Fly fishing the Outer banks

[jacob_albright]

:-D I will be making a week tip to the outer banks of north Carolina this july. Ive never done any saltwater fly fishing. im planning on targeting seatrout, flounder, and bluefish. any tips on how to catch and fish for them would be great. Also will there be redfish at this time of year?

 

[Dave_W]

Since you're new to the saltwater game, I usually mention that you should know (if you don't already) that saltwater fishing can be very hit or miss as fish more around a lot and can be hard to find, epsecially is you're limited to shore or wade fishing. Hiring a guide who knows the local waters can really help.

Anyway, with that said, yes you can target seatrout ("specks") as well as blues and flounder with light fly gear, think 7 or 8WT rods. There may also be Spanich mackeral and schoolie stripers around. Smaller redfish may be out in the back country (back bay areas) and you might even see some tarpon, although they aren't targeted much by fly anglers in that area.

Back bays and flats in coastal areas of the US are often pretty thick with vegetation and tidal grasses. Ignore the white sand, very shallow with palm tree pics you see in glossy publications - those pics are usually not in the US. Expect to wade over vegetation and in waters around knee deep. Shorelines are typically sod-bank with cord grass. Have some weedless Clousers and maybe some spoon flies and poppers for redfish. Early morning and at dusk would probably be the best time to walk the beaches with a fly rod. Don't forget polarized glasses, sunscreen, and bug dope. If you can rent a kayak, this will open a lot of areas that you would not otherwise be able to access.

Good luck with your trip

 

[GonnaFlyNow]

Jacob,

Glad to hear your adventuring into surf fishing. Surf fishing the OBX is my favorite way to fish. I am somewhat new to fly fishing and/or surf fishing. It is also where I have had the most success. I started out surf fishing with a surf spin reel. I have since moved on to fishing with a fly rod. One of my best accomplishments is catching fish in the surf with my hand tied flies. Somehow, I have managed to catch fish in the surf every year I have been to the OBX. You would be surprised by what you can catch from the surf. I have caught ribbon fish, blue fish, crabs, flounder, croakers, gar fish, king fish and others. The gar fish I caught was about 3 ft long and jumped out of the water. This was one cool toothy critter. I caught it during the day at Kitty Hawk. There were about 30 people watching me bring the fish in. We had to clear the beach because it was going all over the place. It went airborne about three times and scared the hell out of everyone. I landed it on the beach and one of the local fishermen helped me unhook it and helped me get it back on its way. I had no idea how to handle this fish. It had a 6-inch mouth full of teeth. Fortunately, I trimmed the barbs on the hooks so it was easier to unhook the fish.

Last year I was out on the surf and ran into a school of Blue fish. The Blues were chasing the baitfish. I was chasing the bait fish when I found the blues. I went out to about chest high and used a spin rod to cast to the action. It was a feeding frenzy. Every cast landed a fish.

The year before it was all fly action. I killed it on the surf. I found a pattern in the water that that allowed me to hook fish that were too big for my gear. It was also the year that I had large fish hit me in the thighs and roll over right in front of me. One fish hit me and I saw a large white under belly that was about 2 to 3 feet long and that was what I saw. I think there are some big fish in the surf. Be careful. The more you fish the surf, the more you realize that we are swimming among monsters!

It also occurred to me that casting to baitfish/ schools of blues up to your chest also means you are swimming with whatever is chasing the Blue fish. This is also exciting and scary.

The bay side is an oasis. Down around Salvo, you can go to the bayside and have unlimited access to some of the best wadding you can imagine. There are areas of the Bay that go up to the main road. These little channels have one to two feet island/banks that hold lots of fish. Tons of structure that hold fish. Also, the weed beds hide fish. These fish come out to attack a fly. You will also see skates circling around you as you fish. Crabs are also active in the area. A good day includes lots of fish within eyesight and the whole area to yourself.

This is just a sample of things I have experienced fishing the OBX surf.

All the best,

 

[tomgamber]

If you can get a hold of a kayak, get out past the breakers just after sunrise and watch for blues. Jack blues (10 - 16 inches ) will feed in big schools. Flounder you can get in the surf. I have had the most luck with small drum, 12-20 inches in the smaller inlets on the sound side of the road. Had the most luck with Clousers tied more sparsely than you would for freshwater fish.

What parts of the outer banks are you heading to? Might have more luck with one method over another if you're in Avon as opposed to Corolla.

 

[MeBugSlinger]

Jacob,
Use intermediate line. 8 or 9 weight is wise for surf/sound use. Wind is usually a factor and an 8 or 9 weight will eliminate casting aggravation. You'll also be casting weighted flies and will need some backbone. Use black/orange clousers or my personal creation "the dirty harry". If your fishing the surf use a stripping basket and fish the troughs between the sandbars (find the areas where the waves are not breaking, this indicates deep holes that hold bait therefore fish).
A great place to fish the sound is on either side of the Bonner Bridge at Oregon Inlet. Walk out from the huge propeller in the back of the Fishing Center parking lot until you can cast into a 4ft. trough that runs parallel to the shore. On the South end of the bridge wade the cove that runs along the rock jetty and you can fish the jetty all the way to the beach/surf.
Check out our FFOBX facebook group for more and current info.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/156731434887509/

Hope this helps. Tight lines!

 

[pratt]

all of the above + if you want to book a guided trip - book a half-day or day with FlyGirl out of oregon inlet. You won't be sorry! She'll put you on fish. heck of a guide

 

[jacob_albright]

Thank you For the information.

 

[pete41]

inlets are great target areas and relatively easy to wade fish.