We arrived to find a few more boats on site than in the past few days. There were a good number of birds and plenty of fish, but not in the numbers we had for the last few days. The wind had changed back to a north blow and the extra boats probably dind't help either. We worked around the scattered schools and picked up some fish, with most being just sub legal and a few in the low 30-inch range. More blues are moving in by the day and they are already getting to be a PIA! While we were on these fish Ray was nice enough to let me take a cast with his 9wt and a hand tied fly. I must have been one hell of a fly because I made 1 cast and got 1 keeper, especially since Riptide doesn't flyfish

After a while things were not getting any better so rather than pound a slow steady pick we opted to move and to get away from the crowds. I ran to a spot I don't fish much, but that I keep in my mental notebook for just such an occassion. Since this was a buddy trip and nota charter, I also decided to play around with the new Navionics software to get a better handle on some of the features. Both plans worked out well.

I got to where I was hoping to try and we saw some birds working a long narrow area. I fumbled around with the Navionics 3D stuff and was able to find a long narrow gully in the bottom that was not on the regular navigational chart, but was 20 feet deeper than the water around it! We set up on the birds and adjusted the drift to stay over the narrow gully. Drew and Ray tossed topwater and flies and landed some nice legal fish.

Bob and I worked jigs on the bottom and were able to drop them into the gully to produce some larger fish. Bob had the hot hand getting that jig down into the deeper water and is skill paid off with the best fish of the day.

I'm still learning the new software, but it was a major factor in us getting these particular fish. I've been able to use my sounder and my radar to help get us on and keep us on fish. Now I just need to learn to take full advantage of this 3D plotter to do the same. While we were playing with the plotter we found several "new" humps an ridges that we intend to fish a little later in the season when the fish set up on structure more.

After a while we were done hammering the mid size fish and we decided to trygoing for Mr Big by chucking Big Wood into the rocks. We hit several good spots but no luck. Then the weather began to turn so we called it a day and ran for the barn.

Final tally around two dozen fish per person. Not a bad day but not what it has been. The fish were a bit more scattered and we not feeding as aggressivly as they have been. Lures of choice, well we tossed allot of stuff. Nothing really shined today. All the usual stuff got eaten and so did the flies. I think the white Spro w/ pork probably did the best, but again nothing really was the go to bait today. The water ranged from 20-50 feet in the first spot. It was 50 feet dropping to 70 feet in the gully we were fishing. Then we plugged the rocks in shallow (less than 15 foot).

Overall a solid half day outing. It's always fun to fish with my friends and we spend as much time scrweing around and joking as we do fishing. I was tired today so now I'm going to spend the rest of this dreary day taking a nice long nap!

__________________
Good Luck,
Capt. Terry Nugent
Riptide Charters
www.riptidecharters.com

We make the stop for fuel and get stuck at the naval base as they closed the port to all traffic for an hour . During this i get a call from bruce (who is sittin at the marina) that my Go**mn blue crabs arent in the friggin bait pen, damn theves. So after procuring some new bait and the harbor opens we scream out to the area to get set up. We cruised around til we finally got on the marks and set the hook. It took longer to anchor than it took to get the first bite. First the clam goes off on a spinner then the other clam then the crab. rember the number of anglers i had so now were reeling with our toes, hands and anything else we can use all the drum were blacks and small (less than 35lbs) but sporty and fun.

We called a few boats in an continued to have multibles and triples for about 3 hrs till a boat pulled up behind us but the rain was coming and it was a good few hours out the final tally was 10 Black drum including one that had a tag in it from the South Carolina DNR that was tagged in a marsh when it was a real pup like 16 inches so i guess the conservation worked.

Capt. Mike Beane
Blue Dragon Charters
www.bluedragonfishing.com
(757) 321-0693
(757) 373-2338

CLEAN SWEEP SPORTFISHING
Capt Tim Tanghare 609-780-2772 Capt Paul Brady 267-278-4299
www.cleansweepcapemay.com

Give me a call, to get "Hooked Up"!!!!

