Twister Charters - Fishing Reports

The past few days the winds have been blowing hard out of the SouthWest.  These strong winds have been made fishing very hard, especially near shore.  The constant wave action in the shallow water has really stirred up the water, moving the Spanish offshore in the 5-10 mile range.  If you can get out that far, the Spanish bite has been fairly consistent in the late morning hours up until the middle of the day.  I am currently getting ready to head down to Costa Rica for a few days to do some fishing.  Susposedly the Yellowfin Tuna are chewing really good and a few scattered Marlin are in the mix.  While there i’m also going to try to find a captain that will take us out and do some bottom fishing for Snapper, Grouper, and maybe a Roosterfish.   I think the place where i’m staying has internet access so i’ll try to post some reports from way down south.  While I’m gone, my charters are still up and running with some of the best captains in Brunswick County, so give me a call and leave a message.  Your business is important to us and i’ll try my best to make sure you get to go fishing.  Tight Lines!!

Capt. Patrick Bryant

I had a 1/2 day Spanish trip today with some guys from the Hickory, N.C. area.  They brought along two children for their maiden voyage on the big pond.  The weather was alittle bumpy early and we decided to fish the beach.  The shallow water bite was slow, and the seas gradually decreased so we decided to push out around 7 miles.  Once there the Spanish were eager to bite and ended the day with around 15 keepers.  I brought my camera but soon found out that the batteries were to dead to take any pictures.  I have two half days tomorrow so stay tuned for more reports.  Tight Lines!!!

Capt. Patrick Bryant

On Saturday I took a fun trip with Susanna Ward, Harriet Ward, and Capt. Allen Williams.  The weather was so beautiful it was hard to spend my Saturday on shore, so we went after some grouper.  Bait was fairly easy to catch, as it only took one throw of the 10′ cast net to load with boat with more than enough Pogies for a full day of bottom fishing.  Once we had cleaned up from sliming the boat, I headed the Twister 40 Miles to the south toward some good bottom that I felt should be holding good fish this time of year.  The bite was never really on fire, but we did manage to catch several fish at each spot.  We kept moving all day and ended up with a nice variety of Bottom fish and Mahi Mahi.  This was Susanna and Harriet’s first time fishing on the Twister, but they learned quick and added some nice fish to the cooler.  A full day trip would be sufficient to get out to the areas that are holding fish like this, if you would to join in on the fun give me a shout. Tight Lines!!

Capt. Patrick Bryant

I had several half day charters this week.  On most of the trips I have been targeting  Spanish Mackeral and Big Sharks.  Earlier in the week the Spanish bite was slow, but over the past few days the water has cleared and the Spanish are on fire.  Most of the fish have been good size, averaging around 2-3 pounds.  Once we have caught enough fish for a good meal, we’ve been targeting big Black Tip Sharks off of Bald Head Island.  These fish have been ranging from 40-200 pounds, with more fish being over 150 pounds.  If you would like to come down and go on a 1/2 day summer special feel free to give me a call or send me and email.  Tight Lines!!

Capt. Patrick Bryant

Wednesday was not much better weather wise than Tuesday.  A cold front had pushed over the area causing a strong NorthEast wind which really chopped the water up.  Bait was really hard to find and I had to throw the cast net 15 or 20 times to catch enough bait to run offshore.  Once we loaded up on Pogy’s I pointed the Twister to the South East 25 miles to a local wreck.  Once there it didn’t take long to pick up a nice AJ and Cuda.  We gradually worked our way offshore hitting spots picking up a few fish at each spot.  These guys were interested in catching some grouper so I went to a good rock about 38 miles offshore of Holden Beach.  Once there it didn’t take long to get the grouper fired up.  We would catch one or two then move about 100 feet and repeat the process.  On anchor I left out a light line and managed to pick up a nice Mahi when a line of sargasm grass washed by our boat with the current.  Within two hours we had our limit of Gag Grouper and Jacks and it was time to prepare for the rough ride home.  At the dock we counted 6 nice grouper ranging from 10-15 pounds, three Jacks ranging from 20-40 pounds, one Mahi, one Barracuda, and several nice Sea Bass.  Overall this was a great day with a great crew.  I wish Al lived alittle closer to H.B. because he could definately become a regular on the Twister.  If you would like to get into some of this great action feel free to give me a call. 

