Added on Tuesday, June 2, 2026  Fish Poster

Tidelines – June 2026

Heading offshore out of Beaufort Inlet in late May offers all kinds of possibilities, with gaffer mahi moving in as one of the more fun and reliable options. However, on our Fisherman’s Post day with Capt. Cody Garner, of Reel Time Charters docked in Atlantic Beach right behind the El Zarape Mexican Restaurant, those bigger mahi that move in before the slingers settle in for the summer were just one part of the day’s plan.

“How would you guys like to start by trolling for some mahi, pick up a few, and then head out deep and look for some billfish?” Cody asked the three of us as we found our seats in the open cabin while Mate Jay Holland prepared to untie the 31’ custom Carolina boat.

The three of us on this Fisherman’s Post trip included Casey Pardue (Marketing and Events Coordinator), Max Fogleman (Sales Manager), and me, and the quick and unanimous answer to the billfish question was an enthusiastic “YES.”

The month of May can be plagued by high winds, but our ride out to the first stop was made up of gentle swells. We made great time, as did the nine or so other boats that were in sight and running in the same direction. Once we slowed, Cody climbed up to the bridge and Jay deployed the spread that he had been carefully prepping towards the end of our run out to make sure we had baits in the water as quickly as possible on arrival.

On a standard mahi day, Cody and Jay would likely go with a seven-line spread of ballyhoo using pin rigs, sea witches, and J-hooks. However, with the billfish plan established, Jay set out five dink baits rigged with circle hooks.

“All of the billfish tournaments require circle hooks,” Jay explained while getting the two teasers in place, both designed to create commotion and resemble bait fish running away. “Running circle hooks is good tournament practice, and we won’t have to change out anything as we move deeper.”

The grass had been well organized for about a week, Jay continued, but on the previous day’s charter, they had found scattered weed lines. The same challenging conditions as yesterday greeted us as we started moving our way through the unorganized grass to make passes by the larger patches and better lines.

Offshore trolling can require a lot of patience, waiting for the right bait to be presented in the right place at the right time, but mahi trolling in late May off NC’s coast often doesn’t fit that pattern of patience. Less than 10 minutes in, we quickly had a mahi hit the starboard outrigger line.

When trolling starts, sometimes it helps to establish who will fight the first fish, and then who be second, third, etc., but no real conversation was necessary on our day. Casey was the VIP, based in part because she’s been working for me longer than Max, but also letting the lady on the boat go first just seems proper and polite. However, add in that Mate Jay Holland is her boyfriend, and that’s truly why Max and I stayed seated while Casey moved to the stern’s right corner next to Jay.

As soon as the clip popped, Jay had picked up the rod, turned the clicker off, put it in free spool, and began an unofficial eight count. He could feel the fish mouthing the bait, so he bumped up the drag. The line came tight, and the rod bent.

Casey passed on the fighting chair and opted for standup, and we all watched Casey’s fish put on one of those exciting aerial displays. As the fish neared, it conveniently stayed right, so Jay cleared the right short line and pulled the teaser on that same side mostly out of the water.

With a longer Down East gaff in hand, Jay told Casey, “When you get the fish just a little closer, I’m going to have you take a couple of steps backwards, and we’re going to try to keep the fish’s head in the water until it’s gaffed.”

Casey stepped backwards, the gaff went in the head, and the fish came over the gunnel and into the open fish box. We celebrated a great start to our day while Jay got all the lines back out, and Cody, who had kept the boat moving forward at trolling speed during much of the fight and had only backed off as the fish neared the transom, now accelerated and began a slow circle to make another pass by the same weed patch that had given us our first fish.

The mahi bite stayed steady as we moved our way from roughly 30-fathoms to 100, hoping the deeper water would offer up a billfish, and that billfish bite ultimately came when the starboard short line peeled off drag at a much faster rate than any of our bigger mahi had been capable of.

Jay once again was quick to the rod, turned the clicker off, put it in free spool, and after an eight-ish second count bumped up the drag and felt the fish come tight. Casey once again took the rod, kept the rod tip up, and worked to keep the line tight. However, there’s a reason that successfully releasing a billfish is such a prized memory—even when you do everything right, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get that billfish to the boat and leader in hand.

Once the empty line was in, the chaffed leader, both Cody and Jay agreed, was most likely the result of a bill. We had had our shot, and while it hurt in the moment, that emotional rollercoaster is part of the excitement of billfishing. For the Fisherman’s Post crew, any disappointment faded away and lost out to the memory of exhilaration, and we finished the day by boating several more mahi before the run back to Atlantic Beach.

Capt. Cody Garner, of Reel Time Charters, will be taking clients on mahi and billfish trips all summer long, and he also offers bottom fishing and closer-to-shore options. If you’re looking to make some memories while putting fish in the fish box, then reach out to Cody at (919) 621-6715 or visit him online at www.reeltimechartersnc.squarespace.com.

I see this similarity between Reel Time Charters and Fisherman’s Post—for each, the crew may be the best part of the business. For those wanting to fish on the Reel Time, the good news is I’m all but certain you don’t have to date Jay to see him work hard in the cockpit.