Boy has it been hot. It seems that it has been hotter than last year at this time but it sure beats living in Fargo ND. I will take the heat any day as to minus numbers in the winter. With the heat you can wear cool clothes and drink plenty of fluids.

These hot temperatures have surely done something for the ocean fishing around these parts. We have had more sailfish than any of us can remember. The other striking fish live king mackerel have been so thick, most of us are limiting out in just a couple of hours. Take yesterday for example. I met Raymond McCauley, Dr Wolfe and his two sons Stephan and Jordan for a day of offshore trolling on the Morning Star. A nicely outfitted 32 foot sport fisher out of St Augustine. We let the marina at about 7:00 am and proceeded to make our way out of the inlet and east from there.

Captain Raymond McCauley pointed this nice riding Albemarle to one of his favorite spots as the Doc, his two sons and I made for a nice soft place to sit for the short ride. As we all settled in, I got to sit next to Jordan the youngest of Dr. Wolfe's two sons. I think Jordan is about 10 years old. Just the age to ask question after question. Can you remember back when you were that age. The learning age. Where we asked about every thing.

Jordan is not your typical kid of today. He is well mannered, polite and courteous, so unlike most kids today. Jordan and I talked about the biggest fish, I had ever caught, catching king fish, boats and many other things. We talked for about twenty minutes then the boat came down off of a plane. As I have been offshore many times, I knew what this meant. Either the boat was broke or IT WAS TIME TO FISH. It was the latter, it was time to fish.

Capt. Raymond slid from behind the wheel to the cockpit where he quickly rigged the planer rod and out it went. This was a Sea Striker #3 planer with about 30 feet of 200 lb monofilament tied to it with a 3 1/2 blue Drone spoon attached to the end of the leader. He sent this out about 100 feet behind the boat and locked down the drag to about 25 pounds. The reason the drag was so tight was to prevent the planer from pulling line from the spool as the boat trolled at 6 knots. His next rig was an Island Lure jet head, blue and white, rigged with a single 7/0 long shank hook with a medium ballyhoo on the hook. Before he could get out another rig, we were hooked up. This fish had eaten the planer rig and the rod was thumping from the fish trying to shake the hook.

Jordan ran to the ran and with the help of Captain Ray, he cranked in a nice 8 pound king mackerel. Alright, we had only been fishing for 5 minutes and already had a nice fish in the box.

Raymond, sent this rig back out and started getting other rigs in the water. The great thing about the planer rig is when the fish is put in the box, you do not have to rig another bait. You only have to send the rig back out and place the rod back in the holder. This is a great way to fast troll during the warmer months.

Shortly after Raymond got all four baits in the water, we were hooked up again and to the boat came another nice king. This fish came on one of the Islander jet head rigs. This action went on for the next 2 hours and by then we had landed ten king mackerel, three barracuda and two bonita. What a morning, we had only been fishing for about two hours and had already had fifteen fish and lost about four or five more.

Raymond fishes from a very comfortable 32 foot Albemarle with twin diesels, A/C and a cabin with head. This boat has a spacious cockpit and plenty of padded seating for the anglers. The full enclosure also provides a nice area to get out of the sun and if the weather flares up a lot of room to keep dry.

We fished for another couple of hours, landing several more fish and at one time we even had a sailfish managed to go from outrigger to outrigger, eating all of the baits and never get a hook in him.

Around 10:30 am the weather started to look dismal on the radar, so we decided to head back in before we had an opportunity to get caught up in the storm. Good decision, we had all we could keep and released several more. The day was still early enough to get the boat and fish cleaned and get back to the house in time for an afternoon nap. What a day aboard the Morning Star.

From this trip it is obvious that the king mackerel are on fire and we expect this hot action to continue as long as the water temperature stays up and the bait fish hang around.

The ocean is still producing big numbers of king mackerel, sailfish, cobia, barracuda and more. The offshore bottom fishing on the close in spots is fair at best but the summer months are not usually real good for bottom fishing around here. If you want to make the run out to deeper water, there have been some nice catches of grouper, snapper, a few wahoo and dolphin.

Inshore action is starting to heat up for the flat fish (flounder). Try a Sea Striker 3 to 4 inch curly tail grub fished on a lead head jig around the rock pile, docks and bridge piles. You can also use a mud minnow or small mullet to produce good numbers of these tasty flat ones.

Trout action has been good in the Blount Island area with the downtown docks producing some nice 3 to 5 pounders in the lower light times of the day. I have also been doing well with the He Dog, early on the morning and just before dark. Work the lure slow from the edge to the boat. I also have ready a rod with a RT Slug tied on for the top water strikes that don't hook up. This is a great follow up bait for the fish that can't seem to eat the top water baits. Toss it out after the fish has missed the top water lure, let it sink a little then start working it as if it was wounded.

Bait pods are every where in the creeks and river. Try working the edges of them with a Clark Spoon with a curly tail grub slipped on the hook. The grub gives the spoon added weight and an unbelievable action. Throw this into the pods and work it out of them like it was injured. Be ready for the big bite about the time the spoon gets out of the school.

Remember moms and dads, spend some time taking your kids fishing and they will not be out causing problems on Friday and Saturday night but will be in bed waiting to go with you the next day. It does work, I promise.