tomorrow. Till next time,  FISH ON!!!!  Capt. Chris and Capt. Butch Foster.

On 5-11-05, Capt. Chris and I met Nick Bellamy, Martha Bellamy, Jennifer Tant, Gail Baker, and Jamie and Michael Clark at South Harbour Marina for a day of offshore bottom fishing. That morning the winds were from the East, and, it is known in this part of the world as "winds from east, fish bite the least". Well you can throw that story out the window, or at least for yesterday, anyway!!! Our first stop was about 35 miles offshore and from that point on it was a very busy day. When the bite slowed on one spot, we would move to another rock to find those fish willing to bite! The only real slow time was when the tide went slack, which is normal so we reeled in and till the changed, we caught King Mackeral until the tide switched. What a day, these guys were great!!!! Our birthday girl, Jennifer, got off to a bad start but as soon as we dropped  a line in for kings, reached for another and the first rods reel clicker started screaming, she was fine after that for the rest of the day!!! We caught, King Mackeral, Black Bass(some real nice ones), Pinkys(silver snapper), B-Liners(vermillion snapper), Triggerfish, Joltheads(white porgys), White Grunts, Sharks, and speaking of sharks, Michael hooked a rather healthy juvenile tiger shark(a man eater), and between him and Nick, we were able to boat it for a for a picture secession and then released it unharmed so you can catch it again sometime later. Michael and nick are not real sure if you really want to hook something that fights like that thing did!!!!!!! Bet they have some sore arms today. Be sure to check out pic's at bottom of report!!! The winds have subsided for a little now, and the fish are making up for lost time, come on down, the wait is finally over, I HOPE!!! Thanks again guys and gals for a great trip, we appreciate you!!!  Capt. Chris is out today on a bottom fish, king mackeral trip. I had to stay here and get some of this paper work caught up, Should have results of todays trip later tonight or sometime tomorrow after tomorrows trip, just keep check, will have it here ASAP. Till next time,  FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

On 5-7-05 we met up with Matt Ferace, you guessed it, he's the one holding the little blue fish, every time he got to a rod with a fish on it, that's what he had, looked like his luck and the recent weather go hand in hand!!! Kevin Parolari, he is holding two atlantic bonito, Fred Juneau is holding a nice gray trout, Ryan Jordan (not pictured) had an atlantic bonito close enough to the boat to see it was easily the biggest one of the day, of coarse, the big one always gets away!!! The bottom fish came while we were waiting to see if the seas were going to lay down any. The weather was forecast   for it to but I can't figure why I was paranoid about it, can you? Well it did lay down, so we took off to the 90/90 to find the water had cooled down from last week and the bonito bite had cooled down also. And you'll never guess what happened!!! Just as it has been for the last two months, the winds picked up to a stiff 20 mph building the seas to a good 4 to 6 ft. Why couldn't it do that before I had to run 25 miles back, oh well, I'm starting to get used to it and hey, at least we made it out today!! I guess being a charter captain and only human, it is easy for me to loose the aspect that you don't have to always catch a lot of fish to have a great charter. These guys restored that fact to me today, they had a good time and it rubbed off on me and capt. chris as well. Good fun, good comradrie, good eating, good stories, good fishing, ( I didn't say good catching) but everyone realized that's why it's called fishing and not catching!!! THANKS GUYS, it was fun!!! Well, the weather has been forecast to start showing signs of improving, we will see. We need some warm weather the beach water is still cold, about 10* below normal, keeping the fish mostly offshore and the winds need to lighten up so we can get to them. I believe that things are going to change shortly(got to keep thinking positive), and when it does, look out, the fish will be inshore feeding with a vengence. I predict that when it all comes together, it is going to explode!!!  And it looks like things might come together in the next few weeks!!!!OK, lets put all this bad weather behind us and let's go fishing and do some catching!!! Till next time, FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris.

The date on the pictures are off by one day. The catch was actually made 5-4-05. No, it wasn't calm, it just wasn't as rough as it has been, but it was rough enough !!!!! Too rough to go to the stream, so Derek Savage and Rob Campbell found these  7 scamp grouper about 35 miles out . Rob has his hand on his 20.05 scamp, a NC Citation. Also in the fish box were some real nice black bass and trigger fish, but , with scamp grouper like these all of a sudden black bass and trigger fish don't seem to be real important!!!! Yes, if the winds will ever lay down, there is some awesome fishing just waiting offsore!!!  Heard of a king mackeral being caught off of the pier, so they should be here before too much longer. The dolphin's are starting to show up more regular now in the stream area. The atlantic bonito are here, but, they won't be here too long, they don't hang around too long then they for the most part will be gone but are usually replaced with spanish mackeral. If you have ever wanted to catch some big blue fish, they were pretty thick at the tower area last week. All we need is some lighter winds, but if you fish and understand how the ocean works, then you already know that. Just keep your head up and keep thinking positive " IT WILL LAY DOWN"!!!!! sometime. Till next time, FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris.

