Ocean Isle Beach Questions

[Meakle]

Hello,

This will be my 5th year at OIB, but last year was the first time I tried to fish the surf. I had better luck in the waterway at the east end than the surf, but nothing worth mention. I've been reading some of the posts here about OIB and they've been helpful - thanks!.

I wanted to ask about the "inlet" different folks have mentioned. I'm aware of a place on the far east end where you can drive right to the waterway, was wondering if that's a decent place to fish? Where I'm thinking of you can see where boats turn and go out to sea between OIB and Holden beach. I fished there one morning but had no luck. Alot of people came there to cast nets for bait fish.

Any suggestions for good spots would be greatly appreciated! BTW: I'm staying oceanfront half way down toward the east end, going in late June.

Thanks!

[Elkhunter]

If your just fun fishing the place you describe is as good as any. Under the High Rise used to be decent but the boat ramp kind of messes that up now days. If you don't mind the walk and can find an area to park the inlet you described is ok on the beach front as well. Lots of debris though so you might lose a few rigs but have seen pups in there and some black drum and flounder. It is a flat beach mostly with little to no structure. It's tough but can produce some fish. Hope that helps!

[Meakle]

Thanks for the info Elkhunter!

When you say "Under the High Rise", are you talking about the bridge to the island? I've parked there when going for lunch at the giggling mackeral but never noticed down under the bridge. Makes sense that structure would be good, also makes sense the boat ramp would be an issue.

Appreciate the info, I'll let you know if I get lucky!

[news_watch]

Meakle,
From my notes (these are not my reports, just some reference I have):

Past Fishing Reports
Here are some of my past fishing reports, most from Sunset Beach. Unfortunately, there is a gap of about three years because I lost many of my reports in an exchange of computers. The bad thing is that it was during this time that I had some of my most productive fishing, particularly with the speckled trout and puppy drum at the bridge. But going back to recreate those reports would be about impossible, so here are the ones I still have.
I've received a lot of good comments about my reports in the past, although I've also received some criticism from a few readers who felt that I included too much detail, especially concerning "second-rate" catches like pinfish, croakers, spots, and various "trash" fish. These anglers seem to prefer to read reports from guys who inflate their catches and boast "success" the average vacationing or weekend angler could never hope to duplicate. At least with my reports you always get where what and when, and you always get the truth. Anyway, here they are--
7-4-03 | 4-20-03 | 3-21-03 & 3-22-03 | 12-22-02 | 11-29-02 | 8-1-98 - 8-3-98 | 6-15-98 - 6-19-98 | 5-4-98 - 5-6-98 | 4-24-98 - 4-26-98 | 4-5-98

