LiveLine Charters Fishing Report

Fishing Report 12-29-2011 Deep Jigging/Trolling

Gillwetter Press — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 21:13:04 +0000

We finally got a 1 day weather window and headed off shore with my son David (in town for the holidays from Miami) and fishing pal Steve Conley. We started off jigging 1st thing looking for some Cobia and Grouper but only found a few small Jacks. Decided to switch over and try trolling for Wahoo. It did take long I was in the process of setting out the 3rd line when the medium flat line started screaming off drag. David grabbed the rod and landed a nice 40 lb Wahoo. It stayed wide open for the next hour and never got all 6 lines set before getting another strike. We had Wahoo, False Albes (6 at a time) and Black fin. The largest Wahoo 50 lbs hit the long rigger and melted off 300 yards while Steve watched. There is nothing like a Wahoo run while trolling. The wind picked up from the SW around 1:00 and the trolling bite slowed down. We moved in to 200 feet and started jigging. David hooked a small Jack that turned into a large shark. While we were battling the shark Steve landed a 32 lb and a 36 lb African back to back. Decided to head in when the winds picked up to 15 to 20 mph with 3 Nice Wahoo, Blackfin and 2 Africans. The fishing is still outstanding here when the weather allows.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271
“WHO’S READY FOR MORE PAIN”

Fishing Report Deep Jigging 11-20-2011

Gillwetter Press — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:12:02 +0000

I had Kint, Michael, Tetsu and Winny come down from NY with Bookfishingtrips.com for 1 day of deep jigging. The ride out was a little bumpy due to the swell left from NE winds on Sat. We ran to the south looking for some AJs and 1st drift marked fish from the top to the bottom. There was no current and 1st drop was eaten on the way down which was the good news but the bad news was the sharks were everywhere and hungry. We hooked fish all day long and battled the sharks. I am not sure if it was due to the lack of current but no matter where we hooked fish the sharks found us. We did manage to land a couple good fish. Also Mike had a couple nice Yellow Mouth grouper and Kint landed a decent Black fin. I was trying to hook a fish for Winny and saw a school of Mantas go under the boat and 3 guesses what I foul hooked. Once it started trying to run I broke off the leader. Later in the day we had had enough of the sharks and went in shore for some grouper. We stopped and 45 miles and the 1st drift we had a nice Red Grouper and a 15 lb Gag. Also had a lot of Grunts/Sea Bass and Pinkys.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271
“WHO’S READY FOR MORE PAIN”

Fishing Report 11-12-2011

Gillwetter Press — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:27:00 +0000

After another long wait for the weather to cooperate I had Wade Moore from NCCoastalFishing.com whom also does the outstanding job with my site and a couple pals Jay and Slick come to Wilmington for a trip. Started by filling the live well with live bluefish and pin fish headed out 20 miles looking for some grouper/kings. We only found a lot of sharks and cold green water. Moved off shore at 30 miles and after a few spots we finally found some nice Gags in between many, many sharks in the middle of the day. Jay caught and released a nice red Snapper in addition to a couple of AJs. Also caught and had to release many large sea bass. Never had a single king strike on the light lines only sharks.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271
“WHO’S READY FOR MORE PAIN”

Fishing Report Deep Jigging 10-22-2011

Gillwetter Press — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:16:16 +0000

I had Jon and a group of new anglers come down from NY with bookfishingtrips.com for 1 day of deep jigging. The 1st 20 miles had a NW swell/wind but once we got to 35 miles the ocean went flat with a great sunrise. Set up for the 1st drift and the current was very strong. It took a couple drifts but had a couple Almacos and then Luis hooked a big AJ but after a short battle the leader broke. Later in the morning found a active school fo small almacos and rudder fish. Moved to the south area and as usual in the middle of the day the big AJs came through but there was no stopping them. Jon has a Stella 20000 locked down with 175 leader and still took him into the rocks/bottom. The Black fin started chewing and we landed 9 nice tuna 10 to 15 lbs. Also the ever present sharks came calling and Luis landed a 300 lbers after a very long battle. Decided to move inshore late in the day but winds came up NE 20 plus and we were forced to run to Southport and come up the Cape Fear river to make it home. (I hate the weatherman this fall !!!!) Sorry I didn’t get many pics.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271
“WHO’S READY FOR MORE PAIN”

Fishing Report Deep Jigging 10-17-2011

Gillwetter Press — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:10:54 +0000

We finally got a weather window and had the guys come down from NY for 1 day of jigging. Had Kint, Frank, Joey, Al and Frank down with bookfising trips.com. As usual the weather was not as good as predicted but we made it out in SW 10 to 15 mph. Had to go to the north due to the sea conditions. The current was running south and the fish were not stacked on the edge of the break as usual. We caught some decent Almacos to start and then around 930 Kint hooked a monster. It screamed drag (Kint runs very heavy drag on a Stella 20000) and then put up a great a battle. Kint made pretty short work of the fish and it was in good shape. She was 66 inches long and 40 inch girth and weighed 115 lbs on my boat scale. Only 12 lbs off the state record so we released her unharmed and swam away fine. Al was next to hook a decent fish a respectable 60 lber. The current slowed around the middle of the day and the fish would not eat the jigs. We moved around to other areas and Frank caught a nice 30 lb African. We also had many Wahoo bits on the jigs but kept cutting off assist hooks on leader. Kint had his 400 gram Nagamasa shreaded a few time and saw a 50 lb Wahoo grab the jig next to the boat but missed the hooks. Went back to the deep later in the day and caught a few more jacks, a Yellow Trevalle and Blackfin. Although the action was not wide open we did catch a lot of species and a few great fish.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271
“WHO’S READY FOR MORE PAIN”

