Sorry for the delay in keeping my reports up to date but August has just been a blur for us. After the Ducks Tournament we decided to head to Pirates Cove & fish the tournament for a week & we had a blast with Marlins being seen everyday. But we are home now & it is the end of August which can only mean one thing WAHOOS! They are here & in full force with catches of double digit #s some days for the last 2 weeks along with some Gaffers & Sailfish mixed in. It looks like we have lost this weekend due to the Hurricanes out in the deep but we still have plenty of dates available for the next 2 months while the fishing in Morehead City will be in full swing. Please remember we will have the Carolina Time in Stuart Florida some this winter if you are interested in catching Sailfish on the beach. Please give me a call if you are interested. On another note the Spanish Mackeral fishing on the 1/2 day trips has been outstanding also with huge #s of fish on just about every trip. If you have a kid or a wife that is unsure of heading to the deep this is a perfect way to see if they will like it.

Thanks,
Captain Shane

We could not have asked for better weather for the DU Tournament. We had a great crew & beautiful weather & the fish cooperated so what else could you ask for. The report below is from my son Hunter & I am certain Brad will follow up with one also.

Hello everyone this is Hunter. Thursday we had a halfday very good day for the crew of the Carolina Time we had 30 Spanish Mackeral and a few Bluefish. Friday the Ducks Unlimited Band the Billfish Tournament started we had a very good fishing team together. Friday we did not see a billfish but we did catch a nineteen pound wahoo and a couple of bailer dolphin. We weighed in the wahoo and a 3 pound mahi just in case we would need it for a tiebreaker. Saturday was totally different around 10:40 the short bridgepole popped but I missed him and then the fish piled on the right short rigger. Brad hooked him that time got the fish to the boat and we released a White Marlin. A few minutes later there was an explosion on the left short rigger a nice Blue Marlin had piled on it but we never could get a hook in him. We went an hour and a half without seeing anything then we came across a big log and hundreds of bailers came to us I hooked the first fish on the bridge pole on a circle hook a hopped down to the cockpit and reeled it in it was the biggest mahi we caught that dayaround one thirty a Blue Marlin piled on the teaser Brad pitched a Mackeral to him on an eighty wide and took it we were hooked up for a few seconds but he dropped it. We thought that was our only chance suddenly we saw a big splash on the long bridge pole my dad hooked him we started backing down we got the leader in six minutes and released him he weighed probaly 200 pounds that was my first Blue Marlin I have ever seen caught. We found out afterr fishing time that we were one of the four boats tied for first so it came down to the meatfish we weighed in my mahi that I caught which rounded up to 26 pounds of meatfish through the whole tournament which gave us the win. Congrats to Capt Bruce on the Megabite and Capt Cameron on the Impulse for second and third place and congrats to all the other boats that released fish. I also want to thank Steven And Jim for letting me be a part of this tournament.

If you are looking to get a shot at a Grand Slam Morehead City is HOT right now & there is plenty of good boats that has open days so come on down & get in on the action. Dont forget the Carolina Time will be in Stuart Florida December & January doing Charters.

Thanks Hunter B.

I hate to say I told you so, but in my last report I said the billfish were on their way. Well they are here! Yesterday after catching a limit of mahi inshore we steamed out to the deep in search of billfish and to make a long story short we found them. For three hours the MHC fleet experienced the best billfish bite it has seen this year. Capt. Shane and I released seven white marlin and lost a handful more. For the five boats the fished yesterday there were 32 flags flying over the waterfront. Today’s bite was just as good with one boat catching a grand slam plus an extra sail fish and the other three boats all catching multiple whites and sails. Total for today was 17 flags for four boat fished. Looks like the billfish have shown made a pretty good showing!

On another note, it looks like the Carolina Time will be heading to Stuart Fla. to chase sailfish this winter. For those that are unaware, Stuart has some of the best dead bait fishing for sails in US waters. For more details contact Capt. Shane at 252-422-0066 or visit our website at www.secondtononecharter.com

Well, we are almost through the first half of July and the fishing continues to be very good here it MHC. For the past two weeks we have been very fortunate to find limits or near limits of mahi everyday as well as have an above average shot at a billfish. While the best part of the mahi fishing has been inshore, the sailfish and white marlin are showing up in increasing numbers offshore and will hopefully continue to increase throughout July and into August.

This past weekend Capt. Shane and I took a break from charter fishing to fish the Cape Fear Blue Marlin tournament in Wrightsville Beach. Despite very rough seas which reached 8-12′ on Friday we stuck in out were able to make the most of the rough weather and slow fishing. At 2:00 on Friday a huge gaffer exploded on the right teaser then switched off to the flat line. After a tense battle on a TLD 25 in rolling seas a 40lb bull was laying on the deck and we decided to call it a day. The 40 pounder held up for first place and we were lucky enough to have a junior angler land a 22.5lb mahi on Saturday that took second place mahi and first place junior angler. While we did not have any luck on the billfish in the tournament it was nice to receive three checks for the weekend. July holds 2 more tournaments in store for us with the Barta tournament coming up next weekend and the Ducks Unlimited Band the Billfish tournament the last weekend of the month.

