NCCHARTERFISHING-Capt.'s Jeff Cronk and MIke Taylor-Crystal Coast, Swansboro, Emerald Isle

Well, the rain set in this morning so Capt. Mike Taylor and I took care of some errands and then hopped on the boat around noon for a couple hours. We had a good friend from Swansborro, David Williams, onboard. We scoured the shallows in the Backwaters around Swansboro looking for trout and reds. We found a bunch of small puppydrum that were reluctant to bite but a few trout were willing. We picked up 3 speckled trout from 1.75 to 2.5lbs in the shallows. Capt. Jeff Cronk- FISH'N4LIFE CHARTERS- 910-326-7512 Capt. Mike Taylor- 252-725-2623

Morning trip- I had Thomas Robinson's crew onboard for a few hours this morning and things were TOUGH! The SW 20mph winds blew the water out today.... the tide was already low when we left the dock and it fell until noon just before we were heading back to the dock. No water and strong winds made it really tough today. We couldn't get to the redfish in the shoals so we worked the backwater creeks between Swansboro and Brown's Inlet and managed to find just a few fish. We hooked up with three speckled trout ranging from 2 to 2.5lbs and picked up just one puppydrum. To make matters worse... we found a mixed school of Reds and Trout (about 50 fish) along a channel wall which passed directly under the trolling motor in 4ft of water and spooked, running off into the deep water, not to be found again. Very slow bite this morning.

Afternoon trip- Good friend, Robbie Hall of Swansboro and his friend Tim hopped on to see if we could get a better bite with the rising tide while dealing with a 25mph wind. The first area was slow but we picked up a 3 lb and 2.5lb speckled trout along with a redfish and a black drum. We stopped on another area for about 45min. and hooked up with 8 more trout landing 6 of them from 1.5 to 2 lbs. The bite was definately better this afternoon. Great job Guys! Tommy,,, Robbie said he was sorry you missed out. Capt. Jeff Cronk- 910-326-7512 or 336-558-5697 email: Jcronk@ec.rr.com

I met Capt. Mike Taylor at Dudley's Marina this afternoon. Several hours on the water produced about 10 speckled trout and a couple puppydrum. Mike's two largest trout were 4.8lbs and 5.3lbs! SWEEEEEET! -Capt. Jeff Cronk

1/21/07 Left Dudley's around 7am with Steve Atkins crew with light winds and temps in the mid 30's. Shot up Bogue sound to try a few more trout holes and wound up finding a few fish. We picked up 3 specs between 2 and 3.8lbs and then moved toward the inlets and found a bunch of 12 to 14in. trout. The wind turned to the East at about 8mph and we weren't sure whether we would be able to get into a redfish bite with an onshore wind and little sunshine. We searched for about 20min. and found the fish in the same general area today. Second cast and I lucked out with 30+in redfish. For the next couple hours it was steady redfish from 20 to 30in. on Berkley Gulp baits fished on 3/8oz jigheads. We caught and released about 20 and had many more pull off. We set an alltime record aboard FISH'N4LIFE today with a redfish that had 39 spots on one side and 51 spots on the other for a total of 90 spots! The redfish was 26 7/8in long. Back at Dudley's at 1:00pm Super Job guys! capt. Jeff Cronk- FISH'N4LIFE Charters- 910-326-7512.

Sat.- I had a trip cancel today so I used this as a time to have a good friend, Jason Guthrie of Cedar Point, aboard. We left Dudley's around 8am with the wind blowing 20t to 25 out of the WNW. On our first stop Jason hooked up with a big trout while I was setting the anchor. Unfortunately, the fish pulled off quickly. Jason tossed back into the hole and immediately hooked another trout that weighed 5lbs 13oz. We picked up a couple more using both Berkley Gulp baits and 5in Jerkbaits and then moved on to another spot. Next spot produced a few more trout with a monster 6lb 10oz GATOR Trout! We wound up with 7 specs at 2lb, 2.5lb 2.75lb, 3.7lbs, 3.85lbs, 5lb 13oz, and 6lb 10oz. Then, we took advantage of the strong winds and hit the shoals and white water looking for big redfish. 15min. of searching and we found a school with several hundred reds and immediatley began hooking up with 25 to 30+in reds! The action continued for several hours as we found 2 more big schools of fish and even hooked a 2lb trout in the tail with a jighead. We headed back about 2pm to get some lunch. Super Job on the Bigen' Jason! Capt. Jeff Cronk- FISH'N4LIFE- 910-326-7512

