Speck-Tackler Inshore Fishing Reports - 2022

In years past we have had as many as three generations of Bill and Cathy Almond's family. Bill's Grandmother Elizabeth fished with me up until she was 94 years old! She's gone home to be with the Lord now but I believe she's watching over us when we're out there. Anyway, on this particular trip we had a real good catch of Weakfish (Gray Trout),and a variety of other fish such as Redfish, Specks, and Blues.

Brothers Nick and Nathan Eaver fished with me last year for the first time and came back this year for a full day of good light tackle fishing. We caught and released a lot of weakfish (Gray Trout), a few nicer class Bluefish, along with a limit of smaller Blues and 1 nice Speck. We tried some Red fishing for a while with no success which was rare because the puppy drum fishing has been so consistently good the entire year. The brothers had identical catches as last year with Nathan catching a Pinfish and Nick catching a "Happy Stingray".

I always have a good time fishing with Gene Powell and his buddies Tom and Kevin. They're good fishermen and Hatteras is just one of the few places they fish. We caught a limit of Bluefish and released quite a few more casting and retrieving artificial lures. We also kept our limit of Redfish and released overslot and slot size also.

Bob Teves has enjoyed a lot of good fishing during his trips to Hatteras Island. He brought his friends Bill and Tom along on a couple of the trips this time and we caught Red Drum, Bluefish, and Gray Trout aka... (Weakfish), small Jack Crevelle, Lizardfish, baby Sea Bass, and some other stuff. And if all goes to plan we will be catching some Cobia and big Reds this coming May!

Terry Amen started fishing with me early in my career of guiding and his son Cody started fishing with me when he was around 5 years old. They've been bringing their friend Andy for the last couple years. These guys are some of the best NC Redneck country folk you'll ever have on your boat and I consider them true friends.

I had another wonderful trip with some old friends from Ohio. Jeff Sussman and daughter Jessica caught and released puppy drum of slot size, over slot and under slot. Jeff and Jessica also caught the largest Bluefish of their entire lives. They have been coming to fish Hatteras and Avon for a long time and have been fishing with me for many years. They confided that the highlight of their vacation is to come fishing on my boat with me. I hear that from a lot of people in it really makes me feel good to know they feel that way about me and our enjoyable times together out on the boat!

Clayton, John, Jerry, and Jenna, all from Delaware caught quite a few slot size and under slot Redfish on another windy Hatteras day. Their crew is staying in Clayton's family's house in Frisco Village while enjoying a little Island time. These guys fish a lot so there was not much instruction coming from my end of the boat.

Mark Shaull and his boys Ben and Peter have been fishing with me for probably 30 years now. We've had a lot of good catches over the years and the boys grow up into fine young men and fishermen. Their friend Victor has been coming along for a few years also. They drove down from Kill Devil Hills to catch a lot of bluefish and Weakfish (Gray Trout) casting artificial lures.

Ray Sutherland and his son Aaron were vacationing in Kill Devil Hills and drove down to Hatteras for a fishing trip. They made some good memories and caught some good fish.

"Almost" 8-year-old Wesley Gray caught a Bluefish on his very first cast. Later in the day he caught a Lizardfish which is one of his favorites. His dad Matt and grandfather Mike pitched in to help with a nice catch of Gray Trout, Blues, and slot size Reds. They drove all the way down from Kill Devil Hills so I was happy that that extra drive paid off in some good fishing.

Barry was having a really good week. Not only did he marry his long time friend Amy and come to Hatteras Village for their honeymoon, but he caught a 7&1/2 pound Speckled Trout! The couple from Asheville North Carolina also caught some Red Drum, Bluefish, and a giant Stingray that took Barry 30 minutes to land. They are a very nice couple and I look forward to fishing with them in the future.

Keith Wing used to fish with me every year but this is the first time I've seen him in probably 8 years or so. He and his buddies Paul, Sam, Edward, and Surg are all visiting Hatteras to go windsurfing and decided to mix it up a little bit with a fishing trip. Great idea!. We had an awesome catch of Bluefish and got a pretty decent Porpoise show also.

