About Obsession Charters:

At A Glance

• Visit us on the web at:
  www.obsession-charters.com
• Email: Click Here
• Address: 3102 S. Ocean View Ct. Manteo 27954 Click for map
• Phone: 252-480-0094
• Latitude: 35.894021
• Longitude: -75.644377
• Payment:
  Cash, Checks
• Marina: Pirates Cove Marina
• Fishing Types: offshore charters
• Rates: $1650 for 1-6 people includes all bait, tackle, and ice for fish.

Experience the beauty and unique location of North Carolina’s Outer Banks…. only 35 miles from the Gulf Stream. Challenge the power and majesty of a giant blue marlin during an intense battle…. or experience the exciting jumping abilities of the acrobatic white marlin, sailfish and dolphin (mahi-mahi) on light tacke….. or wrestle with the hard running, deep diving and great eating yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna, bluefin tuna and wahoo. Whether you are looking for the catch of a lifetime, a light tackle challenge or just a boxfull of fish for the grill, check out the OBSESSION. Captain Jeff Ross, owner/operator of the 55ft OBSESSION, has been fishing the Gulf Stream and waters off North Carolina’s Outer Banks since 1982. You will not fish with a more intense, harder working Captain, who is in the business for his love and passion for the sport!

The OBSESSION is home-based at Pirates Cove Marina, in the Manteo/Nags Head area of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. From April thru December, Captain Jeff runs full day charters to the Gulf Stream and adjacent waters, heading offshore thru Oregon Inlet to take advantage of the accessibility of over 120 miles of 100 fathom curve…the outer continental shelf-edge, with its sharp drop-offs, canyons, rock ledges, Gulf Stream and Gulf Stream eddies. The unique combination of hydrographic and geographic conditions existing off Oregon Inlet results in some of the world’s most productive waters and is the reason why the Outer Banks offers the finest year-round abundance of big game species along the continental United States.

Fish on the OBSESSION for yellowfin tuna late-March thru mid-July and late-September thru early-December; blue marlin from May thru September; white marlin from June thru September; catch dolphin from late-April thru September; for bigeye tuna late-June thru early-August and some years in the fall; and wahoo from April thru November. Check out the OBSESSION’s web site Fishing Calendar to time your fishing trip to the prime season for the fish you want to target.

Boat & Captain:

The Obsession

The OBSESSION is a 55 foot custom 'Carolina-style' sportfishing boat, the last and largest in a long line of vessels built specifically for charter fishing by Capt. Sheldon Midgette (for Capt. Sheldon Midgette). You will not find a more comfortable, seakindly boat when the ocean gets rough. This is one of the dryest boats ever built, and with a large keel, she is extremely stable when trolling. The OBSESSION was repowered in 1998 with a 1000 hp 3412 Caterpillar and cruises at 25+ knots. The OBSESSION carries state of the art electronics including radar, color fish finder, and two GPS chart plotters and cell phone. Its large salon features: heat/air, microwave, stereo, VCR and a refrigerator. Enhancing your fishing comfort, the hugh cockpit has a 130 lb class giant tuna chair, 2 additional fighting chairs, and a large built-in bait box, ice chest and fish box. The OBSESSION has a ladder to the flying bridge to allow customers/guests to join Capt. Jeff on the bridge for a different perspective. The Obsession primarily trolls natural baits and provides all bait and tackle. The extensive tackle selection includes 20, 30, 50, and 80 lb Shimano Tiagra and Penn International reels on custom rods for trolling for tuna and blue marlin; Shimano TLD 20's with 25 lb line on stand up rods for white marlin, sailfish, and 'gaffer' dolphin; Shimano and Penn spinning reels on light rods for school dolphin or casting to yellowfin tuna; and 80 & 130 lb Shimano Tiagra and Penn International 2-speeds for giant bluefin tuna and blue marlin; and a full spread of stand-up 30 & 50 lb outfits for chunking yellowfin tuna, or anything else you would like to try them on. The OBSESSION has bucket harnesses for heavy tackle and an array of belts & harnesses for stand-up fishing.

