# Question - Advice for a Dad with kids fishing in Sunset Beach, sound-side



## budderpopcorn (Jul 8, 2014)

Hi,

I'd appreciate any advice for a father of three young kids wanting to fish in Sunset beach. We'll be staying at a house near Canal and 15th next week, and the kids will be fishing from the floating dock by the house. Any advice as to (i) what lure/baits & (ii) when (tide coming in, e.g.)? Hoping kids can catch some and get into fishing.

Thanks!


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## bigjim5589 (Jul 23, 2005)

Can't answer your question about that particular location, but can generally. When I was a kid, my uncle had a beach house at Holdens, which is not far from Sunset. We spent time there whenever we were visiting my grandparents who lived inland. I fished in the Inland Waterway with a medium heavy spinning rod & reel, same one I used for freshwater or brackish water back here in MD. My younger brother often fished with a Zebco spincasting rod. Not ideal for the salt, but we didn't care we were just kids!

Usually used a bottom rig consisting of a sinker, usually about a 1/2 oz to 1 oz was sufficient depending on the current & a snelled & #1 or #2 hook about 8-10 inches up the main line with shrimp as bait, mainly because my uncle always had some frozen shrimp in the freezer. Or, my dad would go to a fish house & buy some shrimp. We didn't get fancy with rigging, but eventually started using a swivel in the main line above the hook to keep the line from twisting. Depending on the age of your kids, this is what I would recommend rather than lures. I love casting lures & even did so back when I was a kid, but it can get frustrating if you spend a lot of time casting & not catching. Time & place for it all, but IMO, bait & a bottom rig might be far more productive. 

Tide does matter, but as kids we fished any time we could. Usually did better within about 2 hours of the high tide, on both sides of it as the current slowed or started to move. As long as there was some current & it wasn't too strong, we usually caught something. We didn't do well at low tide, but we were limited to one little stretch of water. Low tide can be good, ( based on experience since) but you need to be able to move around & find the deep holes. Probably not something you might be able to do with kids. 

BTW, we caught flounder, black & red drum, sand perch, and croakers back then, depending on the time of year we got down there. They weren't all legal size, all the time, but we did catch enough legal ones to make a meal or two & we had a blast catching them, no matter what size they were. (Those not legal, were sent back to grow bigger!)


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## ez2cdave (Oct 13, 2008)

budderpopcorn said:


> Hi,
> 
> I'd appreciate any advice for a father of three young kids wanting to fish in Sunset beach. We'll be staying at a house near Canal and 15th next week, and the kids will be fishing from the floating dock by the house. Any advice as to (i) what lure/baits & (ii) when (tide coming in, e.g.)? Hoping kids can catch some and get into fishing.
> 
> Thanks!


How young are your kids ?

I suggest fishing with BAIT with small children. They will quickly get "BORED" throwing lures and not getting "instant results". If they can just watch baited rods sitting in Sand Spikes, waiting for a strike, your day will be MUCH less "hectic" . . . Also, there should be fewer tangles and "stuck fingers", than dealing with multiple, treble-hooked lures swinging and "flying around" in close quarters. in inexperienced hands. 

Get PLENTY of rest, bring LOTS of SNACKS, and see if your Doctor will write you a few VALIUM . . . You're going to NEED them . . . LOL !

Tight Lines ! ! !


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## boomer (Jul 1, 2009)

When my daughter was little I use to carry her to the waterway at Holden beach and fish from the dock using a freshwater reel and a freshwater bluegill rig, Small hook, a small split shot and a cork, baited with squid and let it float on the current. She caught a ton of pin fish , and did not get tangled too much either. I adjusted the cork to the hook length and added a little weight if she went a period of time without any bites. She really enjoyed it and so did I. I used some of the pin fish for cut bait.


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## cooper138 (Aug 8, 2012)

if your deadsticking I would recommend putting on small circle hooks. the kids don't have to worry about setting the hook and I believe there a much harder chance of getting a circle in a finger over a j hook.


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

And if you use shrimp put a small piece of fishbites BW on too, as the pinfish will be thick. Pinfish will make you the very best baiter in town real quick. And nobody wants to be know as the Master...........


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## bferg (Nov 16, 2011)

I have never fished that particular area personally, but for what it is worth - I think baiting up with some fresh shrimp and/or cut mullet on a basic 2 hook bottom rig with an ounce or two sinker would would give the kids a good chance of getting into some fish.


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## budderpopcorn (Jul 8, 2014)

Wow, thanks so much, all of you! I think my kids are set. Any suggestions for the tired dad who will want some alone time fishing at night after the kids go down?  Do flounders/blues bite here -- i.e., a few hundred yards away from the heart of Tubbs inlet and I'm guessing this is freshwater/saltwater mixed.


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## childress (Jul 1, 2013)

I'm staying at Canal and 15th this weekend, I'll give you a fishing report! This time last year I caught about 30 pinfish, 1 sea mullet and 1 spot using bottom rigs. I'm curious to see how TS Arthur has affected the fishing grounds.


