Capt. Brant's Fishing Report    Ocean Isle Fishing Center Live Weather Feed. Click to view conditions. Click on the above ad to visit our web store! Tip of the Week | Capt. Brant Fishing School Fishing Report Archives 2007 Archives 2006 Archives 2005 Archives 2004 Archives 2003 Archives Search Fishing Reports: Current Year All Years Start Over Click a Picture for more Information... Ocean Isle Marina   Island Style Yachts

In the world of King Mackerel fishing, we often question the the logic of trying to outsmart a critter that doesn't have a measurable brain. And sure enough, if you get lucky enough to figure that one out, then you get smacked from trying to figure out the proper strategy to use in the modified tourney format in fishing the SKA Championship. Due to the adverse weather, the SKA came up with a very creative solution to allow teams to fish Friday or Saturday and weigh 2 fish, but if they weighed no fish on Friday, they could still weigh 2 fish Saturday. So being  hard core Carolina fishermen, of course Brant/Barrett weren't going to miss the chance to basically have a free pass for Friday. So despite 30+ winds they went at it. The problem was they caught a medium fish[32 pounds], and so the delimina of whether to weigh it or not, since they still had the option of weighing 2 fish Saturday. They rode aound in the channel about an hour mulling that one over, and based upon the anticipated bad weather for Saturday, they decided to weigh their 32. That put them in 8th place.   Day 2, Saturday started with the same 20-25kt winds, so their strategy was looking good, however as the day progressed, the winds layed, and in the words of kingfishing legend, Wayne "Kingfish" Hill, "if they don't chew today, they'll chew tomorrow". And thus it was as an all out bite developed around the Horseshoe Rigs. Brant/Barrett weighed a 47, had a 43 and a 41, and if they had made the decision not to have weighed the 32 on Friday, they would have finished 2nd to Fish Fever and their 57 and 38. As it was they finished a very respectable 6th, but damn! the bad luck on strategy. That's racing.

So, now on to the next shot at 50lb Kings; don't forget the OIFC.com Hatteras King tourney. You can fish 2 out of 8 days, starting Saturday after Thanksgiving. Weighin locations are at Hatteras and Morehead. Go to www.oifc.com for info.

President elect Obama hasn't even taken office and he's already resolved the global warming crises here in Paradise.  Al Gore should be ecstatic!!!!!  I don't know where you are, but it's freezing here.  But...that ought to make the trout bite take off.  Kyle has a trip this morning so I hope we'll find out.  Jeff is fishing Sunday and if I don't go out with Roger I'll fish with him and file a report. I learned that line from Clark Kent.  As I said Roger has a charter Sunday, we're going to target Kings and possible grouper.

It appears the weatherman missed the wind reports for today because it's calm here.  The beach looked flat, the horizon had some camel backs, but should settle down.

Captain Brant, Captain Barrett and Rube fished in their tournament yesterday, maybe we'll hear some good news from them.  Captain Amy is in Florida scuba diving with the crew from Coastal Scuba in N. Myrtle Beach.  We hope she has a good time and will have some great stories to tell.  Meanwhile, back at the ranch, us commoners are holding down the fort and freezing!

Thanksgiving is upon us with most people having a long weekend.  Enjoy your day with your family, then beg out and come wet a hook!

Well guys, fall is officially here, but the way the weather looks fot this week, it may feel more like winter.  But the cold air temperatures should have the opposite effect on the inshore fishing, especially the trout and drum fishing...things should be HOT!  The cold weather will casue the fish to "bunch up" in all the normal fall spots, just in time for the Thanksgiving Inshore Classic, the weekend after Thanksgiving.  See the tournaments page for more details...hope to see all of you there!

I know you don't want to hear about me cleaning house or being sentenced to going to the mall, but what  I can report is generally speaking, nothing much is  happening, either the wind is blowing, or it's raining or like yesterday the fog is so thick you have to cut it with a knife.   However there are a few things I've scraped up to pass on.

Blue fin tuna time is quickly coming upon us.  Captain Roger says that they have been spotted north of us and he figures they ought to be showing up in about a week.  We have OIFC Custom blue fin set ups in the store.  We also have a charter spacial for that as well as king mackerel/grouper, tuna, dolphin and wahoo trips.  Speaking of grouper, there are new regulations concerning grouper coming into effect the first of the year.  You should make yourself aware.

Our Captains' Club Sale begins today.  You don't have to come to the store to shop, just contact Mrs. Juanita, our On-Line Store guru. and shop on line.  As I buy all my gas here I've got a ton of points and already have my eye on some Calcutta and Pelagic stuff!

Our tourist season is slowing down, just like everyone in this business, so I'll be working less.  But that's a good thing because I can fish more and go out on our charters to get better reports, pictures and hone my skills.

For us in shore anglers the bait ( peanut pogies and mullet) is holding strong in Tubbs Inlet.  The shrimp are also thick in the waterway if you can work your way around the side netters.  Jeff, Roger and I loaded up yesterday and stashed them in Bryan Aycock's and Jeff's bait pen.  They've got an excellent  set up and if I get permission I'll be glad to share how to make one with you.  Don't winterize your boat.  FISH!!  I believe we caught more fish last winter than we did this summer.

Finally, happy birthday to our favorite blondes, Caroline and Camdyn!  Their parties are this weekend. 

 Not a bad report for nothing to say.  Maybe I should run for office in 2012.

Today Capt. Roger, Capt. Amy and myself loaded the Carolina Cat up with a bunch of kids and we took them fishing.  One of the children was 10 year old Heather Cartland who won the "Capt. Brant Best Fishing Story" contest held through the Brunswick Beacon.  Along with Heather was a group of my wife Amy's Sunday school class- 7 kids from 12 to 16 years old -- it was quite the crew and most had never been on the ocean.  We headed out some 3 miles and anchored up over some hard bottom where the kids had a blast catching Sea Bass, Bluefish, Gray Trout, Sharks and to top it all off, they landed a double header of 40 inch Red Drum!  People often ask me what type of fishing I like to do best?  The answer is I like doing any fishing where the fish bite and fishermen truly appreciate and enjoy the experience.  Such was the case this AM. 

 L-R: Summer Phelps, Cody Thorpe, Dalton Hernandez, Alexis Phelps, Heather Cartland (bottom), Tyler Evans, Chad Milligan, Austin Rhodes – this group of outstanding young fishermen and fisherwomen are all members of the United Vision Pentecostal Church with the addition of Heather Cartland who was the winner of the Capt. Brant Best Fishing Story contest. The children had a great day catching tons of Sea Bass, Bluefish, Grey Trout, Sharks and topped of their catch with a double header of citation size Red Drum, pictured.