# Some "reading the surf" questions



## joe l. (Jul 31, 2004)

Was looking at some of the online satellite images of where I'll be vacationing this year (Nags Head NC) to see what kind of surf structure there was, and I thought maybe I'd post a pic here to get some help from the experts at reading the surf. I'm hoping maybe also it will help other folks who are novices like me learn a little more. So please, correct me with what I see (or don't see) here. I'm hoping this will be a learning exercise.

Here's the pic:










So - for the pic attached, it seems to me that the 1st gut is the darker area that runs the whole way parallel to the shoreline? Would structure "1" be a deeper "bowl" of water?

For arrow "2", I'm thinking just the continuation of the gut along the beach (deep water = good?), with the odd wave breaks at arrow "3" indicating some kind of "point" or "draws" into the gut.

For where the "??" is, what I was wondering is if the gut starts drifting a bit farther offshore? It seems that there's some lighter colored water that wedges out between the shoreline and the darker water.

Anyway, any help will be appreciated. I realize that the surf structure can change literally every day, but I figure the more "reading" I do (from my desk here in western PA, lol), the better I'll get.

Thanks,

joe


----------



## F I LetsGoFishin (Apr 24, 2007)

I think you are right about 2 an 3 ?? not enough to tell and 1 could even be a bait pod now of course you do relize that this image is 2006 as you can read in the back ground.
while satalight images are nice they are typicaly useless from the beach

Try this
.http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/showthread.php?t=499655


----------



## FishinAddiction (May 9, 2006)

dont over analyze....when you get there just sit back, relax, and have a few:beer:


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Personally,I like the area just below arrow 1 where the slough narrows,and there is a point made there.. If there are fish traveling that slough,there would be more current in that spot... jmo


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

*DERN,didn't want that to happen!!*

I post my opinion and kill the thread... Don't want that to happen this is a gooden.. More ideas would be welcome..


----------



## TreednNC (Jul 1, 2005)

Is it just me or does the 'bar' seem wide in this photo...or am I looking at it wrong...the bar being the light shaded area underneath "1" and "2" numbers??


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

TreednNC said:


> Is it just me or does the 'bar' seem wide in this photo...or am I looking at it wrong...the bar being the light shaded area underneath "1" and "2" numbers??


 Yeap,that's what I see.. Was talking about where the bar has a point,and narrows the slough...


----------



## TreednNC (Jul 1, 2005)

Just thinking out loud here...would be perdy neat download the occasional satellite image, and try to pick it apart. Would make for some interesting threads, and since most are likey outdated, wouldnt be spot burning either.


----------



## joe l. (Jul 31, 2004)

That's exactly what I was hoping for by starting the thread. While the images are a year old, I'm so novice in reading surf structure, that it's kind of good "practice" for me, while I'm stuck here in PA away from the shore.

It'll also be different to see the area "in person", from a non-aerial view. But, to me, practice is practice.

I never even noticed the "point" DrumDum mentioned, so I've already learned one new thing to look for.

One other question, about what you brought up about the "bar". IF it were low tide, I'd expect breaking waves over it. Can we assume then this is high tide, since the edges of that "bar" are completely devoid of any white water?


----------



## TreednNC (Jul 1, 2005)

Cant download Google Earth on here. If I could Id look for some intersting spots to post and keep this thing going.


----------



## can't fish today (Oct 8, 2003)

TreednNC said:


> Cant download Google Earth on here. If I could Id look for some intersting spots to post and keep this thing going.


You can link it from Google maps, like this Example


----------



## joe l. (Jul 31, 2004)

Another area on the NC coastline has this:










So - #1 looks like a pinch, which would funnel bait (and bigger fish following bait) through, right? A point on the shore and a point on the bar converge.

Would #2 be described as a "cut", serving as a exit for bait out of the slough?

And finally, would area #3 be worth tossing some bait there? Looks like a smaller cut out of the slough, with some turbulent water to rough up and stun bait schools a bit, giving chances for an "easy dinner" for predator fish.

This pic has more what I was expecting from the first bar area, with defined waves crashing over the bar. The areas to cast seem much more defined here than in the first pic I posted.


----------



## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

*First pic*

I have to go with number one to.


----------



## JimInVA (May 17, 2005)

I just returned from 3 weeks of vacation. I spent that vacation fishing the surf at MP-17. I fished deep... I fished close... I fished high... I fished low... I tossed metal... and I tossed plastics. For 3 weeks, I was unable to bring a single fish to the shore for this area.

For where I was fishing, the area has become extremely flat for well beyond my casting range. Recent storms, particularly those of last Thanksgiving and early May, pulled a tremendous amount of beach and dune sand into the ocean. Now, in an area that I've fished for nearly 15 years... and an area where I can typically pull at least something out of the water... I caught nothing. For at least this area, it drove home how critically important some type of varying structure is... and how the lack of such structure can negatively impact fishing.

Jim


----------



## TreednNC (Jul 1, 2005)

2nd pic...Ill take just to the north of the #1...looks like a break with some deep water just inside


----------



## Dr. Bubba (Nov 9, 1999)

I like #2 in the second photo. Looks like it could be an outsuck with the right conditions. But there has got to be something in either 1, 2 or 3?


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

All of em look pretty good to me... 1 would be an "exit" or "entrance". 2 looks like it has possibilties as well.. Just s of 3 where the bar ends would work well as an "exit".. Imho,a good place to launch a bait when current is headed s...


----------

