Posts Tagged ‘current adventure charters’
Cabela’s IFA Redfish Tournament
May 19, 2010 | 
Author The second stop of the Atlantic Division, Cabelas IFA Redfish Tournament will be this Saturday, May 22 on Topsail Island at the Beach House Marina in Surf City, NC. My partner, Capt. Jason Dail and myself will be once again out looking for that perfect, upper slot redfish in our quest to take first place in this event. Read the rest of this entry »
Bald Head fishing Mothers Day
Quick report!!
I spent most of Mother’s day with my wife and family. However, since I had the Vantage in tow, I managed to slip away late afternoon for a couple of hours of fishing (the boat ramp is only 1 block from my mother-in-laws house). The wind was still blowing, but not as bad as Saturday.
I saw tailing Redfish on the Cape Fear Flats around Fort Fisher and a found a school of fish that had a big school of mullet pinned against the bank near Bald Head Island. I was able to get several takers on top water plugs just before dark. I also hooked a short Flounder on a jig tipped with a Gulp jerk shad. Lot’s of bait in the water now and the fishing is definitely picking up.
Call and book today!!
Topsail Fishing Report
Hi Folks,
Quick report for you. The water is really warming up with the nice weather we have been having. The Redfish have moved out of the ocean and back into the internal waters. My wife and I hit a mud flat in the N. Topsail area recently and found a nice school of fish. Unfortunately, with the sun low in the sky, I poled on top of them before I saw them and spooked them. After that, it was hard to get them to bite.
I have also heard of a Speckled Trout bite picking up in the rivers, though I have not been down to verify as of yet. Viginia mullet (a.k.a. whiting) have been biting on the piers with good reports coming out of the Surf City area. The Bluefish should make a showing any day now on the beaches it they haven’t already. Water temps on the beach are in the upper 50′s to low 60′s and mid 60′s in the ICWW and flats and bays. Spanish and King Mackerel are still are few weeks away, but typically we will start to see these in the nearshore waters by early May.
We have weather moving into the area Thursday evening expected to be out of here early Friday. If you are coming to Wilmington for the Azalea Festival and want to sneak in a fishing trip, Saturday and Sunday both look great for some Redfish fishing on the flats. I have openings for both days as of now, so give me a call and book a trip.
Tight lines and good fishing!!
Capt. Brent
IFA Charleston Tournament this weekend
The first tournament of the IFA Redfish Tour, Atlantic division, will be held this Saturday, March 20th in Charleston SC. My partner, Capt. Jason Dail and myself will be down there competing against the best of the best. This will be my first year competing in the series and I am very excited. There will be two other events in the series later in the summer.
This past weekend, I ventured down to the Palmetto state to do a little pre-fishing for the event. I would like to take this time to thank my new friend Thomas W. for graciously allowing me to come and stay in his fishing camp and for taking me out on the water to show me around. Thomas has also been so kind to allow Jason and myself to stay at his camp while were are down there preparing for Saturday’s tournament.
As would have it, the weather this past weekend was far from perfect with the winds howling out of the SW at 20+ knots. The temperatures were nice, but the wind had the water stirred up so bad it looked like chocolate milk. None the less, we ventured out into the vast expanse of inshore water and managed to find several schools of fish. The fish didn’t seem to be to interested in eating which I am sure was due to the poor weather conditions. I did manage to catch a fish and it happened to be a fish that had been tagged. This is the first time I have ever caught a tagged fish, and I look forward to getting information back on when and where this fish had been previously tagged.
Even with the poor condition, the amount of fish that I saw in such a short period of time was amazing. Weather conditions for this weekend are looking good, so I expect there will be a big turn out for the tournament with lots of fish caught. Hopefully, Jason and I will find the two perfect fish we need to take home the top prize. Stay tuned for updates!!
Last but not least, a shameless plug. If anyone out there is interested in sponsoring Capt. Jason and myself, we would love to help promote your business out on the tour!! Every little bit helps and we would love to represent you.
till next time,
Tight lines!!!
Topsail Beach fishing report
Good weather finally graced us here on the Carolina coast so today I got out to take advantage of it. I hadn’t fished the North Topsail area in awhile, so I decided to see what I could find. I went to an area that I had found some fish last summer. The water was gin clear and the light winds made for a great sight fishing day.
