A daybreak drive over the Bonner Bridge or a ferry ride across Hatteras Inlet is brightened by the sight of a longtime Hatteras custom – the charter fleet heading out, single file, into the Atlantic Ocean. These charter boats have the same destination and goal in mind – the Gulf Stream – for some of the best deep sea fishing along the East Coast.
The coast of North Carolina is one of the best launching points for Gulf Stream access, located just 12-15 miles off the beaches of the Outer Banks, and the prospect of reeling in the big one attracts countless fishermen year after year.
The Gulf Stream is, essentially, a 40-50-mile-wide current that runs through the Atlantic Ocean, formed by the sun, the wind, and the water. Unique in and of itself, the Gulf Stream is the largest and fastest warm water current to span the Atlantic Ocean, but it’s also unique as its very nature makes it a home for countless species of fish and wildlife, specifically off of Cape Hatteras and the surrounding waters of the Carolina Coast.
Migration plays a large role in attracting varying species to the Gulf Stream. Many species use the quickly paced waters as taxis from one feeding source to another, or to different locations throughout the globe, depending on the time of year. Because of this constant movement, while many species will pass through the Gulf Stream, not all of them will stay there permanently.
In the 1920s, wealthy industrialists attracted by Hatteras Island’s excellent waterfowl hunting suspected that there were trophy billfish in the offshore waters. Hatteras commercial fishermen were loath to lose a day’s catch to search for a hard-to-land game fish that wasn’t even good to eat. Captain Nelson Stowe, of Hatteras Village, yielded to a visiting angler’s plea and took him on the first charter seeking the prized blue marlin. Stowe improvised a fighting chair by securing a beat-up swivel office chair to the deck of his boat.
Ernal and Bill Foster, captains of the Albatross Fleet. put Hatteras Village on the map as the “Billfish Capital of the World.” They landed the first blue marlin for a paying customer, the first white marlin, the first sailfish, the first Grand Slam, the world-record blue marlin at 810 pounds in 1962, the first catch-and-release blue marlin on the East Coast, and helped the first woman land a blue marlin. Almost all of these firsts were done with braided linen line and bamboo poles.
Today Hatteras Village is a thriving seaside community and a great place to visit. The Village is full of incredible shops, beautiful galleries, and a number of fine restaurants serving up the catch of the day. And yes – the charter boats still run every morning in search of the big fish lurking in the tropical waters hugging the Carolina coast – just waiting to be reeled in by a lucky Gulf Stream Fisherman. |
