HOLDEN CHARTERS
SOUTHPORT NORTH CAROLINA
2009 Fishing Reports
4/18/09 EAST OF THE TOWER
My brother Heath Holden and his father in-law Bob Hawkins were in town from Tacoma Washington for my Grandfather's 90th Birthday and we got a weather window Saturday Morning.
Called up my cousin Jason Jones and we were off to the Tower. Worked some structure a little SW and smoked the BSB. Somee of the biggest Green Heads I have seen in a long time. Loaded up on all the other usuals Pinkies, Jolt Heads, Grunts. All good quality.
Jigged up some bait and headed about 10 miles East of Old Faithful, caught plenty more of the assorted bottom and few Grouper, Reds and Greenbeans.
Grouper bite was slow but the water was still a little cool.
All in all a great day on the water.
4/25/09 IN THE 350s
Had a good charter crew today, with a great day on the water.
Went to the 350s today to get on some bottom fish, and we steady picked all day, all were very good quality fish filled up a couple wheel barrow loads with the usual bottom dwellers. Couldn't get the Grouper to chew consistently but the one's we caught were smokers.
Water is getting better every day.
Be safe and go gettum boyz.
4/26/09 EAST OF THE TOWER
Had a great Charter Group today - The Cainsable fishing team.
James and his family hammered the bottom fish pretty good. His wife and daughter are very good hooks.
Grouper Bite was very slow for us today, I think it was due to the lack of current but they managed a few.
Been a long time since I have seen the water as still as it has been the last 2 days.
Today was a special day for me cause they allowed my 5 year old son Hunter to ride out with us. It was his madien voyage in the ocean and he is hooked for life. Gonna have me a great co captain in a few years.
Thanks again James and Diane for a great day.
5/16/09 OFF THE BEACH
Had a fun trip today, RAC, Bill Andrews, and my little son Hunter was going to head off shore to catch Mahi but decided against it because of a forever lingering storm that didnt look like it would clear any time soon.
So we implemented plan B - cruise the beach today to see if all of our gear was ready for the up-coming King Tournaments and if there was still a stray one still hangin around from eariler this week.
Loaded the net with some P-Nut size pogies out of the Wildlife Canal and headed to the reef to start.
Fishing was a little slow for most of the day but we picked at the Spanish on and off and didn't catch any Kings. Did hear of one Cobia getting caught at the Old sea Buoy and a few Juvy Kings.
One of the most relaxing days I have ever had on the water with some good friends and a little man that absolutely loves it out there. He is Hooked.
If the weather is nice I kinda doupt I will be leaving the hill on Meat or Pick up trips without him any more.
5/30/09 EAST OF THE TOWER
Had a great crew from Rocky Top Tennessee aboard the Miss Behavin this weekend that booked 2 trips this weekend - Scott, Chris, David, Jody and Buster.
We started trolling right at the tower on some surface baits and all 5 guys took a turn on the King Mackerel while we were rigging up the bottom sticks.
We then took them about 10 more miles East offshore and they banged the bottom fish the rest of the day to the tune of about 3 boxes. All good quality of the usual.
We had planned to get some Mahi but they didn't want to stop bottom fishing and start trolling. The Kings were teen agers but chewing hard.
5/31/09 IN THE 350s
Once in a while you get lucky and all the planets align, took the same group with sore arms for one more day Soutwest to hunt for Grouper and we stopped on a little Rock on our way to the 350 line and it was show time.
The first drop we pulled up 3 American Red Snapper on the first drop, and it never stopped. We were pulling them up 3 and 4 at a time on every drop (most were undersized and released) but at one point I made them stop and take a picture. We limited the boat on American Reds and probably caught and released close to 40 of them. I have never seen them that thick on a series of rocks and that's a great sign.
We moved on offshore and poured it on with a limit of Pinkies, Hugh B-Liners, and Black Bass. Also caught some super nice Trigger Fish, Red and Scamp Grouper.
We had a school of P-Nut Mahi come to the boat and the crew didn't even want to quit bottom fishing long enough to try them. Thanks guys for 2 great days and I think you will have enough fish for a few Fry's in 2009.
The Fishing is RED HOT right now - so lets go gettum boyz.
