Offshore is doing well with the Goliath Grouper. The AJ’s, sharks and cobia should be back very soon with the rising water temps.

During the cold weather I shot some new fly tying vidoes. Click here to check them out: http://saltwaterflytying.blogspot.com/

 The Scientific Anglers 8wt 9? 2 piece NEW rods sold out quick. I sold 21 that I was able to get. I have 4 left, just email or call to get the remaining few that I have not gotten checks for… so here is your last chance to jump in and get one or two. First ones to get a check to me gets them. Can ship if needed! They are only $45 each and shipping is $15 if needed.

We are getting pretty full with charters but still have plenty of good dates left, if you want to come down to Florida for some great fishing just give me a call.

Here are this weeks pics enjoy!

16 pound snook

released

Brett with a 11 pounder

Lots of these around! Tough to get them to eat though!

Working the pot holes for trout, caught about 15 yesterday.

Goliath bite is still going strong, here is a small 100 pounder.

Here is a small 50 pound Gloiath, you are actually happier the smaller they are!

Here are some awesome pics we got of snook getting warm in our canal during the cold snap.

Decent snook with lots of catfish.

There were about 30 snook in this one spot with many over 10 pounds.

Capt. Matt Wirt

www.reel-adventure.com

910-540-0570

Inshore has been picky. Lots of temp changes on the flats. The fish are there but it has not been a easy bite. Some days we wear them out the next they wont even take a live shrimp much less a fly. This should settle down after the fronts blow by.

On a side note those that purchased a fly rod from me on the fly rod deal need to make sure you get your checks out to me ASAP. I am waiting on a check from 5 people. I also still have 2 rods left for sale.

Starting with off shore pics..

Rod abuse!

This one was bigger than  me. I estimate it @ 250 lbs. This one and the big one from last report are hard to estimate. I saw on youtube where other capts. estimate the same size fish around 400 lbs. I just know its big! I also will have a youtube video up soon. I have the footage, just need to edit it out.

Shannon with a nice keeper sized grouper.

Just a little short!

I need a bigger stick. This was a 40 to 80lb rod I made. I am making an unlimited class rod this week. I can only imagine the size of the grouper that broke it. I have the rod breaking on video.

Inshore…..

Becks with a nice spanish. We caught over 100 fish on a 3/4 day trip. Note the wall of birds behind her, they are on busting fish.

Her husband Randall hooked up. I have video where we were catching bluefish on a bare jig head! What a great day with great customers! Thanks again guys!

This is one of the many bait balls the fish were working that day.

My boat was covered with these!

These are a few they kept for dinner. The biggest spanish went 22 inches.

The fish were going nuts that day!

air time!

Jason with a nice bluefish on the TFO 7 wt.

Shredding the gurgler!

I hope everone has a great 2010 and if you want to come down to Florida for a winter fishing trip just give us a call!

Capt. Matt Wirt

910-540-0570

http://www.reel-adventure.com/PineIslandFishingCharters.htm

Pine Island FL untill March 20.

First we catch one of these for bait, yes this is the bait! Then we cut 5 pound chunks off of it.

The bait does not last long, if it even makes it to the bottom. This is 36 pounds of max drag, 200 lb test. You will only try this once standing up (trust me on this) you will learn quick to leave it in the rod holder and crank from there!

If your lucky and you dont get broke off you will come up with a big boy! We got broke off 5 times before we found one we could manage! This one was bigger then me and I am 210 lbs. Estimated it @ 250 lbs, probably much bigger.

Released unharmed!

Here is one estimated at 50 lbs.

Sent the whole thing down asking for trouble and I got it.

This shark went 200 lbs estimated and it inhaled the cuda before it went out of visual range. I saw it eat it, I tried to bring it up and this shark ate it boat side. After 15 minutes we got the shark to the boat again and released. We got 3 sharks and all of them were around this size.

My buddy Shannon went after the Amberjacks and Cobia on live pinfish. He got this 20 lb cobia on a trout rod. We caught around 10 amberjacks as well. The amberjacks had me puzzled because they did not go to the bottom and break you off like I am used to. I realized a few minutes later they cant! They will get eaten!

