# shore fishing the OBX/Nags Head last week



## hardwaterfan

In a word, amazing. Never had such a relaxing time fishing. Never surf fished before in my life. Listening to the sound of the waves crashing, watching the rods. It was unreal.


----------



## hardwaterfan

Everything in the ocean bites!


----------



## hardwaterfan

blue fish on a gotcha plug caught barely 25' from shore. fish always attracted a crowd of kids. there was at least 5 around me


----------



## hardwaterfan

me with another small "snapper" blue . they do snap!


----------



## hardwaterfan

another one of many skates. one time i caught a skate and a 12" flounder double header on my two hook (perch style) rig. that was cool! that drew a crowd.


----------



## hardwaterfan

sunrise with lines in the water


----------



## hardwaterfan

from talking to other people my results were typical of other guys that were shore fishing. I also caught a lot of mullet (some nice ones, maybe 14" or so) and some croaker. lost a few fish (typical) as well. just a great time, all my gear worked well. research payed off, i was able to recognize the fish i was catching just by studying ahead of time. the PVC sand rod holders and hook remover were MUST HAVE items for shore fishing. 

cant wait to try it again someday!!

Thanks for the advice and comments in the other threads here and in the lounge for the information over the last few months that Ive asked! If I can offer advice to anyone let me know.


----------



## eye-man

Nice pics. I'm heading down to Nags Head in a couple weeks. I have been wondering about fishing the surf or just trying the piers. It seems like a great way to pass the time while sipping Coronas on the beach. When I was there last time there was a young kid that was fishing from shore all day while his dad was working and I never saw him catch anything. I think surf fishing would be the most fun as I am staying on the beach and will have access without too much hassle. What type of tackle and or bait do you recommend? I have a 7'6" Med. action rod. But was thinking it would be too light. I could also borrow a 9'6" Catfish combo. I would also consider buying an inexpensive surf combo (10'-12') if needed but really don't want to haul too much gear due to lack of space in my vehicle.


----------



## the angler

Great pics! !!! I will be in nags head in september usually catch some drum makrel blues and spot ..always a great time

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## HOUSE

eye-man said:


> ...What type of tackle and or bait do you recommend? I have a 7'6" Med. action rod. But was thinking it would be too light. I could also borrow a 9'6" Catfish combo. I would also consider buying an inexpensive surf combo (10'-12') if needed but really don't want to haul too much gear due to lack of space in my vehicle.


It really just depends on what you're going after. I've fished with a 6'6" medium heavy spinning combo that I usually use back home for bass fishing and catfishing and it worked great for fish-finder rigs on the bottom...until I hooked into a big ray. I fought the thing for 30 minutes and just couldn't gain any distance on him due to the smaller pole and reel. Sure was a fun fight, though. On my shark pole, I don't usually throw anything short of 65-pound braided line with a nice leader. If anything breaks on that rig, it's usually the fish 

If you are after sharks, I'd say bring the guy's 9' rod and just buy a cheap Penn saltwater reel for 30-40 bucks at BPS and spool it with braided line or heavy mono. If you are going to be tossing plugs and fish finder rigs for whatever bites, I think you can get by with a medium-heavy rod and 20 pound line like a catfish rig you might use around home. Just make sure you wash/dry the reel off every day and spray it with WD40 or it _will _rust (100% guaranteed.)


----------



## Doboy

hardwaterfan said:


> another one of many skates. one time i caught a skate and a 12" flounder double header on my two hook (perch style) rig. that was cool! that drew a crowd.


Nice job,,,Thanks for the pics!
Skate; "Poor-Mans-Scallops" UMMMM-UM Good eatin'

Can't wait,,,, We'll be there (OB) in Late September,,, Hope we can fill some coolers!