6/14/09 OFF-SHORE TRIP
Had a Charter cancel on Friday because of the weather and had fueled the boat so we decided at the last minute to get a few friends together for a fun run on Sunday.
Had Capt. Ed Shaw, Chrissy Edwards, and Mark Albert with me today, and we headed out in some good seas. We started at a good number about 25 miles out and caught a few BSB and American Red Snapper. Headed on out another 14 Miles and had a outstanding bite on about a dozen Kings, a couple of small Mahi, Amber Jacks and some more bottom dwellers. Slow bite on the Grouper for us today, however we got the unusual catch of the day a Jack and a Lobster on the Green Pirate Plug at the same time.
- Great Day on the water with Great Friends -
6/20/09 JOLLY MON KING MACKEREL TOURNAMENT
We fished hard but came up short on a big King. 78th place out of 305 boats. The fish were biting pretty good but they were all small juvy 10-12 pound Kings.
We did manage to get a few nice Mahi and our Lady Angler Marisa Game caught a good one. We will be back after them in 3 weeks for the East Coast Got-Em-On Tournament.
7/3/09 Charter at the Horse Shoe
Had a great Charter today, Hugh Campbell, Roger and Tray Coen. It started off very rough so we decided it would be best to just troll. We had an outstanding day catching Mahi, King Mackerel, Amberjack and we released a good Sailfish.
Sail was caught on light tackle 20 pound test line and a live bait rod.
Hat's off to you Mr. Roger!!!!!!!!!!!!
7/4/09 Charter in the 350s
Had a great charter today from Lumberton NC, they wanted to catch bottom fish. The fish started off slow but finally started biting and the crew wound up the day with a decent catch. The big Sharks off-shore were hungary today and we caught and released a few of them also. They are all the fight you will ever want on a bottom rod.
7/11/09 EAST COAST GOT-EM-ON TOURNAMENT
Had a near perfect condition day for Tournament Fishing today; the bait was thick on the beach and 1 throw filled our net. We started off right on the beach and picked up a french fry (small juvy king) and trolled for a couple of hours.
Not much happening so we moved offshore to some deeper water and started looking for bait pods on the surface. Finally got a good strike at the Sharkhole and caught a high teenage king, made another pass and hooked a good fish estimated in the high 20 pound range that came unbuttoned at the boat, spirits took a nose dive but RAC, Steve and Marisa put the lines back out and flipped a pogy in our big fish's mouth. We got it in and ran to the scales and it took 2nd place at 38.35 pounds.
A great day on the water with a great team. Cant wait for the next one.
7/18/09 CHARTER AT THE TOWER
Me and RAC had a great bunch of guys (Jimmy Stewart Group) from his neck of the woods on board today that wanted to catch some top and bottom fish and see the legendary Tower.
All goals were met and exceeded; they caught some very nice Kings that made the reels scream, some Jacks that made arms sore and a good pile of bottom fish for a couple of fish frys.
They kept me laughing all day, and it was near perfect fishing conditions, overcast and very cool for July.
7/25/09 CHARTER AT THE HORSESHOE
Had a great guy that chartered the boat today by himself Mr. Jeff Reid. He said he liked to fish solo and that he did.
The ocean was a little rough but he had flew in from Michigan and it was a now or never trip so we took off.
We set out the trolling gear and it started a little slow, but we hung in there and made a very good trip out of it catching a limit of nice Kings and about 9 Mahi.
We attempted to drop down and bottom fish but it was a little to sporty for that action. He did get to wind in some Black Sea Bass, Pinkies and a couple of undersize American Red Snapper.
All in all a great trip with a good guy, Thanks again Jeff.
8/8/09 PICK-UP TRIP
Well we were suppose to fish the Long Bay Lady Angler Tournament today but they cancelled it at the last minute because of the economy.
That had everyone a little dissapointed but we re-huddled and got a crew ready to fish so we went out and searched for Bottom Dwellers. We had Tommy brown, James Cain, Jim, Dawn and Chrissy.
The bottom fishing was slow because of a slack tide all day but we managed a few of the usual suspects, BSB / Pinkies / Grunts / B-liners. And had a few Grouper that managed to rock us up.
The Top Water Fishing was slow because of the hot surface water but a few schoolie Kings were boated and the Mahi eluded us this trip.