I fished a 1/2 day Monday morning out at the Shark Hole.  The seas were perfect and the weather was beautiful.  Over the course of the morning we caught 6 King Mackeral, averging around 15 pounds and one giant Spanish mackeral.  I thought the fish would be enough for a citiation with the state of North Carolina, which is 6 pounds, but it fell only ounces short.  This was the biggest Spanish that has been caught on the Twister this year. 

On Tuesday I had a full day trip and we ended up fishing around 30 miles straight off of Holden Beach.  Today was a little different, we were greated with a strong northeast winds from the start.  This allowed for a easy ride out, but I knew the return trip was not going to be any fun.  Even though the winds were out of the North East, which typically shuts down the fish, they decided to bite anyway.  We ended the day with 4 nice AJ’s, and one huge Barracuda.  The Barracuda fell for a 5 pound King Mackeral that we caught and put back out into the spread.  You know its a good fish when something eats a 5 pound bait.  We lost several big mysterious fish that were never seen.  I’m not sure what these fish were possibly grouper, big AJ’s, or Cobia. Overall the day was pretty successful and the guys had a great time. 

I had a full day charter on Friday.  We started around the Shark Hole and it lived up to its name.  In thirty minutes we had our limit of sharks and one nice King Mackeral.  From there we moved out to the 24 mile area where a couple of boats were already working.  Our first line out got smoked and one of the guys fought this fish for 30 minutes, eventually breaking it off under the boat.  A few minutes after we lost the first fish, we were hooked up again this fish ended up being a nice AJ.  Several other boats in the area hooked and caught sailfish around the 57 inch range.  After catching several AJs and one huge Barracuda the bite slowed and we moved off another 6 miles. 

Our first pass over the numbers showed a bottom full of fish on the Furuno Depth Sounder.  We had almost drifted over the rock when one of the Penn 6/0 bent over double.  From the start we new this was a good fish and 15 minutes later a nice 40+ pound AJ was in the boat.  I ended up anchoring on the spot and caught a nice 25+ pound King, 25 pound Cobia, and several more AJ ranging from 25-35 pounds.  By this time the seas were building and it was time to head home.  Overall we had a great day with a mixed bag of all nice fish.  If you would like to get  into some of this action give me a call or shoot me an email.  Tight Lines!!

This morning I awoke to the wind blowing around 25 knots.  I decided to fish the morning charter in the Cape Fear River Channel to hide from the wind.  We ended the morning catching around 30 small sharks, 1 big shark around 30 pounds, two bluefish, and 3 huge whiting. 

The wind started to die down around lunch time and my afternoon party wanted to test the waters around the 15 mile rock area.  We took a pounding getting there, but once we arrived the fishing was not too bad.  We ended the day with two kings and one nice mahi.  Not bad for rough seas.  Stay tuned for more reports.

We have been blessed over the first week of July with some great weather.  Along with the great weather the fish were chewing the bottom of the boat out.  I fished almost everyday and averaged around six King Mackeral each morning along with a few scattered Mahi Mahi.  Our parties fished the 15 mile rock area along with numerous other boats.  Several boats were lucky enough to hook and boat a handful of sailfish. 

On the inshore side the Spanish Mackeral are still biting.  We are averaging around 20 fish for the morning.  The large numbers that we were catching in previous weeks has dropped, but the fish that are biting now are a quite bit larger, most around 2 pounds.  I have a few openings for the week of the 6-12 so if you would like to go fishing post me an email or give a call.  Tight Lines