----------



## RiverWader

What were You using for bait and what kind of riggibg were You using? I will be down there in 2 weeks


----------



## hardwaterfan

basically everything I caught was on either the gotcha plug or live bait, which was 1. raw shrimp (hard to keep on the hook) 2. cut up squid (mullet loved the squid). 3. fresh caught/chunked mullet. the mullet cut bait worked really well. filet but leave the skin on, its as tough as leather, which keeps it from falling off or getting "robbed". I was using 7' (the biggest I could fit into the trunk) MH catfishing rods spooled with fresh 14lb. mono. I dont think I could have brought in the skates with anything lighter. For the live bait i tied on a 2 oz. pyramid sinker onto the end of my line, then tied on two snelled hooks up higher from there, like a heavy duty perch-type lake erie set-up. usually i would put cut up chunks of squid or mullet on each hook and give it my best heave. I couldnt really cast out all that far but it didnt seem to matter. I could tighten the line down pretty good with the pyramid sinkers and the waves and wind wouldnt bother the bait too much, it seemed to hold position pretty well. make sure you make yourself some rod holders. i used i think it was 1.25" sch. 40 pipe. im not sure if thin plastic would hold up. i cut a wedge shape onto the end of the rod holders to knife into the sand.

good luck and have fun, what a great place for a fishing vacation. im sure the possibilities are endless down there. i didnt even hit any of the other areas like the inlets, the sound side, or the charters. i still had an incredibly relaxing, good time. nice just to open the back door and just walk down to the water and fish. i did try jeanettes peir (in the distance in the first pic) one day but didnt catch anything but a big crab. but i saw guys catch some nicer blues on gotcha plugs. i had a nicer (and more productive, somehow) time just fishing the shore behind the house.


----------



## RiverWader

Thanks for the info. Ill b taking my two 9 ft cat rods with 65lb power pro, Ive never been to OBX,but hear the fishing is great, I usually fish Myrtle and the biggest Ive caught there was a 16lb Shark, Im hoping I can get into something bigger on this trip.
Are there alot of baitshops on the OBX?


----------



## hardwaterfan

Oh yeah! Theres tons of fishing supplies everywhere. Even the "Food Lion" (like Giant Eagle) has stuff. I got my bait from a small convenience store just nearby jeanettes peir. Then theres several TW tackle places on the main road through Nags Head. Its a very fishing-oriented place. The piers all sell stuff of course. I didnt really stop into any tackle places though, I didnt really need anything except for bait and the gotcha plug i read so much about before the trip. I bought the gotcha plug at jeanettes peir. 

You are going to have a good time I can guarantee that.


----------



## RiverWader

Thanks for all the tips and advice, Im hopin to have some pics when I get back


----------



## RebelWithACause122

Hardwaterfan has apparently got started properly... when I started vacationing in Nags Head years ago as a teenager, I had no idea what I was doing and didn't really do any research... plus I prefer to catch fish on lures rather than bait... so I got off to a slower start, only catching occasional fish. I've learned a lot over the years and gotten better at the saltwater stuff, even though I only spend a week or 2 each year doing it.

Concerning gear, I use a 6'6" bass rod with 12 lb mono for fishing small jigs (tipped with cut bait or saltwater GULP baits) and the smaller 2-hook bottom rigs using artificial bloodworms (for catching spots, sea mullets, and other smaller fish). 12 lb mono is sufficient for most of the fish you'll catch on those. I also have a bit heavier 7' spinning rod with 20 lb braid, and a 10-12' leader of 25 lb fluorocarbon... this is what I would cast the gotcha plugs on, or larger 2-hook bottom rigs with cut bait. Finally, I have an 11 foot surf rod. I'll sometimes use the big one for 2-hook bottom rigs, but also, larger single-hook rigs. I've caught bluefish over 7 lbs on this rig, and landed (and cleaned, grilled, and ate) a 3 foot shark... on 30 lb test braid and using metal leaders. However, this last time I was at the beach, I hooked something quite large, I can only assume it was a bigger shark, and couldn't get it in... so before heading to Nags Head this summer, I'm upgrading my shark rig to a bigger reel with a good drag system than can apply 30 lbs of force... and I'm spooling it up with at least 65 lb braid. I wanna LAND that bigger shark next time I hook him!