Th e weather man said we were going to have a day with 5 to 10 mph winds out of the north shifting to the south west at 5 to 10 mph, with 1 to 3 ft. seas.  Well, he was right, or should I say " YEAH RIGHT", no pun intended! We had just that, but he forgot to add the rest of the winds and waves. It was actually 20 to 25 with 5 to 8 ft. seas with an occassional 10 footer thrown in. I don't know why they didn't have  small craft warnings posted, guess they thought the winds were going to be 5 to 10 also. By the way, a small craft is considered 60 ft. and under. So if you are thinking about venturing out in small craft warnings just remember  sixty feet  is small. Plus it is illegal and you can be fined by the coast guard. OK, back to the fishing. Well here we are, we ran to the gulf stream, by the time we got there the winds had built and so had the seas to the point of tricky boat handling and tough fishing conditions, but our crew said were here, lets fish! our crew consisted of, Ralph Lewis, Dawn Farrell, Gordon Fell, Mark bishop, and Jeff Cane. These guys were a great crew making the best of a tough situation!!!  We were able to pick up a Wahoo, then a dolphin(mahi-mahi), We had several baits cut and something eat a "green machine" trolling lure, I mean literally took it off the line and eat it!!!!! The water had cooled a degree or so from what it was and the bite had followed suit. At about 12:30 I called a fiiend of mine, Richard Frick, he was there fishing his boat the "GET REEL" and he reported he had picked up only 3 wahoo's and had a pull off, so with his report and our catch we decided to head to the Frying Pan tower  area and drop to the bottom. Well let me tell you , in no more time we had left to fish, these guys wore me and my mate"Capt. Chris" to a frazzle. They were catching Black bass, sharks, Grouper, white grunts, BIG  blue fish, they wound up with about 300 lbs. of fish for their fish fry!!! I sure hope the winds will lay soon, It would be so much nicer to be able to do this and not feel the next morning like you had just had 10 rounds with Mohammed Ali. As we have said, the fish are there, it's just that the weather conditions don't want to co-operate, and if it is blowing before we are to head out do a charter I will not go. This might upset some of the people and for that I apologize. It is that I will not take a chance with anyones life, for I feel you are MUCH more important than all the fish that swim in the ocean. So when I cancel a trip, it's not that I don't want to take you, I want to go as much as you, It is for your safety, that's my main concern.  

 In closing, keep you fingers crossed, lighter winds are surely coming, MABEY!!!!!   Till next time,  FISH ON!!!!  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris.

4-25-05 As if you already didn't know, I am thinking of changing my fishing report page to a wind summary page! Right now you would get a lot more information. I would like to apologize to all the gulf stream fishermen that has had trips booked and we have had to cancel. Can't do anything about the weather, we just have to accept it and move on! But hey, it ain't over yet, if it lays down there is still another month and as late as things are running possibly a lot longer. I am hoping this cold snap and low pressure is going to open the door to a spring season and things will start to get more normal. The fish are there, we just have decent weather (WINDS) so we can get to them!! The other fishing is shaping up good with good king mackeral fishing in the tower area and bottom fishing is good also in the same area!! The atlantic bonito should be here, been too rough to get out to see, and the spanish mackeral fishing will be starting soon. Reports of some small flounder being caught  on the black mud bottoms with an occasional keeper. Some whiting are being caught  although didn't hear where, I figure off the piers and in the cape fear river. If you are intrested in a fishing trip we have a FEW weekend days left, and a few more weekdays, but they are filling fast. Call to reserve a day, when they are all booked. you'll have to wait till next year to get one. Only so many fishing days in a year, when gone, they are gone!!!! I know it was a long winter, be patient a little longer, and mabey the wind will settle. Whoever did the wind dance a few days last week needs to do it again!!!!!!!  Till next time, FISH ON!!!!   Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris.

4-19-05, The winds finally died enough we were able to get to the stream. The cooler weather and winds have slowed the action down, but with this weeks weather predicting warm and light winds, it wont be slow long. My guess is in a few days things will be wide open again. We had 5 solid hook up's with screaming drags but as in fishing, half way to the boat they decided to pull the hooks. We did manage to boat 3 black fin tunas. We left there after a few hours and stopped by the frying pan tower on the way back and went to the bottom to finish out the day. There we were greeted with many hungry nice sized black sea bass, silver snapper, sharks, and some very large white grunts. I don't figure anyone had any trouble going to sleep last night, I know I didn't. Keep in touch, if the weather holds, we will be back in the stream for four days straight towards end of the week. Will let you know how it's progressing. Till next time,  FISH ON!!!!  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris.

click on pic to enlarge

4-15-05, WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE DO A WIND DANCE OR SOMETHING TO GET THE WINDS AND SEAS TO LAY DOWN!! THIS WEEKEND, PREDICTING 20 FT. SEAS IN THE STREAM AND 40 KNOT WINDS. PLEASE, GIVE US A BREAK!!! OH YEAH, Our guestbook server has gone overseas on an extended stay. But we have now got a new one. Yes, we lost all the comments we had, So hopefully we can get built back up again. Your support and comments are greatly appreciated!!!!  THANK YOU, Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris.