After searching for a short time, I found a body of water that had a great mud bottom which was holding water temps 5 degrees warmer than surrounding areas. Soon, the gin clear water was turned cloudy which is a tale tale sign of feeding Redfish and moments later, I saw the fish scurrying off from the boat in all directions. A few cast later, I hooked up with the first fish of the day, but it soon shook the hook. After missing a couple more bites, I soon had my first fish in the boat.
With my power pole deployed, I anchored the boat and continued to catch a few more fish. Gulp jerk shads rigged on a weighted hook worked well on the school of fish. The fish in the school ranged in size from under slot fish to upper slot fish. Overall, it was a productive day for just a few hours on the water.
I will once again be speaking at the 2010 Fish Fest!!!
I have just confirmed that I will be appearing at the 2010 Christian Sportsman “Fish Fest” fishing school on February 20, 2010. I will be giving seminars on near shore Dolphin (Mahi) fishing as well as inshore flats fishing for Redfish.
If you are in the area, don’t miss out on this event. It will be very informative with a lot of one on one class room instruction. There will be lots of other guides and captains other than myself there as well.
I will post more information as it becomes available. Mark you calendars now!!!!
BTW….there are large schools of Redfish off of the beach that are very hungry. Despite the extreme cold weather we have been having, the fish are on the beach and are easy to catch when the weather permits us to get out.
Tight lines!!
Capt. Brent
Slaying Specks
I have known and fished with Chris a.k.a. Dekoy from way back in the day when we were just a couple of pier rats spending our summers on Crystal Pier. Like many friends, as years go by, we don’t get to spend as much time together or see each other as often as we would like. Dekoy and I have been trying to work out schedules for some time now to get together and do some fishing and we finally got it together.
Every year, I try to donate a fishing trip to the Coastal Conservation Association or CCA. On Friday, I had a trip scheduled with Mike and Rick who were the winning bidders for the trip that I had donated this year. Mike, Rick and myself had a great day on the water. The fishing was a little slow in the beginning, so I stretched out the 4hour trip I had donated into an 8 hour trip. The extra time was well worth it as the bite picked up in the afternoon and Mike and Rick went home happy with some good quality fish.
Rick finally broke the ice with a huge 29-inch Redfish. Later, the guys and myself found a good school of speckled trout and caught enough of those for Mike and Rick to take back home to Raleigh before calling it a day. Mike and Rick ended up with 12 specks, (1) 29-inch Redfish and a flounder.
Later that evening, Dekoy called and wanted to know if we were going to go fish like we had talked about. We worked out the details and decided to go fish the area I had fished the previous day. The wind was blowing pretty good out of the NNE and it was a little chilly but the ride in the “Vantage” wasn’t bad at all. We got to our spot, spent a couple minutes doing some last minute rigging and Dekoy got off the first cast. Bam….fish on, first cast. I’m thinking, they’re still here, it’s going to be a good day.
After having a quick discussion on whether we were going to catch & release or have a fish fry, we realized we hadn’t had breakfast and decided we were hungry, so into the box went the fish. The bite was on but sporadic. The fish seemed to keep moving, but never very far. When the bite would slow, we’d try a different bait until we found what they wanted and we would go back to catching fish. DOA shrimp and paddle tails were working well.
As the flood tide peaked, the bite really slowed, so we decided to make a move and try another spot. About 4 cast at the new spot and I was again hooked up with a nice speck. Not to be outdone, Dekoy decided to pull out an old “Mr. Whiffle” and found a nice slot red that wanted it for lunch.
When the water stated to ebb, it was time to head back to the honey hole for some more trout slaying. As soon as we got set up, the bite was on again. After taking a good count of the fish in the box, we realized that we were only 7 fish away from our limits. Now the quest became to limit out. Well, it didn’t take that long and we did just that. 20 specks in the box, but the bite was still on, so we bent the barbs down and went back to catching and releasing. At day’s end when it was time to pack up and head for the hill, Dekoy and I had 30 specks and 1 slot Redfish for the day.
I’d say the inshore fishing is still pretty darn good!!
Thanks Dekoy!!! I had a great time fishing with a good friend!!
Tight lines everyone!!
The Redfish bite is on!!!
The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting cooler, the water temps are falling and the mullet blow is kicking off. It can only mean one thing, fall fishing is here. The Redfish bite has been on fire in the North Topsail Beach area as of late as well as many other areas in the Cape Fear Region.
With the water full of finger mullet heading South, the top water action for big Redfish as been awesome. Early mornings while the sun is still low seems to be the best time for the topwater action, but cloudy days will produce strikes all day long. Skitter walks and Top Pups have been working well. Color doesn’t seem to matter much as the fish are feeding heavily and they just can’t resist the action of one of these plugs.