Mon Jan 15th good friends Lou Roberts and Doug from Greenville hopped onboard around 7:30am and we took advantage of the slick cam warm morning and worked the mudflats in the backwaters for redfish. On the first stop we found 4 schools of 100 or more per school ranging from 24 to 30in. We fished water 15 to 20in in depth with 1/16oz. gamagatsu leadheads and 4in Berkley Gulp Paddle tail baits. The strikes were instantaneous! What an awsome day as we continued on to several other shallow areas and found reds, trout, and flounder to complete an inshore slam here in January. We boated about 25 big reds today! Great job guys! Capt. Jeff Cronk- FISH'N4LIFE- 910-326-7512

Sun. Jan 14th Left the dock early this morning with Jamie A. and friends aboard. We shot out the inlet and found just 7 or 8 puppydrum and no trout. The action was slow so we bolted into the shallow flats of the backwaters and were lucky enough to find some schools of 25 to 28in redfish for some sightcasting fun! We landed and released a dozen or more reds and then found a hole holding some speckled trout and put 5 up to 1.75lbs in the box and had a few more pull off... Great day on the water! Great Fishing! and 75 degree temps with a light breeze all day. Capt. Jeff Cronk- FISH'N4LIFE- 910-326-7512

Sat. 1/13/07 Fished today with the Blakley crew from Mocksville onboard. WOW! is all I have to say for today's bite and the 70 degree weather. We fished along the beach for several hours then spent the rest of the day in 1 to 2ft of water in the backwaters chasing redfish. The three of us boated and released near 50 redfish and a 5.2lb speckled trout and a small black drum along the beach... then, we lucked out again in the backwaters and fought another 18 puppydrum and a 2 lb flounder. We used both live mudminnows and berkley gulp 4in paddle tail baits on 1/16oz jigheads. Great job guys! I look forward to having you back onboard this spring. Capt Jeff Cronk
FISH'N4LIFE- 910-236-7512.

I had Jody and Eric onboard on Sat. after the weather cleared. The forecast was calling for some serious wind so we decided to work the brackish waters for some specs and whatever else would partake. Well, we found a few trout in several locations along with several other species. It was a little odd but we caught speckled trout, puppydrum, flounder, catfish, largemouth bass, and some big Bowfin. Those saltwater Gulp worked on the saltwater species as well as the freshwater species. We kept 5 decent trout up to 2lbs and had another 6 or 7 shake the hooks. It turned out to be a very pleasant day with temps about 75 degrees and hidden from the wind. As soon as this weather cools and the fronts pass the trout and redfishing should pick right back up. Capt. Jeff Cronk- FISH'N4LIFE CHARTERS- 910-326-7512 OR EMAIL jcronk@ec.rr.com

Tuesday, January 2nd. 4hr trip around Swansboro. I dropped the boat in the water around 10:30 and worked around the inlets and near-by creeks until about 2:30 with a strong N wind and a lot of murky water from the recent rain. After trying out several holes with no luck I found a few places holding fish and had a solid bite for two hours. Using both Berkley Gulp baits and live baits I wound up landing 12 redfish, 8 speckled trout (largest 4lbs), 2 flounder (16in and 17in), and a 2 lb black drum. Also had about 8 fish pull off the hooks including a 4 to 5 lb speckled trout that shook a 5in suspending lure at the boat. It was a beautiful day on the water with only 1 boat around all day.
Capt. Jeff Cronk
FISH'N4LIFE CHARTERS
910-326-7512
email jcronk@ec.rr.com

I apoligize for not getting back earlier to those of you inquiring about remaining open dates for January. My wife and I drove all over NC and Atlanta for the holidays and things have been hectic. Well, to catch everyone up... there are plenty of speckled trout and redfish to stretch a string all winter. Aboard FISH'N4LIFE we'll be targeting the specks in the backwaters and along the beaches and Jetties this month as well as the redfish in the backwaters and along the surf and shoals. It's typical in January through March to sightcast to schools of 100 to 1000 or more redfish ranging from 20 to 30in. If you're curious, check out some of the fishing reports in the archives on the fishing report page for the months of January through March in 2006. There are plenty of pictures to go along with the reports as usual. Well, for those of you that have been requesting open dates here goes....
1/13 No Longer Avail.
1/14 open
1/15 No Longer Avail.
1/20 open
1/21 No Longer Avail.
1/22 open
1/23 open
1/27 No Longer Avail.
1/28 No Longer Avail.
all other dates for January are booked. These dates will fill quickly so, call or email asap for your desired date. Thanks again for all your support and allowing me the opportunity to do what I love. Capt. Jeff Cronk- 910-326-7512 or 336-558-5697 or email jcronk@ec.rr.com