If you're not out there shark fishing, you don't need crazy heavy gear. Nags Head has a lot of small (but some of which are quite tasty) fish in the summer time, and they will give you the most consistent action. For Nags Head in July, (since I personally prefer to catch fish lures instead of bait) my GO-TO is a 3/8 oz jig head with a 3" saltwater GULP bait (or 4" if there are better sized flounder around... or redfish... or speckled trout)... I cast it in the surf and in the sound, hop it slowly along the bottom, and catch a variety of fish on it.


----------



## RebelWithACause122

By the way, just for a little clarification... the fish that hardwaterfan refered to as "mullet" are actually sea mullets (aka virginia mullet, or whiting) which are not technically mullets at all, but are excellent eating. True mullets are not food fish... well, not for humans, but are excellent baitfish. Striped mullet or jumping mullet is what you'll see being sold frozen as bait... just about everywhere in Nags Head. You'll also sometimes see them jumping in the sounds... they are the fish you will occasionaly see jumping clean out of the water, but will never bite any lure or bait you throw at them, lol. I've just recently discovered that if you can cast-net your own mullet in the sound, they catch fish even better fresh than frozen... but realistically, ANY fish that you catch can be cut up for bait (as long as it's not an illegal fish, like an undersized flounder).


----------



## hardwaterfan

youre welcome riverwader, anytime!



> True mullets are not food fish... well, not for humans, but are excellent baitfish





> You'll also sometimes see them jumping in the sounds...


Thanks for the clarification! I thought the mullet sold as bait were "baby" mullet. One day we rented bikes for a day (I had to please the wife as well on this trip and not fish ALL the time.)...we walked out onto this pier/pavillion on the sound.....my wifes cousins friend says "I saw a fish jump!" and it was killing me because i thought it was a speckled trout, (I actually had her describe it to me as best as she could) which I wanted to catch really badly but did not, nor did I fish the sound. Next time!


----------



## hardwaterfan

this is one of the mullet/whiting I caught.... they have this little single barb/goatee on their chin that makes them real easy to ID...like the man rebel says supposed to be really good eating but I didnt try any.


----------



## eye-man

thanks for all the info guys. I never really gave any thought to fishing restrictions and size limits, as we charter a full day off-shore trip every time we go to OBX and the Captain takes care of that end of things. I will have to try and find a fish identification chart somewhere so I don't spend my vacation in the slammer! I'll be sure to post a few pics of whatever I catch (surf and off-shore) when I return.


----------



## hardwaterfan

the link for the regs is on this page:

http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/recreational-fishing-size-and-bag-limits

also for the time i was down there i bought a 10 day non-resident shore fishing lisence which was $10. you can do that online. you can buy it ahead of time online or buy it down there. that is ONLY for shore fishing, you dont need it to fish the piers from what i understand. you pay to fish the piers and they have a blanket lisence. i dont know about what you need for fishing on a boat.


----------



## RiverWader

Has Anyone had any success fishing the Sound down there? Our house is right on the sound


----------



## Evileye

RiverWader said:


> Has Anyone had any success fishing the Sound down there? Our house is right on the sound


.

I have never fished the sound side but I have heard thats its a
good fishery. There are sound side charters so there must be 
something on that side. I saw a lot of spanish mackeral caught
from the sound side when I was down there.


----------



## hardwaterfan

when i was down there a couple walking along the beach stopped to talk to me while i was fishing. they said they had canoes and had canoed the sound side the day before and caught some real nice speckled trout. supposed to be outstanding eating. that was one fish i really wanted to catch but didnt, next time. they said they were just casting jigs/grub tails. also from what ive read on the internet there could be a lot of other great fishing in the sound, such as for flounder, and a bunch of other great species of fish. there is supposed to be the best crabbing in the sound.


