Audio story by Elizabeth Wheless
Photos by Bryan DeHart
Elizabeth Wheless: On the day of a fishing charter, Capt. Bryan DeHart wakes up hours before the trip starts. Though he’s been planning for the trip for almost 10 days, there are still adjustments to make.
Bryan DeHart: “You gotta just keep doing that stuff constantly. So you’re always ready to go when the phone call comes. And you don’t–you know, you don’t always know when that’s gonna be.”
Wheless: DeHart has been a professional fishing guide for almost 28 years. He takes private fishing charters into the waters of Eastern North Carolina on the Outer Banks coast.
He grew up in Manteo, North Carolina until he was 4, then moved to Manns Harbor until he was 13, as is evident by his traditional Outer Banks accent and drawl. He started fishing with his brother at a young age.
DeHart: “When I was 16, Mom and Dad got my brother John and I our first–our first boat, which was a 16-foot Carolina Skiff with a little 30 horsepower tiller motor, you know the tiller, meaning one you steer with your hand. And that opened up the world to me.”
Wheless: DeHart’s family fishing legacy still lives through him. His great-grandfather was the first man to run a hook-and-line charter out of Oregon Inlet, North Carolina.
DeHart: “I did end up with just salt, you know, in my veins. Just…it was in my blood. I mean, I couldn’t help but love to fish.”
Wheless: Capt. DeHart and other members of the fishing guide fleet have varying fishing days from 3-hour trips to 6 and even 8-hour trips. DeHart says it’s worth it.
DeHart: “I appreciate and I’m proud of my Outer Banks heritage. And I really love where I live. And being able to impart that into somebody from just down the street or halfway across the world is a big part of what I like to do. I want them to–to understand and appreciate–and really feel what I feel about you know, where we live.”
Wheless: There is a fine line to balance in being a guide. DeHart says you have to be a good fisherman and a good entertainer, especially with clients who don’t go fishing regularly. He has seen many guides who cannot straddle this line.
DeHart: “They catch fish in front of their clients and it puff their chests up and puffs their ego up because they’re catching fish, but if your clients’ not catching them, and if you can’t teach them how to catch them, then you’re not a very good guide.”
Wheless: Despite its many unglamorous parts, from fixing broken tackle, to cleaning out coolers and the boat itself, Capt. DeHart says there’s something magnetic about fishing that he can’t escape.
DeHart: “I fish when the fishing’s good because I like fishing and I fish when the fishing’s bad because I want to figure out how to make it good again because I like fishing.”
Wheless: He has thousands of fishing stories ranging from good to bad, but there’s one special one that sticks with him. It all started when a college friend of his caught a cobia on a tiny rod. What they expected to be a smaller fish turned out to be what DeHart saw as a record cobia.
DeHart: “And then all of a sudden, a giant cobia I mean, a like–to this day still might be one of the biggest ones I’ve ever seen, comes from the depths, up like Godzilla, and phew– kicked the one time and just beat that little cobia to the to the jig and just inhaled it.”
Wheless: Unfortunately, his friend began to increase the drag on the rod, meaning the tension on the line. The fish broke the line and swam away.
DeHart: “I just about started beating him with that little rod. I’m like, ‘What in the world were you thinking?’ He’s like, ‘Man, that fish was huge. I’ve never seen a fish that big. And he was gonna take all my line.’ I say, ‘Well, he sure did.’ And he took all of your line and my bait and everything else. That was a daggone world record.”
Wheless: More memories that will stay forever are the boating trips he takes with his four daughters, ages 8 through 16. They grew up on the water just like their dad did.
DeHart: “You know, some of the stuff I remember most is the joy on their face. When you say, ‘Okay, jump up here on my lap, and I’m gonna let you drive.’ And that smile and that sense of pride that they have that they’re driving daddy’s boat is probably just as big a memory. And that’s times four.”
Wheless: For UNC Media Hub, I’m Elizabeth Wheless.
Wow!!! Awesome clip Elizabeth!! Great subject and beautifully done!!