I suppose at some point in time we’ve all had a Nautical Dream or two. And Charles Perry has lived those dreams for all of us.
Fishing on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in 1946, when Charles Perry was born, wasn’t just a sport. It was a way of life and one of the few ways to make a living. So it was natural that Charles Perry learned to crawl from a wooden fish box (his crib) on his father’s sport fishing boat. He went charter fishing out of Oregon Inlet every summer with his father from the time he was six years old until his second year of university, when the US Army felt they needed his services for a different type of education. After two years in the army, he went back to sport fishing and has remained there ever since.
Staying in one profession didn’t keep him in one place. He ventured forth from the Gulf Stream to the Barrier Reef of Australia where he spent thirteen seasons, wiring and weighing in 28 black marlin over a 1000 lbs. In the Caribbean, he wired over 50 blue marlin six years in a row off the North Drop in St. Thomas, spent another six seasons fishing giant bluefin tuna from Bimini and Cat Cay, and much time sail fishing from Florida and Mexico.
In the last twelve years wiring for Internationally known angler Stewart Campbell, he has fished in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, Africa as well as Madeira, the Canary Islands, and Cape Verde. During this time he wired five blue marlin world records, and five spear fish world records.
More recently, he has been part of the Tag-A-Giant program out of Stanford University, wiring and putting satellite tags in bluefin tuna over 300 lbs. He has also put satellite tags in Atlantic blue marlin off of Ghana, Madeira, and La Gomera.
Although he has a 100 ton captain’s license, he prefers the excitement of the cockpit. Has been fortunate enough to work the deck for some of the finest captains in the business, including Peter B. Wright, Gary Stuve, Skip Smith, Tony Tillett, Paul Whelan, O.B. O’Bryan and the late Danny Bear. He has wired for the last 12 years for one of the very best, Captain Bark Garnsey, on the Chunda.
The International Game Fish Association awarded The Legendary Captains and Crew Award, in the first year it was available, to Charles. They said about Charles:
“Charles Perry may be the best heavy-tackle wireman in the world today.”
Some of My Work Through 2011
North Carolina
- 1952 – Started as mate on father’s sportfishing boat at 6 years old for rockfish in Albemarle Sound, NC in fall and winter
- 1953-1960 – Fished with my father out of Oregon Inlet, NC every summer
- 1960-1969 – Fished offshore every summer until I went into the Army
- 1971 – Fished as mate out of Oregon Inlet and Hatteras, NC
New Jersey and Florida
- 1974-1982 – Fished as captain on a private boat in the US for eight months each year (three months in Palm Beach, two months in the Bahamas, one month in Hatteras, and two months in New Jersey
Bahamas and St. Thomas
- April to May 1984-1993 – Wired bluefin tuna off Bimini and Cat Key
- June to August 1984-1993 – Wired blue marlin in St. Thomas
Australia
- Winter 1972 – Surfed and unicycled in Australia for 4 months
- September to November 1973 – first season as mate on Great Barrier Reef in Australia;
- 1974-1983 – Wired black marlin on the Great Barrier Reef for three months each year
- September to November 1987 – 1992 Great Barrier Reef
- 20 seasons total on Great Barrier Reef
Central and South America
- 1987 – Helped deliver a 72-foot sportfisherman from St. Thomas to Algarrobo, Chile with stops in Aruba, Panama Canal, Salinas, Ecuador, Araica, Chile, and then Algarrobo.
- Fished striped marlin in Salinas and swordfish in Algarrobo
Pacific Islands
- 1986 – Fished across the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii, Christmas Island, Fanning Atoll, Majuro, Marshall Islands, Kusaie, Pohnpei, Micronesian Islands, Truk, Kipingamaramgi Atoll, then on to Cairns, Australia to fish the 1986 season for black marlin
Ivory Coast, Africa
- 1990-1994 – Wired for Capt. Bark Garnsey and angler Stewart Campbell in Ivory Coast, Africa for two months each year and ran the boat (30 foot twin diesel) for Pierre Closterman for two months
- 1994 – Fished a month in Cape Verde Islands with Stewart Campbell
- Fished for a month two different seasons in Ghana, Africa with Stewart Campbell
Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Madeira
- 1994 – Fished a 61 foot sportfisherman for a month in Lanzarote, Canary Islands
- 1994-2004 – Stewart Campbell shipped a 44 foot Express to the Canary Islands where we fished the Canaries and Madeira
- 2005-2009 – Fished four to five months each year in the Canary Islands and Madeira
Commercial fishing
- 1983 – Mated on 89 foot commercial longline boat from the Grand Banks, Newfoundland to the Gulf of Mexico
- 1984 – Fished my own 42 foot commercial longline boat out of Oregon Inlet
Boatbuilding
- 1986 – Supervised the building a 32-foot open twin diesel sportfishing boat in Wanchese, NC. Upon completion it was shipped to San Diego where it was put on a 98 foot mothership
- 2004-2005 – Supervised the building of a 59 foot Spencer Yacht that was shipped to the Mediterranean; delivered it to Madeira and then to Lanzarote
- 2004-2005 – Built my own 28 foot center console in my home shop
Scientific Research
- 1994-2010 – Assisted with scientific research on bluefin tuna in the Atlantic for the Tag-A Giant program under the auspices of Stanford University, usually for two to three weeks each season. Team inserted archival and satellite tags in Bluefin tuna and released the in the wild for tracking.
- Winter of 1995 – Released 347 bluefin tuna in 16 days fishing (74 in one day)
- 2002 – Inserted satellite tags in blue marlin off Mauritius, Indian Ocean
- 2003 and 2004 – Inserted satellite tags in blue marlin off Madeira and La Gomera
Advising/Instructing
- 2009-2011 – Fished as an instructor for Marlin University in different locations around the world (Costa Rica, Panama, Hawaii)
- 2011 – Advised a younger crew on a 70 foot Spencer yacht in St. Thomas, Aruba, and the Perlas Islands, Panama
- Advised Sebastian Junger on book “Perfect Storm” about rough weather experience off Grand Banks, Newfoundland
Photography/Writing
- Marlin Magazine – Cover shots, instructional article (wiring), personality stories
- Sportfishing Magazine – “Fishing Tales” December 1992
- Saltwater Sportsman – Cover shots January 1978 and 1979
- Australian Blue Water Magazine – Wrote first hand account of catching blue marlin world record on 6 lb. in Cape Verde 2003, and Mauritius travel article
Records, Awards, and Achievements
- Largest fish – Weighed in 1,417 pound black marlin in 1973 in Australia
- Total granders – Weighed in 28 black marlin over 1,000 pounds in Australia; weighed in 5 Atlantic blue marlin over 1,000 pounds in Madeira
- World records – Wired for Stewart Campbell 13 different world records (blue marlin and spearfish)
- IGFA Legendary Mate – Elected by peers in 2011 as one of the first six inducted into the Captain and Crews Hall of Fame
- Produced a highly successful fishing video “Cockpit Chaos”