THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 26, 1996 TAG: 9608260041
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: OREGON INLET LENGTH: 129 lines
Seconds after charter boat Capt. Arch Bracher pitched the first ballyhoo bait into the Atlantic, a long black bill shattered the sea's surface.
Within minutes, an angler on Bracher's boat hooked his first white marlin. By day's end, the six fishermen aboard had caught and released a boat record: 16 billfish.
The happy anglers on The Pelican weren't the only ones celebrating.
Veteran captains across the northern Outer Banks say the past three weeks have provided the best marlin fishing in 20 years.
``The last time I saw action like this? Honey, I had long hair back then,'' Capt. Dick Harris, 40, said Thursday - doffing a tan baseball cap to reveal his sunburned bald pate. ``So you know it was the '70s.''
Anglers on Oregon Inlet's 33-boat fleet have caught from 70 to 170 billfish a day all August. One man landed a 707-pound blue marlin this week after the fish died during the fight. The coveted game species is spread out inside the Gulf Stream along a 50-mile range - giving the anglers ferocious battles.
Pirate's Cove charter boats also have set records for the number of billfish landed. And some boats from Hatteras Island - where the marlin aren't as populous - have been heading north off the barrier islands, bringing their anglers closer to the action.
``There's been an exceptional number of fish out there, especially during the past two weeks,'' Harris said from the deck of his 48-foot boat Fintastic.
``We've had some good fishing in recent years. But not for this long with this many fish and this great weather.
``We've been out 20 days in a row now,'' said Harris. ``And this is the 13th straight day we've caught at least two billfish. Most days it's been five, seven, eight marlin a boat.''
When the charter vessels pulled into Oregon Inlet's worn wooden docks Tuesday, 160 flags were flying from their salt-sprayed halyards. Blue flags emblazoned with white fish show a white marlin was released. White flags with blue fish prints indicate a blue marlin catch. Sailfish strikes are signified by white flags stenciled with blue sailfish. As a conservation measure, most captains haven't landed live billfish - even as trophies - for at least a decade.
Instead of bringing the big fish back to dock to show off, they boast of great billfish days by flying the flags.
``Marlin's been all that's out there lately. And there's plenty of 'em,'' said Capt. Bob Croswait, whose 8-year-old son Aaron caught his first white marlin - a 60-pounder - this week. ``Any bite you get, just about, is a marlin. And it's gonna jump. So you better try to hook it.
``When the marlin show up, we like to go after 'em - cause that's our pleasure,'' Croswait said, hosing off the deck of his boat, Right Hook. ``It's a sport and ego thing for us. Gives you a real rush. Those fish jump all over the place. And we had three on our lines at once today.''
Some people who spend $825 chartering off-shore boats for a day want to catch tuna or dolphin to fill their freezers. But most sports fishermen, like novelist Ernest Hemingway, prefer the thrill of fighting a marlin - probably the world's most sought-after sport fish. On light tackle - many captains are using 30-pound monofilament - marlin leap 15 to 30 times before being brought to the boat and freed.
White marlin are usually 5 to 7 feet long. Blues can stretch longer than 15 feet. August is usually a good month to chase marlin, captains say.
But this year, they're predicting the superb streak will extend through September at least.
``There's been a lot of bait out there in the water, anchovies and sardines that the marlin like. Probably, as much as I've ever seen,'' said Bracher, who's captained The Pelican for seven years.
``I've fished every day since Hurricane Bertha blew out - more than 40. I think the Gulf Stream got pushed out by that storm so the cooler water is all around us. And the bait came in. Plus, fish come in cycles. This is just a great billfish year.
``We've caught 150 this season already. And it's only August,'' Bracher said of anglers aboard his boat.
``Last year, we only got 80.''
Croswait said his charter parties have been averaging 15 to 20 billfish bites per day. Last summer, he said, they got five or 10 strikes a week.
``It's kind of like a little competition among the captains when we come in to count the flags and see how many we each ended up hooking.''
Most of the marlin have been hooked between 30 and 50 miles offshore.
They've been swimming in water about 600 feet deep. The ocean in that area has averaged 75 to 78 degrees in August.
Anglers from all over have been booking boats to share in the fabulous fishing.
Several boats participating in a Cape May, N.J., billfishing tournament even motored 160 miles each way to Outer Banks fishing grounds this week to try to cash in on the catch. ``There's not much going on up north right now. That's too bad for Virginia Beach and other areas,'' Bracher said. ``But it's sure good for us.''
Capt. Barry Sawyer agreed. ``We're lucky they're coming 'round here and coming so close,'' Sawyer said Thursday on First Crack. ``It's the best stretch we've had in a long, long time. There's an awful lot of fish out there. They're nowhere near all caught up.''
Allen Phelps chartered First Crack on Thursday.
His four-member family from Pantego, N.C., had never fished offshore.
He, his wife and daughters caught five white marlin and a 200-pound blue marlin - then landed 22 dolphin to take home.
``Man, it was great!'' Phelps said, leaving with a cooler full of fish. His daughters Meredith, 13, and Allison, 9, nodded in excited agreement.
``This was the best day of vacation we've ever had. We had our first billfish on by 10 a.m. And it was pretty steady after that. Those marlin were just everywhere.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
BOB CROSWAIT
The Virginian-Pilot
A whote marlin battles a fisherman in the Gulf Stream. White marlin
are usually 5 th 7 feet long; blues can top 15 feet.
BOOKING A BOAT
If you want to book a boat, call Oregon Inlet Fishing Center at
1-800-272-5199 or (919) 441-6301, or Pirate's Cove Marina at (919)
473-3906.
Most boats leave before dawn and return to the docks about 5 p.m.
Charter trips cost $825 for a six-person party at Oregon Inlet.
Rates at Pirate's Cove vary.
Prices include bait, tackle and instructions. Marlin and sailfish
fishing is almost exclusively catch-and-release. by CNB