----------



## RiverWader

Ive also heard its great fishing, Im going to rent a kayak one day and try fishing the sound from a yak


----------



## FishJunky

Was down at Ocean Isle Beach last week and caught a bunch of flounder and this 26 1/2 inch red.

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## RiverWader

What did You get the Flounder on?


----------



## FishJunky

Live mud minnows and the red came on live shrimp. I catch all my own bait. Just on a jig head or Carolina rig. Wadding the back waters at low tide. Gulp baits work well too!

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## hardwaterfan

nice catch!


----------



## RebelWithACause122

RiverWader said:


> Ive also heard its great fishing, Im going to rent a kayak one day and try fishing the sound from a yak


I've had my kayak in the sound behind Nags Head once. I had no idea what I was doing or where to go... just found a spot to put in and started trying stuff. I launched next to the little public pier/gazebo near where the highway goes over to Roanoake Island (kind of across from the Sugar Creek Restaurant... a good place to eat while you're in Nags Head). I quickly found out that the entire area is a massive shallow sand flat... I went nearly a mile from where I launched and didn't find water deeper than 2 feet. Still managed a few croakers and spots, and 1 undersized flounder. Next time I go back I'll be more prepared, I've researched launch locations, done some reading on backwater fishing, and gotten a nautical chart so I can find areas closer to deeper water. I'm looking for my first speckled trout as well, as that's one salt species I've wanted to catch but has so far eluded me.


----------



## RiverWader

Just saw on WBNS.com that a Woman from Lancaster was bitten by a Shark tuesday while in Avon NC, Thats where Ill be in a few days


----------



## FishJunky

When the water is really stained they move in

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


----------



## RiverWader

FishJunky said:


> When the water is really stained they move in
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


I hope they do, easier to catch that way ! LOL


----------



## RiverWader

Does anyone have any info on Crab fishing? I hear the sound is great for it , but whats the best method? Can You eat the Crab You catch?


----------



## hardwaterfan

there are size restrictions on crabbing but you can find out what the restrictions are. I caught a nice crab fishing on jennettes peir. it held on to the cut squid all the way up and over the rail! it was so cool. it was a challenge to get it back into the water, it wanted to fight! you can just tie a peice of chicken on a string and whip it out there, the crab hold on and wont let go from what i understand. there is some way to measure them to see if theyre legal or not. im sure someone that knows can add more correct info.


----------



## RebelWithACause122

RiverWader said:


> Does anyone have any info on Crab fishing? I hear the sound is great for it , but whats the best method? Can You eat the Crab You catch?


BLUE CRABS! They are everywhere in Nags Head. Buy a couple crab traps, or crab nets, bait them with raw chicken and drop them pretty much any where you have access to the sound (especially around structure like a dock). Make sure you secure the chicken to the net or trap very well... or the first crab that finds it will carry it off. It usually won't take long for the crabs to find the chicken... then just pull up quickly and empty the crabs into a cooler of ice. Crabs can be handled with a cheap pair of plastic salad tongs that you pick up at the dollar store... watch out, their claws are strong and sharp, they can cut through your flesh like a good pair of scissors (yes, experience talking). You can also catch them individually by baiting a line (no hook needed, just some string with a bait clip) and tossing the baited end in the water, when you feel the crab playing with the bait, pull gently and steadily, the crab won't let go until you pull it out of the water, so just pull it in close and scoop it up with a net. They must be at least 5 inches across from the point on the left of their shell to the point on their right. (during certain times of the year, there is also a maximum size for the females, but I think it's fall or winter, not summer... double check regs before keeping crabs). When the crabs you've caught have been on ice for a while, they will become very lethargic. Put a large stock pot on the stove, half full of water with a healthy dose of Old Bay (a can a beer too if you want) and bring to a boil. Drop the live crabs in, boil for about 8 minutes, remove them and repeat with the next batch until all your crabs are cooked. Make sure you lay them out and let them cool before eating them... then go to town with your cracking tools and enjoy a DELICIOUS meal. It's a great social type dinner, because it takes time to get much meat out of them, but boy is it worth it. The claws are the best, there is good meat in the body too but takes a little practice to extract it properly. Don't eat any of the green or gray stuff inside the body (entrails, gills, and so on), you just want the pure white meat in the bottom portion of the shell. The process of eating these things is easier demonstrated than explained, but I figured it out by my third crab. Now I REALLY can't wait to go back! I wanna have another crab boil!


