Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 2.21.11 – Spring is here…for at least one more day.

Posted on February 21, 2011

Outer Banks - 2.21.11 - Feels Like Spring in KDH

Good afternoon. Here is the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Monday, February 21, 2011.

Most of this video was shot just south of the Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills at 8:30 AM, and then a small piece was shot in Kitty Hawk at lunch with my boy!

Please forgive my late posting of this video. I usually try to get the Report up first thing in the morning, but I was sidetracked today. Although, who can blame me; a 70 degree day in February and a surprise lunch at the beach with my little boy! Worth a delayed report any day of the week and twice on Sunday!

So, thanks for your understanding, but let’s get down to business. The amazing stretch of OBX weather continues…for at least one more day. Today is sunny and topping out around 70 degrees. There’s a stiff west wind at about 20 mph, but at 70 degrees no one is worried about any wind chill. It feels great, but it’s not sticking around…it is still February! We’ll see temps back to seasonable high 40′s starting tomorrow. But hopefully spring will return soon.

There is a small bump coming through today, but it’s probably only in the knee to waist high range, and the heavy west wind isn’t letting the surf break at all. We could have a pick up in swell tonight and hanging with us through Wednesday and possibly back again on Friday. But right now it doesn’t look like the wind will match up for good surf. But I’ll keep an eye on it.

The fishing is great. One of the best OBX winters in a while. The rock fish are still biting. A lot of reports our of Oregon Inlet of boats catching their limit. We had reports over the weekend from our friends at Rock Solid Fishing (www.RockSolidFishing.com), and their catches are consistently in the 30 – 50 pound range…some big stripers out there!

We are also getting reports of huge schools of blue fin tuna offshore, and there was a blue fin catch over the weekend that tipped the scales at over 300 pounds!

Catches out of the surf are still few and far between, but hopefully we’ll see some more soon.

Enjoy!

Outer Banks Art Shows – Art Tales 2011: A Year of Narrative Art Exhibitions

Posted on February 21, 2011

Outer Banks - Roanoke Island Festival Park Art Gallery - 2011 Schedul

2011 Art Tales: A Year of Narrative Art Exhibitions

February 27 – March 26: Priceless Pieces Quilt Show
April 1 – 21: Dare County High School Art Show
May 1 – 31: Mollie Fearing Memorial Art Show
June 3 – 28: Photojournalism of Chris Bickford

The shows and receptions are free and open to the public

Gallery Hours:

Monday – Friday 9 AM – 5 PM
Saturday 10 AM – 4 PM

www.RoanokeIsland.com

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 2.18.11 – Hello Spring. Nice to see you again.

Posted on February 18, 2011

Outer Banks - 2.18.11 - Hello Spring

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Friday, February 18, 2011.

This video was shot at the Lillian St. beach access in Kitty Hawk at 9:00 AM.

Awesome day! Spring fever is in full effect. Bright sun and temps could hit 70 degrees! About as good as it gets in February. This weather should stick with us the next couple days, so it seems like a great OBX weekend.

There’s a nice light wind out of the West/Southwest, but unfortunately, there’s only a trace swell coming through…probably in the knee high range. There could be a chance for surf on Sunday in the chest high range, but I’m not sure if the wind is going to match up. So no surf today, but it’s a perfect day for fishing!

Great OBX fishing still going on. A lot of reports of boats out of Oregon Inlet catching their limits of stripers, and these fish are in the 30 – 50 pound range. Big rock in the area! As you can see in the video, there are large groups of fish off in the distance, which generally indicates there’s a lot of fish in the area. Unfortunately, the fish are not close enough to shore for surf fishing, but hopefully that will change soon.

Enjoy!

Wild Oysters on the Road to Extinction?! At Least the Outer Banks Still Sees Some Abundance.

Posted on February 17, 2011

Outer Banks Oyster Roast

Are we on the brink of a wild oyster apocalypse?! Within one week, I have come across two articles discussing the possibility that wild oysters are approaching extinction. Say it aint so!

The simple pleasure of fresh oysters help us OBX’ers make it through the chilly winter months. Extinction should not be an option, but according to a new study, wild oysters are well on their way.