4-11-05, Well as we all know the winds are still not wanting to lay down yet and we are having to cancel trips nearly every day. It's aggravating to everyone, especially to the people who drive down to Southport after hearing a good weather report only to find the forcasters have missed it again,and, we get blown out. For this I apologize, but the weather no one can control. Trust me if we could charter boat owners would!!!!! So, off Capt. Chris and I went to Cape Fear Lock #1 to do some shad fishing. You could see schools coming through but they were reluctant to bite. I would call it slow, real slow,we caught only three in six hours. If I figure right that's one every two hours!!!! Pretty slow. Be sure to check that your registrations are up to date, If you don't, someone else will and if they are not it is rather expensive. Not going to tell you how I know that, just trust me, I know what I'm talking about!!! The weather IS going to give us a break soon. And when it does, I'm sure the fish will be in the stream just waiting. The temp. breaks are getting into perfect locations at all the gulf stream hot spots. Keep in touch, we have many stream charters booked and as soon as the winds will allow, we will be posting the results. Hang in there, it won't be long now!!!!!  Till next time, FISH ON!!!   Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris.

On 4-5-05 Dave Germain, pictured on left, and Dale Westall of Southport went fishing with me on a 1/2 day trip. I will have to admit, this was one of the toughest days of fishing I believe I have had in years. The winds have "HOWELED" for weeks now and it has dirtied up the water as well as blowing in some cold water. The other fishermen, with full day and gulfstream trips, and the guys that had gone out to king mackeral commercial fishing were reporting that NO kings could be found anywhere, did not hear of one being caught. The gulf stream had only given up a couple small wahoo, with most fishermen drawing a blank. (HEY, don't dispair, it does this nearly every year, it WILL get better, SOON!!!) These guys were lucky though, they were in the good bottom fishing waters and here I was stuck inshore with dirty, cold water with a tide rip that an 8oz. sinker would barely hold the bottom and almost a slack tide. Now in my fishing experience, things can't get much worse for fishing. We stopped on every hump and ridge, rock, live bottom area and all we had to show for it was about 5 fish. But, just to show you, "never give up", We went to a ledge I had marked several years ago and have never found much on it, but with the rip flowing the way it was, is served as a current break and tucked down behind it was a good school of black bass.We hunted for fish for 4 hours then BAM, they limited out in nearly 30 minutes catch them 2 at a time as fast as they could drop down keeping only the better sized ones. I could have easily give up, perserverance will usually prevail. YOU CAN GIVE OUT, BUT, DO NOT GIVE UP!!!!!  Till next time, FISH ON!!!!!!!!!!  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris.

On thursday, 3-31-05,I met up with Lou Duke, Greg and  Beth White and their  three children, Gavin, Tess, and Garrett. We didn't have a real long time to fish but I will tell you this, those kids were three of the best fishermen and fisherwomen I have ever had the honor to fish with. We went for some king mackeral, then the plans were to head on offshore and get a few bottom fish. The inside waters are still cold and dirty so even though we were limited to our fishing time, I figured a few hours fishing in productive waters would be better than  more hours fishing in non-productive waters. At the end of the day, I believe everyone was in agreement. We only had approximately one hour to bottomfish. That included finding the fish and getting anchored, which left about 45 minutes to fish. And in 45 minutes, those kids kept me busy. Lou, Greg, and Beth also caught fish, with Beth landing the biggest black bass of the day. But as for shear numbers and fishing ability, mabey if  Grandpa Lou and mom and dad Greg and Beth ask real nice, Gavin, Tess, and Garrett will give them some tips so mabey next time they can keep up . Gavin, Tess, and Garrett, I want you to know this was one of the most enjoyable fishing trips I have ever been on!!!!!!   You guys handled those King Mackeral  and bottom fish like seasoned pros!!! Till we can do it again, FISH ON!!!!!   Capt Butch.

