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Re: OBX fishing
Posted By: aaron In Response To: OBX fishing (Alan myers)
Date: Sunday, 6-6-10, at 7:24 a.m.
Well, we just spent a week down in Rodanthe and did a lot of fishing and caught a lot of fish in the surf. This was our 4th time down to the OBX, so I'm still learning how to catch fish, but each year it gets better, so here's how I do it. I have had by far the best luck using cut mullet for bait. I think you can get fresh (NOT frozen) whole mullets at most bait shops, but my favorite is Hatteras Jack's in Rodanthe. Get all the scales off the mullet (not sure if this is necessary, but it seems to work very well and a local recommended it)and fillet as if you were going to eat it. Cut the fillets into strips about 1 or 2 inches. Get yourself some of those wire rigs with 2 size 3 or 5 snelled hooks attached. I found that a 3 ounce pyramid sinker casts about a hundred yards and holds well in all but the real rough surf. Find a spot on the beach ideally where the waves are breaking on either side of you and not so much in the middle where you are fishing. I think this is where there is a break in the sand bar and the fish like to gather in these areas. I've had the best luck casting with an 8 1/2 foot rod medium action as far out as I can launch it. Probably 60-100 yards, but just try to make sure it's out past the breaking waves in the deeper water. Set your rod in a sand spike and reel up all the slack so the rod is slightly bent and bowing as the waves come in and out. Wait. You WILL get hit sonner or later and pay attention because I've had big red drum, skates, and even small sharks pull the rod almost into the water. The best times have been about an hour or two either side of sunrise or sunset. Middle of the day is hit or miss and overnight is real good. We filled a cooler with whiting (sea mullet, kingfish, whatever else they call them), smallish bluefish, and spots in about 2 hours on June 1st. The rest of the week same fish but not as many with LOTS (100+ skates and dog sharks, sting rays, a huge blue crab, 2 horseshoe crabs, and several giant fish that we never saw before they ran all our line out and snapped it like thread (20 lb. line). I also use PowerPro braided line. It's expensive but I can use 20 lb. that has the diameter of 6lb. and lets me cast a LONG way out into the surf. As for spots, if you can get down Rodanthe way, look for a sign/visitor center that's called Pea Island. It's along a stretch of Rt. 12 where there are no houses. Look out into the ocean for the top of a shipwreck siticking out of the water and fish anywhere along here. The beach is really gradual and a great place to take the kids if you wanted/needed to. Hope all this helps! I'll be interested to hear how it worked for ya! Good Luck! By the way, the whiting (they sometimes call them sea mullet) were DELICIOUS deep fried.
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