Going to Oak Island for a week starting Saturday and would love to do a little surf fishing with two kids and maybe catch enough for dinner a couple of nights. Any body got any information that might be helpful? I am mostly a fresh water angler but have caught a few fish from piers. Any help would be appreciated. I have a couple of surf rods and some basic tackle but don't really know what to do or when to do it.
Thanks in advance fo r any info out there!!!!!

I will be heading down there myself in August. Get shrimp as fresh as possible or go to the intercoastal with a cast net and get some mullet. Depending on the surf, you will need a 3-4oz sinker. Cast right behind the breakers or where the waves are breaking. Most people head out surf fishing and try and chunk it as far as possible and are throwing over the majority of the fish. Hope this helps and let us know how you do when you get back.
Jeremy

Spent a week on Oak Island (Caswell Beach end) last week of June. Took surf rods but never took them out of the van. A few others were surf fishing but never caught anything so I did'nt bother. I did talk to a few people and looked around at the inlet on the Long Beach end. Several people fishing there and catching bait with cast nets, still saw nothing caught but that would be the place to go. When the tides out that point goes on forever.

Surf fishing is very inconsistent. If you are there when a certain species goes on a run, there is no time to take a drink from your cold beer. Most of the time it is a waiting game. Look for troughs in the ocean floor. You can find these by the way the waves are breaking. If you see a spot in the surf where there is an absence of waves or just an offset in the surfline, there is a change in the ocean floor in that area. Study the pattern for a while before you set up all that gear. If you find an area that has a serious absence of waves, that is a great place to find fish, but not a good place to swim. This is what creates rip currents. Too much water ends up on the inside of the sandbar and must get back out to equalize the water level. It will rush out of a trough in the ocean bottom and there is your rip current. It also brings food to the fish, and this is one reason they sit in these areas.

Here is something to help you with reading the water.


http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/showthread.php?t=499655

M&M

Also check out www.fishermanspost.com they post weekly fishing reports from Myrtle Beach to Morehead city, they also give a lot of points of contact for up to date fishing. When you get there don't be afraid to ask the locals whats going on.

Great link H2O heaven!!! A picture is worth 1,000 words! I can't wait for my fall trips to the Outer Banks!

I hate to break it to you they just banned last night all driving on the beach in Hatteras. Sad day. I only make 1 or 2 trips a year but that was always one of the highlights of the trip.


http://www.reddrumtackle.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10996

H20,

Is that the whole island that they banned beach driving on. I bet they loose a lot of tourist/fisherman if thats the case. There is nothing like the point in the fall throwing a 8 n bait for huge reds. What a sad day.

I guess we will learn more today. I also find it hard to believe. I know there has been a lot of talk over the last year about the vehicle access being limited for the nesting birds and the turtles but I had know idea that it would come to this. I thought they were going to put up barriers in certain areas. Just like us alot of people go to this area just for the driving on the beach to fish an do water sports. I hope its just a knee jerk reaction that some just jumped too fast and misunderstood.

H2O,
I read the document and was unable to determine if this was the whole Hatteras seashore, or just the point at Oregon Inlet. If this judge has effectively closed the entire island to ORV's, he has put a huge hurt on local businesses as well as destroyed a tradition. A good percentage of people visiting Hatteras are there just for the great surf fishing. My wife and I stay in Kill Devil Hills, but make multiple trips to Hatteras over our vacation. Looks like our money might stay in Kill Devil Hills this year. I can fish off the deck of the rental house. What a waste of a front end trailer hitch!

Oh Yea,
Piping Plover; Taste like chicken!

Partial beach closures are nothing new. There have been very heated debates over this for at least 2 years, but the closures continue. There were armed officials guarding the access areas last year on the Outer Banks. There have been several closures on Northern beaches as well. The closures make the vacationers and fisherman furious, but make the tree-huggers and enviromentalists very happy. Who wins here? Politics. Piping Plover nesting has been the main issue and someone mentioned turtles....that's new isn't it?

You will need a SALTWATER FISHING LICENSE to fish in the surf or waterway, piers and guides havepermit to cover you. You can get them at any game license agency in N.C. I was at Holden Beach next beach south of Oak Island over July 4th weekend. Had one resident tell me that if you are a tourist sometimes they give a warning ticket at first.I would not be that lucky my officer would be behind in his quota and nail me to the wall so I got mine last weekend at Mathewes grocery in Bullock N C .

Randy,

Thats about the best advice I have seen. I take for granted that people know about that seeing as I live on the coast. You wouldn't believe that amount of people that laugh and think you are pulling there legs when you mention it. I have been fishing Jacksonville/Swansboro for the last 5 years. I have seen the man on the water once. It has been this year, and he wasn't ticket shy. Seen him write a couple of dozen and that was before he left the ramp.

Thanks for all of the advise from every one, my son is really excited about the trip so I hope we can catch a few of something!! It would be a bonus if it was good for diner!! Thanks for the advise about the license, I did not know that, my son is 9 does he need on as well and how about crabbing? If I can ever help with any info on Philpott Lake will be glad to try, I live about 5 minutes from there,Thanks again for the help!!!!!

NC was one of the last states in the area to impose a saltwater license. SC, VA, and MD residents should be used to buying licenses. I hope recreational fishermen will be better represented in NC legislature now. The commercial guys get away with murder in NC.
Any more news on the beach closing(to ORV's)? Was it just the point, or did this judge overstep his bounds and go after the entire Hatteras seashore?

Here is a little more.

http://fishmilitia.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2282

M&M,
Here is the link to the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. You can buy your licenses online to save some you some trouble.

http://www.wildlife.state.nc.us/fs_index_01_license.htm