7-4-03top
Where: Sunset Beach
My report is going to be on the long side this time, since I haven't issued one in a while. As many of you know, I fish the area around Sunset Beach a lot and usually stay at my in-laws. Unhappily, my father-in-law passed away this spring. He was a great guy who we miss a lot. So this past week has been the first time I have cast a line in the waterway since April. Anyway, here is the report:
SUNDAY: Got down to the beach late Saturday, and got out to the Sunset Beach Bridge Sunday morning. Weather was cloudy and threatening. The water was full of cast nettable bait: finger mullet, small pogies, mudminnows, glass minnows, small spots and blues (and even pompano!), and tons of pinfish. I let most everything go but the mullets and pinfish. There were also lots of blue crabs-I have heard there is a blue crab shortage but its certainly not in evidence at Sunset Beach. I fished with two rods-one baited for small game and the other with live bait. It became quickly apparent that the yearly summer pinfish migration had been a complete success. Some of the pinfish were among the biggest I have ever seen, but most were small. A couple of oyster toads hit the mullet. And I ended the day with a battle against a huge fighter who eventually broke my line. More about this later…
MONDAY: The weather was lousy but fishing was better. I met a fisherman I had first seen years ago at the bridge. He had his two kids with him, and I could hardly believe it was him because they had grown up so much. This was the guy who I saw catch a sheepshead at the bridge that I measured at 30 inches long, which I think if he had gotten it weighed might have been a state record. Anyway, that guy already had a very nice flounder in his bucket. A few minutes of fishing mullet minnows brought me a strike and I took a 13" speckled trout. Then I took two nice fighting, but undersized, puppy drum followed by BAM!...a keeper slot drum. Then I took a 15" trout, then another 13". I was casting into the swirling mullet schools and reeling back sloooooowly. If I didn't get a hit by the time the minnow was twelve feet away from me, then a school of hungry pint-sized bluefish charged in and chewed it to bits. I also had a tremendous fight with a…skate! Which is what I believe broke my line the night before. I finally got a flounder, but it was a small throwbacky. I caught another skate and called it quits. At least I had dinner.
TUESDAY: Rain off and on, then clearing. I made it an artificials day, casting MirrOlures, green grubs, and various bucktails. The only thing that worked was one of those Jimmy Price troutkiller grubtails, white w/ green spangles on a red lead head. It took a few trout, including a nice 17"er.
WEDNESDAY: Weather had turned nice. The tide in the waterway was very strong, probably due to the moon. There were no trout around, but baitfishing cut shrimp on the bottom produced some croaker. These were niced sized croaker, not the small ones I am use to catching at the bridge. There were a few spots too but these were very small. And, of course, lots of pinfish. Also lots of blue crabs.
THURSDAY: Took a day off fishing. Call me lazy.
FRIDAY: More of the same. One puppy drum, but he was undersized. Another skate. Some lizardfish and a few eels. And an oyster toadfish so big he looked like a monster from an old horror film. Fishing at night I caught some more croaker. I am happy to see them back after so long.
SATURDAY: Hot, hot, hot. Took my brother-in-law fishing with me. He said he just wanted to catch something, so I introduced him to pinfish. After about fifty he began to regret his statement. But we had fun with the bottom fish: a few little blues, lizardfish, and the pins.
Unfortunately the trout never came back for me, nor did I hit on a load of flounder. But there was decent action everyday and I caught enough for two family meals. The goats came out on their island (yes, there are goats there), the dolphins made an occasional appearance, and the birds were all shades of wonderful. There is nothing quite like a week spent fishing at the bridge.

[news_watch]

4-20-03top
Where: Sunset Beach
Went down for one day's fishing at Sunset. A lot of fishermen but not many fish. I tried minnows, grubs, and MirrOlures with no success. Then I got surprised while fishing with cut shrimp on the bottom--a crashing hit by what turned out to be a nice trout. She went 19 inches, but she was the only real fish of the day.

3-21-03 & 3-22-03top
Where: Sunset Beach
The first fishing trip of the spring had just enough to keep me interested. Not a lot of fish (except the mullet--you'll see) but the ones that were there were the right size.
FRIDAY- After waiting for the rain to clear I finally got down to the Sunset Beach bridge Friday about 2 pm. There were no other fishermen--in fact, I saw no other shore bound anglers for two days, and only a few boats. But the water temps were touching 60 so I held out hope.
While fishing cut shrimp on the bottom I tried casting the net for live bait. The glass minnows and finger mullet were about, but not in huge numbers. However I did drag in an eating size jumping mullet. This happens to me about every 200 casts or so and I consider it blind luck. So I was surprised when on my next throw I got two more. In about ten casts I had about ten eating sized jumping mullets. Not too bad a start for having yet to reel in a hook.
While I was busy playing with mullets I looked over and saw my rod passing by me, heading down the beach toward the inlet. A sure sign something was up. I got over and found myself hooked up in a fisht that had 'drum' written all over it (you know--the long, insistent pulls, the pauses where he stops and refuses to move). The only question was red or black, and the answer was--red, a nice 20-inch puppy drum that had smacked the top hook on my bottom rig.
That was about it for Friday. I tried lures looking for the trout but, as reports had led me to suspect, they were AWOL.
SATURDAY- What a difference a day makes. The mullet of all sizes were totally gone. Only a few glass minnows remained to show life in the water. Nothing wanted plugs or grubs, so I was once again reduced to bottom fishing with cut shrimp. Not to worry. My bestest old friend showed up--and when he hit I knew instantly what it was...jerky-vibrtating strikes followed by those familiar long pulls...yep, a black drum. This one had some authority to him and it took a while on my light gear to bring him in. He was one of those five pounders--the size where they just start to lose a little bit of the brightness on their white bands. I knew from experience that if I was going to catch anymore they would probably come soon and...slap--I took another on the next cast. This was a smaller one, about two pounds. And that was it for Saturday.
Altogether a good weekend and enough to feed the family. Spring fishing has started off in the right direction. I just hope those trout come along...