A team of researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz have examined 144 locations in 40 regions around the world where the wild oysters once thrived. The study found that overall conditions are poor for many species of wild oysters – so poor that the team deemed wild oysters to be functionally extinct, which means they no longer play a significant role in the ecosystem.

Functionally extinct?! No significant role in the ecosystem?! This is may seem trivial at first glance, but this is huge. Oysters are not only tasty, but they are also vital to healthy ecosystems…at least they used to be. Oysters filter impurities from the water, and this natural filtering system helps keep fish populations healthy and helps prevent coastal erosion. Pretty key elements of a coastal community.

Oysters are fast disappearing as 85 percent of the reefs that they inhabit have been destroyed by disease and over-harvesting, and the Gulf oil spill did huge damage to the oyster population in the Gulf region. The researchers recommend ratcheting up efforts in reef conservation, fisheries management and controlling the spread of non-native shellfish.

But. To end on a positive note, with some increased awareness and adjustments to regulations, it’s still possible to bring wild oysters back from the brink of extinction. And from the perspective of the Outer Banks, we are happy to report that oyster season was pretty decent this year. Good enough in fact to place a local restaurant, Awful Arthur’s Oyster Bar, on Eater.com’s list of top restaurants to enjoy the dwindling supply of wild oysters.

OBX Pic O’ the Day: Spring is in the Air, Clean Surf is in the Water.

Posted on February 17, 2011

Outer Banks - 2.17.11 - Feels Like Spring in Kitty Hawk

Spring is in the air. Sunny & 60′s. Light W wind. Paddleboarders out catching clean waist high surf. Rock fish biting. @ Lillian Ave Beach Access

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 2.16.11 – Pretty Day.

Posted on February 16, 2011

Outer Banks - 2.16.11 - Sun Up on the Sound

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks, Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Wednesday, February 16, 2011.

This video was shot at “Neaptide” in Kitty Hawk at 9:00 AM.

Beautiful day. The first image is a shot around sunrise over the sound. Almost no wind and the water was very glassy. I could see the reflection of the sky, clouds, sun, trees like a mirror on the water.

Not much changed once I got to the beach. Still very little wind, the sun is out, and temps are in the 50′s. Feels like spring, and more spring-like weather is headed our way. Thursday and Friday of this week will be in the upper 60′s, possibly hitting 70…not bad for the middle of February! C’mon spring!

A little swell coming through this morning. In the waist high range. If the wind picks up out of the West, it could clean up a fun wave for the afternoon.

Fishing is still going great. A lot of report of boats heading out of Orgeon Inlet catching their limit of rock fish. Unfortunately, still no great reports of catching any stripers from the surf…hopefully that will change soon.

I haven’t mentioned this in a while, but I want to remind everyone that the weekend of July 4th, Sunday July 5th to be specific, there will be an attempt to set two Guinness World Records on the OBX, both fishing records. 1. Most people surf fishing at one time and 2. biggest fishing tournament. Both seem very doable, especially on a busy holiday weekend. We’ll continue to update you, but you can also find the organizers behind this great idea by searching “Obx Fishing” on Facebook.

Enjoy!

Outer Banks Surf Update 2.15.11

Posted on February 15, 2011

Matt Lusk - Hurricane Earl Outer Banks Surf

We’ve hit the tail end of February. Spring is right around the corner…possibly early if you believe that furry prognosticator Phil. The birds are starting to chirp and the OBX weather is starting to warm up. I hear it could be 70 degrees by the end of the week?!

For any of the hardcore Outer Banks surf enthusiasts that brave the frigid elements to surf through the winter, keep on keep’n on (Ah hem, I’ll include myself in this category this year…every year is different depending on one’s motivational level.). For all of those fair weather fans, time to start dusting off the board…and your wetsuit…the water will still be chilly for a while. To help with your level of motivation, here’s a quick update on the OBX surf scene.

