Oak Island Fish-Finder

N.C. coastal charter captains make adjustments to find fish, even as fuel prices climb.

Capt. John Quattlebaum’s sportfisherman QB’s Sea Witch sliced through a calm sea off Southport last July.

A “six-pack” contingent of anglers enjoyed the breeze created by the speed of the boat’s twin 400-horsepower Cummins diesels that plowed the vessel through the water at 20 knots.

A day of offshore fishing loomed, a welcome escape from the sweltering humidity and heat on land.

The anglers met Quattlebaum that morning at South Harbor Marina, where he docks the Sea Witch. The group included Claire Conklin of Titusville, Pa., a retired U.S. Army veteran who had moved to Oak Island to help care for his mother; vacationers Craig Boyd of Raleigh, owner of Boyd Insurance, and his daughter, Caroline, a sophomore at N.C. State University; and visitors David Ellison, a teacher from Charleston, West Virginia, along with his son, Joshua, an English Education and Sociology student at Glenville State University.

“We’ll be trying mostly for king mackerel, but we’ll likely run into other fish too, probably wahoo,” said Quattlebaum, a captain for 11 years who owns and operates Get Fresh Charters of Oak Island (910-617-6929 or 910-278-9097, e-mail getfreshfish@aol.com, web site www.getfreshcharters.com). His boats include the Get Fresh, a 30-foot center-console powered by 275-horsepower Mercury Verado outboard and the newer Sea Witch, a 360 Pesco-Craft.

The Get Fresh is a faster boat (but can reach the Gulf Stream, Quattlebaum said) that accommodates six anglers while the Sea Witch is a slower vessel but has a wide beam, seats and also comfortably handles a half-dozen anglers.

“We may stop for a while and bottom fish some if things slow down and we want to catch some sea bass or grouper,” he said.

Quattlebaum likes to have his clients catch fish during every trip, so he doesn’t mind changing tactics if a primary target species isn’t cooperating. But fishing for king mackerel is generally the most fun during the summer months because the bite’s usually as hot as the weather and trolling keeps anglers and crew relatively cool.

“We’re going to try the Raritan first,” he said.

The Raritan is a 1942 wreck of a 251-foot-long cargo ship at the west side of Frying Pan Shoals about 20 miles from the mouth of the Cape Fear River. It lies at the bottom, 80 feet from the surface. Overgrown with coral, it’s a haven for baitfish and attracts king mackerel and other gamefishes.

Quattlebaum also takes clients to the Horseshoe area, a place he called West Rock (5 miles west of the Horseshoe), Lighthouse Rock, a region halfway between the Horseshoe and 15-mile Ledge, and Angel Rock.

“They’re pretty much in a line,” Quattlebaum said, “and you usually can make a troll and pick up fish at each place.”

But those are community fishing holes that get a lot of pressure, especially the Horseshoe.

“There’s a lot of stuff out there that nobody except a handful of (charter captains) knows about, and nobody else goes there,” he said. “I usually find some really good fish at these places (of lesser-known bottom structure). Everybody goes to the Horseshoe, especially on weekends.”

During the spring, many captains pull trolling spoons for king mackerel, but by July, Quattlebaum said it’s live-bait time.

“In July we pretty much go to live bait,” he sad. “The pogies (menhaden) will be on the beaches, but there’s lots of (baitfish) you might want to troll.

“Spoons aren’t completely out of the question, but I use them mostly when it’s hot during the middle of the day, especially if it’s sunny. That’s when the fish go deep. From about noon to 2 p.m., the (kings) usually go to the bottom, so I’ll put (spoons) on my planers, slow down to 1 to 2 knots (trolling speed) and put out 120 to 140 feet of line to get (the spoons) on the bottom.”

Quattlebaum often does a combination trip, which works well for anglers who want to bring some meat back to the docks.

“I’ll stop trolling, and we’ll drift at places like the Horseshoe, Lighthouse Rock and the 15-and 18-mile drops,” he said.

The catches may include grouper that range from 20 to 40 pounds, king mackerel, wahoo, grouper, kings, black bass, dolphin, wahoo, cobia and even an occasional sailfish.

