# Does Oak Island, NC pier catch the most fish?



## hugehail (May 25, 2013)

Ive collected 10 years of fishing reports from a variety of sources including Johnny's Surf City/Jolly Roger blog, Fisherman's post, Facebook reports back to 2010, reports from the pier web sites and so on.
I now have the arduous task of evaluating all of these reports using some methodology to develop favored times of year for each species. Anything I come up with will not be perfect by any means. But
it may give some idea. The charts I developed for Avalon Pier took advantage of detailed daily reports from 2001 to 2007. I dont have access to reports for every day for the southeast NC beaches.

Anyway, one thing that has grabbed my attention is that fishing for certain species seems to be much better at Oak Island pier compared to all of the others. They seem to catch a lot of Trout
and they are reporting good numbers of large Trout when no other pier does. I wonder if the Pier's proximity to the Cape Fear River has anything to do with this? I think other species like Flounder
do better there too, but I will need to do a lot more evaluating before I can boldly make that claim. I also think that the location of that pier with respect to land could make a difference. 
For example, a south to southwest wind is onshore there. So I wonder if its easier to get clear water there? IMO, it is much harder to get clear water at Nags Head since the prevailing southwest wind
results in upwelling and very murky water. You would think that the frequent northeast winds they get at Avalon/Nags Head would result in downwelling and clear water, but these northeast winds are often too strong and just stir up the surf, causing you guessed it, murky water. Has anyone out there noticed whether some piers tend to have clearer water? 

Anyway, Im trying to decide which pier to fish when I go to SE NC in late April-early May 2014. I think this period features excellent fishing based on my research, with bottom dwellers and topwater fish biting. The Mullet and blues are still going strong and the Flounder/Spanish are also starting to show. 

Hugehail


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## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

No trust me, yaupon doesnt have cleaner water lol. Its the way the bottoms shaped around there, ive fished there since i was 10 and when the trout are there you can catch them on gotcha plugs there so thick if youre casting in the right hole


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## jvn11 (Apr 17, 2009)

NC KingFisher said:


> No trust me, yaupon doesnt have cleaner water lol. Its the way the bottoms shaped around there, ive fished there since i was 10 and when the trout are there you can catch them on gotcha plugs there so thick if youre casting in the right hole


I totally agree with this. I've fished on every south-facing pier from Sunset Beach to Yaupon/Oak Island. The bottom around Oak Island pier is a bit more contoured than some other piers, which tends to hold more trout. Of course things can change quickly with a hurricane or strong storm. 

As little as 15 years ago, Sunset Beach Pier was one of the best trout piers around. It took little effort to catch a limit most summer mornings. That was due to large holes all around the pier that trout loved. Whether it was natural or through beach renourishment, half of the pier is now on land at low tide and the beach is flat as can be. Needless to say, the fishing suffered big time. 

Ocean Crest and Oak Island piers do have a little advantage when it comes to clear water, as they're further from any land masses to the southwest than most piers. With that said, a moderate SW wind will muddy the water very easily. There are sandbars offshore that cause the water to get sandy once the wave action picks up from the SW. 

Ocean Crest, Oak Island, and Ocean Isle are my 3 favorites in Brunswick county. In terms of bottom fishing, they are all very similar IMO. May/June and September/October produce the greatest variety, with more sea mullet in the spring and good numbers of puppy drum in the fall being the main differences.


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## hugehail (May 25, 2013)

Why is it that Mullet bite better with south to southwest wind at Jolly Roger and Surf City? Perhaps this is true for the other piers too? The only thing I can come up with
is that a south/southwest wind is in your face on the piers and since fish migrate northward in spring, this tends to push the fish right up to the pier, whereas a northeast wind would blow them away from the south side? Does this make any sense? Also, why do Mullet bite at night much better? Is this because the fish are further out (beyond the end of the pier) during the day? Im thinking based on the reports Ive seen so far that the spring mullet bite is best in mid to late April into the 1st 10 days of May. Does this agree with your experience? Do the Mullet generally start out smaller in late March/early April and then get bigger after that? I want to pick a time when there is an overlap between the Mullet and Blues and perhaps even get in on the beginning of the spanish runs. Thats why Im leaning toward late April and early May. Ive been fishing the Outer Banks since 1975 and have never fished down south. But I believe the water is more murky up north at Avalon. 
I can only fish 1 or 2 weeks out of the year since I live in Kansas. Any advice from a local expert would be great.


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## roostertail (Jul 7, 2012)

Hugehail I was born in Garden City not far from where you live. We lived near the town of Ulysses but moved to NC when I was like 4. Still have relatives there so I get there every other year or so.


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## hugehail (May 25, 2013)

Offer your condolences, unfortunately I have to live here 15 more years!! Until then I will fish once or twice a year in SE NC. I fished since 1975 in the Nags Head area but have recently come to the realization that fishing is actually better further south (for one, the fish are BIGGER including Blues, Spanish, Trout and Flounder). But don't get me wrong, I love the Outer Banks and always will. 

I was preoccupied with storm chasing for the past 20 years as a hobby but I continue my career as a meteorologist. Since I am a meteorologist and love detective work, I think I am in a position to study fishing patterns even from 1500 miles away. And weather and fishing go hand in hand. I can use my skills as a meteorologist to "forecast" when fishing will be hot. I will never be able to outfox the locals who have fished there for the past 40 years though.


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## roostertail (Jul 7, 2012)

Yeah I am sorry! My grandpas just moved here from there as well. One reason was the wind........


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## River (Sep 30, 2006)

I've heard one of those Pier's down around Oak Island has the pilings placed inside the concrete bee hive shaped structures called "Flounder Motels". These structures have holes all in em for baitfish to hide - Doe's anyone know anything about those, there was a lot of talk about em several years back ---- just curious ---- River


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## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

River said:


> I've heard one of those Pier's down around Oak Island has the pilings placed inside the concrete bee hive shaped structures called "Flounder Motels". These structures have holes all in em for baitfish to hide - Doe's anyone know anything about those, there was a lot of talk about em several years back ---- just curious ---- River


Theres actually a couple pieces of concrete pipe on the bottom towards the end on yaupon pier, never heard of the flounder motels


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## jvn11 (Apr 17, 2009)

River said:


> I've heard one of those Pier's down around Oak Island has the pilings placed inside the concrete bee hive shaped structures called "Flounder Motels". These structures have holes all in em for baitfish to hide - Doe's anyone know anything about those, there was a lot of talk about em several years back ---- just curious ---- River


That was Long Beach Pier which was torn down a few years ago. I never really noticed an increase in the number of flounder after they were put in, but maybe they didn't get enough time to establish before the pier closed.


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