1. ESPN ran a great segment titled “Characters of the Outer Banks” that does an amazing job touching on all of the aspects of the Outer Banks surf world…professional riders, free riders, filmmakers, photographers, shapers, living legends. The OBX has them all, and ESPN offers a great gallery of pictures and overviews of the characters that add so much character to OBX surfing.

2. Last year (2010) a relatively unknown kid from the OBX stormed into Hawaii and nailed a perfect 10 at the Volcom Pipeline Pro. And Brett Barley’s star was born. Brett returned to Pipe this year, but he, and his board, didn’t fare so well. But at the end of the day, he’s surfing in Hawaii while the OBX has 39 degree water temps, so we can’t really feel bad for him. Below is a quick video of Brett’s highlights and his explanation of his demolished board.

3. Let’s stay on the topic of Mr. Barley. Matt Lusk (fab local surf photog…also covered in the Outer Banks Characters link above) just reported on his blog that he and Brett scored the cover of the magazine Local Sessions for the Feb/March issue. Congrats on another cover Matt, and a huge thumbs up to Brett for his fist cover! How could this be Brett’s first cover?! Brett, get in front of that lens dude. The issue also includes a “Behind the Lens” interview with Matt.

Matt Lusk, Bett Barley - Local Sessions

4. To round out the Outer Banks Surf Update, let’s see what local surf pro Jesse Hines is up to. Ah, a road trip. In the biggest sense of the term road trip…half way around the world to New Zeland. Surfer Magazine recently uploaded a video titled “Restless Road 2” that highlights a recent surf trip Jesse took with Mike Losness and Peter Devries. The website doesn’t offer much intro to the video, but I can tell you it offers a surfers view of some amazing landscape and even better waves. Well worth the watch. You can find the video here.

4A. But traveling around the world isn’t enough for Mr. Hines. Somehow Jesse also finds time for a fledgling music career. The Wave, a newspaper out of Delaware, recently caught up with Jesse while he was on the road promoting his new CD ”In the Right Time.” You can find Jesse music on his MySpace page.

OBX Pic O’ the Day: Sunny but Windy. Surf Tomorrow?

Posted on February 15, 2011

Outer Banks - 2.15.11 - Sunny at Hayman. Possible surf tomorrow.

Bright sun, blue skies, but a stiff North wind. Decent swell, but the wind isn’t helping. Could be fun surf tomorrow. Big stripers are biting. Temps approaching 70′s by the end of the week?! @ Hayman Beach Access

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 2.14.11 – Gorgeous OBX Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 14, 2011

Outer Banks - 2.14.10 - Gorgeous Valentine's Day at Kitty Hawk Pier

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Monday, February 14, 2011.

This video was shot on the Kitty Hawk Pier at 9:00 AM.

Happy Valentine’s Day. Gorgeous start to the week. Bright sun, blue skies and temps reaching the low 60′s by the end of the day. The wind is a bit heavy out of the W, but it’s starting to feel like spring.

This great weather has been with us since the dusting of snow we got last week (i.e. an OBX blizzard:)). Once the sun came out and melted the snow, the temps began to rise and other than a short stint of rain on Friday night, it’s been sunny with temps in the 50′s and a light west wind. A beautiful OBX weekend, and the great weather should stick with us throughout the week…sunny and temps in the 50′s.

The light wind over the weekend was great for the little surf we had. The surf was only in the waist high range (maybe some chest high sets), but the west wind cleaned it up very nicely making a fun wave on Saturday.

Unfortunately no surf today, but there could be an pickup in swell tomorrow, but not sure if the wind will match up. The swell will then die down for most of the week, but we’ll continue to have a west wind, so there could be a good a chance for some clean, fun (albeit small) surf during the week. I’ll keep an eye on it.

The great weather was perfect for fishing over the weekend as well. We have a lot of reports of boats out of Oregon Inlet catching their limit of stripers, and these rock fish are monsters….40 – 50 pound range consistently. The reports from our friends at Rock Solid Fishing (www.RockSolidFishing.com) are that almost all of their catches have been over the 40 pound mark in the past few days. Unfortunately, still not many reports of catching out of the surf, but clearly there are some great fish in the area.

Enjoy!