12-22-02top
Went fishing at the Sunset Beach bridge Sunday night after visiting the in-laws for gift exchange. It was cold and windy (the paper said the water temps were around 49, and I'm sure they were colder in the inlets) so I didn't expect to catch anything. To my surprise I caught five nice-sized spots and one black drum, all on cut shrimp. The spots didn't hit like they usually do--just little ping-ping-pings on the line. I think I could have caught more but the cold and wind chased me. I went back Monday morning but everything was gone, back to typical winter fishing.
This wasn't the first time I have caught spot at the bridge in late December when they have left just about everywhere else. It happened a few years back too. It helps when the cold has chased all the pinfish away.

11-29-02top
Where: Bogue Inlet Pier
Drove down to fish off of Bogue Inlet Pier on Friday. Got there around 7:30 a.m. It didn't take long to see where the fish were biting--speckled trout were hitting strong on the deep end of the pier (left side). Lots of specks but only one in six was a keeper. I caught about 30 but only kept five. At around 10:30 the bite shut down quickly, and after that it was only the occasional blowtoad for the bottom fishermen.
Although there were plenty of people fishing not everyone was catching fish. Those who were were using tandem rigs--mostly green grubs with yellow or white jigs tied behind them. You had to get the combination right: those using two big grubs or the wrong colors weren't getting hits. I tied on a green curlytail grub and dropped a yellow spec jig behind it. Most of the fish I caught were on the little jig. I lost the yellow jig but when I switched to a white one that worked even better. There were a couple of fishermen using topwater MirrOlures and they did have a lot of action (it was fun to see the trout swirl up and slash at the plugs) but they lost almost all their fish on the way up. I think their plug hooks were rusty.
Overall it was the best few hours I have had on a pier in a while, even though most of the trout were small. I'll bet they stay around for a bit too, although I think the pier is closing after Sunday.

8-1-98 - 8-3-98top
Where: Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle
Spent an unproductive weekend surf fishing the shores and inlets around Sunset Beach and Ocean Isle. Plenty of mullet (finger and larger) in the water but nothing that wanted to eat them. Big shrimp are now scarce (I caught ONE in my cast net). WAY too many pinfish to use cut shrimp or bloodworms. I caught one croaker and twenty pinfish before I gave that up. Heard mostly bad reports, though a couple of guys said they hit on an hour long run of flounder and spottails before it went zilcho. Weather was nice but water may be just too hot right now. Come on Fall, we need ya...

6-15-98 - 6-19-98top
Where: Sunset Beach/Ocean Isle
Many fish around the southern NC islands right now. The water is full of baitfish and shrimp on low tide. The fish are biting best on the rising tide regardless of the time of day. I have done pretty good on the speckled trout, especially at the Sunset Beach bridge where I caught several nice ones on Thursday. The first fell to live shrimp but Pinfish are EVERYWHERE and blue crabs are EVERYWHERE and it's hard to keep bait on. The pins are big enough now that they'll even eat the mud minnows off the hook. Can you eat the larger pinfish? Anyway, I finally went to a red headed MirrOlure and caught a three lb. trout, my best of the week. The first time I have taken a speck on a MirrOlure--I thought all you artificials lovers were making that stuff up. Bluefish are around too, I saw several shore anglers take some 1 lbers on cut mullet. Caught several of those perch things Jonathan was talking about when I went to Ocean Isle one morning. The shrimp are big enough for eating now.
Flounder are getting bigger also, more keepers are getting landed. And have heard reports of massive spottail drum runnings from the boaters in the creeks. Hope to go back Sunday. If you fish the Sunset Bridge throw at the pilings and rocks during high tide, and bring a lot of bait to feed the pinfish and crabs.

