Master Captain, Founder
Captain Wade Ellison
Licensed for 25 years, born and raised on the Outer Banks. Wade crews or personally oversees every charter, and is usually the one at the helm.
About Outer Banks Fishing Charters
Our captain
Twenty five years on the water, all of it right here
Captain Wade Ellison was born and raised on the Outer Banks and has held a commercial license for 25 years, running charters through the Gulf Stream and the sound alike.
Captain Wade grew up fishing Oregon Inlet and Pamlico Sound before he could legally drive a boat on his own, and earned his first captain's license the year he turned twenty two. Every season since has been spent on this same stretch of water.
He is also well versed in the parts of the job nobody sees from the dock: first aid, CPR, offshore rescue and survival techniques, and the marine weather patterns that decide whether a Gulf Stream trip runs or waits a day. Every one of those credentials stays current, not just the license.
Wade personally crews or oversees every charter Outer Banks Fishing Charters runs, splitting his week between the offshore grounds aboard Reel Deal and the sound flats aboard Drum Runner depending on the tide and the season.
That range is why the mate can tell you exactly why the bite moved off the color change that morning, and why Wade can read an afternoon squall building over the sound before it ever reaches the inlet.
Meet the crew
The people actually running the boat
First Mate
Mate Jesse Combs
Handles the bait, the rigging and the fish cleaning station, and is the first hand kids and first time anglers get on a rod.
Sample charters
Four ways anglers typically spend the day
1
Gulf Stream Day
10 to 12 hoursA full day aboard Reel Deal trolling the Gulf Stream for marlin, tuna, wahoo and mahi mahi, with a stop on a color change or weed line whenever the spotter finds one.
2
Half Day Inshore
4 hoursSight cast the sound flats aboard Drum Runner for red drum and speckled trout, a relaxed pace built for beginners and kids.
3
Night Gigging Trip
3 to 4 hours, eveningA gigging light off the bow and a slow drift over the shallows looking for flounder, no rod needed.
4
Family Fun Trip
Half daySalt Runner or Drum Runner, light tackle, and a mate who baits every hook so the whole family just fishes.
Every itinerary above can be adjusted. Call Captain Wade and describe the day you want to have.