I hope you’re well on your way to tackling the holiday “to do” list, but I want to give you a good reason for a quick break from the hustle and bustle of the holiday planning onslaught.
Each and everyday I try to make time to get to the beach to snap a photo and give a quick beach report. I share these on a variety of websites, and one of these fabulous websites – Flickr – gives me the ability to create nifty slideshows.
What a great way to share some Outer Banks pictures, right? Bingo! Let’s do just that. Let’s share some OBX pictures from the past month. I’m going to do this every month (so be sure to check back…or better yet, sign up by email in the top right ), and I’ve coined the fantastic title of this new series, “Outer Banks Behind the Lens.”
I’m a few days late, but let’s kick it off with all the great images from November 2011. So sit back, kick up those tired feet and enjoy a one minute OBX vacation.
Love the idea? Want to see OBX pictures of something in particular? Just want to say hi? Let me know in the comments section. We love to hear from you.
Outer Banks: 11.29.11 - Peace & Quiet at Lillian St.
Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Tuesday, November 11, 2011.
This video was shot at the Lillian St. beach access in Kitty Hawk at 9:00 AM.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. The OBX enjoyed some awesome weather during the holiday and through the weekend. Sun and upper 60′s. Luckily, that weather is sticking around today. There are some clouds in the area, so it will be a mix of sun and clouds, but temps are mild in the mid 60′s.
Pretty great talking about upper 60′s at the end of November!
The rest of the week looks nice. Temps will dip a bit to the mid 50′s, but we’ll have lots of sun all the way through the weekend.
We do have a relatively strong offshore wind today adding a bit of a chill, but still mild; about 10-15 mph out of the southwest. The good news is the wind is cleaning up the waist to chest swell we have in the area, so the surf is looking decent today. The wind is a bit strong and blowing the tops of the waves off, but worth getting wet for a few fun waves. And the water temp is still pretty mild; 58 degrees at Avalon Pier this morning.
Speaking of the piers, some of the piers have closed down for the season. Avalon Pier, Nags Head Pier, and the Outer Banks Pier closed down Sunday for the season. The Kitty Hawk Pier will remain open through January, and Jennette’s Pier is open as well…I think Jennette’s may stay open year-round.
The piers may be closing, but the fish are still biting. Offshore they are catching yellow fin tuna and some wahoo. There are some striper, puppy drum, and red drum in the area, but the big news is the speckled trout. Lots of great catches and keepers around, especially north of Kitty Hawk Pier.
Outer Banks: 11.28.11 - Amazing Bird Migration at Avalon Pier
I strolled up to the beach this morning for my daily picture/beach report, and I was wow’ed by a pretty cool sight. Hundreds (maybe 1000+?) of birds moving around Avalon Pier and heading south. Very cool.
This is some conjecture, but I think they were ducks (with some pelicans and sea gulls mixed in), and it seemed like they were migrating south. They were bouncing from the water to the air, but they weren’t taking the time to fish, so migration seems to make the most sense. Regardless of the reason, it was awesome to watch nature doing its thing.
Hope you had a great Turkey Day. The weather was perfect on the OBX, and that great weather is continuing today. Sun and 60′s. Unfortunately no surf, but we could see some nice waves tomorrow. Piers are closing down for the season, but the fish are still biting.
Were you on the OBX for Thanksgiving? How did you spend your time when you weren’t gobbling down a delicious Turkey Day feast? We’d love to know. Please share in the comment section below.
Outer Banks: 11.21.11 - Nice Fall Weather in Kitty Hawk
Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Monday, November 21, 2011.
This video was shot the Lillian St. beach access in Kitty Hawk at 9:00 AM.
The gorgeous weather from the weekend is carrying into today and the rest of the week. Great time to be at the beach enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday. A little overcast to start today, but the sun is fighting its way out. Temps in the mid 60′s with an offshore breeze out of the southwest at 10 mph. Sun and 60′s for most of this week, and a gorgeous Thanksgiving Day on Thursday (maybe a bit windy).