Other than it being hotter than hades it was a slick great day on the pond with a very good crew.
8/15/09 CHARTER AT THE TOWER
Took a father / son team from the Charlotte Area today mr. Dean Crawford and his son.
They wanted to see the Tower and catch some fish so we did both. the ocean was supposed to be flat calm with little to no wind so naturally it was blowing 15-20 and a little bumpy.
This time of the year is always tough on top and bottom because the water is so hot and it is right before a season change. But we managed to pull up some nice bottom fish and had some good runs on the lite lines.
All in all we made a good trip of it and made some new friends. The Hurricanes off Africa have finally started showing there presence and we will probbably have to cancel next weekends charters because of Big Bad Bill.
We will be at it again soon and will post up the reports.
8/30/09 BRUNSWICK ISLANDS KING MACKEREL TOURNAMENT
Wow is all I can say about today - It had to be one of the toughest days fishing I have ever had. The tournament had been postponed until Sunday because of Hurricane Danny had to get past the coast on Friday. And when he went by he hit the switch on the fish to the OFF position.
Started the day off right by not catching enough bait because the pogies decided to stay deep all morning. Did manage a couple dozen baits and headed off-shore. While we were running a downrigger came unlatched and fell overboard with a Penn Torque Reel and Custom Rod sitting in the holder. About a $1000.00 dollars worth of new artificial reef donated to Davy Jones Locker.
Finally made it off-shore in some very rough conditions and had 1 strike that we thought was a King Mackerel all day. The rest were Spanish, Bluefish and Sharks.
Needless to say we did not weigh a fish but the bright side is not many other teams did either so we are still in 5th place in SKA Points and Marisa is still the leading Lady Angler in our division.
Oh well - Momma said their would be days like this - Momma you were right. We will be at it agin in 3 weeks in the US OPEN.
9/19/09 CHARTER AT THE TOWER
Had a great group today, Eric Bell and crew.
Started out with very rough seas and it only got worse. These guys were awesome fishermen and they made a trip out of it anyway.
They had a good catch of bottom dwellers and caught some Kings and False Albies on Top. Thanks guys for a great trip / can't wait to take you again.
10/02/09 - 10/03/09 US OPEN KING MACKEREL TOURNAMENT
Beautiful sea conditions and an awesome two day King Mackerel bite, just as it should be the in October. Caught and weighed a 28.75 Kingfish that placed us in 49th place in the tournament. Also caught a citation 26 pound Blackfin Tuna on the King Gear.
10/10/09 RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE KING MACKEREL TOURNAMENT
Some days it just dont pay to get out of bed!!!!!!!!!!!!! A very tough day on the water, a big cold front came across the area and completely shut down a red hot King bite and left us with 5 foot constant seas to contend with right off the beach. Wish I had something good to say about this day but we fished hard all day and never got a strike. Momma said there would be days like this.
10/25/09 FALL BRAWL KING MACKEREL TOURNAMENT
Was kind of worried about today with the weather conditions perdicted but we dug our heels in deep and went for it. Another big cold front crossed the area just like last tournament and had the seas pretty stirred up but we had an early bite and caught a 24.75 pound fish. Not the winner by a long shot but a quality finish for our season putting us in 18th place for the tournament and finishing up the team with a 3rd place finish in the open class in the division, and 4th place Lady Angler. It was a great year for our team and we are pumped up for 2010.
11/07/09 PICK UP CHARTER AT THE HORSE SHOE
Had a great crew of Richard & Jerry Clark, Tommy Brown and Glen on board today for a little Fall free for all King Mackerel Fishing.
Started the day off looking for some live bait off the beach, we knew it would be tough to catch but still wanted to give it a try. First launch of the net in front of the Lighthouse on some bait we maked on the sonar proved to be something other than pogies. We loaded the net and I mean " LOADED" with Virginia Mullet. We had 43 big eaters in one cast. Moved on down the beach and finally caught some big pogies to take off shore.
Live bait proved to be the right choice because it was on from the first line we set. The King Mackerel bite was off the hook, as it always is there this time of the year. We had doubles, triples and would have had quad hook ups going at one time but we never got 4 lines in the water at one time.
If you love non stop "REEL" action and have never fished the fall bite of Kings off of North Carolina do yourself a favor and jump on a boat in November / December.
