LiveLine Charters Fishing Report

Live Line Fishing Report 08-31-2008

SFTC Press — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:17:00 +0000

Had a 3/4 live bait trip on Sunday with 3 couples from out of town. Caught plenty of live bait at the inlet and headed out to play with the AJs. The fish were shutdown and would not eat with the east wind and front that move through. After catching a few Barracudas we moved to some ledges and tried trolling. It wasn’t long and the short line went off with a nice Mahi but after a dozen jumped it broke free. Things were a little slow but we eventually had a couple of small kings. Then the long line started going off and then we had 2 Sails behind the short bait. I dropped it back and we hooked one of them and off to the races. The long line went off and we had a double on Sails but the long line spit the hook. The other fish went crazy and jumped multiple times. We ran it down and after 30 minutes we got a good look and the fish has spit the hooks and foul hooked itself in the tail. Needless to say we had no control over the fish and we eventually pulled the hooks. Things were slow in the afternoon with a few strikes and sharks. Sorry I didn’t have time for any good pictures.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271

Fishing Report 08-29-2008 Gulf Stream/Deep Jigging

SFTC Press — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:14:33 +0000

Took a family group from Wilmington and Indiana on Friday for a late season Gulf Stream and Deep Jigging trip. The ride out was good except for trying to avoid the thunder storms. When we got to 120 feet we decided to start trolling since the storms looked bad off shore. The long line went off which was a small tuna. Continued to work off shore and when we got to around 170 feet the port long rigger went off and a nice sailfish started jumping on the horizon. The ocean was flat calm and the fish put on a great show. We landed it quickly a couple of pictures and measurements and she swam away in good shape. We trolled a while longer and it was slow so we decided to do a little jigging. The 1st 2 drops and 1 lift of the rod and we had 2 nice AJs. After a long battle both fish were over 55 inches and 36 inch girth (over 80 lbs). We released them and doubled up again with more jacks. The guys had enough after a couple of fish so back to trolling and finally found a good Wahoo bite in around 150 feet. We had at least 8 to 10 strikes and one fish took 400 yards before throwing the hook. We ended up with 2 nice Wahoo and big King Mackerel.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271

Carolina Fishing Report 8-15-08

SFTC Press — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:32:03 +0000

Had a great group of guys from all over in town for a work meeting and took a day to do some fishing. The weatherman was nice with a light NE wind and calm seas. The guys wanted to get a work out so we went out 20 miles to play with the AJs. The 1st line in the water was a nice Cuda that was hooked in the corner of the jaw so he didn’t cut through the mono. We worked on the AJs most of the day with live bait and jigging. Had a couple over 40 and one pushing 50 lbs. Then the dive boat took our spot so we went off shore and tied another spot that was slow and even slower when we tried trolling. Finished out the day jigging more large AJs until everyone had their fill. Between the full moon and east wind the other species didn’t seem to be cooperating by the radio talk but we had fish most of the day. I almost forgot we hooked a 250 lb shark while jigging on my 760 spinning set up. The problem was that we hooked it in the peck-fin and got it with in 10 feet of the boat before the leader broke but a great battle.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271

Live Live Fishing Report 8-10-2008

SFTC Press — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:47:55 +0000

Had a return group of local clients with some out of town relatives for a full live bait trip. Headed out to the 23 mile area with live bait caught at the inlet and started trolling. It didn’t take long before the long line went off with a nice Mahi but it jumped the hooks. Then the short rod went off with the same result but the school came to the boat and we started throwing them live baits and we ended up with 4 nice Mahi. The largest was a 18 lb Bull that went crazy chasing and live bait for 30 seconds before he caught it. We continued trolling several spots with no more action and decided to change tactics and anchored. The light line went off and started screaming for the horizon and then came back toward the boat. The lady angler did a great job and we had a 20 lb Bonita. Then went I started jigging we hooked a nice AJ. Moved off shore and started grouper fishing and the action was none stop but most were short Scamps. We kept working at it and ended up with 8 nice keeper grouper. Headed back home with plenty of Mahi and Grouper in the box.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271

Tournament Report 2008 Industrial KMT

SFTC Press — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:31:45 +0000

We fished the 2008 local KMT on Saturday with 35 other boats from GE/Corning and DuPont. The weather was great and we had the old crew back together. Fishing partner Mike Savage and my son David. We caught bait quickly and had plenty to chum. Headed out around 25 miles to a live bottom area that looked promising but after 2 hours with nothing but sharks we decide to move off shore and bottom fish while chumming and light lining. We had plenty of grouper but no kings. Moved back into the 30/30 around 2:00 and decided finish there. At around 2:30 Mike was adjusting the short bait and it went off. The fish only ran 50 feet and went straight down like a AJ or Barracuda. We finally got a look at her after about 15 minutes and new it was a king but foul hooked. We battled the fish fro 45 minutes before I finally got a gaff in her and she almost pulled it out of my hands. It was a short and fat fish that weighed 27.8 lbs and good enough for 2nd place in the overall tournament.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271