On saturday,3-26-05 we were booked with two half day trips. The morning trip was greeted with greeted with a stiff NE wind wind that made us abort our offshore plans and turn to a southwesterly trip to a spot not far offshore to a live bottom area. Although this spot has been a good producer for us for years, I was concerned  that it was just a little early in the year for this place to produce, but due to the sea conditions, it was the best plan I could come up with on such short notice. The  fish were there, but very scattered. There were some other boats not far from us reporting that they could not get the fish to bite. That  made me start looking for more concentrated schools, that was the ticket. The first pictures on the left was our first trip. The fishermen were Jon Anderson and his fiance' Rhonda Tomlinson, Mike Anderson, and Steven Anderson. Although the morning waves held us at bay, we ended up with several tasty meals of black bass and sharks for the grill....... 

 

 We met up with Tim Pierce, Preston Pierce,Trever Pierce,Dan Cywinski, Luke Farrel,and Casey Farrel For the second session of todays fishing. I guess you can call it the "luck of the draw", but by this time the winds had shifted and the seas had layed down to 2 to 3 feet. So we took off to offshore grounds. As we were crossing Frying Pan Shoals, the seas were building, they built to 3 to 5 feet. But we had already crossed the shoals, and knowing the direction they were from, I was hoping if we went around the shoals coming back, it would be layed down. IT WAS!!  We were after king mackeral, it was tough fishing in the rough conditions, but we prevailed. Preston's dad Tim told us going out that  if a big fish was caught, Preston would catch one, he said Preston could catch a fish out of a mud puddle!!!  Who am I to argue with him, yeah ,you've most likely figured it out. The guy in the yellow shirt behind the  two holding his BIG king is PRESTON, HIS FIRST KING MACKERAL, A 471/2 POUNDER. This fish also got him a North Carolina Citation to put on his wall to prove to non-believers up there in Erie, PA. Now don't go getting any ideas, I have already contracted him to fish with me in king mackeral tournaments. All these guys and gals on both these trips were the greatest, Rhonda, Capt. Chris and I are sorry your fishing was cut short, so we have decided to make you HONORARY MATE  of the day!!  Click on the pictures to get a larger view,  FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris.

3-25-05: Spring has sprung, and the fish are hungry and cooperating. Yesterday morning Capt. Chris and I met with  Russell Wilson, his wife Karen and two daughters Sarah & Kathryn and Phillip Sineath. We started off king fishing, and in short order, approx. 1 1/2 hours we had five limits of kings. From there we went to the bottom. The action was steady with nearly five limits of black bass, triggerfish, B-liners(vermillion snapper), White Grunts, Sharks, and even caught a real nice Tau-Tug. As we have said a thousand times, the fish are there and when you can get out and know where to go, well, the pictures speak for themselves. Another day in the "REEL" world!!   Till next time, FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris.

3-10-05 All I can say is that I was truly suprised, a strong cold front moved through so figured that this fishing trip would be well "crappy" and CRAPPIE it was. Sixty to be exact. I am predicting the weather to break soon and we can get back offshore again, but, this has been a refreshing, laid back, calmer style of fishing that has been really relaxing especially after the busy past few months getting all the reels and tackle and boat ready for the up-coming season. But get ready, March is here and we start running charters next week, weather permitting, to the gulf stream and to tell the truth, I am looking foreward to the faster paced big game fishing that is only found offshore in the gulf stream!! So come on and let's go get those Tuna, Wahoo's, Dolphin and whatever else crashes your baits out there in the "REEL PARADISE"!!!!!  Till next time.  FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch & Capt. Chris.

3-8-05; Well when the wind blows and you can't get out in the ocean you do the next best thing, you go fishing! I knew somewhere around here there had to be some crappies. Being from the Lexington,NC area, I cut my fishing teeth crappie fishing on High Rock Lake. So Capt. Chris and myself went on a crappie safari, and we found some, 35 to be exact. Not too bad considering we had to fight 20 MPH winds and 49* water. Like I have said before, the fish are there you just have to be able to get to them. If you can't get offshore, go fish for something else, sure beats sitting at home wishing you were fishing!!!!!!! Till next time,  FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch & Capt. Chris Foster.

3-6-05 I reported on my site yesterday about the winds and they were forecast to blow today also. Well I kept noticing that they were taking their time building. Well, I haven't had any heavenly broiled fish lately(recipe on my site) and I wanted some real bad and I wanted some fresh black bass to fix it with. So we jumped into the "YEAH RIGHT" and went out about 15 miles off the beach and in 48* water, we managed to pull in enough to prepare dinner with, between the many sharks, and were back before the winds built up this afternoon!! Keep an eye on the weather, and when you have a window of opportunity, seize the moment!!!These small trips break the cabin fever until we can get to the gulf stream this month. March is here, it is time to go fishing!!!!!  Till next time,  FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

