Team MEGA BITE

Capt. Tom Murphy can most often be found pursuing trophy game fish aboard his fishing machine – MEGA BITE. Fishing out of Indian River Inlet, Delaware, he enjoys introducing new anglers to the sport of offshore fishing he has come to enjoy so much. Team MEGA BITE's fishing trips focus on trophy striped bass in the spring and fall, and then bluefin and yellowfin tuna, mako and threhser shark, dolphin, wahoo, blue and white marlin during the summer months. While the MEGA BITE charter boat can be found all along the Delaware and Maryland coastline, Murphy's passion and quest for knowledge has taken him far afield, pursuing blue and striped marlin in the waters off Kona, Hawaii and Bermuda, hooking sailfish in Cancun, Mexico, angling for wahoo in the Bahamas, and landing yellowfin tuna out of Oregon Inlet, North Carolina.

Find out more and book an awesome trip for 2009 at the team website: www.chartermegabite.com

Tom Says...

Involvements

• Tournament Involvement: Team MEGA-BITE fishes several of the Mid-Atlantics shark, tuna and billfish tournaments. Including Ocean City Shark Tournament, IRBA Tuna Tournament, White Marlin Open, Mako Mania, etc.
• Seminar Involvement: None yet, but I would love to get involved to help Hi-Seas and AFW in their efforts.
• Club/Organization Involvement: Member of: Indian River Charter Captain’s Association, Indian River Boating Association, IGFA, current Hi-Seas and AFW Pro-Staff, Shimano VIP Program.

Targeted Fish

• Yellowfin and Bluefin tuna, Mako and Thresher Shark, White and Blue Marlin, Dolphin and Wahoo.

Top 3 HI-SEAS line and reasons why:

• Hi-Seas Fluorocarbon: we use it on all of our offshore trolling leaders and it makes a huge difference in our hook up ration compared to other boats that use mono leaders. The strength and abrasion resistance also has a huge impact on our actual hook up to catch ratio. We average 95%+ catch ration once a fish is hooked.
• Hi-Seas Grand Slam Mono: We run 30#, 50#, 80# and 100# mono on our various offshore trolling setups. The durability of Grand Slam mono has proven to be flat out excellent. With the rigors of fighting large pelagic fish and the constant wear from sun and salt water, the Grand Slam mono has passed with flying colors.
• Hi-Seas grand Slam Braid: We run 30# on all our spinning gear, and 50# and 80# on some of our other inshore trolling and offshore specialty rods. Whether trolling for large striped bass or deep dropping for tilefish, the sensitivity and strength have proven to be superior to other braids that I have used in the past. Also, the ability to tie knots that hold true is very important and the Hi-Seas Braid had also passed with flying colors.

Top AFW lines and reasons why:

• AFW Tooth Proof Single Strand Wire: We use 240# and 320# for all of our leaders when targeting Sharks and other toothy critters. Single Strand Wire provides the strength and durability when dealing with large Sharks that jump, roll, bite and absolutely destroy normal rigs. We also use 69# for live lining to Wahoo and Kingfish.
• AFW 49 Strand: The 49 Strand cable is used as the top half on all of our Shark rigs because of their superior strength and resistance to fraying when under extreme abuse from a rolling or jumping shark.

Favorite Fishing Technique:

• "Trolling for tuna and billfish. Different patterns, speeds, lures, etc depending on the target species, but trolling allows me to cover more ground and find more fish which is the primary goal when running charters."

Favorite Area to Fish:

• "My regional favorites of all time is Oregon inlet NC, and Kona Hawaii. Fished there many times and it is simply awesome. But locally, my favorite areas to fish are the Canyons off the Mid-Atlantic coast, some 60+ miles from the Delaware and MD coastline."

Most Memorable Fishing Experience:

• Our first Blue Marlin. Estimated about 400lbs and catching it was really what got us hooked on fishing the Bluewater Canyons. We had experienced a good day catching Yellowfin tuna in the Poorman’s Canyon, and then topped it off with an awesome release of our first Blue Marlin. Since then, may have been caught and released, but nothing is better than your first Blue Marlin."

What tip would you give a non professional angler?

• "My #1 tip for any angler is to always be open minded and willing to learn..Fishing in not an exact science and those who think they know everything there is to know, simply miss out on learning new ways to improve their catch. Take what you know from your experiences and combine it with what you learn from others to come up with your own methodologies and techniques. Then apply them on the water and go from there!"

When not fishing I like to…

• "Work in my basement over the winter re-rigging all of my gear in preparation for the upcoming season. I also like to hunt and spend time with my family. When not fishing, I have boy/girl twins who are 9 years old and a 13 year boy who keep me busy with school, sports, activities, etc."