Young Hayden from out near Winston-Salem North Carolina caught Speckled Trout and Bluefish while vacationing in Avon Village. He normally fishes for bass and like most bass fishermen they make pretty good Speck fisherman. I hope to see him and his family again next year.

Tommy McKenney wanted to take his 7-year-old grandson Connor fishing and Connor caught a really nice Weakfish all by himself jigging an artificial lure. Matt caught a 10 lb blue fish and we also caught and released a bunch of 2 pound Blue Fish on artificial.

I I had a very good time spending a beautiful October day with some folks from the North Eastern part of Virginia. Not only are they good fishermen but a pleasure to have on the boat. Payton and Kaitlinn are visiting the area to get married and are staying all the way up in Corolla. The pressure is really on when somebody has to commute that far to go fishing with me. Kaitlinn caught the first fish at every place we stopped and John caught the first Cannonball Jellyfish of the year. We also caught a bunch of Bluefish, one of them weighed in at 10 pounds. We also caught a few trout .... not pictured is "Little Caesar."

Corey, Nick, and Kylie Jenner are from the middle upper part of New York State and are good fisherman and drove down from Kitty Hawk to go on the fishing trip. I fished them hard and we ended up with a limit of nice Bluefish, Gray Trout, and Reds. The weather is starting to cool off and the fishing getting better and better. I've got some rare openings this week so if you're interested in some great fishing give me a call.

Dimitri Dubograev and his family Dimitri Jr, Yuri, and wife Lana are from the country of Belarus which is right beside Poland. So there was a little bit of communication barrier going on but they ended up catching a whole lot of fish after driving down from where they were vacationing in Duck North Carolina. We also came across a big school of porpoises that played beside the boat for a long time as we idled along.

Craig Wyrick is a fireman from out near Gibsonville, NC. He is also my taxidermist and brought the deer mount that I harvested last year when he came to Frisco Village this trip. His father Steve, son Chandler, and their friend Wesley, caught a few keeper Speckled Trout and quite a few undersized ones, along with some Bluefish. We did catch one big Hogfish which are very good eating. One big Sea Robin which I haven't seen many of this year. And a bunch of Lizardfish which are good fighting little fish but not prized by many people.

Tim Gunning is a fire chief from Philadelphia and has been fishing with me since he was 15 years old. He has a love and passion for fishing like no other. He's also a very very good fisherman and a pleasure to have on the boat. After all these years he still has not run out of questions. This week we've caught big blues, little blues, Red Drum, and Speckled Trout on multiple fishing trips. If all goes to plan he will be catching Cobia next May on Speck-Tackler.

Marc Hanlon and his boys Jason and Michael are visiting Avon Village all the way from Colorado, Philadelphia and New Jersey. The wind was still blowing but made for some good Red Drum and Bluefish fishing. Michael got lucky and landed a nice Speckled Trout also. I took these guys fishing 10 years ago and they loved it so much they bought a small boat so they could fish the last 10 years while visiting the island each year. However this time they left their boat home due to the weather forecast.

The first day out after the blow and the water was still a little churned up but we made a last minute decision to go out. We were the only boat fishing and did a lot of moving around to see exactly what was going on. We caught fish in just about every spot. We kept a few blues and released the rest. Tim Gunning does not care one way or the other about pictures so I let him take a picture of me with a big bluefish we caught.

9/30/2022 The roads from Oregon Inlet down through Hatteras are passable with a lot of sand and standing water mostly rain as of now. The Wind for the time being between now and 3:00pm is going to be East Northeast between 25 mph gusting up to 50. As afternoon rolls around 4:00 or so the wind's going to shift east Southeast around 30 mph with Gust up to 50. The east Southeast winds will continue throughout the night holding around a constant 35 to 45 mph with gust into the 50s. Around Daybreak the wind will pull around more to the South and start letting up. High tide this morning was at 11:00 a.m. and our next one will be tonight at 11:30 p.m. and Saturday around 11:59 a.m. Hopefully everything will start getting back to normal soon after that. Just remember if you're riding on the roads even with all the rain we've had some of the water will have salt mixed in with it. That is a never ending equation on Hatteras. Rain just re-desolves the salt that's in the sand from where saltwater had once stood and once it evaporates the water is gone but the salt is still there. I did not haul my boat out of the water for this storm. Teach's Lair Marina is a very protected and secure site for my boat. Click on the first picture to visit the NC Hwy 12 Facebook Page and click on the second picture to see a live view of my boat at Teach's Lair Marina.