3-5-05, Well I am beginning to wonder if I will make it till the weather lets me out again!!! I had it all figured out, today was another day of winds blowing the seas to a froth,so, I thought why not go to the number one lock on the cape fear and see if there were any american or hickory shad to be caught. Did not even think of all the rain the piedmont area had last week. Well the river is high and muddy, a bad condition for shad fishing, so we will have to wait probably have to wait at least another week for the river to get back to normal. The fishing in the ocean is still good, When the winds sub-side enough that you can get out there. We are cancelling trip left and right due to dangerous and rough conditions,(we can't control mother nature). When the weather clears up, if you want to book a trip, leave me a message or e-mail if you don't get hold of me. Best time to call will be at night, 5 to 10 PM because we will be on the water more than we will be here. We still have some dates open, just I will be harder to get hold of personally. I lose phone service when I get about 5 miles offshore. So if you know a wind dance let's give it a try 'cause the gulfstream and wahoo, dolphin, and yellowfin tuna are calling me, and till the ocean lays out , I can't get there. But I promise it won't be much longer!!!!  The red drum are still biting inside, in the creeks, and the spiney dog fish sharks should still be here, along with some black bass on the inshore rocks. For the big bass, you need to get offshore to the 100 to 110 feet of water. The fish are there and hungry, we just need some good weather!!!! Till next time;   FISH ON  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris.

02/26/05 (date on pictures was off by one day) Capt. Chris and  I picked up Don and Jody at South Harbour Marina today, saturday, at 11:00  for a 1/2 day fishing trip for bottom fishing. The wind was from the NE at a steady clip and we figured we would be blown out. But suprisingly we found the seas rather calm inside. Only problem was the watwer temp. was 48* and my hopes of finding any good black bass in this close to shore was not too good. Well  over the years I have loged some spots in close that I haven't tried in several years. Well, sharks, sharks , sharks,and I mean sharks were everywhere!!! But finally I fine-tuned the boat on one spot, dropped anchor and kept moving the boat up a few feet at a time with the windlass until  "bingo" we were pulling in keeper black bass two at a time. It didn't take long till we had two limits of bass in the box. Another GREAT day of saltwater fishing!!!  Till next time,  FISH ON!!!! Capt. Butch & Capt. Chris.

02/20/2005 First of all, I would like to let you know that my son, CHRIS FOSTER who has been my 1st. mate since birth is now a USCG CERTIFIED CAPTAIN. So now on our charters, you will have the personal attention of two captains. On Satuuday, the king mackeral bite was on SE of the tower. I personally couldn't make it, had other commitments, but I know some who did and they did good. I went there the next day only to find a bunch of boats looking for kings and all reporting they were only catching bonito. I had Matt Ferace, Ryan Jordan, Kevin Parolari, and Orman ( OJ) Carolan on board so we elected to go to the bottom. We had a good haul of big black bass, beeliners, a triggerfish, big grunts, and even though we caught a few sharks, the spot we were fishing was not infested with spiney dogfish as a lot of places are right now. The black bass kevin parolari is holding is a 4.94 pound NC citation which we had weighed and he will be receving a recognition certificate for that catch. Matt Ferace got his tuna (bonito) can't tell you what he said that did for him, he might tell you if you ask him, but I will leave that up to him to tell. He's the one in the middle picture. We had a beautiful day, calm seas, and a good group of fisherman and we all had a good time!!!! I would say a great start to a new fishing season!! When I get better at using this new digital camera, I hope to be able to post pictures with my reports other places besides on my web site. The reason they are on my site is because I didn't put them there, Chris did! Don't forget, the GULFSTREAM will be heating up in the next few weeks, if you would like to take the ultimate fishing trip, call soon, the prime dates are going fast, and when they are all booked, they are gone till next year!! Got to go get ready to go fishing, till next time, FISH ON!!! CAPT. Butch Foster CAPT. Chris Foster,

2-11-05 Don't have a lot to report, but there has been some reports of some wahoo biting in the stream. The weather has been hit and miss lately. You have to be ready to go at a moments notice to cash in on the good weather. This weekend doesen't look too bad at this time. If it holds up and you can get out, the black bass are chewing really good and there are some nice sized ones out there also.I Have a seminar on March 2nd. at BOATERS WORLD in wilmington at 7:00 PM. It has been brought to my attention by all the e-mails I get that a lot of fisherman don't exactly know just how to put all the pieces together to make a real successful day of bottom fishing. There are a lot of instruction on grouper fishing, trolling for kings, etc., etc., but this will be a seminar to explain the basics and offer some tips on bait and tackle to get you started. Once you have this knowledge, the other bottom fishing will come a lot easier. I will also show how to sit at your kitchen table and find good bottom fishing structure and have the numbers before you ever get in the boat!! If your not busy, come on out and participate and ask some questions. We have been working on the "YEAH RIGHT" this week. Have been up dating all her safety equiptment, installing a new 8 man SOLAS A  life raft and new 406 EPIRB this year along with all the other USCG required gear and having it inspected to pass USCG regulations. When the fish start chewing down, we plan on crashing their party!!!! Start getting ready now for the up coming fishing season, it is closer than you think. Remember, there are only so many fishing days in a year, and when they are all booked, they are gone till next year!! If you are intrested in a gulf stream trip this year in the peak fishing time, mid march to early may, call early, we are filling these spots fairly fast. Also, if things stay on coarse, we will be geared up for the bluefin tuna fishing next winter!! This is shaping up to be what I think will be an exciting fishing season on the "YEAH RIGHT" this year. We are equipping her with new, bigger, better tackle this year to cover virtually any fish you have the desire to catch!!!! Come join us for a day of fishing that you will remember for a long time!! Till next time, FISH ON!!!! Capt. Butch.