So back to the GUARANTEE. If anyone wants to come down and battle the biggest grouper of your life I will guarantee you get hooked up multiple times. Bring your baddest rod and reel or use mine. We are running these trips out of a 24 Ranger bay boat in the calm gulf of mexico waters 14-20 miles from land. Price is $600 for 3 anglers (includes captain, mate and everything else except your fishing license wich we can easily get when you get here).

Capt. Matt Wirt

www.reel-adventure.com

910-540-0570

Pine Island Florida untill March 20

The response for our Pine Island fishing charters in Florida this winter has been great. It looks like I will se quite a few of you over the winter and I cant wait to share a awesome fishery with you. Click here for more info:

http://www.reel-adventure.com/PineIslandFishingCharters.htm

Untill then we will continue to have fun here on the Cape Fear with the redfish and trout! Come join us!

Steve and I stayed on the fish all day long today. We caught a total of around 7-9 reds and trout on that 1 DOA shrimp!

Capt. Matt Wirt

www.reel-adventure.com

910-540-0570

Wilmington, NC / Pine Island, Florida 33956

A while back I was contacted to handle the southern coastal area for a book about North Carolina fly fishing. Anthony V. Smith a professional photographer  and I met up for shark on fly. I informed him about the poor shrimping, the poor conditions we just had with tropical storm Bill etc. He said lets give it a try! I liked his enthuasim and had to say yes. As we left the dock I saw a shrimp boat coming back in. This is not a good sign as it was only 8:30 am. The shrimping was very poor that day, and any day I have a photographer on the boat it seems like the odds stack up against me. We punched out the inlet and saw another shrimp boat culling over. I guess the storm was bad for the shrimp but it was good for the sharks! The sharks were boiling behind the boat, the nets were up. It was the PERFECT scenario. The third cast was a instant hookup!

The sharks are boiling. Its funny every time I see them its like the first time. I also start to bust out of my clothes. The hat comes off the shoes come off, its like my body temp rises 10 degrees.

Feeding frenzy!

I knew it was big when I strip striked it and it didnt move!

Here it is busing the surface.

I had to get Anthony in on the action. Here is a cool pic I got of him. The shark ran him around the boat quite a few times.

Awesome pics with the shrimp boat in the back ground!

I knew it was big but not this big! 60? fork length female Black Tip.

She went 72 pounds wich is light for a shark that length. So far that is my biggest fish ever on a 12 weight. Thanks to Rio fly lines and Tibor reels! Anthony decided to keep it since it was legal. Black tips shark makes for fine eating! Thanks again Anthony for sticking in there despite the conditions. Im glad we got what you came for and I sure needed this after my mess was stolen! What a treat this ended up being.

The rest of my report:

INSHORE: The red drum and flounder are biting well

NEARSHORE: The shark fishing is picking up, the spanish have been biting extremely well near the inlets and out about 2 miles.

OFFSHORE: King Mackerel and Dolphin are  biting well on the ledges and AR’s

Nice small hammerhead. We missed a shot at about a 200lb one on the same day.

Lots of spanish!

For you fly tiers please check out 2 of my new fly videos, the redfish rattler and a clouser variation. Hope you like them!

http://saltwaterflytying.blogspot.com/

Also I am now building and selling custom Gaff’s. I have been a custom rod builder for a long time and lots of you hve some of my smaller king mackerel gaffs. I always wanted to build the large gaff’s but could never find a source for the components that I liked and could stand behind…..untill now. I can build 6? gaffs with a 2?, 3? or 4? hook for $115, any color you want with your name or boat name on it. These gaff’s are super tough,  have a cool split grip design and have a little flex in the shaft and are flat out awesome. Shipping is $15 if needed.

Call to order yours today!

