pschwart00
11-21-2006, 11:15 AM
Here is a quick & honest overview of the fishing around Cape Lookout for the week of Nov. 10-18th. This was our first trip down to the area. We stayed in Atlantic Beach, all fishing was done on the east side of the shoals, primarily 3 miles or so north of the Light. Running the shoals is dicey but not suicidal, assuming conditions are decent. We were fishing out of an 18’ Sea Pro bay boat. There were two of us fishing.
We arrived on Friday, Nov. 9th.
Saturday – first day out – weather was perfect. We found some fish just off the beach north of the lighthouse but no luck. Later that afternoon we found a bait ball in about 60’ of water – we were a little late to the party and didn’t score – however talked to some guys who caught about 15 fish or so off this bait ball. No fish, but overall a very good “learning” day.
Sunday – lay day – blew like crazy
Monday – The west side was snotty, but once you crossed the shoals the east side was calm with clean water. Hardly anything showing. We ran up and down the beaches until we finally decided to just start fishing where we had seen fish on Saturday. It worked! We caught 4 nice sized albies. We were marking lots of bait on the graph. Fish came on size 1 white / chartruse clousers on sinking lines (300-350 grains). We really only fished a half day b/c we piddled around all morning looking for “signs” to no avail.
Tuesday – Fished in pretty much the same area. Birds were working better, fishing showing a bit more. Same strategy – find birds, see some fish, start blind casting. We also fished right up on the beach a bit as some albies were chasing bait in the surf (it makes for a great fight when you hook one in 5 feet of water). We started using bigger deceiver patters (like 1/0 & 2/0) and found better success. Chartreuse & white again seemed to work best. Total catch for the day 7 fish.
Wednesday – More birds, more fish showing – the game plan was repeated. Total catch for the day 10 fish.
Thursday – blow day
Friday – blow day – caught one redfish, one weakfish
Saturday – got out – went to the east side. Water was dirty. No signs or birds. Saw a couple fish pop up once. Skunk.
General observations:
Guides were bitchin’ how terrible the fishing was. They consider a good day 20+ fish. Personally, any day two anglers put 7 or more albies in the boat on the fly rod I consider it a good day. I guess expectations are different if you are used to fishing for this fish up in the Cape.
Staying in Atlantic Beach has its plusses. We rented a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house for dirt cheap. Access to grocery stores, bait shops, pizza joints etc. is way better than Harkers. On the downside if all fishing is done on the east side you will be putting a lot of mileage on your boat. We averaged about 70-80 miles per day according to the GPS. You can run (without too much headache) the ICW behind Shackelford Banks, past Harkers, and out through the hook if it is rough on the West side. It adds about 4 or 5 miles, but you can go faster and not take a pounding.
If you ever have trailer issues (we did) while down there I highly recommend OuterBanks Boat Harbor on the Harkers Island Road. They had exceptional turn around time & very reasonable rates.
If you can work with one or two other boats it can greatly increase your fish catching and should save you running all over the ocean. We worked with fellow reel-timer Roger StG. It definitely helped. (Cell phone coverage is surprisingly good)
Overall I would give the trip a B-. Although, (I'm guessing by local standards) it was more like a D-.
We arrived on Friday, Nov. 9th.
Saturday – first day out – weather was perfect. We found some fish just off the beach north of the lighthouse but no luck. Later that afternoon we found a bait ball in about 60’ of water – we were a little late to the party and didn’t score – however talked to some guys who caught about 15 fish or so off this bait ball. No fish, but overall a very good “learning” day.
Sunday – lay day – blew like crazy
Monday – The west side was snotty, but once you crossed the shoals the east side was calm with clean water. Hardly anything showing. We ran up and down the beaches until we finally decided to just start fishing where we had seen fish on Saturday. It worked! We caught 4 nice sized albies. We were marking lots of bait on the graph. Fish came on size 1 white / chartruse clousers on sinking lines (300-350 grains). We really only fished a half day b/c we piddled around all morning looking for “signs” to no avail.
Tuesday – Fished in pretty much the same area. Birds were working better, fishing showing a bit more. Same strategy – find birds, see some fish, start blind casting. We also fished right up on the beach a bit as some albies were chasing bait in the surf (it makes for a great fight when you hook one in 5 feet of water). We started using bigger deceiver patters (like 1/0 & 2/0) and found better success. Chartreuse & white again seemed to work best. Total catch for the day 7 fish.
Wednesday – More birds, more fish showing – the game plan was repeated. Total catch for the day 10 fish.
Thursday – blow day
Friday – blow day – caught one redfish, one weakfish
Saturday – got out – went to the east side. Water was dirty. No signs or birds. Saw a couple fish pop up once. Skunk.
General observations:
Guides were bitchin’ how terrible the fishing was. They consider a good day 20+ fish. Personally, any day two anglers put 7 or more albies in the boat on the fly rod I consider it a good day. I guess expectations are different if you are used to fishing for this fish up in the Cape.
Staying in Atlantic Beach has its plusses. We rented a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house for dirt cheap. Access to grocery stores, bait shops, pizza joints etc. is way better than Harkers. On the downside if all fishing is done on the east side you will be putting a lot of mileage on your boat. We averaged about 70-80 miles per day according to the GPS. You can run (without too much headache) the ICW behind Shackelford Banks, past Harkers, and out through the hook if it is rough on the West side. It adds about 4 or 5 miles, but you can go faster and not take a pounding.
If you ever have trailer issues (we did) while down there I highly recommend OuterBanks Boat Harbor on the Harkers Island Road. They had exceptional turn around time & very reasonable rates.
If you can work with one or two other boats it can greatly increase your fish catching and should save you running all over the ocean. We worked with fellow reel-timer Roger StG. It definitely helped. (Cell phone coverage is surprisingly good)
Overall I would give the trip a B-. Although, (I'm guessing by local standards) it was more like a D-.