We have a few openings for December, book your trip today.
My brother Heath Holden and his father in-law Bob Hawkins were in town from Tacoma Washington for my Grandfather's 90th Birthday and we got a weather window Saturday Morning.
Called up my cousin Jason Jones and we were off to the Tower. Worked some structure a little SW and smoked the BSB. Somee of the biggest Green Heads I have seen in a long time. Loaded up on all the other usuals Pinkies, Jolt Heads, Grunts. All good quality.
Jigged up some bait and headed about 10 miles East of Old Faithful, caught plenty more of the assorted bottom and few Grouper, Reds and Greenbeans.
Grouper bite was slow but the water was still a little cool.
All in all a great day on the water.
4/25/09 IN THE 350s
Had a good charter crew today, with a great day on the water.
Went to the 350s today to get on some bottom fish, and we steady picked all day, all were very good quality fish filled up a couple wheel barrow loads with the usual bottom dwellers. Couldn't get the Grouper to chew consistently but the one's we caught were smokers.
Water is getting better every day.
Be safe and go gettum boyz.
4/26/09 EAST OF THE TOWER
Had a great Charter Group today - The Cainsable fishing team.
James and his family hammered the bottom fish pretty good. His wife and daughter are very good hooks.
Grouper Bite was very slow for us today, I think it was due to the lack of current but they managed a few.
Been a long time since I have seen the water as still as it has been the last 2 days.
Today was a special day for me cause they allowed my 5 year old son Hunter to ride out with us. It was his madien voyage in the ocean and he is hooked for life. Gonna have me a great co captain in a few years.
Thanks again James and Diane for a great day.
5/16/09 OFF THE BEACH
Had a fun trip today, RAC, Bill Andrews, and my little son Hunter was going to head off shore to catch Mahi but decided against it because of a forever lingering storm that didnt look like it would clear any time soon.
So we implemented plan B - cruise the beach today to see if all of our gear was ready for the up-coming King Tournaments and if there was still a stray one still hangin around from eariler this week.
Loaded the net with some P-Nut size pogies out of the Wildlife Canal and headed to the reef to start.
Fishing was a little slow for most of the day but we picked at the Spanish on and off and didn't catch any Kings. Did hear of one Cobia getting caught at the Old sea Buoy and a few Juvy Kings.
One of the most relaxing days I have ever had on the water with some good friends and a little man that absolutely loves it out there. He is Hooked.
If the weather is nice I kinda doupt I will be leaving the hill on Meat or Pick up trips without him any more.
5/30/09 EAST OF THE TOWER
Had a great crew from Rocky Top Tennessee aboard the Miss Behavin this weekend that booked 2 trips this weekend - Scott, Chris, David, Jody and Buster.
We started trolling right at the tower on some surface baits and all 5 guys took a turn on the King Mackerel while we were rigging up the bottom sticks.
We then took them about 10 more miles East offshore and they banged the bottom fish the rest of the day to the tune of about 3 boxes. All good quality of the usual.
We had planned to get some Mahi but they didn't want to stop bottom fishing and start trolling. The Kings were teen agers but chewing hard.
5/31/09 IN THE 350s
Once in a while you get lucky and all the planets align, took the same group with sore arms for one more day Soutwest to hunt for Grouper and we stopped on a little Rock on our way to the 350 line and it was show time.
The first drop we pulled up 3 American Red Snapper on the first drop, and it never stopped. We were pulling them up 3 and 4 at a time on every drop (most were undersized and released) but at one point I made them stop and take a picture. We limited the boat on American Reds and probably caught and released close to 40 of them. I have never seen them that thick on a series of rocks and that's a great sign.
We moved on offshore and poured it on with a limit of Pinkies, Hugh B-Liners, and Black Bass. Also caught some super nice Trigger Fish, Red and Scamp Grouper.
We had a school of P-Nut Mahi come to the boat and the crew didn't even want to quit bottom fishing long enough to try them. Thanks guys for 2 great days and I think you will have enough fish for a few Fry's in 2009.
The Fishing is RED HOT right now - so lets go gettum boyz.
6/14/09 OFF-SHORE TRIP
Had a Charter cancel on Friday because of the weather and had fueled the boat so we decided at the last minute to get a few friends together for a fun run on Sunday.