Top water is not the only baits that are working well now. Both Gulp™shrimp and jerk shads fished on weighted hooks have been producing a lot of fish. Skimmer jigs tipped with Fish Bites™ have been producing a lot of fish as well. Most of the trips taken lately have been producing double digit numbers of Reds in only a few hours of fishing.
The new ECC Vantage is performing beautifully and allows me to get into the skinny waters that tend to hold these great fighting fish. If you are looking to get into some great redfish action, give me a call and let’s get you out on the water. I still have some good dates in September available, but I will not be running any trips in October as I am getting married and will be heading to Hawaii for a couple of weeks with my new bride!!! Trips will resume in November and historically, Thanksgiving provides some really good fishing.
Give me a call and let’s go catch some fish!!
Tight lines!!!
Capt. Brent
July Fishing brings a mixed bag of fish
The heat of July is here and the fishing is hot. King Mackerel, Mahi, Little Tunny Baracuda, Redfish and more are some of the species caught aboard the Current Adventure boats over the 4th of July weekend.
Payton and Addison with Mahi
Friday I had repeat customers David, Rhonda and their daughters Payton and Addison for a day of offshore Mahi fishing. Well the day started out with the winds blowing 10 knots stronger and 180 degrees opposite of what was forecast. Needless to say, it was sloppy, but the girls didn’t seem to mind so we put lines in and trolled our way offshore. I had a location in mind to find the fish, the question was whether or not the seas would lay down as predicted and let us get there. It took about 4 hours to get to where we wanted to be, but once there, the seas were laying down and the fish were starting to bite. The girls spent the next couple of hours catching Mahi, King Mackerel, Baracuda, Little Tuny, sharks and remoras.
The following day I had Jay and Todd from Charlotte aboard for another day of Mahi fishing. This time, the weather man got it right and we made the run offshore in calm seas at 20 knots. Once we reached the ledges that i wanted to start fishing, it didn’t take long for the bites to begin. Jay and Todd stayed busy all day catching Mahi, Little Tuny’s, 40lb Baracuda and yes, another remora. Jay and Todd ended up with 9 Mahi for the day that they were planning to take back home to their families for some great eating.
Sunday, I had the opportunity to take family out for a day of inshore fishing. Kenan and I left the docks around 0600 and hit the flats for some topwater Redfish action. The new Vantage made short work of the time between the landing and the fishing grounds. Once on the flats, we threw Zara Spook top water plugs looking for a topwater bite. The first strike that Kenan had came from a 3 foot Blacktip Shark that was feeding on finger mullet in the shallow water. The fight lasted a few minutes till the sharks teeth severed the leader and the shark and our plug swam away. I tied on another plug for Kenan and it was back to fishing. Soon, Kenan was hooked up again with a nice Redfish only to have the fish cut the leader on the marsh grass and swim away with yet another plug. Finally, Kenan hooked up again on a smaller fish and this one he got to the boat. This was his first Redfish.
Kenan's first Redfish
Next it was my time for a first. It was time for me to catch my first Redfish in the new East Cape Vantage. I cast out a Black and Yellow Top Pup and had a 30-inch brute inhale the topwater plug. The fish tried several times to take me into the grass and oyster rocks, but in the end, I was victorious as Kenan netted the big fish.
Kenan and I spent the rest of the morning catching a few more Reds before calling it a day and heading in to spend the last of the Holiday weekend with family and friends.
The fishing is great. Give me a call and book your trip today!!
Tight lines!!
Vantage update
Spring is here and the fishing is starting to pick up along the NC coast. A pending new state record Amberjack has been caught offshore along with Wahoo, Blackfin Tuna, Grouper, King Mackeral and other species. Inshore, Redfish, and Speckled Trout are biting and others such as Bluefish, Spanish Mackerel and King Mackerel will not be far behind. It’s April and as the warmer weather warms the water, the fish will continue to show up and they will be hungry!!
Production on my new “Vantage”is scheduled to begin next week and should take 2-4 weeks to complete. Once I take delevery, I will begin hitting the flats hard as the Redfish bite should be strong at that time. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this boat. She is going to be fast, comfortable and float skinny!! I will be able to take you fishing in places that I only wished I could get to before with the Polar.
Here are a few pictures of the prototype that I went and tested back in January as well as a finished prototype that was displayed at the boat show in Tampa Fla, last month. It won’t be long now!!!
Enjoy!!
