About The Hooker:

At A Glance

• Visit us on the web at:
  www.fishthehooker.com
• Email: Click Here
• Address: 98 N.C. Highway 12, Bodie Island just before the Oregon Inlet Bridge Manteo 27954 Click for map
• Phone: (252) 473-1964
• Latitude: 35.795173
• Longitude: -75.547732
• Payment:
  Cash, Checks, Travelers Checks, Credit Cards
• Marina: Oregon Inlet Fishing Center
• Fishing Types: offshore, nearshore
• Rates: Full day charters $1,600. Winter half-day trips $650.
• Services: We offer charter and guide services.
• Merchandise: T-shirts for sale

Welcome aboard The Hooker! We hope that you will join us for a world class day of fishing from the home of sportfishing, Oregon Inlet, North Carolina. Your crew, Captain Tom Krauss and Mate Greg Feeley, is one of the best in the business and will help make your day aboard “The Hooker” one to remember.

You’ll ride in comfort out to the fishing grounds aboard our custom Carolina built 50 foot sportfisher. The salon was redone in 2002 and is equipped with heating and air conditioning as well as a microwave and stereo. A new 1150 horsepower Caterpillar C 18 Acert engine was installed in 2008. The Hooker offers full day Gulf Stream fishing for Marlin, Tuna, Dolphin, Wahoo, and Sailfish. During the winter months, we also offer full and half-day trips for stripers.

The Hooker is a member of the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center fleet.

Boat & Captain:

The Hooker

"The Hooker" is a fifty-foot custom Carolina boat built by Billy Holton. In 2008 extensive improvements were made to the boat. The engine room had a major makeover and she was re-powered with a new 1150 horsepower Caterpillar C 18 Acert engine. She comes equipped with heating to keep you warm during those winter months of tuna and striper fishing and air conditioning to keep you cool during the hot days of summer. The salon also hosts a microwave and a stereo with a compact disc player. She comes fully rigged with the latest in electronics and all the tackle you'll need for a great day of gulf stream fishing.

Captain Tom Krauss

Your Captain, Tom Krauss, has been fishing out of Oregon Inlet for over 30 years and is one of the most respected captains in the business. Tom has been married to his wife, Janice, for over 21 years and has two daughters, Kristen and Kelly. Capt. Tom likes to go fishing even when he gets a day off, so you know he's going to do everything he can to put you "in the bite". Down in the cockpit, your mate, Greg Feeley, has all the knowledge and skills to make your day a success. From rigging the baits to hooking the big one, Greg will help make your day aboard "The Hooker" one you'll never forget.

Charters:

Captain Tom's Charter

Full day charters are $1,600.00 and can be booked by calling Captain Tom at 252-473-1964 or the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center at 1-800-272-5199. When calling Tom, please call before 9:00pm since he's going to be hitting the sack not long after that. During striper season (December through March) half-day trips can be booked for $650.00 or full days for $1,100. Credit card payments can only be accepted through the fishing center.

Off Shore Charters

Tackle, bait and ice are provided so the only things you need to bring are food, drinks and suntan lotion. For full day off shore trips, the boat usually leaves the dock around 5:30 in the morning and returns around 4:30 in the afternoon. During striper season, plan on leaving the dock at 7:00 in the morning and returning at 11:30 for half day trips and 4:00 for full day trips. Afternoon charters will leave at 12:00 and return around 4:30. However, please check in with Capt. Tom the night before your trip to verify departure time.

Fish We Catch:

Stripers

January-February - Striper fishing is in full swing by January and it's been nothing short of phenomenal in recent years. These fish range from twenty to fifty pounds and it's not uncommon to be battling more than one on the same rod at the same time. Sound crazy? Come charter "The Hooker" and find out what world class striper fishing is all about. Our salon is heated so don't worry about the cold-just come ready to catch fish. Usually a half-day trip is all you need to catch all the stripers you can handle, but if a full day of fishing is what you need to put away the winter blues, we can handle that too.

Big Eye Tuna

June-July - Dolphins are showing up in force by now and the tunas are still around as well. This is a great time to try your luck battling a hundred pound (or much bigger) Big Eye Tuna. These are real bruisers so be ready for the fight of a lifetime. Never caught a billfish? Blue Marlin, White Marlin and Sailfish start frequenting our waters during this time so come charter "The Hooker" to fulfill your life's dream.

Marlin

August-September - Book your charter now on "The Hooker" to get in on the hottest white marlin bite on the east coast. This is usually prime time White Marlin fishing and double digit releases are a real possibility. The full August moon means the big blues are lurking in our off-shore waters-try your shot at hooking a grander! Also, the dolphin are still around and by the end of September, yellowfin tuna should be back in force.