Captain Jeff Ross

Captain Jeff Ross grew up fishing New England waters, working on 85 ft headboats for big bluefish and school bluefin tuna, and private sportfishing boats for giant bluefin tuna, sharks and marlin. He received a B.A. degree in Zoology at Ohio Wesleyan University (1974) and a M.A. degree in Fisheries Biology from the College of William & Mary (1979). Since moving to the Outer Banks in 1982, and during the time he was a fisheries biologist for the NC Division of Marine Fisheries, Captain Jeff worked as a freelance mate on charter boats fishing out of Oregon Inlet. Since 1994 he has owned and operated his own charter boat, first the 48 ft Ocean OBSESSION and currently the 55ft Sheldon Midgette built OBSESSION. Having fished for giant bluefin tuna in Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Gloucester, Ma., and Montauk, NY.; for marlin off the Virgin Islands, Bahamas, and Equador, for sailfish in Cancun, and for a host of smaller species from the the surf, center consoles, charterboats, headboats, and even 110-200 ft research vessels along the entire east coast and Gulf of Mexico, Captain Jeff brings a host of fishing experiences on board with him. In his free time, he drives his "beach rig" along the Outer Banks beaches catching puppy and big red drum, striped bass, and speckled trout, and big bluefish from the surf. Captain Jeff Ross has placed first in the Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament, the VA Beach Ducks Unlimited Billfish Tournament, and the Pirates Cove/Allison BillfishTournament; placed second in the Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament, the Dare County Boatbuilders Tournament and the Alice Kelly Memorial Tournament; and placed third in the Pirates Cove Billfish Tournament. He has won various other levels and money in the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, the Pirates Cove Billfish Tournament and the Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament. The Obsession also won a trip to Costa Rica for catching the most billfish on circle hooks in the combined Big Rock Blue Marlin and Pirates Cove Billfish Tournament, and won the most billfish on circle hook prize two years in a row at the Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament.

Charters:

Offshore Fishing

Capt. Jeff prefers using light tackle for all species when conditions permit, and dependant on angler's desires and skill. The OBSESSION crew encourages angler participation and will enthusiastically work with anglers interested in the finer points of rigging natural baits and hooking their own fish. There is no screaming or yelling at customers on this charter boat, but plenty of coaching and encouragement! ALL fish you catch are yours to take home and enjoy (except billfish which are released). The OBSESSION carries 400+ lbs of ice every day to keep your fish fresh. The marina offers an outstanding fish cleaning service at the dock for a reasonable fee. The OBSESSION is available for charter out of Pirates Cove at least thru the first or second week of December. We leave the dock at 5 AM and return around 5 PM. We head out of Oregon Inlet; the run offshore takes around 2 hours. The cost of chartering the OBSESSION, and all offshore full day charter boats fishing out of Pirates Cove Marina in 2010, is $1650 for 1-6 people and this includes all bait, tackle, and ice for your fish. A tip for the mate (15%) is customary if service is satisfactory. All you need to bring is your food and beverages in coolers. Pirates Cove has a fish cleaning service available, and there are two local businesses that vacuum pack and freeze your fillets if you are staying overnite. FISHING LICENSES are not needed as all charterboats have blanket licenses to cover our customers. You can reserve a date(s) by email CaptJeff@mindspring.com or phone: (C) 252-473-8487 (H) 252-480-0094. A $400 deposit is required to secure your dates... this deposit is fully refundable: 1) with notification of cancelllation of your trip 2 or more weeks prior to your scheduled date or; 2) due to bad weather. If you need additional people to share costs for a charter, please call me and I will discuss several options for you.

Fish We Catch:

Sailfish

During the winter, and for the last 6 years running, Capt. Jeff Ross will be heading back to the island of Isla Mujeres, near Cancun, Mexico from January thru mid-March to fish for Atlantic Sailfish. The waters off that part of the northern Yucatan Peninsula holds the greatest concentration of sailfish seen anywhere in the Atlantic and provides some of the most incredible billfishing in the world. Check out the 'Sailfishing in Mexico' section of our website for detailed information on a great winter adventure!