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## ez2cdave (Oct 13, 2008)

budderpopcorn said:


> Any suggestions for the tired dad who will want some alone time fishing at night after the kids go down?


After the well-deserved "nap" you're going to need after "wrangling" for the kids, the Sunset Beach Fishing Pier looks "inviting" . . . 

Check out the pics below of the area, including your "neighborhood", for reference . . . ENJOY ! ! !


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## childress (Jul 1, 2013)

budderpopcorn said:


> Wow, thanks so much, all of you! I think my kids are set. Any suggestions for the tired dad who will want some alone time fishing at night after the kids go down?  Do flounders/blues bite here -- i.e., a few hundred yards away from the heart of Tubbs inlet and I'm guessing this is freshwater/saltwater mixed.


Unfortunately this time of year the water is too warm to hold a lot of flounder. Blues is 50/50. If you want to get into something big at night I'd recommend going for sharks (assuming it's high tide; sharks don't like low tide as much). In my experiences fishing Tubbs in July it's pinfish city pretty much everywhere and the constant action is perfect for kids. A sabiki rig with fishbites and/or shrimp is a pinfish killer. Personally I don't like fishing the sound side in July because it's really tough to get past the pinfish. To be honest it's tough to get past them ocean side too but it's harder sound side IMO.


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## StillSearchin (Apr 9, 2007)

As mentioned, there should be no trouble providing pinfish action for the kids and most little kids will be happy with that. What I would do is have a rod rigged with a larger hook and use a live pinfish to throw out around dock pilings. If there's any Flounder, trout, or drum around, they're apt to munch on a pinfish. And a good thing is that the pinfish won't steal your bait.


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## Phaedrus (Mar 25, 2011)

Sunset has good fishing, but you have to fish the right spots. Was there last week and caught a ton of fish. I was out almost every morning at 6 am and fished until people hit the beach. Small circle hooks worked best on everything. We used #4 Owner Mutu Lights, but #6's would have caught more little stuff.

Tubbs Inlet
Spot 1- Dead low tide to incoming. Walk out to the end of the island and park yourself on the furthest little piece of land you can get on (closest to Ocean Isle). Toss shrimp and cut mullet into the deeper cut that goes between the two. We caught pinfish, mullet, blacktop pups, a blue and a 27 inch puppy drum there. The puppy was on cut mullet. Cast out, set your drag loose and put it in a spike.
Spot 2- At the corner facing the mainland and directly the opposite side of the corner facing Ocean Isle and the ocean, there is a great hole. Incoming and high tide were the best. We caught pinfish, mullet, a couple flounder, a sheepshead and hooked a huge cobia that snapped my line after about 100 yards of screaming drag. I saw another one there the next day at incoming tide, but could not cast all the way to it. If you want a shot at a cobia, keep a pinfish and cast the whole thing out into the channel with a strong leader and an 8/0 to 10/0 circle hook. Hold on if he hits it. If you have a kayak, I caught a 10lb black drum on cut mullet in the grass flats in the middle of Tubbs during the end of the incoming tide.

Ocean Side
Go out at dead low to find where the holes and rip are. The rip is where the holes dump out of on a falling tide. Cast right onto them the first hour of the incoming tide and an hour before or after high tide. On cut shrimp we caught a ton of mullet (whiting), a few blues, too many blacktip pups and a flounder or two. I also caught a 28 inch puppy drum. I heard that some guys did well on the pier before the storm with a variety of fish. Fishing at dusk out on the ocean side of the point was supposedly good for blues during the week.

Good luck and you can pm me if I can help any further!


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## Phaedrus (Mar 25, 2011)

I fished gulp and 20 different lures on the ocean and in Tubbs with almost no luck!


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## childress (Jul 1, 2013)

Phaedrus that is some really great info. I'll need to do a pinfish setup for bigger fish.


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## childress (Jul 1, 2013)

Fished Tubbs for about 8hrs over 2 days and here's what I caught: 2 croaker, 2 spot, 8 whiting (I threw most of them back as they were on the small side), 2 bluefish, 1 blacktip shark, 1 monster ray and about 30 pinfish. I caught the croaker in the main channel (it's deepest on the Ocean Isle side) and everything else on the outer edge. Good luck this week!


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## Leadsinker (Jun 24, 2013)

I will back up what Phaedrus said about the two deeper cuts near the inlet, but if the kids are not up for that and you want something a bit different, go get some mud minnows from the pier or Bill's seafood or if you can throw a net get some finger mullet and park where you can at that end of the island. Walk down to the sand and with the tide going out you can walk and fish all the docks from that point to the hard right bend in the channel. If your quick grab some fiddler crabs that emerge as the tide goes out and fish em for black and red drum around the docks. The mullet will get all types of fish to bite but the crabs seem to be a drum specialty. I was down and caught a lot of black drum a few pup reds, a few throw back flounder and a real nice speck. Remember black drum has size limits on them this year and good luck and enjoy its a great place.


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