In of need some Local Info

[steveL77]

First I would like to say hello to everyone. Im from up on Long Island, New York. I was thinking of taking a trip down to the Outer Banks the day after christmas, to get some of those stripers that never came close enough to the shores up here in new york during the fall run. I was hoping somone could PM me and give me some info on hotel's, takle shop, some good places to get the line wet off the beach. Need to know if i need a permit for fishing the night, or driving on the beach. If anyone could help me out it would be greatly appreciated. Tight Lines!!

[notso]

If by "OBX" you mean the Cape Hatteras national seashore, then here's some info (alot of it is applicable to other areas too).
You will need a recreational salt water fishing license. It's easier to go to the NCDGIF web site & buy it on-line before you go.

At this point, you do not need any special permits to drive on (Hatteras island) ORV beaches.

On Hatteras, the ORV beaches are open 24hrs but camping on the beach is prohibited. I believe that the rule reads that you must be "activly participating beach recreation" or something like that.
The Pea island wildlife refuge (northern 15+- miles of Hatteras island) is open for fishing (No ORV), but if you want to fish at night, you need to fill out a permit card (no charge) & put it on your dash board, so the rangers can see it if they check. It's basically just list of rules, that you sign to say that you have read & understand them.

As far as places to fish, there's a bunch. I've put as much as 150+ miles on the sand in a long weekend looking for fish there. Winter striper fishing seems to usually be centered around Oregon inlet (just south of Nags Head). There is approximately 5 miles of ORV beach open on the north side of the inlet & walk on access to the south (this is the beginning of Pea Island refuge). At different times, all of hatteras island can be productive, as well as Ocracoke island (approx 60mi & a free ferry south). Some years fishing is much better to the north. There are walk-on accesses throughout the Nags Head KDH area, and in the winter, there is ORV access open all the way from Duck to the Va state line(20+ miles).

There are boat loads of motels in Nags head that are fairly cheap off season, or if you choose to have your base a little farther south, there are cheap places in Rodanthe (sea sound motel), buxton (the falcon or Buxton beach motel), and on Ocracoke (pony island motel).

Hope this helps...

[steveL77]

Thank you for the great info! This time of year is pretty productive by the Oregon inlet area correct?

[bhorsley]

i would not hold my breathe --last year no bass to speak of. The year before Christmas days was smoking up in Corolla. It really depends on how cold the water gets--last year it was too warm for the most part and striper season was tough--we can always hope