# where for pier fishing or surf fishing



## LikeIknow (Oct 5, 2007)

Hello All,
I'll be coming down from MD to Charlotte NC to visit my relatives around Thanksgiving time. I'm thinking about taking an extra day or 2 off and stop by a few places along the way for pier fishing or surf fishing. Any species will be fine such as spots, trout, blue,... I don't know much about NC. I looking for :fishing: some suggestions on where are the best places to fish.

Thanks.


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## fishinmama (Oct 14, 2006)

how much driving around you wanna do? you can probably get blues all up & down the coast...that time of yr. should still be good for puppy drum...water may be a bit too cold then for the trout, but ya never know -- if ya get lucky, maybe a striper... there are a bunch of piers on coastal NC, but my personal favorite areas would all be on hatteras island
you will need to buy a saltwater fishing lic. $10 for 10 days for out of state.--actually most piers have a blanket license that covers anglers when you get your pier pass...but i personally prefer the surf & $10 isn't all that much, after all.


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## hokieboy (Jan 19, 2006)

Your closest beach is gonna be myrtle which is about 4 hrs away. It will take you every bit of 5-6 to get to a NC beach from charlotte so i dunno if you are lookin to drive that far...


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## uncdub13 (Aug 9, 2003)

specks should be on fire in the surf here around thanksgiving. you can make it to wilmington in under 4 hours from charlotte.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Try Buxton NC.. At the point and hook areas that time of yr could be big bluefish,trout,flounder,puppy drum and bigguns,maybe even a nice striper..


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## LEADDRAFT (Oct 9, 2001)

uncdub is right.. Under 4 hours, even 3 with good traffic conditions.
74/76 stright shot right down here.
Lotsa great fishing too be had here in and around Wilmington,, well into DEC.
Seeing how We had a warm Oct...This being the norm. Well, this is "average" for Nov..
Here's your possibilites..
BIG specks caught on jigs/grubs/live shrimp, small minnows around Shell Island inlet on Wrightsville Beach/ BIG Sea Mullet on fleas there too, (oceanside)
Specs,blues, possible reds on the Masonboro end of Wrightsville beach.
Carolina Beach/Kure beaches/ Mullet/reds/specs in the Inlets inlets on either end of the Island, (freeman park, N. end, Ft.Fisher on the S. End, Hatteris Style baby!  ..)
I've heard of specs sometimes caught off the C.F. rock jetty sometimes down there...
Further south
Try SouthPort's Oak Islands South end, Or Caswell Beach, on the Cape Fear River Mouth, Or Holden Beaches North end, (Lockwood Folly Inlet), Reds/Specks Mullet, black drum,, and spots are known too still be holding in these areas till thanksgiving, Plus Lil secret here..
SunSet beach and Ocean Isle's Bridge's has Flounder/specs/reds/spots/black drum well into Dec...
Just watch the board here for the reports....
unc resides here, as well as I..
Peace 
LD


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## dlwedd (Aug 28, 2006)

*Kure Beach*

I have fished the surf just north of the Kure Pier in November several times using sand fleas and caught some big whiting (several citation size). I live in Concord just North of Charlotte and it is just under 4 hrs to Kure from here (without stopping alot).


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## LikeIknow (Oct 5, 2007)

*Kure Beach fishing*

Can someone please tell me if fishing at Kure Beach pier is free? Thanks.


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## fishinmama (Oct 14, 2006)

according to this site its $5.00 per person- one rod & one reel
www.kurebeachfishingpier.com

here's a link for all nc piers - some have website links
www.fishing-nc.com/nc-fishing-piers.php


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## Flipper (May 6, 2006)

LikeIknow said:


> Can someone please tell me if fishing at Kure Beach pier is free? Thanks.


You're joking, right?


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## Conrad (Feb 23, 2007)

Pier and free don't go together.


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## bubba 250 (Aug 22, 2005)

you can go down to tybee island its only around 3hrs from charlotte fishing is free from the pier and you just need a licence i think its only a couple of dollars by the day check out sc/ga reports there are some good people down there im heading that way this weeken myself bubba 250


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## squalus (Sep 26, 2007)

hey guys - cut him a break... he's new to the board

His question may have meant, "If I'm fishing from a pier do I need to buy a license, too?"


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

NEIV164Owl said:


> hey guys - cut him a break... he's new to the board
> 
> His question may have meant, "If I'm fishing from a pier do I need to buy a license, too?"


 If that be the case,no,most piers have blanket license..

If you are looking for "foodfish" Rodanthe,and Avon Piers both catch plenty of seamullet that time of yr,as well as pups and flounder,maybe a few specks mixed in..


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## bluefish1928 (Jun 9, 2007)

the only free pier fishing is if you fished off a pier you own.


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## LikeIknow (Oct 5, 2007)

fishinmama said:


> according to this site its $5.00 per person- one rod & one reel
> www.kurebeachfishingpier.com
> 
> here's a link for all nc piers - some have website links
> www.fishing-nc.com/nc-fishing-piers.php


Thanks for the info guys. The reason I ask because in Maryland and Delaware there are a few state parks that you only need to pay by car (about $5/car) and you can have as many people in the car as you can (practically free).