The offshore breeze is cleaning up the waves. The surf is small, in the knee to waist range, but it’s real clean with this southwest wind. The swell will pick up a bit through the week; should be in the chest range by Thursday. But it looks like today will be the only day with the offshore wind.
OBX fishing is going well. Offshore the boats are hauling in yellow fin tuna, dolphin, and white marlin. The big story is the speckled trout. A lot of specks in the area with a bunch of keepers being hauled in at all of the piers and out of the surf. I also saw a report from our friends at www.RockSolidFishing.com that they hauled in a big rock fish near shore this morning. Some good fall fishing happening on the Outer Banks!
Outer Banks: 11.10.11 - Great Trout Fishing at Kitty Hawk Pier
Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Thursday, November 10, 2011.
This video was shot at the Kitty Hawk Pier at 9:00 AM.
Before I get into the report today, I’d like to wish all of the Marines a happy birthday. Today is the United States Marine Corps birthday, so Semper Fi to y’all!
We have a great fall day to celebrate. Sun, 60′s, light north wind at 5-10 mph, and water temps at 60 degrees. This weather will stick with us for the next few days.
The wildcard will be the wind. The wind should pick up to about 20 mph tomorrow, but it will slow down again for the weekend. The weekend weather looks great with sun and 60′s. Sunday’s weather for the Outer Banks Marathon looks fantastic; sun, 65 degrees, and a southwest wind at about 10 mph. Great day for running!
We have some big swell in the area, but the wind isn’t matching up. Although, today the wind is light enough where you could find some decent head high sections that are relatively clean. Tomorrow should be a mess with 20 mph winds out of the north and swell in the 6-9 foot range with a big storm moving north through the Atlantic.
The surf will clean up this weekend when the wind switches to the southwest, but the swell is going to fade at the same time. Seems like we should see waves in the keen to waist range for the weekend. Small, but clean and great weather. Could be worth getting in the water.
The big story over the past couple days is the OBX fishing. Trout fishing is going off on the piers and in the surf! There are some good striper catches in the Sound, and offshore they are pulling in yellow fin tuna.
Outer Banks: 11.8.11 - Gorgeous Day & Great Fishing at Kitty Hawk Pier
Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Tuesday, November 8, 2011.
This video was shot at the Kitty Hawk Pier at 9:00 AM.
Another gorgeous fall OBX day. Bright sun, blue skies, temps in the 60′s, and the wind has finally slowed down. We’ve had a stiff north wind with us for a few days. Over the weekend, the gusts were up to about 30 mph, so it’s a nice change of pace to have the wind slow down to about 5 – 10 mph today. We’ll see this weather for the rest of the week.
Unfortunately, this wind has not been helping the Outer Banks surf. We’ve had some big swell hanging around for about week, but this north wind is making the surf a mess. The swell is about head high today, and it will be with us for most of the week, but so will the north wind. The wind will swing around to the southwest towards the end of the week, but the swell will be fading at the same time.
There’s a good chance the weekend could see some clean surf, but it will fade to the knee to waist range by then. The good news is the water is still pretty warm. It is 60 degrees at the Avalon Pier this morning.
The heavy winds have slowed fishing down quite a bit over the last week, but things are looking up now that the wind has slowed down. There was a lot of activity while I was at the Kitty Hawk Pier this morning. I saw about 10 keeper trout in the 20 minutes I was there!
Stripers, speckled trout, grey trout, some puppy drum. Still a whole bunch of fish in the area. Always a great time to be at the beach!
Outer Banks: 11.2.11 - Pretty but windy in Kill Devil Hills
Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Wednesday, November 2, 2011.
This video was shot at the Hayman St. beach access in Kill Devil Hills at 8:30 AM.