Yellowfin Tuna

October-December - Yellowfin tuna fishing is going strong now-if conditions are right you'll be chunking instead of trolling. If you've never done this kind of fishing before it's a must. It's non stop action that will leave you begging for mercy! By the middle of November striper fishing is starting up again and life is good! What could be better than year round fishing on the Outer Banks!

Fishing Report:

White marlin fishing is off the charts right now. Yesterday was the best day for the fleet going out of Oregon Inlet ever. Over 150 white marlin were released-and that's only with a very few boats of the charter fleet fishing. "The Hooker" had around 20 bites and managed to catch 8 plus about 25 nice dolphin-gaffers and bailers. At one point we had a double header of whites on and you could see around 50 dolphin plus more marlin swimming behind the boat. Pretty cool.

The last few days have seen some incredible white marlin fishing a little north of us. We've had pretty good fishing as well but up off Ocean City it has been going off! Some boats have caught over 40 fish in a day! Here's a shot of white just before he was released on Tuesday. We went 2 for 4 that day. Not sure how the hurricane will effect the fishing-we'll just have to wait and see. It could push down the fish that are north of us.

Here's a shot of "The Hooker" hauled up in the boatyard in anticipation of Hurricane Earl. Just about all the boats are on dry land right now, but we are hoping it won't be too bad. We should be back in the water on Saturday.

We ended up fishing on Friday which was a great thing-an absolutely beautiful day on the water. My neighbors booked the boat and allowed me to tag along-thank you very much. Marlin fishing has really picked up the last several days with many boats releasing up to 8 per day. We saw plenty yesterday but our percentage wasn't it's best-we released 3 whites and caught 30 or 40 dolphin.

Marlin fishing was a little slower for the guys on Saturday-They went 1 for 3 on whites but made up for it with a limit of nice dolphin. Right now we don't have another trip until Saturday so unless we get booked it will be a little quite this week.

Fishing is really consistent right now-that doesn't happen all the time. Yesterday, Scott and Gregg caught 4 whites plus around 30 dolphin. We are off today and tomorrow and have several open dates next week if anyone wants to go. Tom continues to get better-he's walking more and more every day.

This report is going to sound just like yesterday's. Lots of dolphin and 3 white marlin. Marlin fishing is heating up-several of the boats had 4 or 5 yesterday.

A pretty good day on the water for the guys yesterday. Another 40 to 50 dolphin plus 3 white marlin! Plenty of meat and good marlin action-perfect.

Scott was back on the water on Sunday and caught about 45 dolphin. A couple of whites came after him but they weren't very hungry and Scott said he never got a shot at them. Also, Tom came home from the hospital on Sunday and is resting comfortably. He has even been up and walking some today.

l'm Brian, Tom's partner, and I'll be posting while Tom is recouperating. His surgery went well yesterday and hopefully he'll be home in a few days. Thanks for everyone's thought's and prayers . We did not catch a fish yesterday in the last day of the Pirate's Cove Tournament so that was a bummer. Also, our tuna did not hold up so we were shut out of the money-maybe next year.

Kind of a slow day for us today in the second day of the Pirate's Cove Tournament. Scott and his crew only caught one sail today to give them a total of 3 fish for the week. The leading boat has 9 or 10 so there is some work to be done tomorrow. I go in surgery tomorrow at 12:30-ready to get this behind me.

Scott ran the boat for the Alice Kelly tournament and ended up 1 for 3 on whites. I think the winning boat had 5. He fished the first day of the Pirate's Cove Tournament yesterday and caught one white, a sail and a 61 pound yellowfin. The leading boat has 7 and then a few boats have 3 or 4 so we are not too far out of the lead. Also, the tuna is in second place right now. Scott took his lay day today and then will fsh Thursday and Friday to finish up. I'll let you know.

My back has been giving me trouble for a year or two now and I've been on borrowed time for a while. Last week, it finally got to where I couldn't take it any more and I'm having surgery this Friday. Scott Williams, a great guy and captain, is running the boat while I"m out of commission which should be for about 6 weeks. I'll try to do what the doctor tells me so I can be back out of the water ASAP-I'm really going to miss it. I'll still update the fishing reports though.

Fishing is about as good as it gets right now. Yesterday we went 5 for 7 on the whites, caught around 30 dolphin plus several nice size yellowfins. The Pirate's Cove tournament is next week so I hope the marlin stay around.

Another good day on the water today. We were 4 out of 7 on the whites, caught our limit of dolphin and one 60 pound yellowfin tuna. It's hard to believe but we are open this Saturday if anybody wants to go.

I love this time of year-it's when the marlin start biting! Yesterday we went 6 for 10 on the whites, caught about 20 dolphin and one really nice yellowfin tuna. We hooked 4 tunas but they were all on our small rigs and we were only able to land 1. I'll take that day any time. Action! I like it.