1-26-05  I met up with Dave, Chuck, Terry, and Deago, the crew from the Southport Wal-Mart this morning at 7:00 AM heading out for a day of bottom fishing. The weather man  had led us to believe we would have warm temperatures and moderate winds, WRONG!!!!!.. We had cold conditions with rain and a stiff to strong SW to W wind. The fish were there, you couldn't drift and stay on the bottom even with 12 ounces of weight. We tried to anchor and the current was ripping so strong the anchor would crawl and you could not stay on the fish! We did manage to get a few black bass before calling it quits at 11:00 AM. But let me tell you this, if you have EVER wanted to catch SHARKS, now is the time to go. We were actually catching them 2 at a time on double drop bottom rigs!!! They averaged around 8 to 10 lbs. and didn't take long till they were thought of as a nucience. These bad boys will wear you out quickly when you catch them this fast!! The sea conditions got real nasty  real quick. Thank goodness since they were predicting west winds, I decided to head west this morning so we would have a following sea to ride home in. That worked out really good. Hey, it wasn't the best day of fishing or weather, but, we all had a good time, caught enough for some fresh fish dinners, what else could you ask for!!! Till next time  FISH ON!!!  CAPT. BUTCH.

1-18-05; Well, it had to happen. Here in the south east we are gradually being brought back to reality!!! The weather has turned from warm sunny days with calm winds to cold cloudy and windy. But according to the weather forcasters it is supposed to moderate some as the week goes on. But the good news is is that the fish are  there still hungry and just waiting for us to be able to get back out there. So don't let the cold get you into thinking the fish won't bite!!!!! Just have high respect for the ocean , especially this time of the year, for it WILL kill you and has no concience.But when mother nature gives you a break, go for it and have fun. The report is the kings have moved to the east side toward carolina beach. The bottom bite is still above average with exceptional catches of B-liners, white grunts, large black bass and still some grouper. But you also may catch who knows what out there, that is part of the excitement of being offshore, you never know what you have till you see it. The stripers are in the cape fear river, thats why I personally don't have a king report this week. Been running the winter striper charters between king trips. The striper bite has been fair to good. So don't sit at home wishing for spring, I don't know who started the rumor that the fish only bite in spring and summer, but be assured, he or she WAS NOT a fisher person, because they DID NOT know what they were talking about. So get out there and keep your arms in shape!!!  Til next time  FISH ON!!!!!  CAPT. BUTCH

1-11-05; Got time for a quick fishing up date. The bottom fishing continues to be real good. Some of the largest black bass are being caught this year that I have seen in a long time. Grouper, grunts, triggerfish, beeliners are still biting real well. The kings are back on the bite, they have moved into the 170's off to the east. Get on out there and enjoy this unsual weather and fishing. It probably won't last much longer, and you will be wishing you had gone fishing!!! Till next time  FISH ON!!!!  Capt. Butch.

1-8-05; Left out this morning at 5:00 AM to  find cold water and a bonehead "bonita" bite at the tower. The kings have dissappeared just as fast as they appeared. Rode 15 more miles to the SE and found 68 degree water with no bait in the area and no fish. Left there and rode 30 miles to the SW to find  70+ degree water with bait stacked thick. Guess what , no kings. Finally gave up at 2:00 PM and went to the bottom. There I found a good grouper bite along with nice black bass, large triggerfish,and big white grunts. Not being able to put the picture together on the kings, I decided to just catch enough fish to have a good meal with some friends this weekend and  try again later. Boy, it's tough when you get up at 4:00 AM and work all day and the only thing you accomplish is a fish dinner that cost you $225.00  in fuel to obtain. But, thats commercial fishing, no guarantees!!!  I sorta figured that this low pressure had shut the fish down because I found too warm of water and too much bait for there not to be any kings. There were four boats out looking for kings and only two were caught around 5 lbs. each all day.After I got home last night around 9:00 PM I recieved a call from a friend who had been tearing up the stripers, caught  9 fish the day before, this pretty much convinced me the front was the culprit, for out of 5 boats fishing for stripers, NO ONE even got a bump. That made me feel a little better, not that they didn't get a bite, but the fact that just mabey I had not forgotten how to catch kings. I imagine as soon as this low passes they will be biting again and if you go out you may want to check SW of tower for the warm water. Yesterday it was 59-60 degrees at tower, and 70-71 10 miles SW. Till next time, FISH ON!!!!!!   CAPT. BUTCH