Fishing Report Deep Jigging 9-28-2011

Gillwetter Press — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:05:50 +0000

I had Paul from Saltywater Tackle and Carlos from Brazil come to NC for 3 days of jigging but the weatherman had other ideas. We managed to get off shore 1 day running into a large SE swell. When we arrived the fish were eating with the AJs averaging 30 to 50 lbs. Carlos caught the fish of the day with a 44 lb Cobia. Paul also had a small Blackfin. We had 3 different Wahoo swim by the boat during the day but couldn’t get them interested in anything. The sharks were present and a few AJs became lunch. The weather continues to be horrible every weekend with no end in site.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271
“WHO’S READY FOR MORE PAIN”

Fishing Report Deep Jigging 9-10-2011

Gillwetter Press — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:06:31 +0000

I had Andrew, Lourdes and Jimmy come down from NY for a day of jigging and they picked a great day. This was by far the best jigging day since the spring for total action. It was not stop every drift every drop for 8 1/2 hours. To be honest we lost count of the # of fish landed but well over 100 fish for 3 anglers. We had a mix bag of sizes from small fish to 50 inchers. The big fish showed up as usual in the middle of the day. Lourdes was the 1st to land a 53 inch fatty. Andrew had a 54 and a 53 inch fish. Lourdes finished the last drift with a 52 inch fish. Jimmy had a lot of quality 45 lb AJs and a 16 lb Gag. In addition to the AJs we had Almacos, Black fin, Scamp and Gag grouper. It was great to see this many fish of all sizes for the future. Andrew was bringing up a small AJ and the drag started screaming off the reel for 100 feet and stopped. He brought up the small AJ which had been swallowed by a bigger AJ but didn’t get the hook. I wished we could have seen this one. The ocean went flat for the ride home and everyone crashed in the bean bags after a long day.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271
“WHO’S READY FOR MORE PAIN”

Fishing Report Deep Jigging 9-4-2011

Gillwetter Press — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 17:45:50 +0000

Finally back on the water after a 6 week lay off due to a broken foot/cast/crutches. I had the guys come down from NY for 1 day of jigging Ray, George, John, Ben and Hing. The ocean was flat and ran 32 knots to the south. The water temps are still at 85 degrees and a little current. After a couple of drifts we got the AJs and Alamcos fired up. The sharks are still around and a few fish/jigs fell victim. The action was steady but not wide open. We moved around and George found the fish of the day over some rough bottom a 30 lb black belly Gag Grouper. This was a great fish on a jig this time of year. Also had 3 more Scamps/Yellow Mouth Grouper. A current time came by with some weeds and we started bailing the Mahi on top water. It was wide open bloody decks for a while and put 20 Mahis in the box for dinner. Continued working the jigs and found more nice Almacos. Later in the afternoon we finally had a quad hook up and landed Almacos/Albis and AJs. John landed a nice 12 lb Black fin on the last drift to add to the species list and the cooler. It felt good to be back on the water and looking forward to the fall season it won’t be long before the big boys should start showing up.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271
“WHO’S READY FOR MORE PAIN”

Fishing Report 7-19-2011 Deep Jigging

Gillwetter Press — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:21:08 +0000

I had a Steve and Danny in town from Kentucky for a 1st time jigging trip in NC. The ocean was nice with just a large east swell from the storm off shore. Started at a 18 mile wreck but only 1 AJ and too many sharks. Decide to run all the way to the break and it was worth the ride. 1st drop in 240 feet was an immediate hook up with nice Almacos. The action stayed steady with the Almacos for a while. Moved around a little trying to find the larger AJs but no big ones. The current was running 3 to 4 knots and the water temps were 88 degrees so I think they were being lazy. We did find some decent AJs later in the day. Also had 3 small Scamp grouper. Late in the afternoon they shutdown on the jigs so we ran inshore to a wreck and Danny landed the largest fish on the lightest rod a great battle.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271
“WHO’S READY FOR MORE PAIN”

Fishing Report 7-3-2011

Gillwetter Press — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 13:54:39 +0000

Had Curtis Grant from Phoenix, AZ returned for more NC off shore fishing with Eric and Joel. Went to the Gulf Stream looking for Mahi. Started in 120 feet with flying fish everywhere. After a short period we had a small Mahi on the short flat line. Had good action in the morning with fish every 20 to 30 minutes. Joel caught the largest when a 20 Bull came in a crushed the short spreader bar set up. We trolled out to the deep to try out jigging for the Jacks. Joel caught a monster Almaco pushing 50 lbs. After a couple of triple headers the guys had enough and we went looking for some Grouper for dinner. Had 3 nice Scamps after a few drops on some inshore ledges. The afternoon bite slowed again (seems to be a pattern lately). The SW winds kicked up for the bumpy/wet ride home.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271
“WHO’S READY FOR MORE PAIN”