LIVELINE CHARTERS WEBSITE: http://livelinecharters.com

The Boat
The boat, as described on Liveline Charter's website: "Live Line is a 31 ft. Contender center console with twin 2005 Yamaha 300 HPDIs. Rigged for live bait fishing, Gulf Stream or Bottom fishing with plenty of room for fishing or relaxing. T-top, full curtains, a lot of dry storage/ fish boxes/coolers. Rigged with a 50 and 40-gallon live wells, Top Gun out riggers and Penn downriggers. Electronics is the latest C120 Raymarine integrated Color Chart plotter, High Def Color Fish Finder and Radar. I-Com VHF, Fixed Cell phone (40 mile range) and a 100 watt CD 4 speaker stereo system."

The Crew

Captain's Bio: Captain Mike Jackson is owner of Liveline Charters, based out of Wilmington, North Carolina. He is United States Coast Guard (USCG) licensed and insured. Ask him about his 30 years of saltwater fishing experience, and he will share stories of his days commercial fishing for giant Atlantic Bluefin Tuna off Cape Cod, or days in the topics fishing the flats of Florida Keys, or more recently, of his outings with his clientele jigging and livelining the crystal clear waters of the Gulf Stream. His clients and friends will tell you that he is cordial, knowledgeable, professional, and competitive. As an avid angler, he regularly competes in the Southern Kingfish Association King Mackerel tournaments and the FLW King Series. Of his countless accomplishments, he has been featured in Carolina Adventure Magazine (May 2002), Star News (December 2001), and three issues of Angler Magazine. His clients also make frequent appearances on the Fishermen's Post and WB Fishing websites. Let BFTC bring you aboard Liveline Charters for the best warmwater fishing on the east coast!

Crew? What crew? Capt. Mike Jackson is a one-man EVERYTHING. He is stellar at steering the boat, unhooking every fish, and maneuvering anglers when a big fish fight is on! He caters to an angler's EVERY need! He has introduced us to a form of fishing that has changed our lives forever. As our guide (but more like our mentor), he taught us that vertical jigging is a classy form of fishing that involves a jig, adrenalin, and some giant fish. In my opinion, Capt. Mike Jackson sets the gold standard for any charter operation I have ever fished with. Honestly, he is the most professional, friendly, and encouraging angler I have ever met. Fish with Mike Jackson and learn how a true gentleman fishes his waters. He respects his fishery and cares about every fish upon catch-and-keep or catch-and-release. Capt. Mike is the absolute best.


The Fishing Report
Our trip was originally scheduled for the 10-11th, but Capt. Mike let us know of a superb weather window predicted for the 3rd-4th. Milton, Andrew, Jimmy, Jason, and I headed down Friday (April 2nd) morning to make it to NC in time for some nice sleep the night before our Saturday trip. This was the first time I ever made it there early enough to sleep the night before a first trip, and MAN DID IT MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE! No soarness, no fatigue, and a lil' less pain.

Saturday (April 3, 2010): As the weatherman predicted, we had nothing but still waters 60 miles offshore. Capt. Mike scorched the seas at full throttle. Once there, Jason (new to jigging), soon hooked up with his first-ever AJ. LOTS of grunting and huffing and puffing, but Jason landed the AJ and we took a couple of photos.

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After that it was lock-n-load AJ's. Although no giants in the 50+ inch range, there were plenty of aggressive strikes from 30-60lb amberjack!

About an hour in, we got a nice surprise. Andrew got his jig on a HUGE Gag Grouper, estimated about 25lbs! While all the other anglers crowded his fish, I was on with what I thought was a small amberjack. I started horsing my fish so that I could get a look at the gag before its release. To my surprise, when my fight ended I had a nice 32" Red Grouper on the other end. Andrew and I took a photo with our out-of-season species before releasing them.

Next, we messed around with more amberjack until the sharks came around. After that, nothing but decapitated amberjack were landed. Although we did see a giant cobia swim around the boat, it didn't want to eat.

We then decided to move where the fleet was - the "cobia flatlands" at 150ft depth. We saw about 5 others boats there; all but one boat was jigging. Once there, the radio went off about 50-60lbs cobia being caught one after another, but we couldn't buy a bite. Soon though, Jimmy landed a big cobia near the bow.

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Then it was an amberjack here and a cobia there. I did get a nice cobia to take a diamond jig (A67) while working the jig just off the bottom. I would twitch the jig up to about 15 ft off the bottom then jerk it on the drop down (while thumbing the line). The fish hit on the way down just above the bottom. When I reared back on the fish, I realized it was hefty, so I asked Milton to grab the video camera: 

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Moments later, Jason hooked a nice fish that took a Seven Seas Hooker (Pink/Blue/Silver) jig. It turned out to be an African Pompano and he fought it masterfully, a trophy fish by any jigger's standards.

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More and more amberjack pounded us as the day went on, but we were able to get a couple new species on film:

Blackfin Tuna:

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King Mackerel:

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Sand Tilefish:

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But as the end of the trip drew near, tension among anglers started to build as everyone wanted a pompano.


Then on the very last drift, Milton and redgloves would get their chance.....

Capt. Mike: "Alright boys, make it count, last drift."

Milton: "C'mon pompano baby!"

Andrew: "Uhg!!!" (he hooked up!)

Andrew (jokingly): "Milton, don't say anything! Every time you say something I drop a fish."

The crowd went silent. Just then....

Milton: "OH! I'm on! I'm on!!!!! It's running away from the boat. Not an AJ! NOT an AJ!"

It was on - a double header pompano opportunity - Would the boys get theirs???? Yes, and in dramatic fashion! Double hook-up, line tangle, dance around, then landed! ---> Our boyz got theirs!!!!!! 

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Their enthusiasm was infectious and made for a high we all shared and will all never forget for some time.

Time to bring down the bean bags and get some zzzzz's.

Sunday (April 4, 2010): On Day 2, we started out with again calm water. Capt. Mike made it to the fishing grounds in no time. We started out in about 140 ft of water. On the first drop, healthy amberjack on EVERY SINGLE DROP!!!!

Once again though, the sharks found us. We didn't feel like sacrificing any more amberjack to them, so we moved to the cobia grounds from the day before.

At the spot, Jason got his much anticipated cobia:

Though on this day, Jimmy was the star of the show. He landed two amazing grouper species. The first was a nice scamp. The second was a monster Gag Grouper, similar in length and mass to redgloves' from the day before:

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Jimmy also got his fair share of big amberjack. He also had a very big brown shark test his tackle to the limit (see shark video below).

As the day went on, the action slowed a bit. So, a couple of us took this opportunity to make some funny clips to take back home and share with friends. Like what? Oh, like this one:

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At the last spot, we tried again for pompano which seem to have been hanging right off the bottom. Here, I thought I would give them something very, very different. I pulled out a Shimano Lucanus jig from my box, tied it on, and let it drop. I worked it right off the bottom, and sure enough --> BANG! I was on! But, this fish wasn't a pompano, amberjack, or cobia. It was a shark! The shark took the jig and miraculously didn't break off the tiny assist hook (see shark video below). Very odd, but still super fun!

Shark Compilation Video from our trip:

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Exhausted anglers getting rest on the ride back home:

Depths Fished:
140-250 ft

GEAR USED
Please see article:
BFTC Vertical Jigging Article

Filleting Services
Filleting done by Capt. Mike and is included in fare.