1-4-05 I can tell you how good the fish are biting but you would not believe me!! So if you will check the pictures on the web site, you will notice they have the dates printed on them. I am not kidding, the fish are biting un-real right now and the weather has been just as un-real for this time of year. Ran in from the fishing grounds for 4 days in a row with short sleeve shirt and turning 40 knots, yeah, its been that calm. RON, hope you are feeling better. Check out the pictures, you will not believe it!!!!!!!   FISH ON!!!! CAPT. BUTCH.

JAN. 1st. 2005. Don't have but a few minutes to report, got to get ready for tomorrow. If you go out of the cape fear river and go se till you find 70 to 75 ft. water  and 70 to 72 degree temps. put out some dead cigar minnows, you will find the most awesome king mackeral fishing you have probably ever experienced. The weather for the last two days has been beautiful, it is a little cool on land , but get surrounded with 70 plus degree water and the air is real nice and warm. I  am not able to put into words how the fishing is, but I can tell you this we have been running commercial trips the last 2 days with  400 lbs. the 1st. day and nearly 700 lbs. today. Thats a lot of fish for two people to catch. Back at it again tomorrow, will have time to give a more detailed report when the weather turns bad. Till that time,  FISH ON!!!!   CAPT. BUTCH FOSTER

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!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

beware in the future!!!! GOOD JOB GUYS!!!! Till next time, FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch Foster.

 

The second half day trip was with DR. Gary Miller, Lauren Miller, and Kevin Miller. We just thought the morning bite was slow!!! By this time the heat and bright sun had pretty much had them on hold, but we didn't give up. Later that evening we finally found some glass minnows on top and were able to pick up some spanish. Didn't do as good as the first half of the day but everyone was well satisfied. Thanks for a good trip!! Till next time, FISH ON!! Capt. Butch Foster

YOU, for without all of you, all this would be useless!!!!!  Today we left South Harbour Marina with Mark Sunyak, Betty Sunyak, Jacob Sunyak, Rachel Sunyak, Liz Patterson, and Hillary Balsega. This was their first ever trip on the ocean fishing. It was an honor that they picked my charter boat  for their trip!!!! We went to a wreck today and it was awesome. We were hooking jacks that were breaking 100 lb. test leader. We had barracudas hitting our baits and jumping 20 feet in the air. We had one hit and jumped so high that when it landed it threw water on everybody in the boat. This 'cuda took Betty Sunyak nearly an hour to land on king tackle. But she got him in and she was able to get a NC Saltwater Citation for this fish to hang on her wall back in PA. You should have seen the show we saw when the king mackeral we had on was attacked by the barracudas and the big jacks moved in and took the pieces away from the 'cudas, it was amazing to see. Later, we did get a king mackeral to the boat before the 'cudas got it!! Also, feeding along with the jacks and 'cudas were some rays, these were black on top and white on the bottom, feeding on the bait that was holding the other fish. These dudes were probably in the 100 lb. range. Just another awesome day on the water with an awesome group of fishermen and fisherwomen. THANK YOU for fishing with us. Till next time, FISH ON!!!  Capt. Butch Foster, Capt. Chris Foster,and (until it cools off some )Bodie "the fish dog" says HI!!!  

 

As for the second trip, I told them about the way the fishing was off and for a 1/2 day trip, we didn't have time to run offshore. So it was decided to maybe do it again when we had more time to fish!!!

 NEWS ALERT!!!!!!!!! Have seen some AFRICAN POMPANO on the offshore reefs. Not here good yet, but they are on the way!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 5-27-05 Well as fishing goes, the full moon passed and the fish got hungry again. I had the pleasure to go fishing with one of my old bass and striper fishing buddies. Dale and his wife, Ella, share the same last name as I but as far as we know there is no kin involved. We got to thinking about when we used to fish together back in Lexington,NC and was shocked when we figured out that somewhere around 20 to 25 years have already passed. That's nearly impossible to believe, time waits for no one!!!! We had a good day even though we didn't find any king mackeral and all the other boats that were looking for kings reported not finding any and the seas built to around 8 feet so if we did find some it would probably be too rough to troll for them so we went to the bottom. A good catch resulted of many different bottom species. If you see Dale, ask him which one pulls the hardest, a 20 lb. striper or a 20 lb. Gag Grouper. Dale, it was nice to see you again and meet your wife Ella, who by the way I believe showed Dale she can hold her own with a fishing rod, This lady knows how to fish!!!! When you check out the picture, remember this catch was done by two people. Really enjoyed it guys, hope to see you again soon!!!!

