MyOBX Fishing Report

If you read the prior post you would know that I spent a week down the Outer Banks, more specifically Nags Head. Now I guess you can go there lay next to the pool or by the ocean and drink eat and be merry. However any angler worth his salt would just not be satisfied with being that close to amazing fishing and not get a line wet. And after arriving on the 3rd of September and suffering next to the pool for a few days of the blow. The weather finally cleared enough to launch my plastic yacht and see what was catching.

I was up on Tuesday well before sunrise, shaking off the previous evening libations and ready to kick start the morning. A short drive put me behind Oregon Inlet fishing center where I dropped the yak and headed  north into a stiff breeze. Plan on day one was to catch some flounder for dinner then poke around for reds and sea trout. The flounder Came early and often but not with much size. Truth be known I probably missed more than I caught, flounder fishing is a lot more subtle than the stripers I chase back home so I was getting excited at every nibble and snatching the lure away before my flat friends were ready to commit. I chased a keeper all day but the recently stirred and shaken water was only giving shorts.

The great thing about OBX is the variety. Along with flounder I caught weakfish, blues, small sea trout, lizard fish, and a few other species I did not recognize. I had intended to fish until dark but I noticed my kayak wasn't feeling right about evening so I pulled in some shallow water hoped out and open my front hatch. It was full, I don't even know how the kayak stayed so stable. This was about the time I made a bad decision with my phone. I used an old gulp pail and my sponge and emptied the water from the haul. I figured I would fish back to the launch and would be fine The deepest water I had come across was 6 foot deep so walking back was a option and I didn't want to miss fishing time for a pesky leak.

Dont know what this guy is

I had snapped some awesome pictures of the storm on the way down and of fish I had caught to this point along with my full haul. Knowing my kayak could become unstable if full and I could turtle. I stuck my iphone in a dry bag and put it in the kayak, Wrong decision long story short bag leaked phone took a 3 hour swim and so yeah, you can guess the rest. Now a true fisherman would swear that the picture of the big one was on the phone but I won't go there this time got to stick to my "Pictures or it didn't happen" speil.

first small flatty

Bonner Bridge Oregon Inlet

More Dinks

Head boat heading in

small weak fish

Off Shore fleet Oregon Inlet

construction cranes for new bridge Oregon Inlet

I decided not to take the yak out on Wednesday instead opting to toss lures into an angry surf and try and figure out my leak. The surf turned up small blues but not much else though I could see the commercial fleet just off shore tearing into spanish macks. It was tempting to launch the yak through the surf and try my hand but with a mystery leak and no paddle company. I used my rarely used better judgement.

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With no obvious hole I launch back out of Oregon Inlet on Thursday this time in search of redfish and seatrout specifically. Water was still stained and with my lack of knowledge in either fishery I knew it would be a long shot, but hey its fishing. I was met with my first skunk of the week after about 6 hours of paddling and only a picture of the scenery for my trouble. That and a kayak full of water and a now obvious crack at the scupper in the seat. The crack was right at the flex zone where my boat was strapped to the car on my trip down and I guess loading and unloading finally made it visible. This would end the float trips for the week with one day left as I had nothing to repair it with and was frankly to sore from paddling a fully loaded yak around. I spent the rest of vaction soaking up the hot tub and self medicating with awesome local brew.

The outer banks is one of my favorite places in the world. Something about living on a sandbar just lets you see how fleeting life is and make you want to get the most out of it. Keep Living The Dream