Tuna

Yellowfin, bigeye tuna spring, early summer and fall. Some of the largest yellowfin of the year are landed in June and early-July. From mid-June thru late-July, we often have some incredible bigeye tuna fishing, and althought they don't bite every day or every year, when they do these 100-250 lb critters are brutally tough battlers and great eating. Wahoo are available as well.

Dolphin/Mahi-Mahi

Late spring through fall. Dolphin are plentiful around sargassum lines which occur along the Gulf Stream's edge or around large floating objects.

Marlin

Summer through fall From late-July thru mid-September, we are blessed with the east coast's finest white marlin and blue marlin fishing. It is not unusual to get ten or more shots at white marlin in a day, with double and triple headers good for some cockpit chaos! We use light tackle....25 lb line on stand up rods for white marlin to increase hook up rates and maximize angler's enjoyement. Blue marlin are at their summers peak abundance, and August off Oregon Inlet is renowned worldwide for the number of 700 lbs - grander class fish hooked each year. With the availability of sailfish in these same waters, this is the best time and spot along the US east coast for a 'grand slam'.

Fishing Report:

Another photo of a great catch!

Started off along a weed line that looked good but was not holding a lot of fish....boat up ahead of me hooked a few bigeye tuna and we got up there an hooked a dolphin...slowed up to catch that and had a mako shark eat a bait, then two bigeyes....one bigeye tuna pulled the hook after 5 minutes....the shark bit us off after 10 minutes, and an hour later, Chris Cunningham, from Farmville, VA boated a 171 lb bigeye tuna......not a bad start......fished the line for the next 4 hours and picked out about 20 nice dolphin......then an explosion behind the right short rigger big bait..... HOOKED UP BIG BLUE MARLIN!!! Gary Coffman, from Rocky Mount, VA hopped in the chair and the battle was on.....I called the fish 600 after the first few jumps..... a half hour later and several jumps close to the boat more, mate Richard got hold of the leader and the fish took him from side to side of the boat but he laid it along side for everyone to get a good look and then cut the leader.....fish was an easy 600+ and I feel like it was right at 700 lbs....hopefully we will get to see some pictures in the next day or so.....Gary did a great job angling and was a dream come true for him

We started down south on a grass line that was not very productive, with boats north & south of us only getting an occassional dolphin bite.....a charterboat 25 miles north of us started hitting the tuna and a few of the boats around me started heading that way, and I was ready to do so as well, but decided to work the line north with the other boats gone and see if some more fish come to it....well, sometimes things work out as the line sharpened up and the grass came to the color change and the light switch turned on and we started catching gaffer and school dolphin in clusters....for 4 hours action was non stop, and Dao Nguyen & his crew from Virginia enjoyed great light tackle action filling the box with 5-40 lb dolphin, along with several tuna. Ian Thomas boated a 41 lb citation earning dolphin and Andrew Chambers released a nice sailfish, for his NC citation.

Marlin Reinbold & crew from Pennsylavania had boated 5 yellowfins when at the end of the day we hooked 3 more.....one pulled the hook right at the boat, the other , a 30 lb fish we boated and the third and biggest fish popped up on the surface without a tail and a mako shark grabbing hold of it, and by the time we got the tuna to the boat there was nothing but eyeballs left so, Marlin & crew got revenge and put the damm mako in the boat......150 lb of bad attitude!

Jim Kennedy & his two sons from Cincinatti, Ohio fished with me yesterday and today.....yesterday was rough and we only had a few bites....caught 2 small yellowfin and two dolphin. Got an early start today in hopes of showing them at least one good day of fishing and fortunately things went our way...... Found a beautiful weedline and though its early for dolphin, with no other boats around we had decent action catching a dozen nice 5-18 lb dolphin on light tackle. Thirteen year old Daniel Kennedy, on his birthday, fought a 275-300 lb bluefin for over 45 minutes and got it to the boat for his release, earning his first North Carolina citation. Then older brother Patrick boated a 130 lb mako shark.