Capt. Marty LaCoste
985 856 4477
www.absolutefishingcharters.com

Contact: David Hall - 301-713-3066

May 15, 2008

PORTS in Pascagoula

High resolution (Credit: NOAA)

"NOAA is committed to providing real-time environmental data through PORTS and other integrated ocean observing systems to ensure safe, efficient navigation within our nation's ports and beyond," said John H. Dunnigan, NOAA assistant administrator for the National Ocean Service. "NOAA is pleased to add the Port of Pascagoula to the nationwide PORTS network."

Administered by the NOAA Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, PORTS can significantly reduce the risk of vessel groundings and increase the amount of cargo moved through the port by enabling mariners to safely utilize every inch of dredged channel depth.

"The real-time oceanographic and meteorological information provided by PORTS will not only provide commercial and recreational mariners with reliable navigational information for safe and efficient travel but will also enhance local weather and coastal marine forecasting," said Senator Thad Cochran. "I am proud to have this important technology located in the Port of Pascagoula."

The Pascagoula system brings the number of PORTS in operation around the nation to 15. Estimates of economic benefits directly attributed to PORTS range from $7 million per year for Tampa Bay to $16 million per year for Houston-Galveston.

High resolution (Credit: NOAA)

"Navigation safety is vital to recreational boaters, the commercial fishing industry as well as the shipping industry," said Mark McAndrews, director of the Port of Pascagoula. "PORTS offers state-of-the-art technology that will be available 24/7 to assist in navigation preparation. The system will also provide important data for search and rescue, weather forecasters, federal agencies and emergency management offices."

The Port of Pascagoula is the largest of the state's 16 ports. Collectively, Mississippi's ports contribute $1.4 billion and some 34,000 direct and indirect jobs to the state's economy.

Not much to report from today, towed the big plugs around all day today also, had a couple of small dolphin impale themselves on our baits that was about it.

The Brother's Pride weighed in a 454# and several others were released.

Probably going to lay day tommorow.
_________________
Captain Jay Kavanagh
Bite Me Sportfishing
Visit Fishbiteme.com
Thanks for checking out our daily fishing report!
captjay@fishbiteme.com
252-996-0295 mobile/boat
252-995-3035 home

"My arms hurt from reeling in these fish!"
"I can't hear the other guys talking, the fish breaking around the boat is making too much noise"
"What kind of guide only brings 8 dozen sandeel colored sluggos and then runs out?"
"We only tripled up on that drift, what happened?"
"These fish keep taking line when I'm trying to reel them in!"

God help me the things I have to deal with!

OK BY NOW I HOPE YOU KNOW I"M BEING SARCASTIC!

Todays was the first charter for me for 2008. Mike C and Associated Builder's did a corperate charter for some of his emplyee's and customers. I had Peter and Kenny both of whom I 've chartered before and Frank a new member of the group, and of course Mike C who played mate and host.

The day had high expectations after yesterdays trip and it did not disapoint. We splashed in Bourne around 0600 and we ran out towards the West End. It took all of 5 minutes to get the curse off the boat with some sub-legal fish near the canal. After a quick dozen shorts we pressed on.

Within a few miles we found more life and bigger fish. This next group had a mix of shorts and just legal bass. It also yielded the days BIGGEST surprise. Peter got the biggest black seabass I've ever seen, and did it on a FinS shad!

After landing Bass-zilla we worked our waya around from pod to pod looking for better size fish. We'd get thre or four fish per guy per pod of fish to get a feel for each group then move on. After an hour or so we decided to run a ways to get to some larger fish.

While we were putting to the fish we got our first Safety boarding of the season too. The crew from the USCG were on patrol and we got a routine boarding. As always the crew was fast, polite and efficent. We passed with flying colors and as they were leaving they even commented how they liked the boat and how they felt sorry they interupted such a great bite. It's never an interuption when they are trying to keep me and my sports safe.