Capt. Matt Wirt

Reel Adventure Charters – Next Level Custom Rods

www.reel-adventure.com

910-540-0570 Wilmington, NC

The shark fishing has finally started off. We have had some days that were on fire and some that were not. It is getting more consistent. One of my last shark trips turned out to be a cool suprise. We did our usual behind the shrimp boat shark fishing and we caught 1 about 25lbs. The shrimp were not there that day so the shrimpers left early. Um well, now what? My guys wanted a fight so my mind turned to the large menhaden we just caught in the live well, and I turned the boat for a spot about 18 miles offshore. I was going to give them some sore amberjack arms….I THOUGHT! We got there and got lines in the water and immedietly got strikes by barracuda. I couldnt even keep the lines in the water with all the cudas. Then Mr. Big showed up. Now, this is not the first time I have seen Mr. Big at this spot wich is a popular dive spot. Mr. Big is about a 9? 250 lb Tiger shark. This is a consertivitve estimate. It is something so big you dont want to catch it. I turned around saw my shark rod….RIGGED AND READY. My customers were in awe, and without even thinking about it I had my shark rod in the water with a big dead boston mackerel for bait to tempt the shark. It inhaled it. I sat there and watched it eat it. I gave it a few seconds and came tight on the shark with 25 lbs of drag set at the strike. It peeled out 200 yards of 200 lb braid and about 100 yards of 80lb backing off the reel before I could clear lines to chase it down! We followed it and fought it for over 1 mile. At one point it wasgoing for the dive boat and I had to call to make sure no dicers were in the water. We got the all clear from the dive boat and shortly after the shark changes course and headed for deeper water. My customers all took turns fighting it and they switched out 4 times between the 3 of them. This went on for a hour and a half! I told them right off the bat, “Dont expect to land this fish!”

It wore this guy out…

And this one….

And this one too! I Actually thought I was going to be called into the rotation!

And finally after an hour and a half….

What a awesome shark. We leadered it and released it in great shape. I am pretty sure we will be the last to catch it! It will swim for a long time to come and I will never forget that shark or the effort my customers put out to get it up! I also wont forget this next pic. After it was released I got my stuff together and when I turned around this is what I saw…

Priceless!

Here he is with his release citation of 96 inches wich was way smaller then what it was!

Great job guys! See ya next year!

Here are some of the Amberjack were were going after:

 And speaking of Amberjacks here is a pic that will go down as one of the best ever! We lost the Amberjack at the boat but this pic is another pricless picture!

Here is a 22lb king mackerel that smoked a penn 555

The spanish mackerel bite has been on fire. We had one morning we caught 61!

We had over 30 on this trip!

Twins with spanish. These girls could flat out fish!

Nice grade of spanish and a happy customer!

My Tiger Shark customers woke back up and doubled up on the spanish! We got about 20 in 20 minutes!

Redfish have been biting well also!

And here are the first of this years shrimp boat sharks! All tagged and relased except 1 keeper.

Estimated 100 lbs +/-

What a week! Give us a call to get in on the action before its too late!

Capt. Matt Wirt

Reel Adventure Charters  www.reel-adventure.com

910-540-0570  Wilmigton, NC

My report: Offshore on fire! Kings are at the inlets, spanish are at the inlets and up and down the beaches, and dolphin in the 10 mile range. Inshore the redfish bite has been good around the Wrightsville beach area and a bit tough (for me at least) in the river.

On a good note, the shark fishing is ready to bust wide open. We have shrimp boats working the beach so it wont be long before we get the big sharks! Call now to reserve your date!

Ok now for the pics! Below is my first sailfish ever on a charter. 72? total length. During the fight it was in the air more than it was in the water. It was a massive fish for king tackle!

72 ” total length. Estimated 50-60lbs.

Released in great condition! The kids loved it! Great job guys! *NC citation

Below is another cool fish.

20lb Gag Grouper *NC Citation. Those of you that know me, know I dont do much bottom fishing. We were using 2-3lb live bluefish and trolling them mid water column over the dredge wreck for amberjacks and this grouper came all the way off the wreck and nailed it. I was suprised to say the least! This one made it to the dinner table!

Next pass we got the AJ we were looking for. Need more grouper!

Another cool fish. This king was bit in half by a cuda and this half of the king still weighed almost 20lbs!

Doubled up on kings!

Got these kings in fast before the cuda could get to them!

Here is the cuda that was eating our kings. It got another big king and ate it all the way to the head. It followed the head up to the boat. We hung the head back over and I free gaffed it and slammed it in the boat. No more king bite offs that day. I hated to kill it for no good reason but I will use it for shark bait in the next week or two. When I cleaned it it had 2 king mack tails in its stomach!

The business end of a Barracuda!