Had Capt. Ed Shaw, Chrissy Edwards, and Mark Albert with me today, and we headed out in some good seas. We started at a good number about 25 miles out and caught a few BSB and American Red Snapper. Headed on out another 14 Miles and had a outstanding bite on about a dozen Kings, a couple of small Mahi, Amber Jacks and some more bottom dwellers. Slow bite on the Grouper for us today, however we got the unusual catch of the day a Jack and a Lobster on the Green Pirate Plug at the same time.
- Great Day on the water with Great Friends - 6/20/09 JOLLY MON KING MACKEREL TOURNAMENT
We fished hard but came up short on a big King. 78th place out of 305 boats. The fish were biting pretty good but they were all small juvy 10-12 pound Kings.
We did manage to get a few nice Mahi and our Lady Angler Marisa Game caught a good one. We will be back after them in 3 weeks for the East Coast Got-Em-On Tournament.
7/3/09 Charter at the Horse Shoe
Had a great Charter today, Hugh Campbell, Roger and Tray Coen. It started off very rough so we decided it would be best to just troll. We had an outstanding day catching Mahi, King Mackerel, Amberjack and we released a good Sailfish.
Sail was caught on light tackle 20 pound test line and a live bait rod.
Hat's off to you Mr. Roger!!!!!!!!!!!!
7/4/09 Charter in the 350s
Had a great charter today from Lumberton NC, they wanted to catch bottom fish. The fish started off slow but finally started biting and the crew wound up the day with a decent catch. The big Sharks off-shore were hungary today and we caught and released a few of them also. They are all the fight you will ever want on a bottom rod.
7/11/09 EAST COAST GOT-EM-ON TOURNAMENT
Had a near perfect condition day for Tournament Fishing today; the bait was thick on the beach and 1 throw filled our net. We started off right on the beach and picked up a french fry (small juvy king) and trolled for a couple of hours.
Not much happening so we moved offshore to some deeper water and started looking for bait pods on the surface. Finally got a good strike at the Sharkhole and caught a high teenage king, made another pass and hooked a good fish estimated in the high 20 pound range that came unbuttoned at the boat, spirits took a nose dive but RAC, Steve and Marisa put the lines back out and flipped a pogy in our big fish's mouth. We got it in and ran to the scales and it took 2nd place at 38.35 pounds.
A great day on the water with a great team. Cant wait for the next one.
7/18/09 CHARTER AT THE TOWER
Me and RAC had a great bunch of guys (Jimmy Stewart Group) from his neck of the woods on board today that wanted to catch some top and bottom fish and see the legendary Tower.
All goals were met and exceeded; they caught some very nice Kings that made the reels scream, some Jacks that made arms sore and a good pile of bottom fish for a couple of fish frys.
They kept me laughing all day, and it was near perfect fishing conditions, overcast and very cool for July.
7/25/09 CHARTER AT THE HORSESHOE
Had a great guy that chartered the boat today by himself Mr. Jeff Reid. He said he liked to fish solo and that he did.
The ocean was a little rough but he had flew in from Michigan and it was a now or never trip so we took off.
We set out the trolling gear and it started a little slow, but we hung in there and made a very good trip out of it catching a limit of nice Kings and about 9 Mahi.
We attempted to drop down and bottom fish but it was a little to sporty for that action. He did get to wind in some Black Sea Bass, Pinkies and a couple of undersize American Red Snapper.
All in all a great trip with a good guy, Thanks again Jeff.
8/8/09 PICK-UP TRIP
Well we were suppose to fish the Long Bay Lady Angler Tournament today but they cancelled it at the last minute because of the economy.
That had everyone a little dissapointed but we re-huddled and got a crew ready to fish so we went out and searched for Bottom Dwellers. We had Tommy brown, James Cain, Jim, Dawn and Chrissy.
The bottom fishing was slow because of a slack tide all day but we managed a few of the usual suspects, BSB / Pinkies / Grunts / B-liners. And had a few Grouper that managed to rock us up.
The Top Water Fishing was slow because of the hot surface water but a few schoolie Kings were boated and the Mahi eluded us this trip.
Other than it being hotter than hades it was a slick great day on the pond with a very good crew.