“If we anchor at a place, we might catch American red and gag grouper, grunts, black (sea) bass or scamps,” he said. “But I only do that if the wind’s not kicking up. You don’t want to anchor in 4- to 5-foot seas.

“If you put out live bait, a lot of time (the scent) in the water will bring the (gamefish) to you.”

Quattlebaum, 54, said his fishing during any given day “will depend upon what the people want to do.

“It’s a good bet if you’ve got live baits in the livewell, something will come to you, find it and eat it,” he said.

Grouper sizes, Quattlebaum noted, will average 13 to 15 pounds, “but it’s not uncommon to catch 28- to 40-pounders.”

As for equipment, the majority of his tackle is Shimano brand, TLD 5 Speedmaster reels along with Penn International reels and Penn rods. Basic monofilament for his lines is Berkley Trilene in 25-pound test with American fishing wire seven-strand leaders.

“I’ll use seven-strand leaders for charter fishing and single strand for tournaments because it’s more flexible and allows the baits to have more action,” he said.

His king-rig treble hooks are No. 4 and No. 6 Eagle claws.

“I try to troll as slowly as possible, about 1 1/2 knots,” he said.

As the Sea Witch headed southeast, paralleling the Frying Pan Shoals last July, the ocean teemed with life as flying fish skittered from wave top to wave top and bottle-nosed porpoises breached and dove beside the boat.

Not long after Quattlebaum, with help from Conklin who acted as his mate, dropped some baits over the side and allowed them to slip away in the boat’s wake, the rear port rod (one of the trolling spread’s five rods) began to bounce.

“Fish on!” Quattlebaum said with a shout, pointing behind the boat.

Craig Boyd picked up the rod and handed it to his daughter, Caroline, who had almost no experience in landing a hard-charging saltwater fish. Clamping the rod butt between her right elbow and side, she cranked the handle with determination.

With some advice from her father, she began to pump and reel and regained enough line so everyone on board could see the silvery flash of a king mackerel in the blue depths. Within a few minutes, she had worked a nice fish within gaff range. Quattlebaum stuck the king and lifted it over the gunwale.

Unfortunately, when the captain hoisted the fish aboard, only half a mackerel remained. The rest was swimming away in the belly of a shark that had bitten the king in half. The mackerel likely would have weighed 20 to 25 pounds.

After putting out baitfish again, moments later a pair of rods bent double at almost the same time. Caroline Boyd and Joshua Ellison each grabbed one from a gunwale holder, and two battles began. Within a few more minutes, Quattlebaum had gaffed one king and Craig Boyd the other one for his daughter.

Caroline’s mackerel weighed perhaps 20 pounds while Ellison’s was a little smaller. It also had an indentation around its belly where it’d once been caught in a net but escaped. Still, it was Ellison’s first king mackerel and painted a smile across his face.

During the rest of the afternoon, the anglers landed a few more fish as Quattlebaum motored to several of his favorite spots, including West Rock and the Horseshoe. He once stopped for the anglers to bottom fish, and Conklin landed a sea bass.

“It’s been slow (in deeper water) for a few days,” Quattlebaum said. “Two or three weeks ago, the kings were close to the beach, but then we had a blow that dirtied up the water, so they moved back out here (60- to 80-feet deep) to cleaner water.”

The trip wasn’t extremely successful, but the anglers still enjoyed the experience and put some fresh fish in the cooler.

“That’s just fishing,” Quattlebaum said. “Some days we do really good, then other days not as good. A lot of it depends on the weather conditions. Sometimes fish are scattered, too, and I think that’s what happened today.”

As Quattlebaum turned northwest to head for land, after a few miles the boat encountered the Game Fisher Too of Holden Beach and Captain Alex Humphrey, whose anglers — Ron Parison, Frank Eubanks and Bob Parmely — displayed a 74-pound wahoo.

“A fish like that, even if it’s the only one you catch, can really make your day,” Quattlebaum said.

The Fugitive, with Capt. Mervin Darrell of Bluewater Point Marina, also had a good day as anglers landed five king mackerel, fishing the same general area as Quattlebaum’s Sea Witch.