Sportfishing the Carolina’s with LiveLine Charters

SFTC Press — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:32:17 +0000

Had a full day live bait trip on Tuesday with great group of guys from Raleigh. The weatherman was wrong as usual and it blew hard SW in the morning. We headed out 20 miles and tried drifting for AJs but the wind and seas made the drift too fast so we anchored up. The only way we could get the AJ interested was to fish over top of the wreck but with only 40 feet below the boat needless to say they won every battle. We did catch a nice 25 lb Cuda. Decide to start trolling and could keep a down rigger down for more than 60 seconds with out a AJ or large Cuda . Everyone caught a nice AJ and a lot more won the battle to break us off. After everyone had their fill of AJs we went looking for kings that did not cooperate. The ocean was flat in the afternoon so we had a nice ride in.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271

Bottom Fishing Report 8-02-2008

SFTC Press — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:02:30 +0000

Had a group of experienced anglers come down from Raleigh. The weatherman was nice for the ride out. The guys wanted to bottom fish and they brought some nice custom rods made by one of the anglers beautiful gear. Caught plenty of live bait and had fresh pogies on ice from yesterday. Started around 25 miles looking for gags but not much action. Moved out to 35 miles and after a few moves finally started catching Reds and Scamps. We picked at fish all day and worked hard. Caught a couple of AJs with the live bait. We ended up with 17 keepers and at least 10 shorts released. We had a few Reds around 15 lbs but no monsters. We did have a couple of better fish win the battle and broke off. Headed home in a hard SW breeze and 4 to 5 footers it was a wet ride but the boat ran 25 mph in the slop.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271

Sportfishing with Liveline Charters 8-1-08

SFTC Press — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:01:50 +0000

Had a group of guys in town from Charlotte for a live bait trip. Caught some of the best looking pogies I have seen in a while some looked like Harkers Island baits. Headed out 12 miles with a SW breeze. Tried for a while but no action or activity. Moved out to 18 miles to play with the AJs. We hooked a few and broke some off in the wreck but they weren’t very aggressive. The dive boat showed up so we moved off the wreck. Tried trolling again at 20 mile ledges and could only find sharks. Decided to run out to WR4 to see if the water looked better but another dive boat was on top of the wreck. Trolled around the outside and had a few good strikes. Landed a nice 25 lb Barracuda but the swells were a little large and the crew didn’t fell good so we move in closer to the beach. It was a tough day with no ling strikes which was amazing with the baits.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271

Sportfishing the Carolinas Fishing Report 7-26-08

SFTC Press — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:59:47 +0000

Took Chris Lee and the guys out from Fish Busters Tackle shop in NY on Saturday. The weather was calm (actually too calm) which was the 1st time I can say that this year. We had a little current in the morning which allowed me to anchor. Started around 25 miles and caught a couple of Reds, AJs and a short Cobia. Moved out to around 35 miles and found a couple of good spots and had a few good Reds but around 11:00 the ocean went too flat and no wind or current. We moved around a lot and scratched out a few fish in each spot. Ended up drifting and found a few Mahi. Moved out to 50 miles and the ocean looked dead so we moved back into 100 feet and fished until 6:30 with a few more fish. Chris did catch a nice Red on a new custom jig he has been working on from the shop. Ended up with 12 keeper Reds, Mahi, AJs, Cobia (released) and a few short Scamps. We worked hard all day and ended with a decent box of fish.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271

Fishing Report 7-16-2008

SFTC Press — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:11:10 +0000

Had a live bait trip with a great group of young men and Dad in town on vacation. As usual the weatherman was wrong and we had a NE wind 10 to 15 mph most of the day. Started by jigging up live bait still no pogies around Wrightsville Beach and headed off shore. Started around 14 miles and trolled for a while. We had a couple of strikes and landed a nice AJ on 20 lb tackle. It took a lot of effort with the wind and waves to get the AJ landed but a good job by a youth angler. The kings did not want to cooperate due to the east wind and by the radio everyone had the same problem. Switched tactics and started fishing with the large rods with live bait for the AJs on the wrecks. We caught fish for 5 straight hours and everyone had a blast. The 2 largest were 50 inch length x 28 inch girth and the youngest angler (11 years old) caught the largest of the day 52 inch length x 32 inch girth a 60 lber. Late in the day the wind slowed and we moved in around 10 miles and fianlly had a double header of kings.

Captain Mike Jackson
LiveLine Charters
910-686-7271