8/15/09 CHARTER AT THE TOWER
Took a father / son team from the Charlotte Area today mr. Dean Crawford and his son.
They wanted to see the Tower and catch some fish so we did both. the ocean was supposed to be flat calm with little to no wind so naturally it was blowing 15-20 and a little bumpy.
This time of the year is always tough on top and bottom because the water is so hot and it is right before a season change. But we managed to pull up some nice bottom fish and had some good runs on the lite lines.
All in all we made a good trip of it and made some new friends. The Hurricanes off Africa have finally started showing there presence and we will probbably have to cancel next weekends charters because of Big Bad Bill.
We will be at it again soon and will post up the reports.
8/30/09 BRUNSWICK ISLANDS KING MACKEREL TOURNAMENT
Wow is all I can say about today - It had to be one of the toughest days fishing I have ever had. The tournament had been postponed until Sunday because of Hurricane Danny had to get past the coast on Friday. And when he went by he hit the switch on the fish to the OFF position.
Started the day off right by not catching enough bait because the pogies decided to stay deep all morning. Did manage a couple dozen baits and headed off-shore. While we were running a downrigger came unlatched and fell overboard with a Penn Torque Reel and Custom Rod sitting in the holder. About a $1000.00 dollars worth of new artificial reef donated to Davy Jones Locker.
Finally made it off-shore in some very rough conditions and had 1 strike that we thought was a King Mackerel all day. The rest were Spanish, Bluefish and Sharks.
Needless to say we did not weigh a fish but the bright side is not many other teams did either so we are still in 5th place in SKA Points and Marisa is still the leading Lady Angler in our division.
Oh well - Momma said their would be days like this - Momma you were right. We will be at it agin in 3 weeks in the US OPEN.
9/19/09 CHARTER AT THE TOWER
Had a great group today, Eric Bell and crew.
Started out with very rough seas and it only got worse. These guys were awesome fishermen and they made a trip out of it anyway.
They had a good catch of bottom dwellers and caught some Kings and False Albies on Top. Thanks guys for a great trip / can't wait to take you again.
10/02/09 - 10/03/09 US OPEN KING MACKEREL TOURNAMENT
Beautiful sea conditions and an awesome two day King Mackerel bite, just as it should be the in October. Caught and weighed a 28.75 Kingfish that placed us in 49th place in the tournament. Also caught a citation 26 pound Blackfin Tuna on the King Gear.
10/10/09 RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE KING MACKEREL TOURNAMENT
Some days it just dont pay to get out of bed!!!!!!!!!!!!! A very tough day on the water, a big cold front came across the area and completely shut down a red hot King bite and left us with 5 foot constant seas to contend with right off the beach. Wish I had something good to say about this day but we fished hard all day and never got a strike. Momma said there would be days like this.
10/25/09 FALL BRAWL KING MACKEREL TOURNAMENT
Was kind of worried about today with the weather conditions perdicted but we dug our heels in deep and went for it. Another big cold front crossed the area just like last tournament and had the seas pretty stirred up but we had an early bite and caught a 24.75 pound fish. Not the winner by a long shot but a quality finish for our season putting us in 18th place for the tournament and finishing up the team with a 3rd place finish in the open class in the division, and 4th place Lady Angler. It was a great year for our team and we are pumped up for 2010.
11/07/09 PICK UP CHARTER AT THE HORSE SHOE
Had a great crew of Richard & Jerry Clark, Tommy Brown and Glen on board today for a little Fall free for all King Mackerel Fishing.
Started the day off looking for some live bait off the beach, we knew it would be tough to catch but still wanted to give it a try. First launch of the net in front of the Lighthouse on some bait we maked on the sonar proved to be something other than pogies. We loaded the net and I mean " LOADED" with Virginia Mullet. We had 43 big eaters in one cast. Moved on down the beach and finally caught some big pogies to take off shore.
Live bait proved to be the right choice because it was on from the first line we set. The King Mackerel bite was off the hook, as it always is there this time of the year. We had doubles, triples and would have had quad hook ups going at one time but we never got 4 lines in the water at one time.
If you love non stop "REEL" action and have never fished the fall bite of Kings off of North Carolina do yourself a favor and jump on a boat in November / December.
We have a few openings for December, book your trip today.
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