Andrew Spence brought his friends Adam, Kyle and Grant from South Jersey to the Outer Banks for a day of fishing. We had a great time catching Red Drum and some nice size Bluefish. One that weighed in at a little over 10 pounds. We also released a bunch of slot size and oversight size reds. These guys are a lot of fun on the boat and hopefully I'll see them again in the years to come. Adam is kind of new to fishing and we all gave him a hard time for losing the biggest flounder I'd seen all year while trying to get it in the dip net right beside the boat. HaHa

Bruce and Melina Gilbert along with their friends Jerry and Misti Watson are visiting from Ohio. They normally stay in the Ocean Waves Campground but this year had to get a beach house in Buxton. You can tell from the pictures they had a very good fishing trip. A few puppy drum, and some big Bluefish up to 10 pounds. These fish were all caught on 10 lb test line using light tackle puppy drum rods which really pushes the enjoyment level up several notches for the anglers!

Ernie and Mike Burkett along with Tina are from West Virginia and come to the Outer Banks at least once a year. They drove all the way down from Nags Head for a beautiful afternoon of fishing. We kept at it and ended up with a decent catch of nice size Speckled Trout, some small Bluefish and a few Pinfish.

Bluefish have been a constant for most of the summer. And this trip was no different. We spent a large part of the trip throwing topwater baits having a blast watching the fish strike the lures. Joe and Kristen Daigneau along with their daughter Leah and her boyfriend Connor kept their limit and threw some fish back. This pup kept his eye on every move we made. This was his second time supervising on the boat and he does really well.

One thing I like about fall of the Year other than cooling temperatures is the Big Red Drum are here. After catching a few speckled trout, some keeper size and some smaller throwbacks, we ran into a school of these big boys. We landed two citations size (45" & 46") and one 32" sight fishing and casting lures to the school. Tom and Scott got the big ones and Rick the smaller one.

While trying to diagnose an issue with my motor Hank from Midwatch Marine made a few casts and caught a small speck and a couple bluefish. I was still able to fish while waiting for the "pulsed coil" to arrive and get installed. Everything is fixed so we're up and running full speed now!

Cindy and Darrel Davidson were able to go fishing after I had a late last minute cancellation. They are RVing at the Hatteras Sands Campground. Darrel hooked and landed a big old Bluefish and most of the Speckled Trout we caught.

Jennifer and Morgan Smith, from Winston-Salem, NC celebrated their one year anniversary with a fishing trip. We caught our limit of slot size Red Drum and released quite a few small ones. We also caught some Bluefish while casting lures. We're also starting to see more bluetooth. It's getting that time of year. Fall is in the air.

Jonathan and his new bride Brooke Howard came to Hatteras for their honeymoon. They had only been married five days and when Jonathan hooked up to and caught this 32 lb Cobia. Not normal for this time of the year but a few scattered fish have been seen and caught in the recent week. The blue fish are running real good right now but the couple is from Missouri and did not have a way to get a lot of fish back there so Brooke kept the first Bluefish she caught and we released all the rest.

John and Angelica Terzakrs are from Buffalo New York and always enjoy their trip to the OBX. They told me the highlight of their trip is when they are out fishing. They are very nice upbeat happy people that I enjoy fishing with. They seem to be blessed because they always catch and release a lot of fish. Last year John, who is a retired airline pilot, caught a 47 inch Big Red on light tackle that wore him out as much as the fish.

Paul, Matt, Jeremy, and Todd are fisherman from the Great Lakes region who normally catch walleye and decided to come to Salvo NC and try their hand at saltwater fishing. These guys are really good fisherman and an absolute pleasure to have on the boat. We had good Speck fishing and even caught a nice flounder on a jig. As always there were some Bluefish in the mix. I know it's a long way away from here but I hope I see these guys again next year!