----------



## RiverWader

Thanks Guys, Ive always wanted to try Blue Crab but never have, Cant wait to get down there and do some Crabbing and Fishing now, I'll have lots of pics when I get back


----------



## backlashed

Chicken necks or backs, you can find them packaged on the poultry section of grocery stores. 

Fish guts or heads in a fine mesh bag work ok too. 

Blue crab is easy to steam, a pain to clean but ooooooohh so good!

Use a little butter with Old Bay or crab boil, it'll make your tongue slap your brains out!


_OutdoorHub Mobile, the information engine of the outdoors._


----------



## RiverWader

backlashed said:


> Use a little butter with Old Bay or crab boil, it'll make your tongue slap your brains out!
> 
> 
> _OutdoorHub Mobile, the information engine of the outdoors._


Thats what Im hoping for !!! LOL


----------



## hardwaterfan

This was the crab I caught on Jenettes peir. Man it was so cool. This thing held on all the way up. Once I got it flipped over it was fighting mad! It was funny because I didnt know how to grab it and it was kinda "boxing" with me on the peir, "arms"/claws spread out. Id grab a claw for a second, and it would come over and try to get me with its other claw. It was pretty comical for a minute, I looked up and there were three women taking pictures of me clowning around with this thing. I finally took a wad of paper towel in my hand, grabbed it by its claw, and released it. It was probably close to legal size, Im not sure.


----------



## hardwaterfan

This guy is on a fishing vacation right now, making reports, fishing both the sound and ocean side, in the same general area of nags head. The thread includes his 2011 trip as well so be aware there are last years posts at first. 



> Inshore fishing yesterday...lots of trout, lots of flounder (no keepers)...black drum, and sheepshead...( it was a drum in the surf the other day)... trout and flounders all on gulp...everything else on fresh bait bottom rigs...the kids caught croakers, bluefish, pinfish, pigfish...and a small gray trout.all in all a good day......just came off the planks at nags head pier, tons of blues and spanish...off and on all day, then at sundown off the T for about 2 hours as fast as you could catch them...mostly blues...been fishing for about 3 strait days nows...headed to jannettes tomorrow. Havent been there since it reopened.


From this thread:

http://www.pierandsurf.com/fishing-forum/showthread.php?86825-MP6.5-and-surrounding-area

This site was very helpful to me to prepare for the trip. Worth checking out with google earth opened up as well to see where these locations mentioned in the threads are at.


----------



## WhoolyBugger

Good thread guys.. I am headin down in a week and I got a general question.. For years you were permitted to fish the beach and sound without a license but you needed one to pursue freshwater species inland. I remember a game warden explaining this as he was writting me a ticket for bass fishing in brackish canals.... If I was targeting trout or flounder I would have been legal...I was embarassed cause I thought I was legal. He also stated that the surf fishing would require licenses in the future.. Anyone know if you need a license for the surf?


----------



## RebelWithACause122

Yes! The new CRFL (Coastal Recreational Fishing License) is now required on the outer banks. They instituted it in 2007. You can get a 10-day CRFL for $10... minimal expense compared to the rest of the cost of your vacation. Any tackle shop down there can sell you one, or Wal-Mart or whatever, or you can purchase online ahead of time and make it active for the dates you'll be down there. I've bought 8 of the 10 day CRFLs (yeah, a few years I've gone down there twice) and I've been checked for the license twice. Make sure you get one.


----------



## WhoolyBugger

Thanks Rebel! I think it was in the mid 2000's when I talked to the game warden. Just got it online and printed it off. Now I have to prep my gear and get me some bucktails and gulp shrimp!


----------

