Posted on 10 Mar 2010 by captainjeff
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Sam Hardesty and girlfriend Stephanie toughed it out in rough sea conditions, 7-8 ft seas and 25 knot winds....they caught a triple header to start the day, but then things went down hill as at least 8 fish pulled the hook well into the battle.....nevertheless they caught 11 sailfish out of 29 bites in a half day of fishing.

Posted on 09 Mar 2010 by captainjeff
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Ran back up north but fish were scattered and Taylor Carson & sons John and Andrew, from Bethel, NC caught 14 out of 22 sailfish bites and one wahoo which we all enjoyed for dinner.

Posted on 09 Mar 2010 by captainjeff
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There were five boats fishing this tournament, with three anglers to the boat, and anglers hooking their own fish. We got blown out on Wednesday, but fished the next three days. On Thursday, fishing was slow and Jim Motsko & Dick Mullholand, from Maryland, only caught 7 sailfish out of 18 bites. On Friday we all ran up north looking for a new body of fish and found them with lots of spots of birds on baitballs of sailfish, and Mike Sparco, Matt Farazoto & one other man caught 23 sailfish out of around 60 bites. On the last day, Randy deLeon, who was in the lead, fished along with Ron Martin and Walt Hurley. We went back up north and had great action with the crew combining for 26 sailfish out of around 60 bites, and Randy caught 13 himself to maintain his lead and win the tournament.

Posted on 02 Mar 2010 by captainjeff
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The wind shifted to southeast, and pretty warm water moved in right to the island as did the sailfish.....only 5 miles off the beach we started seeing sailfish jumping in 60-70 feet of water, shallower than we usually fish, but the number of jumpers forced me to stop and it paid off as they got after us right out the gate.....first trolliing bites, than around several balls of bait and then trolling bites the rest of the day....steady action with several bites on every tack....David Botley & crew, from Maine caught 41 sailfish out of 65 or so bites, with a quadruple header, several triple headers and numerous double headers.
We have a day off today, and then the Ocean City Light Tackle Club tournament tomarrow, with 5 boats entered.....hope them guys do a good job hooking fish, cause we now have over 920 sailfish releases since we got here and are close to out goal of 1000.....have 10 days fishing left.

Posted on 28 Feb 2010 by captainjeff
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After yesterday and last nights hard northwest wind, the water over fishing grounds was thick and green....we found some better water further south and some fish as well, but not in the concentrations we had been.....nevertheless Greg, Rick, Al & Fred, all from Florida caught 12 sailfish out of 31 bites.....the guys are learning to hook there own fish and did hook most all of what we caught.

Posted on 27 Feb 2010 by captainjeff
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Another cold front and 25+ knot winds made for a very uncomfortable day, but Charles Greenberg, from Boca Raton, FL, and crew hung in there and caught 16 sailfish out of 28 bites, and should have had several more as at least 7 or 8 fish pulled hooks well into the fight, unusual for circle hooks.....the guys hooked most all the fish themselves, some around birds and some trolling bites.

Posted on 26 Feb 2010 by captainjeff
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Mike Donaldson, from Massachussets & crew Ken, from MA, and Dianne & Larry from New York had a great morning fishing around birds and then trolling bites, catching 18 of 21 before noon, but afternoon fishing slowed dramatically, and at the end of the day they ended up with 20 sailfish out of 26 bites. Dianne not only caught more fish but caught them faster than husband Larry!

Posted on 25 Feb 2010 by captainjeff
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We had the day off yesterday, so with Mitchell Bateman & wife Connie from Wanchese, Capt Brian Peele & mate Lucas from the F/V Goombay, boat owner Tris from Ft. Piece, FL, we headed out to find some sails under birds.....found a great bunch right out of the gate, and followed them for 1 1/2 hours with everyone taking turns jumping in and swimming with the ball of bait and sailfish.... there were atleast 150 sailfish around the ball, 20 or more on the surface corralling the 5 ft diameter ball of bait and another 100 + below taking turns chasing escaping bait or charging thru the ball of bait.....UNBELIEVABLE..... even I jumped in as Brian maneuvered the boat..... mate Richard, having the best endurance followed them for 2 miles..... when everyone was exhausted, we set the lines out and caught 8 sailfish real quick and headed home for lunch, just in time beat the hard wind shift as a cold front moved thru and wind increased to 30 knots.....We will be fishing again for 4 days straight starting tomarrow.

Posted on 23 Feb 2010 by captainjeff
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Finally a calm day, and Richmond McDaniel, wife Rennie & son Richmond Jr, age 11, Griffin, age 11 & Macy, age 8 were at the boat ready to roll at 6:30....when I saw the age of the crew, I figured maybe a half day and a sail or so apiece and we would be on our way home....but the youngu'uns were tough and outstanding anglers....both Richmond Jr & Griffin caught 6 or 7 apiece unassisted and as quickly as any adult....all three did a great job and combined the family caught 30 sailfish out of 42 bites!

Posted on 21 Feb 2010 by captainjeff
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Professor Ian Trayer and wife Barbara, from England have fished down here since the early 90's and even they have never seen better fishing.... we got on the north end of the fleet and found several bunches of frigates on balls of bait, each loaded with sailfish, and they were very cooperative.....I don't know if we made a circle all day without a bite, and by 2PM they had released 51 sailfish and we headed home early, tired and about out of bait....fished maybe 5 bunches all day, with every pass producing 2 or 3 or 4 bites, with trolling bites inbetween bunches or trying to get back to the ball of bait..... never went more than 10 minutes without fish on...... Seems like the number of fish around here has increased in the last week or so, maybe due to the cold weather up north, but whatever, whereas often fishing is slowing down around now, with the limited boat pressure, could be some great March fishing..... still have days open!

