OU brings in not one...not two...but THREE GIANTS this week!!!

Giant #1 caught on Friday by Captain Joe Trainor and mates Joe Bonvetti and Johnny Kauterman - 82 inches and cored out at 230 lbs

What a week we had down here in Morehead City, NC. We finished on Monday with just albacores and king macks for us, however, it was the first day that I heard of with numerous bites. There was maybe 3 or 4 caught out of maybe 8 bites. We had a couple blow days this week with some very strong SE winds. We were back at it on Friday and with a bit of chill in the air we had a feeling it was going to happen for us. We had our first giant bluefin bite, a long rigger, at 9 am and made quick work of the fish. We had him on the leader in 30 seconds and put a dart in him in 8 minutes. Friday ’ s fish measured 82 inches and cored out at 230 lbs. The fish ate a black Joe Schute 3 oz head with a crystal and mylar skirt. Back at it on Saturday we again had our bite at 9:30. This fish was a little more feisty and was a planer bite . The fish was tough around the boat and we finally darted the 90 incher in 30 minutes.  Saturday ’ s fish ate a 3 oz joe schute pink head with a pink skirt on a planer and cored out at 290 lbs.

Fishing has finally started to turn on this week as we needed the chill in the area. We caught our two fish this week in varying temps. The first in 63 degree water as the second was 59.6. We look forward to everything staying very good down here as air temps should be around 50 all week.   Our first fish was filled with bunker and the second one had nothing. We look forward to hopefully having luck on our side again this week. Mates Joe Bonvetti and Johnny Kauterman did an excellent job this week, from darting the fish, angling, preparation and the all important….patience.

Tight Lines,
Captain Joe Trainor
Email Joe Trainor for more information on fishing for Giants

We have fished six days now pulling out of the slip at 4:00 am and returning around 4:00 pm each day (putting in our time). We have been in position the past few days and have not had a bite other that King Mackerel and False Albacores. Each day there were a few fish caught between 2 to 5 until 12/12/09…there was a little over 15 fish caught and there was a good bite going on. We witnessed at least 10 bites right alongside us! On day five that gets pretty frustrating. We kept at it and just did not get our shot yet. Today day six we left the dock at 4:00 PM and were greeted by a little bit of fog. We ran the chain and started fishing to the west and worked our way to the NW Places. We were marking a little scattered bait then came across a few hay stacks of bait. Just before 7:00 am our rigger bridge rod goes off, Red Head with crystal Joe Shute lure. It sounds pretty good after waiting five days! ‘Lil John starts clearing rods and after a few minutes the line goes slack. The fluoro breaks at the hook loop. “AHHHH” he yells up, “I'll re-rig this to get another bite” then starting my turn the down rod goes and it's on! He cleared everything and was just about spent. He got a drink and we kept him tight with the boat. After he had a drink it was time to get back about 500 yards of line. We finished him off and got him in the boat after swimming him until about 8:00. Nice to have the first one of the season. The bite is pretty good right now.

Captain Keith Burnett

Giant #3 caught on Monday by Captain Keith Burnett & mate 'Lil John - 90 inches

Things have been a little slow in the Keys, however the fishing has done nothing but get better as each week has passed. We fished over the weekend and had great success. The reef is alive with bait, ballyhoos and cigar minnows. The Smoker King fish have started to move in along the edges of the reef. Most of the action has been in 20 to 40 feet of water and the temps are still holding at 78 degrees which is unusual for this time of year but we will take it over all that Snow up north. We had a super catch of Yellowtails and Smoker Kings all weekend. The Kings were 20 to 30 lbs. We also caught several Groupers to go with this 18lb Black Grouper, which was caught on a live Ballyhoo on light tackle. Over the next several weeks we are hoping for a real big push with the Mackerals and the sailfish should also become more abundant. The reef fishing should stay good until the water gets hit by a big cold front. We do have some days open between the Holidays so get out of the cold and come on down!!!

Captain John Oughton - Email Captain John

Fishing remains great! This week we had four great trips! We caught at least three sailfish every day with our best day being Friday catching 14 out of 15 sailfish. There has also been a lot of Mahi Mahi around and some nice bottom fish. We fished the sailfish kickoff tournament this weekend. We ended up in the top 10. Congrats to Team Freedom and Rockstar for kicking butt this weekend. We have a few trips this week and expect the fishing to continue to be really good. We have another front coming through which should push some more Mahi Mahi onto the edge and keep the sailfish around! Tune in to Facebook and Twitter to hear my audio reports!

Captain Joe McGivern

Islamorada, Florida Keys - Open Boat & Split Charters

Bahamas Open Boat Excursions

Back by popular demand, OU has put together an open seating schedule for the upcoming Bahamas season.  Pricing is per person, excludes gratuity, and is based on accommodations aboard the Over Under, 54' Bertram. Hotel rooms are available at an additional fee.  Rates include breakfast and lunch aboard.  Dinners, drinks, and transportation are excluded. More excursions may be added this summer according to demand. Interested in exploring this further please call us at 1-866-682-8862 with your thoughts on another excursion.