Hooked on the coast

BEAUFORT INLET -- Many are drawn to the grandeur of places such as the Rocky Mountains or the West Coast, and some can't stand being away.

Marty Moore, who grew up in Garner, couldn't stay away from North Carolina's coast.

In the early 1990s, he had a college degree and a steady job in Durham that allowed him to spend his weekends on his favorite pastime: fishing the coast.

But for Moore, two days a week would never be enough.

Years after moving to the coast, Moore, 44, has few regrets.

He works as a marine engineer on the Ocracoke-Hatteras ferry for seven days, then has seven days off. So many of those off days have been spent fishing.

Since he was a kid, he has plied the coastal waters of Carteret County. These days, his fishing know-how is helping him make ends meet, or at least stay on the water longer. He has had his own fishing guide service, Top Water Charters ( www.fishtopwatercharters.com), for the past couple of years.

Moore said two big fish caught in his youth hooked him for life.

He had family in Carteret County, and his parents eventually purchased a home in Beaufort.

When he was 23, he hooked a 66-pound amberjack while fishing with his cousin, Rich Chadwick, out of his uncle's 18-foot Boston Whaler in Bogue Inlet.

That same summer, he caught a large yellowfin tuna only five miles out.

"I couldn't budge him," he said. "We chased him down."

Up to then, he had spent most of his time on Spanish mackerel, false albacore and bluefish, among other smaller fish.

"After that summer, I was pretty obsessed with catching big fish," Moore said.

As a guide, he emphasizes big fish on light tackle, but he's flexible when it comes to species and methods. His trips vary from bluefish near shore to king mackerel to offshore wreck fishing for black sea bass, grouper and amberjack.

His advice to fishermen is to keep a variety of tackle handy and come up with three-pronged game plan.

"Have three or four options in your head every day you go out," he said. "Guys that focus on one thing may not find it. A lot of times a target of opportunity will pop up."

After college at East Carolina, Moore found work with Gerald W. Currin Builders, a custom home company now based in Fuquay-Varina.

He didn't hit it off at first with company owner Gerald Currin, who admitted he gave Moore a hard time.

Currin did enjoy fishing but knew little about coastal angling. That began to change the day Moore took a false albacore to work, slapped it on the deck and began lecturing Currin the same way he had been lectured about home building.

"We got along after that," Currin said, joking..

Before he met Moore, Currin's saltwater angling had been limited to mostly spot fishing from piers.

"I ought to kill him," Currin said, laughing. "He got me hooked on it."

For Currin, that meant buying several fishing vessels, which often brought the company of his new fishing buddy, who had moved to the coast.

Currin said he wasn't surprised when Moore left Currin's business.

"I saw that wasn't what he needed to be doing," he said. "His love is on the water."

Moore was married in 2003 to Meredith Guthrie, a Carteret County native.

She said it took time to get used to his schedule, but she couldn't fathom the idea of her husband ever moving back to the Triangle.

"Marty wouldn't be right, putting him back in Raleigh," she said.

Moore said he loves being around people on vacation, whether he's working the ferry or putting people onto fish.

"You're surrounded by people in a good mood," he said.

Sometimes, he ponders what his life would be like if he stuck with building. But there's no regret. There are worse jobs than ferrying people across Hatteras Inlet and having half the month off.

"Nobody's getting rich, but you have plenty of time to make a hustle on the side," he said.

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