Posted on 20 Feb 2010 by captainjeff
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Randy Johnson and his crew Peter, Tom & Marty, after a great first day, had even better second and third days....Yesterday we were first boat on the grounds and were lucky to find a ball of bait with hundreds of sailfish around it.....in 4 hours circling it we caught 28 sailfish, even having to move off for half an hour for a local boat.....we then caught 15 more sailfish trolling to give the guys 43 sailfish out of 55 bites.
Today, Randy and crew again caught 43 sailfish out of 76 bites, with some caught around a few balls of bait and most caught in nonstop trolling action, often getting bites before getting the spread out.....and we even saw the sun today for the first tiime in 2 weeks as it has been cold (for here) and cloudy.....but the fishing seems to be getting better, with few boats fishing and fish everywhere..... we have now released well over 700 sailfish!

Posted on 18 Feb 2010 by captainjeff
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We started the day where we left from yesterday and had a sailfish bite before we had the whole spread out.... and pulled the hook on it and 17 of the next 20 sailfish bites we had in the next hour and a half..... got a report of even better action north of us so we ran there and had good action around birds & balls of bait with a scattered trolling bite the rest of the day.....Randy Johnson & crew ended up catching 28 sailfish out of better than 50 bites.

Posted on 17 Feb 2010 by captainjeff
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Ian and Barbara Trayer, from England, have been fishing down here for years, and today caught 31 sailfish....had around 50 bites.....mostly trolling but some around birds & balls of bait in the morning.... Ian caught several fish on his very light action spinning rod & reel with 15 lb line, but had to take it out of use when he and Barbara had a double header on and going for Barbara's fish....ladies first of course, Ian got spooled!

Posted on 16 Feb 2010 by captainjeff
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Another cold front with high winds and rough seas was again the conditions as only five of us went fishing.....water turned cold and green where the fish had been so we ran further south but never found the main body.....Professor Ian Trayer, fishing alone, did catch 11 sailfish out of 22 bites, including one of two he had on, on his very light weight spinning rod & reel with 15 lb line!

Posted on 15 Feb 2010 by captainjeff
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Dr & Captain Bill 'Ike' Blakemore ....he owns the boat Marlin Gull tied up next to me at Pirates Cove, and crew from North Carolina, including daughter Kelly, her husband Jason and Captain Kenny Midgette had two relatively calm days and some very good sailfishing, mostly around birds & balls of bait, but some trolling bites as well....hooking all their own fish, they did great, catching 17 from 28 bites yesterday and 29 for 41 bites today. Daughter Kelly was the allstar catching more than any of the guys!

Posted on 13 Feb 2010 by captainjeff
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With the wind still out of the northwest around 20, seas were not as bad as expected, but the water was cold and green so we ran further offshore and found pretty water....for the first day this season their were no birds and balls of bait, but the trolling bite was a slow pick all day till the end of the day when Paul Mitchell, from Poquoson, VA and crew ended the day with a quadruple header and a double to give us 17 sailfish caught out of 30 bites. Blake is shown below with another small sailfish caught in the quadruple header.

Posted on 12 Feb 2010 by captainjeff
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The day started out with hard southeaster, 25 knots or so, but we found a bunch of birds on fish and Paul Michael and family started the day catching 4 of 5 hooked at one time than a triple header... the bird fishing fizzled but there was a decent troll bite, and we picked away at them all day except when a front rolled through and a squall line with 30 knot winds from the north hit us....the rain let up but not the wind but we caught a few more and then called it a day.....Paul, with wife Sheryl & daughter Danielle, Brad Blake, Brad Brown & wife Rebecca all caught fish as combined they caught 18 out of 28 bites.

Posted on 11 Feb 2010 by captainjeff
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Started today where we left the sailfish yesterday.....just a few bites.....ranged around and found little so four of us steamed up north 30 miles looking for the promised land but instead found a desert, so we steamed back to where we stared, caught one and give up and come home....only caught four for the day......tomarrow will be better!

Posted on 10 Feb 2010 by captainjeff
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Jeff Gill & Ron & Tim had good action around birds in the morning and later afternoon with a slow mid day.... caught around 8 off the first bunch till the local Mexican charterboats found us and we had to give up a ball of bait with some hungry sails...found another ball of bait with sails under one frigate bird and caught a 5 or six more, than late in the day found one last ball of bait and caught 6 or 7 more to finish up with 21 fish caught out of 36 bites...Jeff Ron & Tim hooked most theirselves and for their three days had an outstanding percentage of hookups..... We have now caught over 500 sailfish and are averaging better than 20/day.

Posted on 09 Feb 2010 by captainjeff
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Jeff Gill & friends Ron and Tim started off the day with great action around one very cooperative bunch of sailfish around a ball of bait.....unlike yesterday, where most balls of bait stayed deep with not many sails around them, this bunch had a load of sails around it and stayed up for a while, so we were able to catch around 14 fish around it....then we had a scattered trolling till around 3 and then we caught a triple header, than a quadruple header and then we hooked four and while fighting them hooked four more to set a new OBSESSION record of 8 sailfish in one go round to end the day....35 sailfish out of 46 bites....thats fishing!