Posted by We have finally hit the heat of summer. Watching the migration catches to the North, no doubt the fish are moving. It would be my guess on slow days they sank to the outside or bottom and continued on at a brisk pace. My junior anglers are filtering through the days.
Some are first timers, some not! Regardless, always a pleasure to have aboard. Everything old is new again and as the more sage fishermen adds to that, it keeps us always on our toes. Currently, we have a front on top of a low pressure system which had me shift my crews to later in the week from today.
We have had a solid ground swell for several days and we all felt it. It did not matter where you went. It was present like a whale rolling on his side to eye you up as it swims by. Swell can kill a bite as well so we were grateful for some blues making a showing on top of what we had been doing. It was all you wanted the other day. Fingers crossed they do not move.
The other side of the coin is it can always show something else. The equivalent of stirring a cup in a sense so once it settles, change up perhaps. That nature is what keeps fishermen coming back as even with your own boat (unless all you do is fish the runs) it is different every day! We have seen alot of extended trips this year which is nice when the weather is good as we get to explore.Small shark, cobia released (check Va overall now), king showing,trigger,blues, spanish etc. Every day it changed. Every day all the tackle changed. More hours; don’t confuse this with any type of big game offshore trip! There is a huge difference between the gulfstream boats at $2600-$2700 at 60ft long -All Day-and what we do! We are not that! That is not divide the time and $ amount in half. Does not work that way for us.
We have had some great folks on stand up this year. Really, just sit back, enjoy, have a good time, and know it is not 100mph. The goal is to catch fish, have a good time, and if you are not eating any of it, let us know. Some folks do not and that is entirely fine! Waste not want not. Also know, things get released whether it suits us or not as everything has a size or number limit roughly.
Young fish can look great but are still young and that means photo and go. Would you have caught it at your sofa? IDK. Probably not! Predators were on the bottom moving through.
Contrary to common belief, they don’t always bite. I can remember a day with a group of kids where at least seven sand tigers came up. Small fish eaters. Completely awesome as they went through the bait. Not eating a thing as they were already full. a “whoaaa” moment lol. Hats off to my 20yr olds who netted, hooked, cranked on a bite when short handed! Hired!
Towards the end of the run, good times had by all. I have more photos but for now, until the ocean lays down, soundside looking for what is beginning to stack there. Water is hot, the rain is needed to claw back salinity levels, the shrimp are starting to rise up! Thanks to all! If you are new to the area or there is something specific, ask the captain prior to booking. It can be time of year, distance, type of trip, conditions etc. Even with perfect conditions they still have to bite!
Cpt. Viv McPherson
Cpt. Will McPherson 252.423.0039 cell/boat. leave a message and he will get back with you.
Remember: six passengers in your group. Does not matter if they fish or not as the Coast Guard counts heartbeats not rods!