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## Conrad (Feb 23, 2007)

*Hey...*



LikeIknow said:


> Thanks for the info guys. The reason I ask because in Maryland and Delaware there are a few state parks that you only need to pay by car (about $5/car) and you can have as many people in the car as you can (practically free).


If they did it like that down here I'd be able to afford fishing from the pier! lol

Just one thing about the blanket liscence...hold onto your pier pass untill you get home if you don't have a liscence. If you get stopped by chance and checked(which I've never heard happening), you'll need proof of the pier you fished so that you are covered. Otherwise you are in posession of coastal fish without a liscence.


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## LEADDRAFT (Oct 9, 2001)

*Wrong!*



Conrad said:


> Pier and free don't go together.



Some Piers, not all though, in the "off season" will let you on for free as they closed for the season.. After Thanksgiving....Call and ask..
Or they "leave the the gate open" for "free access"...


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## squalus (Sep 26, 2007)

LEADDRAFT said:


> Some Piers, not all though, in the "off season" will let you on for free as they closed for the season.. After Thanksgiving....Call and ask..
> Or they "leave the the gate open" for "free access"...


But if the pier is closed and you don't pay admission (covered under blanket license) you'll still need to have a NC Coastal Fishing License to be legal, right?


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## roadkillal (Feb 23, 2006)

That is a great legal question. All of the piers have bought them and they purchased them for a year starting around last Feb.


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## squalus (Sep 26, 2007)

Yep - you won't have the pier admission receipt to prove you were covered by the blanket license if you get stopped by fish & game...

Makes you wanna go HMMMMMM???


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

NEIV164Owl said:


> But if the pier is closed and you don't pay admission (covered under blanket license) you'll still need to have a NC Coastal Fishing License to be legal, right?


 Man,that is one question it will definatly take a lawyer to answer.. I have a license anyway,but it would be interesting to know the answer to that one??


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## squalus (Sep 26, 2007)

It wouldn't really matter to me - when I come down I buy the $10 non-resident license, so I'd be covered either way... 

I just don't want to see any of our fishin' buds out there get nailed unnecessarily, like the one who got the verbal warning for fishing in the sound without a freshwater non-resident license - can you believe that one??? 

Steve


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

NEIV164Owl said:


> It wouldn't really matter to me - when I come down I buy the $10 non-resident license, so I'd be covered either way...
> 
> I just don't want to see any of our fishin' buds out there get nailed unnecessarily, like the one who got the verbal warning for fishing in the sound without a freshwater non-resident license - can you believe that one???
> 
> Steve


 Currituck sound?? Yeap,gotta have a freshwater license there... Not sure about the Pamlico..?


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## LikeIknow (Oct 5, 2007)

Conrad said:


> If they did it like that down here I'd be able to afford fishing from the pier! lol
> 
> Just one thing about the blanket liscence...hold onto your pier pass untill you get home if you don't have a liscence. If you get stopped by chance and checked(which I've never heard happening), you'll need proof of the pier you fished so that you are covered. Otherwise you are in posession of coastal fish without a liscence.


Good to know. Better be safe than sorry. Since I will be only fishing for one day I guess I just need to get a pier pass and that's should be enough. Thanks.


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## Flipper (May 6, 2006)

LEADDRAFT said:


> Some Piers, not all though, in the "off season" will let you on for free as they closed for the season.. After Thanksgiving....Call and ask..
> Or they "leave the the gate open" for "free access"...


Or you may just be arrested for trespassing.


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## hamlet (Sep 4, 2007)

Conrad said:


> If they did it like that down here I'd be able to afford fishing from the pier! lol
> 
> Just one thing about the blanket liscence...hold onto your pier pass untill you get home if you don't have a liscence. If you get stopped by chance and checked(which I've never heard happening), you'll need proof of the pier you fished so that you are covered. Otherwise you are in posession of coastal fish without a liscence.


While I understand the concern, I can also buy controlled game fish in many grocery stores and seafood stores and I have never been asked to show a fishing license in order to purchase them and then carry them around in my car.

Also, some piers dont give you anything that will identify that pier... at Oak Island they give you a little ticket with a number on it. Same thing you get when you buy a ride on the ferris wheel at the state fair. At North topsail they wrap a little nameless plastic tie around your rod.


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## LEADDRAFT (Oct 9, 2001)

*you*



Flipper said:


> Or you may just be arrested for trespassing.


missed where I said "call also"....
Or ask.. I wouldn't intentionaly steer someone wrong on that...


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## Conrad (Feb 23, 2007)

hamlet said:


> While I understand the concern, I can also buy controlled game fish in many grocery stores and seafood stores and I have never been asked to show a fishing license in order to purchase them and then carry them around in my car.
> 
> Also, some piers dont give you anything that will identify that pier... at Oak Island they give you a little ticket with a number on it. Same thing you get when you buy a ride on the ferris wheel at the state fair. At North topsail they wrap a little nameless plastic tie around your rod.


You aren't asked for a fishing liscence when pruchasing because you are purchasing from a liscensed retailer, which gets charged tax on all income, and in turn gives you a receipt for your purchase, which shows proof of payment, and location of purchase.

All piers covering anglers with a blanket liscense are "supposed" to give you the same sort of reciept, or a pier marker that signifies the pier for that exact reason. It all comes down to pier management though...they don't HAVE to, as most pier operators concern for you fishing there ends once you walk off the pier and they can't make money off you anymore.


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