Brothers George and Tom Amen from Louisiana and Raleigh got to see some of the good fishing that Hatteras has to offer. George caught a 46 inch big bull red on a 10-pound test light tackle rod and the two of them also caught and released a bunch of slot size smaller drum and even some smaller ones. The day also ended with a mixed bag of other fish. One good thing about fishing around Hatteras and Ocracoke is the variety that can be caught on one single fishing trip.

We had a great charter trip with George, Tony and Jim. George was excited to say the least after a 45-minute battle with this war horse of a big Red Drum on a 10 lb test light tackle rod. The beast 46 inches long! We were fishing for puppy drum at the time when the fish took the bait and circled the boat four times before finally coming into the net. Tony also caught a 10 lb Bluefish on a live bait rig that he released. In total we caught a few more puppy drum, smaller Bluefish and specks. Fun day!

We had another good day on the puppy drum here in Hatteras. These fish move around a lot so it's nice when you can get them figured out for a day or two. Angelique Tudor has an interesting way of fighting her fish by holding the reel upside down but it works for her. Her husband JT and friend Lou helped catch our limit of redfish and released quite a few.

It took a while to find them but once we did, the Reds bit very good for Bernar and Luke Shocklee and friend John (Skipper). We kept our limit and released the rest. Their Avon vacation was at an end and the boys had to start 13-hour trip back home to Ohio as soon as we got back to Teach's Lair.

Tim Lyons and his son Tim Jr have been fishing with me for many years now. They brought their friend Mark along this time and we had a nice catch of Speckled Trout and multi-size Bluefish. In my opinion small Bluefish are some of the best fish you can eat and the smaller the better. Tim Jr got the largest trout of the trip on his very last designated cast minutes before we came in. That's the second time in a matter of days where somebody caught a Speckled Trout on their last cast of the trip. You can't finish the trip any better than that. Tim is originally from New Jersey but now resides in Raleigh.

This was a fun day of fishing with some really nice people who know how to fish. Russell and his wife Kara and son Jake have fished with me for 5 or 6 years now and it's always a joy to have them on the boat. Very upbeat personalities and appreciative of all the fish they catch. Once again we kept our limit of Gray Trout and released the few. We also kept our limit of Red Drum and released a few of that were slightly over size as well. The Bluefish rounded off a catch for another awesome day of fishing out of Hatteras North Carolina.

Another windy day produced very good Red Drum fishing for Josh, Amy "Door Nut", and Andy Schiefer. We kept our limit of top of the slot fish and released a pretty high number of them. When the wind is blowing you don't have many other options. Josh caught a fish that looked like had been attacked by possibly a purpose or a small shark and the wound had healed over pretty well. That fish has had a rough time in the water so we put him back. On days when the wind is not blowing so hard, once we get a limit of Red Drum, we go fish for something else. The limit is one Red Drum per person. By bleeding the fish as soon as you catch them, I feel it makes the meat taste better and last longer.

Long time customers Josh and Amy "Door Nut" Schiefer got lucky when we came across an area of 10 pound Bluefish and were able to catch them casting lures. It's always fun when that happens. We also caught an assortment of Speckled Trout, Gray Trout, Spanish Mackerel and some smaller Bluefish as well.

We got lucky today and found a little area of Speckled Trout. Mike Warren and his son Dan were on top of their game. We caught a limit of these beautiful fish. I tell people all the time there is nothing negative about a Speckled Trout. They're fun to catch, excellent eating, and very pleasing to the eye. We also caught a juvenile hogfish. First one of these I had ever seen.

Willie and his wife Donna moved here from Vietnam over 19 years ago and are settled in Greensboro, North Carolina. Their children Donna and Warren are turning out to be pretty good fisherman.... or "Fisherpeople" nowadays. We had a very good day catching Spanish Mackerel, some Albacore, Bluefish, Red Drum, Stingrays, and even a bag full of clams. It was a beautiful day and they were very good people to spend it with.

