Fishing Report...

[Rumble Fish aka Poppy]

Surf fished the OBX last week from Wednesday thru this past Sunday...concentrated my efforts this time from Cape Point to the south end of Ocracoke...split my time about even between Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island.

Fishing was slooow! Even the sharks and skates were not plentiful...

Caught 2 Stripers on bunker at the north end of Ocracoke—nice fish 19# and 21#...1 yearling Red Drum about 34" at the south end of Ocracoke on bunker and few bait stealers in between...

On HI tried real hard w/ bait and lures—day and night...nada!!! Even Hattteras Inlet was dead at least for me although others got a few Stripers...

Finding bait was a problem...used frozen that I had left over from the fall...could only use the heads...

Had my lap top computer w/ me and checked in on various sites to see if things were happening elsewhere, like up at Oregon Inlet...seemed slow up there too...

Some charter Capt's said that Stripers were "well off shore" in massive concentrations.

Saturday night came down w/ the bug...really kicked my butt...severe body aches and fever...the drive home Sunday to VA was miserable...

Poppy

[big jim]

Read your report. Thanks for the down-home news. Can appreciate your being bummed out, especially after getting sick and having to drive home that way.

But you did get out and score a couple of nice fish! And OI is quite the place to do it!

bj/JDBB

[HookedUp]

I also got back from the OBX, fished the same times you did, but not as much time spent I'm sure (the wives were with us so were kind of limited). We spent most of our time fishing OI to Cape Point. Nothing, not even a trash fish. We were able to get some fresh mullet at Whalebone, but Fresh Bunker was no where to be found. Ocracoke at least produced something for you. I have never fished there but have always heard good things. The charter fleet at OI was nailing them about two miles off, we saw several upper 40's weighed in. This was my first time surf fishing down there this time of year, I was obvioulsy disappointed. What was the deal? Was it just a slow period or was I missing something?

[Mudd]

Originally posted by HookedUp:
This was my first time surf fishing down there this time of year, I was obvioulsy disappointed. What was the deal? Was it just a slow period or was I missing something?

Well in my experience of fishing the OBX during the Holidays for the last 10 years it all depends on the water temperature. It seems like there is a two week period every year when the inshore water temps drop drastically from the upper 50's to the mid 40's. After that two week period, fishing is at its Winter worst. Sometimes that two week period occurs in early Dec. In most years the two week period happens very close to the Holidays. This year it seems to have happened just before and during Christmas. During other years it is the early part of Jan and the Holiday fishing can be awesome.

Like da man at sideshow tent at the Carnival says, "you pays your money and you takes your chances".