 5-28-05 The next picture is of Tim Martin, John Rest, Van Ellis, Randy Poe, and Gary Hurley. It was Saturday now and we were headed to the gulf stream. The farther we went the bigger the waves got and the predicted 10 knot winds were already blowing a steady 25 knot plus. I didn't want to but for the safety of all I suggested we abort the stream trip to a full day and stay in a little calmer waters of 6 to 8 feet. Everyone agreed and we turned the boat east,  went to some grouper rocks and the catching began and lasted all day!!!! Even though we didn't make it to the Gulf stream, we still caught Mahi-Mahi and king mackeral. The grouper holes we were fishing that day were in close proximinity so we would put out the "hoo's" and troll to each spot and that strategy worked out real well. It was a ROUGH WEATHER, and I mean a ROUGH WEATHER DAY, but we managed to pull it out. Ask these guys how it is to fish in a "hurricane". That's why when I am asked what size boat do I need to go out in, my reply is always" don't buy one to go out in, buy one to come back in".  When we left it was nice, and after we went nearly 40 miles we were already committed and it turned bad fast, But the "YEAH RIGHT" proved her seaworthy characteristics again and brought us home safely with a load of fish which consisted of Mahi-Mahi, king mackeral, trigger fish, grouper, pinkys, B-liners, black bass, joltheads, and two sharks one about 5' and one about 8'. ( We released the sharks) One of the guy's wife said they cleaned fish for nearly 5 hours. Capt. Chris offered to clean them for them. I got a feeling they might take him up on that offer next time!!!! Good trip guys, Chris and I really enjoyed the trip!!!

 5-29-05 Ok, all this bad weather finally passed, for one day at least, and we had a beautiful day, the prettiest day I had seen since back in January. Our crew consisted of John Blakeney, Vander Covington, Ray Johnson, Rich Lee, and Tony Fouch. These guys showed up with their own grouper and bottom fishing tackle. I told Capt. Chris we better know what we are doing today, 'cause if not, these guys will know it. The targeted fish for today was bottom fish. Well they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so in light of a thousand words, check out the pic's. These guys were a well oiled fishing machine. They knew their stuff. We didn't get a chance to get to any grouper rocks. We were cut a little short on our trip due to unforseen circumstances, but for a trip cut short, we did quite well with 5 limits of black bass, b-liners, trigger fish, white grunts, joltheads, sharks, pinkys. When the fish were divided up 5 ways they had 5 coolers full of fish. Got the day off because of the weather. Supposed to be back at it tomorrow if the weather will improve, keep check!!  Get on out there, this is what we waited for all winter and spring. The weather has started giving us a few breaks so hopefully you can work a day or two into your schedule. If you can't you are working entirely to hard!!!! Hope to see you on the water, Till next time, FISH ON!!!!! Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris Foster.

 In closing, keep you fingers crossed, lighter winds are surely coming, MABEY!!!!!   Till next time,  FISH ON!!!!  Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris.

 

 

 We met up with Tim Pierce, Preston Pierce,Trever Pierce,Dan Cywinski, Luke Farrel,and Casey Farrel For the second session of todays fishing. I guess you can call it the "luck of the draw", but by this time the winds had shifted and the seas had layed down to 2 to 3 feet. So we took off to offshore grounds. As we were crossing Frying Pan Shoals, the seas were building, they built to 3 to 5 feet. But we had already crossed the shoals, and knowing the direction they were from, I was hoping if we went around the shoals coming back, it would be layed down. IT WAS!!  We were after king mackeral, it was tough fishing in the rough conditions, but we prevailed. Preston's dad Tim told us going out that  if a big fish was caught, Preston would catch one, he said Preston could catch a fish out of a mud puddle!!!  Who am I to argue with him, yeah ,you've most likely figured it out. The guy in the yellow shirt behind the  two holding his BIG king is PRESTON, HIS FIRST KING MACKERAL, A 471/2 POUNDER. This fish also got him a North Carolina Citation to put on his wall to prove to non-believers up there in Erie, PA. Now don't go getting any ideas, I have already contracted him to fish with me in king mackeral tournaments. All these guys and gals on both these trips were the greatest, Rhonda, Capt. Chris and I are sorry your fishing was cut short, so we have decided to make you HONORARY MATE  of the day!!  Click on the pictures to get a larger view,  FISH ON!!! Capt. Butch and Capt. Chris.