OBX is still worth a visit!

[Hammy]

Went this past weekend and fishing was great! Hit the beach south of Rodanthe and caught flounder, mullet, a small shark, and 7 big blues between 30 and 34 inches. All the choppers took bunker heads!

I will post some pics later because I'd like some help with the shark ID. It had a black tip tail and a second black dorsal and a healthy set of teeth. It seemed too small (thin) for a sandbar.

I am coming back in mid-June. Any suggestions on where to hook a drum, and maybe a larger shark by night? (no, not the point)

Tight lines!

[Steve in Mass]

Hammy.....I will be in Avon from 6/14-6/28......

I fish mostly soundside for specks (and crabbing), and then the beach in Avon steps from my cottage door.....so while I feel the pain of others and am certainly over the restrictions, they don't affect my plans for the trip too much.

If you will be there then and wanna go to fish for specks one morning, let me know.....

[Hammy]

I'd love it! Never have caught a speck though often tried! We have some ocean side and Chesapeake side in MD where I live, but have never caught them. I know how to fish for them in OBX, but never know where to go on the sound side. I tried at the campsite I was staying at in Rodanthe but the water there seemed much too shallow. I walked 1/4 mile out and never saw water deeper than 12 inches. I will be down again on the weekend of the 20th/21st/22nd so I will let you know.

[Steve in Mass]

See your PM's......I got a spot that is less than 50 steps from the bank to waist deep water.....

[Jack Straw]

Steve, todays closures don't affect your plans but by the end of june you may have an oystercatcher or tern or turtle enclosure in front of your oceanfront house which will keep you from walking out the door and to the ocean. That is no BS.

[Steve in Mass]

No doubt of the truth of that, Jack.....

The cottage isn't occanfront (two lots back), and we us the public access ramp, but no doubt of the possibility of what you said.......

[hopkins11]

I'll be oceanfront in salvo the 1st week of June.
I plan on walking or driving out...

If I can't walk onto the beach from my "oceanfront" rental then the agency will have to make it right because that's part of what I paid for. Let's face it - that house isn't "oceanfront" if you can't walk out. It amounts to another economical impact to another local business.

[billy g]

Don't think the NPS can close the village beaches because of the birds, the do close them to 4WD in the summer.

[Jack Straw]

Billy, you'd better read the consent decree. It covers ALL of CHNSRA. Don't think for one second that the villiage beaches won't close. If a plover, oystercatcher, least tern, or turtle get busy, there are predetermined buffer zones and if NPS doesn't close it they are in violation of the consent decree. This is no longer an ORV issue (it hasn't really been all along). It's an access issue.

[Steve in Mass]

Jack, it's sad to say, but perhaps something like that happening is what is needed to REALLY start turning some heads and get people screaming....in the long run, it could end up being the best scenario for all to get this thing re-thunk......

I can't see the rental agencies (which have a lot of pull down there), among other businesses, not being in an uproar if that should happen.......sure, they rent and serve to fishermen, but their big $$$ comes from family vacations/"run of the mill" beach-goers.

[TJL65]

I'll be down in the Rondanthe area the first week of September. I had read that they were planning on closing the beaches to ORV but didn't think this was a done deal or that walk-on access was going to be restricted.

Honestly, if the beaches are closed, I won't go.

[savfish]

My wife's parents were down last week - they rented a house soundfront in avon. They went oceanside in avon one day - my wife didn't want to take the truck on the little that is left because of all the bs. After they dragged beach crap and 2 kids down a boardwalk access, they come to the end to find it was closed off. No signs warning you - absolutely nothing. If you think your walk on access to the beach is guaranteed, think again. Everything is being done to keep people off the beach, not just orv's.

[Jack Straw]

Where in Avon exactly did this happen? Around what street? Just curious as i have friends staying in avon in july that are concerned.

[Steve in Mass]

What he ^^ asked, as I will be there starting on 6/14, Angelfish Road in North Avon......fortunately for me, it is an easy walk over to the next block's access, but still........

[Slayer25]

good report