5-4-98 - 5-6-98top
Where: Sunset Beach
Fished over the fourth weekend in the inlet around the Sunset Beach Bridge. The speckled trout are still around, though the live shrimp are the best bait and they are not as frequent. Plenty of mullet minnows though, but I only saw one flounder landed. I got one HUGE toadfish (ugly but strong, he went back) and one nice keeper speck (on live shrimp). But, insult to injury, had my favorite shrimp catching creek declared "private property" this weekend. Very soon shore fishermen will have to fight to cast from a ten foot space in southern NC if they want to fish. No wonder the environment is going south, because the south is going to the developers.
On an up note, I'm staying with family next weekend at Nags Head, NC. I know its summer but I have never fished the northern NC coast and must have a go. Help anyone?
By the way, if the government isn't going to get on this license thing, might I suggest a Pinfish Population Control Program?

4-24-98 - 4-26-98top
Where: Sunset Beach
Nothing in the inlets on cut shrimp, so I decided to check out the reports of so many bluefish on the piers. They are true. More blues than I could count being landed, and they put up a great fight at 2-3lbs. Many were lost. The morning runs are best, green Gotchas with red heads seemed to get the most hits. I fished until the blues ate all my plugs. Nothing on the bottom yet, it was bluefish or bust.

4-5-98top
Where: Sunset Beach
Tried grubs and MirrOlures at Tubbs Inlet (between Sunset Beach and Ocean Isle) late Saturday and early Sunday. No fish, and no bait fish to be seen in very muddy water. The birds were everywhere, probably eating the small crabs and sand fiddlers whose shells I kept seeing. Cold Saturday probably hurt. Will try again weekend after next!
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[news_watch]

i'm down there in 4 weeks.
post how you do!

Updated 6-3-06

Tubbs Inlet continues to be the "go to" place for Flounder and we have been catching from 5-10 (keeper size) fish per trip there. Yesterday was the slowest day of the week catching only three Flounder and two Trout however one Trout was about two and a half pounds and the other was just under six. I feel like there are still lots of fish here but strong southwest winds dirtied the water and this usually makes the fishing a little tough, especially in a clear water inlet like Tubbs. Little River Inlet is still producing some huge Trout but you have to be willing to wait, sometimes a long time for that really big bite. The Spanish Mackerel fishing is really good up and down the beach and most boats have been catching lots of fish trolling Clark spoons. Look for birds diving to find feeding fish. I prefer to cast small weighted spoons to the Spanish on light spinning tackle, but you need to find surface feeding fish away from the other boats that are trolling as they tend to push the fish down. I am booked solid until the 16th of June and usually stay booked about two weeks out all summer. Please call early to make reservations if interested in getting in on some of the fine fishing that we have here on the Carolina coast. Catch'Em Up.

Capt.Mark

[islanderblues]

I just returned from two weeks near OIB. Mostly, I fished the waterway from a small private pier across from the east end of OIB, just down from Bricklanding Campground. Fishing was bad. Usually I can depend on being pestered to death by pinfish - this trip I caught two. I used both as cut bait and fished on the bottom. Managed 4 small sea bass on that - oh, and I aslo delivered two toadfish. Otherwise, it was nada. No fish jumping, nothing.

I was told the poor fishing might be due to the dredging underway near the inlet. I saw the pipes run up across OIB to replenish the east end but I never did see the dredge.