With winds blowing SW 20 we headed down the beach and had good action on blackfin tuna, with a few yellowfin tuna mixed in as well as some dolphin with one going 17 lbs....the blackfin tuna were in the 15-20 lb class and Adam Wilhelm, Blake Meyers from NJ and Nick Vlasic from Indiana and crew enjoyed steady action all day trolling in the morning and kite fishing in the afternoon. A few more tuna and dolphin starting to show up every day now.

John Pinho, from Greenbrook, NJ released a bluefin estimated around 275-300 lbs and Steven Jaza released a bluefin in the 325-350 lb class, both battles lasting 35-45 minutes....we had a few other bites on jigs while fighting Steven's fish, and pulled the hook on two other fish.....lucky to come up with that as we had 25 knot winds, 6 ft seas and it was hard to cover territory.....never really got on the fish good.

Only a few boats headed offshore yesterday, with 20-25 knot NW winds blowing, but fortunately I had a salty crew. Navigating Oregon Inlet was challanging due to the lack of funds to properly dredge the inlet and shoaling unlike any we have ever seen, but everyone got out there OK and the warm Gulf Stream water was shoved in over the Point and the bluefin were scattered about over a 15 mile area. We caught 6 fish in the 180-250 class trolling in the morning....once we got on an area of fish we pretty much had a bent rod for 3 1/2 hours.....then the fish moved, so we moved north, relocated them again but they would not bite the trolling stuff so we got on a good mark of fish, stopped the boat and started chunking and hooked four more fish, two double headers, catching 3 three of those in the 250-300 lb size range. All the fish were too large to keep, but Richard Jollon (4 releases), Thomas Dolan (two releases), Andrew Butts (three releases) & William Pillor (one release) all earned citations for releasing big bluefin tuna.

Nelson Carr & his crew from New Jersey were hardy enough soles to enjoy a choppy, cold spring day looking for lunkers.....fishing along the Gulf Stream's edge we found several large areas of bluefin tuna over a 10 mile area (lotta fish around right now) and had 8 bites and caught 5 bluefins ranging from 160 -300 lbs, including this 71 inch, 185 lb fish. As in the past few years, we are allowed to keep one bluefin less than 73 inches/day which makes for a lot of sushi or blackend tuna.....there were a few yellowfin caught by the fleet today and 3 blue marlin seen and 2 bigeye tuna caught.....I have openings all week as well as next Sunday. The bluefins should hang around for several more weeks.

PHOTOS OF CRAIG ARSENAULT, FROM WASHINGTON, DC & HIS WHITE MARLIN

With a stiff southwest wind and no grass lines made up, we fished an inside change and picked away at the dolphin, never finding a big bunch, but a single here, double here, maybe 5 or 6 now and then but by mid morning Jamie Flint & family from West Virginia, had their limit of school dolphin with a few gaffers, all caught on light spinning rods.... we trolled up the beach the rest of the day and Jamie caught and boated a 45 lb yellowfin tuna.

We started off tuna fishing and caught one yellowfin about 30 lbs right out of the gate, but then had no more bites for two hours.... a few boats hit them, but overall it was slow so we ran 20 miles beyond the 100 fathom curve to a grass line that was blown all apart, but we fortunately were able to find a bunch of school dolphin for some good light tackle spinning rod action for Dave Wetner and his crew.

I was able to get Gary Coffman & daughter from North Carolina to join Frank Madonna and his boys from New York together for a makeup group and everyone had a blast.... started the day with 3 yellowfin tuna in the 30-40 lb class and then ran offshore to the Gulf Steam change (20 long miles beyond the 100 fathom curve!!!) and we found a beautiful grass line and dolphin got after us immediately.... the folks did a great job boating their limit of 5-25 lb dolphin on spinning rods and other light tackle.

Derrick Collins & his crew of skilled anglers from Alabama and Florida were scheduled to do an offshore trip in the Gulf of Mexico, but with the oil spill disaster closing the waters out of Venice Louisiana, they opted to check out fishing on the Outer Banks...... after a couple of single tuna bites, the crew wrassled with a four banger, of which we caught 3 45-50 lb yellowfins, then picked away at a few mahi..... then late in the day we raised a small blue marlin that knocked a bait out of the pin but didn't get hooked.... we circled back and it showed in the spread again but did not go on anything!

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