John and Brenna Kimbell came all the way from Vermont along with Tom and Chris and we're able to witness a very big fast moving School of red drum. Of the three we caught casting lures only two were small enough to keep. Brennas drum didn't have any spots on either side which is very uncommon. We also caught some small blue fish and kept a limit of gray trout and released quite a few.

Bill and Alex are a pair of good fishermen and you can tell they have been doing it for a while. We found a "black bed" of Bluefish milling around on the surface and hooked a Bluefish on every cast. We quickly caught our limit and then went and caught a few Red Drum. We lost a 10 pound Bluefish right beside the boat which would have been our trophy fish for a light tackle day.

These are a couple of young upcoming fisherman! I love the enthusiasm and curiosity young kids have with fish and enjoy having them aboard on my charters along with their parents. Each fish brings a new and exciting experience for them and opens a door to a potential lifetime enjoyment of nature and the outdoors.

Bennett Bradley and his son Dave have been fishing with me for years and this year Speckled Trout were our main target species. However Bluefish ended up being our main catch this day. We kept only a few and released a lot of smaller Bluefish. Bennett caught two of the Speckled Trout on an old antique Fenwick fiberglass rod that is spooled with Power Pro Braid. It's an excellent combination because the old 1978 classic Fenwick does a great job handling the head shake of a Speckled Trout.

The good Gray Trout fishing continued for Courtney and John Veneziani as we kept our limit and also released quite a few. They also caught a handful of smaller Bluefish. Courtney and John are here camping in an RV enjoying Island Time and a peaceful vacation.

Dave and September came here all the way from the state of Washington. We did not have any success catching Red Drum, however Dave caught a real nice Bluefish and he, son Chad and his wife Lily, and mom September did real good on the Gray Trout. They are very nice people to spend time with and you can tell it was not Chad's first time in a boat.

The Gray Trout were biting really well for Kelly and Nick and we kept our limit and released quite a few. We also had a good catch of Red Drum keeping our limit and releasing one before we went Speckled Trout fishing to finish off the trip. Kelly caught a one-eyed flounder. I don't know if it had been that way since birth or if it was something that happened later on and healed over real good. Looking closely it looks almost like a pupil way down in the middle of the eye socket.

Lily Pierce is a professional woman Surfer who came to Hatteras all the way from California to surf the Nags Head Surfing Tournament this week. Her and her father JC decided to take a fishing trip while they were here and did real well on Red Drum, Gray Trout, and a couple of Stingrays. Always be careful handling stingrays because they can get their barb halfway up their body. This picture shows the stingray actually impaling himself with it's own barb.

Dylan Stoneham came to Hatteras for his friend's bachelor party and he and Pallen, Palmer, and Charles fished with me while others from the group were on another boat. We had a good day and caught our limit of Red Drum and released a few. One of the drum fish had a heart-shaped spot which is very rare. A couple years ago we started bleeding the Red Drum and noticed the meat tasted better and lasted longer.

The only thing prettier than a Hatteras Island sunrise in the summer is a catch a Speckled Trout. And Matt, Joe, Tyler, and Mackenzie had a pretty good catch of them. They also culled a few Bluefish, and an assortment of other fish like Lizard fish Pin fish, Hogfish and Flounder that were released.

Eliza, Jody, Brett, and Lauren Friend are from northwest Maryland real close to the West Virginia border and this is their first time ever fishing with me. Brett is one of the most patriotic young man I've ever had on my boat and had the American flag logo on all his clothing, hat, and shoes, Lauren's smile could not have been more beautiful each time she put a speckled trout into the net. We also caught a few bluefish. These little pin fish make me bleed more than any fish out there. They will stick me in the hand while I am unhooking them and then put three more holes in the top of my foot when they fall on it.

Adam Snap and his son Michael came to Hatteras from Virginia Beach, VA and fished with me for the first time. Michael got two Red Drum and some American Stingrays. I believe he had more fun catching the Stingrays than he did the Red Drum. We also caught a bunch of Gray Trout and a few Bluefish. Adam also caught a real nice slot size (18"-27") Red Drum.