Also fished the ocean in front of the new community center on Monroe Street. It was very windy most days I was there so I didn't even bother with the surf rod. I did throw out some cut pinfish, sandfleas, and bloods into the surf near the beach on light spinning tackle to let it roll around in the surf. Nothing there either. In the past I've been able to pick up whiting or puppy drum within 20 feet of the beach in the backwash but nothing this time.

I'll be back in Aug and look forward to netting finger mullet - I always do best with live and cut finger mullet.

[Meakle]

Thanks news_watch and islanderblues!
Appreciate all the info and tips.
I'd heard they were going to dredge the inlet and pump the sand up onto the east end. Glad we didn't rent a house that far down. That was the only place I did any good last year was when walked all the way to the east end then back around on the waterway side. Makes sense that dredging would hurt the fishing.

Thanks again and I'll be sure to post my results.

[news_watch]

Inlanderblue,
BAck last summer I caught all the finger mullet and live shrimp I could use in Tubbs INlet.

THey aren't there now? We will be back down July 10 and first day I plan to cast for fingers and shrimp and troll for flatties and shrimp on corks for trout.

Hope I can catch a few, but the time alone on the boat is worth it.

YOu will see me in Tubbs and at the jetties in a 16 ft SCout CC, 90 HP from VA.

[islanderblues]

There weren't there the last two weeks - but then again, I almost never catch finger mullet in May. It's usually mid-June before I've caught them, then have always done well when I've been down there in mid- July and Mid to late Aug.

I'm sure someone from down there knows when they usually show up but they certainly weren't schooling in the waterway the last two weeks.

[johnp]

thanks for the info guys. i'll be making my first trip down soon and was wondering if there are any tackle shops in the oi area? also where to get fresh bait if none can be found in the inlets.
seems the surf fishing along the beach is not so hot. is there any stretch of beach where there may be some structure you can fish with any degree of success? how far out does the beach remain flat? i could use any info you think might be of help. i'm only down for a week and i don't want to spend all my time in the boat..lol

thanks
john

[islanderblues]

The only structure I'm aware of, and that's coming from someone that spends maybe 4 weeks a year down there, is the pier and some rip-rap at the east end. The rest of the beach is flat, to the best of my knowledge.

I spend some time watching for the sloughs that form along the beach and fish those deeper spots near the beach at high tide. For example, near the pier, out in front of Ocean Isle Inn, almost straight out from the cross, there were some deeper spots once the tide came in. These spots were pools at low tide. I've caught reds in this type of spot when they are in.

I didn't see any places like that in front of the new community center at Monroe Street. Didn't see them out in front of the Isles Restaurant either, yet there are plenty of places along the beach I didn't see. I tend to only fish in places where I can get public access to the beach so those were the only three places I visited recently.

Gotta love the Tiki Bar and cheeseburgers at the Isles.....

[Sgt_Slough]

I'm going down 6-24 to 7-1 staying in Sunset Beach. Planned on surf fishing the local waters and up at Carolina Beach too.

interested in getting the pass for the south end of CB; any other places have 4X4 access/permits that I should be considering?

All this talk of baitfish in the backside during June/July makes me think I should bring my livewell down too, rides on the back, out of the hitch. Planned on bringing a flat of bloods down too. Sounds like the usual condition is decent bait catching oppourtunities. That would be great!

[Elkhunter]

North end of CB has a pass as well $40 I think it is. Might be less of a crowd south though.

[scwunc]

We fished OI pretty hard from the pier and surf last month but didn't have much luck. The inlet near where you are staying should (in theory) offer the best chances. There were quite a few spanish and blues caught from the pier on silver gotcha plugs. There is a nice bait shop with fresh bait and tackle on the left right after you go over the bridge. Good luck and tight lines.

Scott

[e-mag]

Sgt Slough,

I will be there same week , so let me know if you wan't to hook up. Thanks.