We reached our destination to find what Mike C called "over 5 acres of fish on top all at once!" It was pretty amazing to see that large an area almost brown with bass. The guys got to work on a larger class of fish. These fish were all averaging 30-32 inches with very few under legal size.

The great part was if you could get past the low 30-inch fish you could hang something in the high 30 range.

Or even into the 40-inch range. Like Peter's fish of the day, this 42-incher!

The part about the complaints was sort of true, the guys arms were sore, if we only tripled up it was odd and we did burn through around 7 dozen Fin S shad AND THAT WASN"T THE BEST LURE WE USED!

This was just an unadulterated bail job on the fish. Everyone on the boat was blown away by the sheer number of fish moving into the bay and how thick the schools were. I called in a buddy from 15 miles away just so he could see just how awesome it was!

Final tally was just too high to count. The fish were coming in so fast Mike C had to stop fishing and help me land the non-stop triple we had going. By the time we got the last fish unhooked the guys were tight again. It was an endless cycle for hours. I had to ease up out of the fish just so I could get a bathroom break and grab a drink.

The lures of choice were Fin S shad for sheer numbers, Olive Salty Needle's took the consistantly larger fish for the day than all the other lures, but the small olive Ocean Lure got the big fish honors with a 38 incher and the 42-inch fish of the day. These fish were all taken on light gear, 10-14 -pound test was used for all of them. Fight times were kept to a minimum since all the guys are avid fisherman and they knew how to put the screws to the fish and land them quickly. The water was 15-50 feet deep. The fish were feeding on the same 2-3 inch small rainbait they've been on. There were some blues in the mix, but not enought to make us change stratagy.

Overall just a spectacular day. I got some HD video at one point, but Mike C couldn't keep up with landing the fish solo and I had to stop. These guys are great to fish with and I look forward to many more trips with them. I told them I was going to bust on them about the "complaining" so they know this report is coming. I hope this is an indicator of how the rest of my trips are going to go for the season. I try to get people to book for this mid May run if they want big numbers of fish, but people don't always think of May as prime bass time. If anyone wants to get out and get on this bite let me know, I still have room for this early bite and it's not showing any signs of letting up anytime soon.

__________________
Good Luck,
Capt. Terry Nugent
Riptide Charters
www.riptidecharters.com

Pro Staffer Mark Wisch of Pacific Edge will be discussing squid making techniques, including where to find them and how to catch them. Mark will also speak about using fish finders, using an informative Power Point presentation.

Contender West Team Captain Barry Brightenburg, who is also General Manager of Sundance Marine and owner of Fish Trap Lures, will be using a Power Point presentation describing how to find the fish. Barry will cover observing current fishing conditions, plus techniques for gathering current fishing information using sea temperature charts and utilizing buoy information to help locate fish.

Manufactures Representatives from several companies will be present, including Yamaha Marine, Ford Trucks, RayMarine and Furuno electronics.

Tackle experts from Dana Landing Market and Fisherman's Landing Tackle Shop will also be on hand to answer tackle and rigging questions.

Catered food & drinks will be provided by Tommy Gomes from Unigoo.

Space is limited, so please RSVP to Sundance Marine at (619)226-3737.

WHEN: Thursday (June 5th)

• Meet & Greet" at 6:00 PM

• Seminar: 7:00-9:00 PM

We spent the day dragin big plugs around looking for the big blue bruiser.

We did not see a billfish, we did catch two dolphins, we weighed the largest, caught by John, but it was not in the money for us.

It was a really pretty day to spend lookin at the lures.

Maybe tommorow!!!!

Captain Jay Kavanagh
Bite Me Sportfishing
Visit Fishbiteme.com
captjay@fishbiteme.com
252-996-0295 mobile/boat
252-995-3035 home