It was another windy day in Hatteras North Carolina and windy days are great for red drum fishing. Joe, his son Taylor (17), and friends Matt and Rick kept their limit of red drum and released a few more. Young Taylor loves fishing and kept the older guys on their toes trying to keep up with him. Hopefully this weather will hold out because they have another charter scheduled to go fishing with me one more day this week.

It was Garrett Elkins 18th birthday so his mom Jennifer took him on a fishing trip along with Rick and Rocky. We caught a whole lot of gray trout and kept our limit of five. We also caught some Red Drum and Speckled Trout. All four of them knew how to fish when they got on the boat and they were real nice people to spend the day with. I look forward to seeing them again.

It was a very windy time for Virginie Favreau who came to Hatteras all the way from Quebec Canada to go fishing. She has a love and excitement for fishing that I have not seen in most people. She caught a whole lot of puppy drum and six or seven stingrays which she was also very enthused about.

DJ Maggie May has been fishing with me since she was 14 years old. Her father Robin Glenn a few years longer. Her niece Sadie probably about 6 years now and has picked up the sport very well. Young Sadie is a good light tackle Speckled Trout fisherman and most of the time she out fishes her dad Shawn who could not make it this trip and had to stay back in Pennsylvania.

First time customers Shaundra and her 7 1/2 year old son Samuel Owens caught a couple small red drum and a few bluefish. We also caught and released some Stingrays and got bit off by what I think was a black tip shark or a very big bluefish.

Mike, Ryan and Michael are good friends who love to fish and as the pictures show they are darn good at it too. We kept our limit of Gray Trout (Weakfish) and also released quite a few. We also got a limit of Red Drum and even a couple of Bluefish. It was just a beautiful day to be out on the Pamlico Sound with mild temperatures, a bit lower humidity than normal and a lot of good active fish.

I had a good time with Todd and Megan along with their children Chelsea and Connor. We caught a limit of Puppy Drum and beautiful weather for a good trip.

John and his friend John from PA caught a limit of Puppy Drum, few Bluefish, a Speckled Trout, and a pretty big Hogfish. Hogfish are similar to Spots but my opinion taste a whole lot better and a whole lot prettier to look at. They also make a grunting noise like a hog that's kind of entertaining if you've never seen or heard it before.

Amy and Scott Long from West Virginia fished with me for the first time. Hopefully it won't be their last as they visit the Island a few times a year.

We had a great trip and Jeff, Alex, Chris, and Jackson caught a limit of Bluefish and one fish shy of a limit of Puppy Drum. Fish were chewing pretty good.

Justin caught a nice Red Drum and Santos, Abe, and Kirstie caught some Bluefish. We finally found the fish when it was time to come in but we stayed a little longer to get a few more in the cooler.

I took one of my hunting buddy Little Mann McMillan from out near Reidsville North Carolina, along with his girlfriend Morgan fishing. I don't know what happened to the other pictures.

Mick called an undersized Cobia and then got a really nice Speckled Trout on the last cast of the trip. His son Brooke enjoyed a nice nap for most of the time while Ryan and his son Declan got some Sea Bass, Bluefish, and Speckled Trout.

The girls just did a photo op. But Jason Craft and his sons Nate and Jared, aka.... "Jerd" are really good fisherman and that helped us have a good fishing trip.

Terry Delprete had to release his Flounder but he, Griffith and Skyler caught a few other fish they could keep.

This was John Zipfer first trip to the Outer Banks from Ohio,and he took his 3 sons Josh, David, and Joel and his girlfriend Allison on a fishing trip and we did okay casting for Speckled Trout and Bluefish. Another beautiful day in the books.

George Johnson, along with Jessica; his son Eric, and their friend Evan, had a pretty good trip catching Speckled Trout and Puppy Drum. Finally getting some pretty weather makes fishing a little bit more enjoyable. But the fish have been biting during all this wind we have been having. So I'm not complaining.

Bluefish was the name of the game for Web, Bill, Mike and young Donovan. Finally starting to see some pretty weather.