This is from the sailfish trip. 20 minutes before the sail bit we nailed these 16lb class dolphin. I set out one line and as I was putting out the second line one dolphin inhaled the bait in the prop wash. I sat there and watched him eat it! We had that one hooked up and while I was clearing the line I just put out the second dolphin ate the bait in the propwash before I could get it back in the boat!

These redfish have been no match for 20 lb tackle around the docks, We stepped up to the 50lb shark spinning gear. That has stopped them! The reds are eating king mackerel sized menhaden.

Lot’s of spanish on the beach.

Inlet king.

I think his face say’s it all!

Capt. Matt Wirt

Reel Adventure Charters www.reel-adventure.com

910-540-0570

Offshore: The king mackerel bite is on fire!

Inshore: Flounder and redfish are biting well. Try early morning and late afternoon for best results!

Reel Adventure now has T Shirts available. They are $10 at the boat or $15 shipped to your door! We have them in L, XL, and  2 XL. Colors are yellow, white and navy blue.

Just click here to place your order! http://www.reel-adventure.com/t-shirts.htm

Here are the recent pics enjoy!

Long time customer and friend Bill with a nice king. That was his sister above. Her’s was bigger Bill!

Flounder on fly!

Spanish Mackerel have been on fire again!

12 lb bonnet head shark in the backwaters!

Aj’s are still around!

Capt. Matt Wirt

Reel Adventure Charters www.reel-adventure.com

910-540-0570 Wilmington, NC

We have been doing great with the trout, sharks, and even some redfish and snook. The snook are moving into the canal systems and we have been targeting them at night with live shrimp. Tons of mangrove snappers are around these snook lights and tonight we are going to put the video cam on night vision and try to get video of it if I can get them to hit a fly. Cant wait.

The sharks are abundant on the flats right now and we are pulling 80 pound monsters out of 2 foot of water with live ladyfish. There is so much going on I have to force myself to get off the boat some days!

Here are the pics and I have a ton of new videos as well!
Catching them so shallow the fins are out of the water!

Big fish for a small boat! It pulled the boat around for quite awhile!

We hit the albies hard this year!

Catching these guys by be 100’s. They are a blast on the 5 wt fly rod.

Nice size sheepshead are biting.

Lots of albies on fly.

Tons of trout around!

Small Snook

This small red completed our inshore slam that day!

My dog having fun with the ladyfish! Funny Picture!

Here is a new Albacore Video:

This is a testamonial on my 2008 Beavertail Skiff:

I also have 3 new fly tying videos. Please click here to check them out: http://saltwaterflytying.blogspot.com/

Capt. Matt Wirt
www.reel-adventure.com
910-540-0570

Here is the new Sharks on Fly Video….Just click and it plays! Turn up your audio!

Here are this weeks pics:

Triple hookup, 2 90 pounders and 1 25 pounder. All landed and no tangles!

Double hookup with more HAPPY customers!

The sharks were quite visable today, it was an amazing show!

This 25lb class shark burnt up a 10 wt! He had the Tibor singing and took half of the backing before he calmed down. This shark had attitude!

Good thing one of my new sponsor’s is one of the top manufactuers of fly lines!

Now for Max and his father, this was truly an awesome trip!

Sharks on stand up tackle….

Sharks on fly….

Max and his dad did a fine job with the sharks! Hope to see you guys again next year!

My good friend Jason with a 90-100 lb shark. He’s a big guy so I always make sure I lock the reel down at 33 lbs of max drag before I hand it off! He’s going to figure out how to back off that lever drag sooner or later!

Here is Michael Phelps and his daughter with a nice shark. He shares the name with gold medalist and in true fasion if you look closley it looks like he has been swimming. This is one trip I will never forget!! I had a great time with you guys and look foward to our next trip in a few weeks!

Amberjacks are eveywhere right now!!

We are now booking for September and have lots of great dates available. Give us a call! The fish are here and the fishing should only get better!

Tight lines!

Capt. Matt Wirt
Reel Adventure Charters
Next Level Custom Rods
www.reel-adventure.com
www.carolinabeachfishing.net
www.wrightsvillebeachfishing.net
www.topsailislandfishingcharters.com
910-540-0570
Wilmington, NC