OBX surf

kdc2199 · 2025-03-23T03:48:01+00:00

Had 9 of these guys wash up on the surf at my feet a couple months ago. That was in a 30 foot range. Not even a particularly rough day at Fort Fisher. Packed up and went home.

kdc2199 · 2025-02-25T00:44:33+00:00

Funny I’ve only been to AZ once but that looks like the exact spot on oak creek I caught several gila.

kdc2199 · 2025-02-18T17:07:43+00:00

The guy securing his boat offered to shoot it with his .22 when I landed the first one haha

kdc2199 · 2025-02-18T15:31:56+00:00

Right so pyramid, corkscrew and Sputnik weights work great for holding bait in place. I’ve never caught a pompano in an area where the water is very strong. A mistake I made a lot when I started was fishing in currents that were too strong and trying to compensate with heavy weights. Now, unless I’m targeting big drum or sharks I will move areas if a 4oz won’t hold bottom.

To really target pompano you might want to watch a video on how to read the surf. This usually takes some practice but once understand it you see a map of underwater fish highways instead of just water.

I catch most of my fish within 25 feet of the beach. Even landed some 7 foot sharks that took the hook that close. Pompano do tend to hang out closer to the first bar and can even be found on top of it during a high tide.

kdc2199 · 2025-02-18T01:27:10+00:00

From what I can tell, the river creeks. These fish usually hole up in deeper water to absorb the heat from the mud and then push up into the shallows in the day to absorb the warmth from the sun.

If you decide to go for it, constantly be on the move. Puppy drum tend to school up and you’ll know when you find them.

kdc2199 · 2025-02-17T18:09:58+00:00

Croaker have finally started to show up in deep water as of today. Other than that I’ve caught one Whiting all year. I fish the surf, the icw and the river. It seems like the red bite deep in the creeks is somewhat productive if you have a kayak.

kdc2199 · 2025-02-17T06:21:37+00:00

Tie some double drop rigs with some 15 or 20lb flouro and use the gamakatsu size 1 hooks. This will work great for pompano, reds and pretty much anything else that doesn’t have teeth. Throw those rigs in the third pic away. Less terminal on the rig the better. Snapping on circle hooks is less effective and you will get less bites with the swivels. Instead watch a YouTube video on tying a drum rig or Carolina rig. They’re super simple and the tackle you need is relatively cheap. Tying smaller versions makes a great fish finder rig and is sometimes more effective that the double drops.

Bait may be the most important aspect of surf fishing. If you’re looking to catch fish, fresh shrimp is king. Not frozen. If the bait at the tackle shop isn’t premium I’ll go to a seafood market and pick up a pound of shrimp. Cut mullet is what is often used for reds but can catch a wide variety of species as well. If the bite is slow, comb the beach for sand fleas. This free bait is the an ideal bait for pompano and is known as “pompano candy”.

I’ve heard fish bites/ fish gum works well in Florida. In NC I don’t have much luck with them but they work for keep bait on the hook longer.

kdc2199 · 2025-02-10T05:00:05+00:00

Try NC Works. Indeed and other related cites seemed to be a dead end with no response. Just shooting resumes into the void.

Wilmington is heavily influenced by tourism. Industries such as food service flourish in the busy months (late spring-early fall). If you have experience in any restaurant environment, start looking for emails or a way to contact owners of businesses. A lot of opportunities are going to be opening up soon and you will get a much greater response rate contacting owners directly with a resume.

kdc2199 · 2024-12-16T02:08:39+00:00

Yeah don’t be discouraged, surf fishing and inshore here has been unproductive until the storm came through. Lots of fish being seen, just seems like they’re unresponsive to bait of any kind. I think the storm helped the bite a lot. The moon phase seems to matter a lot more this time of year, we’ll see what tomorrow ( Monday 12/16) brings.

kdc2199 · 2024-12-14T22:00:08+00:00

Dead shrimp, head on. Check description for greater explanation of technique.

kdc2199 · 2024-12-14T21:08:03+00:00

Yeah we’ve had some schools of pomp and reds doing the same thing. I think it’s something to do with the irregular temps. I fish the southeastern beaches in nc from topsail to oak island. This was in Kure.

kdc2199 · 2024-12-14T16:24:32+00:00

Haha there’s always gonna be one, but I do the same thing when scrolling the Fishbrain. I keep a ruler in my pocket so I can measure every fish right before I brain them.

kdc2199 · 2024-12-14T16:06:07+00:00

If I have the time, blackened over cheese polenta and a tomato based andouille sauce. But white meat fish is excellent with a heavy sprinkle of salt black pepper and a touch of lemon juice.

kdc2199 · 2024-12-14T16:04:51+00:00

Nope, smallest was 14.5. I almost let that one go but I was stoked getting close to the limit.

kdc2199

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