We took this past weekend off-I had a little something going on. My youngest daughter, Kelly, got married! Everything turned out very nice and she and her husband, Andy, are now enjoying their honeymoon in the Bahamas. My other daughter, Kristen, gets married next spring. Busy times around the Krauss house. It's hard to believe they are both old enough to be married-time goes by quick-enjoy it while you can.

On Wednesday we kind of switched gears a little bit and went marlin fishing. We were rewarded with about a 250 pound blue marlin on light tackle that put on quite a show. He jumped all over the ocean-really pretty. We also fought another blue marlin during the day but lost him about 20 feet from the leader! We also had a white marlin in the spread that wouldn't eat plus we put about 20 dolphin in the box. Pretty good day.

On Monday it was all yellowfin tuna for us. Just like on Saturday, they were really nice ones. We ended up with 9 and that was all we needed to fill the box. On Tuesday the whole ocean had changed and the tuna were gone. However, the dolphin had taken their place and we loaded the box with them. It's crazy how quickly the fishing changes.

It's still rough but the fishing was pretty good for us yesterday. It started off slow but we had a good afternoon bite. We ended up with a sail (went one for two), around 15 dolphin and 6 really nice yellowfin tuna. Those six tuna almost filled up the whole fish box-I'll take that every day!

It's been pretty rough lately but we've made it out a few times. A couple of days were somewhat slow for us-around 10 dolphin and one white marlin-but we've also had some great action. On Sunday, we saw 14 sailfish! That's world class. We also had a limit of dolphin and had about 5 wahoo bites-that's a lot of action! I wish every day could be like that.

We were back on the water yesterday and pretty decent action. It was a little slow at first but then picked up as the day went on. We ended up with about 25 nice gaffers, one tuna (we got slammed by the tunas but it was all on our small riggs and we broke most of them off) and a blue marlin! He was only about 200 pounds but he put on a good show-pretty to watch.

Another good day yesterday-Thursday-about 25 dolphin and we caught one sail and missed another. A little rough but a pretty good day.

We went fishing on Monday and the dolphin were everywhere so there was no problem catching our limit. We also caught a sailfish and a white marlin-pretty good day. Wednesday we had several kids on the boat, Alex White, Eason Clark and Noah Wynn. I really like when the kids go-nothing better than to take a kid fishing. We started out with the dolphin and put about 35 in the boat-then we caught a sailfish-Noah got to reel him in and finished off with a few tuna. A great day on the water!

Wednesday was a little slow for us. It was rough, rainy and not many fish. We had a really nice family from Texas on board and I was disapointed we couldn't have had a better day for them. We did manage to snag one white marlin and a gaffer dolphin so each kid got to reel in a fish. Thursday, things picked up for us and our take was a limit of dolphin, a few tuna and a sailfish.

Today (Sunday) we got clobbered by big eye tunas! We had our smaller rods out to start with hoping to catch a white marlin and got hit by the big eyes! They didn't stay on long-we got spooled pretty quickly and they were gone. We then put out the tuna gear and all 8 rods bent over! We managed to get 6 of them-the biggest one being about 180 pounds. That was more than our fish box could hold so we called it a day and came on in.

We had a day for the ages on Friday. We started out with a white marlin and quicly followed that with a limit of dolphin. After a few hours of nothing, a huge fish came in the spread and went from our left teaser, to our right short rigger and finally ate our shotgun bait. He left a huge hole and we faught him for 6 1/2 hours. At 6:30 he finally broke off and we lost him. It was a big blue marlin and he was at least 1,000 pounds!!! My good friend, Will Booker, was in the chair the whole time fighting the fish. He did a great job and just got unlucky at the end. I really hated to see him lose that fish.

I hate to sound like a broken record but fishing continues to be really good. Saturday we had a limit of dolphin plus a dozen nice size tuna-60 pounders! That's a box full of fish. On Sunday, only the dolphin were around but we loaded up there. The dolphin were still there on Monday plus a few tuna and 2 white marlin as a bonus! It's been pretty calm lately with plenty of fish-what could be better?

Friday saw more of the same-really good fishing. Limit of dolphin, several tuna and 2 white marlin. We saw 4 or 5 whites but only managed to hold on to 2.

We have had really good fishing the last couple of days. On Wednesday we had our good friend George on the boat and he brought along Barry Wilson who was Duke's head football coach back in the 80's. He was a fantastic guy we had a great day-lots of dolphin, about 6 or 7 tuna plus a marlin! Yesterday, was more of the... same-lots of dolphin plus tuna. Really fun fishing.

We had a little something of everything this past weekend. On Friday we couldn't make a wrong turn and caught a limit of really nice tuna. Saturday, the ocean had changed and there wasn't a tuna anywhere. However, the dolphin took their place and we quickly had our limit. Sunday, the fishing slowed down a little but we did manage to release a white marlin, a few tuna and a gaffer dolphin. We have plenty of open days in July if you want to go. 252-473-1964

View Fishing Report Archive on our Web Site