On another note, it looks like the Carolina Time will be heading to Stuart Fla. to chase sailfish this winter. For those that are unaware, Stuart has some of the best dead bait fishing for sails in US waters. For more details contact Capt. Shane at 252-422-0066 or visit our website at www.secondtononecharter.com

After nearly three weeks of non-stop fishing, rigging, and prepping, Capt. Shane and I have finally have two days off for a little R and R. Between the red hot mahi fishing and the Big Rock we have spooled more line, rigged more plugs, and tied more circle hooks than most would care to imagine. While the mahi fishing is still at a fever pace, unfortunately the blue marlin fishing this past week during the Big Rock was not. For four days we scoured the deep looking for one big bite that never came. Over the course of the 24 fishing hours in the tournament we tried it all from flashy plugs from locally owned Fathom Offshore tackle to bland, old, tried and true Mold Craft Wide Ranges. Still we got no love.

However, going back to the mahi fishing we did have a little excitement in the Ladies Big Rock when a stud mahi piled on the right short rigger. With the largest mahi being worth $28,000 things got very serious until the fish hit the teak deck. With an estimate of 40lbs we thought we had it in the bag but were disappointed to find we were 11 pounds shy of that big pay out.

For now it is back to charter fishing where we have been catching limits of mahi with frequency and had a sailfish release Monday. The handful of boats that fished yesterday had several encounters with white marlin so it looks like the dredges will go out tomorrow. The billfish bite should get better through the summer and we have several open days in July so check out our website for details and availability.

Brad Burton
Carolina Time
www.secondtononecharter.com

Hey this is Hunter I have not been fishing for about a week or so but i went yesterday it was our first day fishing the BigRock Blue Marlin Tournament we did not see much a few dolphin and we saw some yellowfin bust a few times which was very surprising. The billfish bite has been kinda slow the past couple of weeks there was only a hand full of bites yesterday in the BigRock maybe it will get better . But the mahis are still very thick hopefully it will stay that way. My dad has alot of trips coming up almost everyday is booked up but there is still some days that is still open so give him a call at 252-422-0066. I will keep you updated of how we are doing during the BigRock Tournament I am fishing everyday so I should have a report up every day that we fish hopefully I will have some better news on thursday.

Thanks,
Hunter B.
Second Mate

The mahi fishing here in MHC remains as good as you can ask for. With the exception of a couple of boat work days, we have spent the better part of this month taking advantage of the great fishing and sending home a lot of meat for our parties. This past week, we found the mahi loaded up on three different weed lines ranging from 30 to 200 fathoms and varying in size from smaller bailers to several pushing 40lbs. Yesterday the mahi were out in force and with every fish we brought to the boat you could look down and see hundreds more lurking in the deep. Needless to say upon returning to the dock we had a worn out crowd and dock full of meat.

Today was another boat work day which involved a lot of wax on, wax off, getting the boat ready for the Big Rock next week. Tomorrow is a fun day to the Cape then the fishing resumes Friday, Saturday is the ladies Big Rock , then the big dance begins Monday.

Brad Burton
Carolina Time
www.secondtononecharter.com

Whats For Dinner?

Hey this is Hunter again I went fishing saturday and sunday this weekend on saturday we got the lines out and within 10 minutes we had a pair of wahoo we pulled one off at the back of the boat and I landed mine. After we got all the mahi they wanted we decided to try to catch a billfish we saw a couple of free jumpers but we never had a shot at one. Saturday was a very good day I hooked both of the fish that came on the bridgepole everybody on the boat had fun and that is what matters. On sunday it was a little bit slower we did not have a bite for the first hour and a half then we got covered up we caught a few mahi then from there we managed to pick up all the mahi we wanted a pretty good day maybe the good mahi bite will stick around. Next weekend we will be fishing the Swansboro Bluewater tournament hopefully we will catch a slob blue marlin.

Thanks,
Hunter B.

My name is Hunter Captain Shanes son I am 11 years old and I went fishing with him yesterday. We had a good group of guys on the boat yesterday and caught lots of fish. We only got three lines out and we got bit. It was a very nice gaffer dolphin. A few minutes later we had a bridge pole bite and I hooked my first fish and it was on a circle hook I could not believe it. Circle hooks are the hardest hook to hook a fish on. A few fish later the mate Brad let me wire and gaff my first fish I was so happy I have waited a long time to gaff my first fish. I even got to reel in couple by myself! By 10:30 we had so much mahi we decided to go try to catch a billfish. We jumped a Sailfish off on the bridge pole and that was it. When we got back to the dock more and more mahi appeared on the dock. By the time the fish box was empty we had 30 mahi on the dock and a tuna. Today was so much fun and I hope to go again next weekend. Soon I will be out of school and I will be going  everyday I can. Fishing was so good we should have just done a 3/4 day!

Thanks,
Hunter Brafford
Second Mate on the CAROlINA

 TIME