Today was a great day of fishing, beautiful weather, fun group, everything good. We caught most of a limit of nice dolphin and a surprise 50-60 pound class yellowfin while we were bailing. I also.saw what I thought was a school of porpoises, only to pull up on thousands of spinner sharks, and they demolished my spread before we could get it away from them.
Just got back in from an overnight offshore trip for the last two days with a group of mennonites from Maryland.
Fishing was just ok- not great, not terrible, but the group were really nice people and just fun to have on the boat. These young men were just amazed with everything offshore. They were very polite and eager to learn everything there is to know about offshore fishing. At first I kind of thought that they were like will Ferrell's character "Buddy the Elf" from the movie elf, but I quickly realized that they lead a very different lifestyle than me and this overnight offshore fishing adventure was something they have been dreaming of doing for years. They were giddy with excitement like kids and it was awesome to get to be a part of that experience with them. We had some interesting conversations and I find their culture fascinating, as they find my lifestyle fascinating, so it was cool. We caught this nice dolphin trolling ballyhoo. We caught a white marlin on the greenstick. It wasnt very sporty on the bandit reel and it just kind of suicided itself without breaking the breakaway. Those mennonite dudes thought that fish coming up and basically tearing it's own head off was the coolest thing they ever saw. Mennonites I suppose dont really show emotions much but when that white marlin hung itself on the stick with a big red splash, they all got really excited. We had a couple tuna bites that didnt come tight before we set up for the night. We drifted perfectly across the mouth of the norfolk canyon in slick calm seas with little to no current and NOTHING, not even a shark bite or squids tearing up the baits. Not a single bite during the night with a variety of mackerels and squid staggered at different depths. We didnt even see much in the lights last night- a few squids, some 2" long dolphin, a little tiny flying fish or two- but no predators and no marks. Nonetheless the mennonites had a great time and none of them slept last night. They pulled up coolers to the back of the cockpit and sat there staring off into the underwater lights telling stories to each other, in Dutch, all night. We werent getting bites and it was calm and I was tired so I laid down and got a little rest hoping to get awakened by a rod going off, but I woke up to sunrise hitting me in the face. Not having any bites in the night, I asked the guys what they wanted to do and they said "catch some fish" so we went deep dropping. We stopped at a spot and caught a couple small barrel fish. Then we looked around in some marks on the bottom but could only catch squid- no tinkers. Then next spot a limit of 30 nice blueline tiles in two five minute long drifts. The guys seemed to enjoy the bottom fishing more than trolling so we went to a couple wrecks working closer to home and caught a catch of sea bass and a flounder or two. I thought it was a slow two days of fishing but the mennonites told me it was one of the best times they've ever had and they cant wait to go again and wanted to get into the schedule for another overnighter for the third week of September.
Boat ran good. Caught some fish. Weather was great. Most of all group was happy as they could be. I gotta say, today was a good day.
Easy morning! Three trips today, so we are off to a good start. Right now, the next availability we have for charter is next tuesday. Give me a call at 7577496008 to book
I have been getting a ton of calls asking if we can go charter fishing now in Virginia. The answer is finally YES! We must adhere to the Governor's executive orders and do the best we can to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but we can take groups of 6 and we can take you fishing! Book a trip! Now is the time!
***Heres a pro tip- Do not use the fishingbooker or other similar charter fishing booking websites. The best boats do not use booking services and book trips without having to pay a booking service to get clients. The better boats get clients without having to pay a service to find customers. These booking services are not fishermen, dont know about fishing, and are in the business of selling fishing trips, not taking people fishing. Matador charters proudly books their own trips, and offers customers the best trips without "upselling" to get your money***.
Anyways here's the most recent Virginia Beach charter fishing report-
We have fished nearly every day this last week and it's been great fishing. The offshore fishing is still a bit slow to get started for tunas, but the deep drop fishing and wreck fishing out of Virginia Beach have been excellent fishing right now for black sea bass, blueline tilefish, golden tilefish, wreckfish, grouper, and rosefish. The tunas should be here any day as soon as the gulf stream sends an eddy of warm water to the mid atlantic.
With inshore fishing, things have really started to heat up for us out of Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach. Cobia season opened monday in Virginia and we saw some excellent fishing for cobia. There have also been huge schools of giant red drum off the Virginia Beach oceanfront for sightcasters. Spadefish have turned on and we are looking forward to an excellent summer of charter fishing for spadefish. Some spanish mackerel and bluefish are beginning to show up in the waters off the Virginia coast. And for our friends from out of town and all the kids who love to catch and release sharks, the sharks are beginning to make a showing.
Summer fishing is in full swing in Virginia Beach so if you were waiting for a signal of when to book a fishing trip with Matador Charters... this is it. Book now while some prime dates are still available for reservation.
Here are our current rates for charters for up to 6 people for summer 2020 aboard the 35' Toro.
Half day inshore- mostly fishes for Spanish mackerel and Taylor bluefish, sometimes small sharks, cobia, and red drum.
Weekday (Monday-Thursday) 4 hour inshore half day -$550.
Weekend (Friday-Sunday) or holiday 4 hour inshore- $600
6 hour 3/4 day inshore- same fish as 4 hour inshore plus, more availability for sharks, cobia, red drum, plus spadefish, and near shore wreck species ( sea bass, flounder, triggerfish, etc)
Weekday 6 hour 3/4 day inshore- $800
Weekend or holiday 6 hour 3/4 day inshore- $900
8 hour full day inshore- same fish as 4 & 6 hour inshore trip plus nearshore wrecks for sea bass, flounder, triggerfish, etc or full shark fishing or sight casting for cobia and red drum.
Weekday 8 hour full day inshore- $1000
Weekend or holiday 8 hour full day inshore- $1200
All offshore trips are 12 to 14 hours, either trolling, huge shark fishing, deep dropping, live baiting marlin, or tower amberjack/wrecks/trolling mahi combo trip are $2000.
Matador Charters also offers overnighters and tournaments. Contact Capt. Jake directly for availability and pricing.
Thank you!
Follow My Captain Jake Hiles Youtube channel, "Fishing with the Matador". I'm a professional fisherman from Virginia Beach, VA, USA, I own and operate Matador Charters and I travel all over the world fishing. I always have a line in the water working to create new video content. I have a very long resume with tournaments and records and this channel chronicles those accomplishments. I love God, my family, America, and FISHING!
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