# Oregon Inlet Rock Jetty and the point at Buxton for late Sept



## hugehail (May 25, 2013)

I will be fishing the OBX between September 19th and October 1. I used to fish at Oregon Inlet back in the 80s and we had great luck
on the catwalk, particularly at night. I have never tried to walk the rocks all the way out to the ocean and fish on the rock jetty that juts out about
150 ft. Anyone think it would be worth my time to try that? Is any particular tide the best? Incoming or outgoing or slack? Any particular fish I should
target there? I don't care what it is as long as it's edible. I also plan to head down to Buxton at least one day and try my luck in the surf and not sure whether to try the south facing beaches, east facing beaches or right at the point. What wind regime is best for that? Is the point open for fishing? I have never fished the point or beaches in that area as we have always stayed up toward NH, although we did fish on the south facing pier a few times back in the 80s.


----------



## flathead (Dec 18, 2003)

I fished that jetty two weeks a year for 10 consecutive years, from just before the curve to the end, last week in September through first week in October. You can toss lures or fish bait and catch many different species. Always took a spinning rig for throwing lures like MirrrOlures, Bass Assassins, Gulps, etc., and a couple big baitcasters(SL30SHs, Abu 7000, 7500 etc.). Fresh shrimp, mullet, or bunker. Fresh. Double droppers or fish finders if you're going to soak bait and Carolina rigs if you're going to toss live finger mullet around the rocks. Also a cast net for netting finger mullet. Caught some large flounder and stripers on live finger mullet(flounder close to the rocks. Liked incoming best but outgoing was also good.Used to be my favorite place. Not sure about now though with all the shoaling and dredging I've read about. Nice walk and workout carrying all the gear I took. Even more so if you had to lug some fish back.


----------



## hugehail (May 25, 2013)

Thanks for the info. The fish should be moving around soon with the first of the fall cold fronts. As long as the water has reasonable clarity I think I will do well.


----------



## ncdead (Jun 16, 2015)

Flathead got it right. The finger mullet should be thick. Try to catch them in that cove before you get out on the jetty. Further out you will tear your net to pieces in the rocks if you let it sink too deep. Dont bother throwing bottom rigs until you get out beyond that sharp curve in the jetty, you will break off in the rocks. Look for a flat rock beyond the curve. Good spot to stand and drop a live (or dead) mullet close to the rocks on a 1/2 ounce jighead or Carolina rig. The further out you go the less snags there are. An oversized speck rig, sting silver, etc will catch blues and sometimes Spanish. Sometimes you catch fish there, other times it's a bust....same as anywhere else. Nice scenery though, especially when the sun is setting over the bridge. Bring a long handled net, the farther you can stay away from those slick rocks near the water the better....they can hurt you. Best to have a buddy or two to help carry gear. It's a hike out there as Flathead said, especially on the way back with a cooler of fish.Good luck, let us know how you do.


----------



## ncdead (Jun 16, 2015)

Oh yeah, bring bug spray. Mosquitos can be brutal at times, but I guess you know that if you have fished the catwalk at night. Hard to swat them when you have both hands full....little buggers will carry you off...lol


----------



## hugehail (May 25, 2013)

Ive got a story about the mosquitos. When I was a kid our family wasn't rich so we often slept in the car on a two day excursion to nags head from southside VA. My father became obsessed with fishing back then in the late 70s after an old man let us pull in some Spot in the surf of nags head around 1974 as we walked down the beach. Anyway, my father always made our tackle including jigs and gotcha-like lures that work better than
the real thing. We used to use a lantern and catch big trout on the catwalk and sometimes too big to bring up, you had to just sit there and watch them. Now to get around to my point, my mother would stay in the car in the parking lot while we fished and swatted mosquitos for hours. So needless to say, my mother absolutely hated Oregon Inlet. So yes I know all about the mosquitos at nags head.


----------



## hugehail (May 25, 2013)

Two of the most memorable experiences I have fishing are from Oregon Inlet catwalk. In one instance, we caught jumbo Croaker during the daytime. In another case, we caught bluefish all night on the bottom with homemade bottom rigs with red floats. Those were the days. Can you still do that or are those years gone, never to come back?

Here is a photo of some of the big croaker we caught at Oregon Inlet. I think this was in the late 70s. I am the fellow in the middle.


----------



## ncdead (Jun 16, 2015)

Have had and seen many mosquito attacks at Oregon inlet but the worst was about fifteen years ago in August. I met my brother and his buddy down there after dark after they had already set up the generator on a night that was utterly oppressive. Probably 90 degrees with 100 percent humidity and not a trace of a breeze. They had already caught a citation sized grey trout and a big blue that chewed a hole in the hoop net when I got there. The trout were all up in the lights but it was hard to get them them to bite but we caught a few before leaving about 2 am. Coming off the catwalk carrying all our stuff to the suv we had swarms of Mosquitos on us, unbelieveably bad, even with bug spray. We stuffed the tackle/generator etc. into the vehicle and took off back up to nags head with a pile of Mosquitos riding with us. About halfway between Oregon inlet and the 7 eleven in south nags head we saw three people in shorts and tee shirts walking along the side of the road with nothing but marsh grass on both sides. There was no car broken down that we saw so I have no idea where they came from. We had no room in the suv for them or any more bug spray so we drove on. They were miles away from shelter and were carrying nothing. Felt terrible for them, they had to have absolutely been eaten alive.


----------



## spydermn (Apr 26, 2009)

The worst I ever saw was at OI just after Sandy blew threw. All the standing water all over the place made it terrible!!! While on the beach it was ok, wind was blowing enough to keep them at bay but light enough to cast. As soon as you left the beach (so close as driving down the ramp) you could not open the car door without getting covered.


----------



## hugehail (May 25, 2013)

If the wind is from the northeast off the ocean, mosquitoes are usually not bad, for obvious reasons. Luckily the prevailing wind in the fall is from the northeast in late Sept into October. I am hoping for a northeast wind about 10 kts but too often its 20 kts. Its hard to get that perfect balance sometimes. If winds are too high from the northeast sometimes the south facing beaches of Hatters and Oregon Inlet can be alternatives.


----------