Happy November! Hope you had a great Halloween. Can you believe it’s already November?! Time to start thinking about Thanksgiving…and then Christmas! Wow, time flies.
Since we’re on the subject of holidays, I’ll take a quick detour from the report. Have you ever been to the Outer Banks for the holidays? The OBX is a perfect spot to enjoy Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. The weather is mild, and the beaches are empty. It’s such a peaceful place to reconnect with the fam. And there are some gorgeous vacation rental homes at great prices (www.OuterBanksVacations.com).
Thanks for humoring my digression. On to the report! It sure is a pretty OBX fall day. Bright sun, blue skies, temps in the mid 60′s, and other than a chance of a shower or two on Friday, this weather will be with us for the foreseeable future; sun, 60′s and water temps in the 60′s.
We do have a pretty stiff wind with us today; about 10-15 mph out of the northeast. A low pressure system has been hanging out with us for a few days, and this north wind has been pretty consistent for a few days now.
This weather system has sent some big swell to the OBX, but the wind hasn’t cooperated to clean up the surf. We have swell in the head high+ range today. The good news is the wind should back off a bit tomorrow. It’s tough to get a clear idea of what the wind is going to do, but it looks like the wind will slow down considerably and possibly swing offshore tomorrow. At this point, it looks like we could have some clean surf tomorrow afternoon and possibly Friday morning, but the wind will be the deciding factor. Fingers crossed.
In the video I mentioned that the Battle of the Banks could happen tomorrow, but since shooting the video, the Battle has decided to wait. The wind is too much of an unknown, so they are going to continue to wait for the biggest, baddest day they can get over the next month or so.
This wind is slowed the fishing down as well. The piers have been pretty empty the past few days. We still have a bunch of fish in the area, but they aren’t biting right now – blue fish, sea mullet, black drum, speckled trout.
Outer Banks: 11.1.11 - Ocean Raging at Avalon Pier
Happy November! Hope you had a great Halloween. The Mrs. and I took the kiddos on an awesome hay ride to trick or treat around Kitty Hawk. So fun!
But where does the time go?! Can you believe it’s already time to think about Thanksgiving?! (side note: Have you ever been to the Outer Banks during the holiday season? Awesome time to be here. And we have some great deals on gorgeous houses!)
On to the business of the day: It’s overcast & windy to start today, but the sun is fighting its way out. We have a low pressure system hanging out with us for a few days, and it’s bringing cool temps and some wind…and some raging seas! Temps are in the 60′s today with a stiff northeast wind.
The low pressure system and the stiff wind is pushing in some big swell. The ocean is raging today.
The cooler temps and heavy wind are slowing down the fishing…Avalon Pier is empty this morning! But the bright side of this funky weather is that we have swell in the head high range.
There’s no surf out there today, but the forecast looks like it could be shaping up for fantastic surf on Thursday. The swell is going to stay in the head high range through the rest of the week, and it looks like the wind could drop significantly, and switch offshore, Thursday leaving head high clean surf for the taking. Fingers crossed that the conditions will line up.
The OBX surf forecast is looking awesome for Thursday, and possibly Friday! Here’s the Outer Banks surf forecast from SwellInfo.com:
Outer Banks Surf Forecast - 11.1.11
If surf conditions stay on this path, the word is that the Battle of the Banks could run on Thursday. The Battle is one of the best surf contests on the Outer Banks, if not the entire East Coast. A team from Outer Banks vs. a team from Virginia Beach hunting for the biggest, baddest surf and deepest barrels they can find with the motivation of bragging rights on the line. The last few years have been nothing short of amazing. I’ll be sure to get out there for some video again this year. Here’s the highlight reel from the 2010 Battle of the Banks:
Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Monday, November 29, 2010.
This video was shot just south of the Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills at about 9:00AM.
Great start to the week. Bright sun, not a cloud in the sky, temps in the upper 50′s, and a light east wind. The wind is pretty much straight off the ocean onshore. Very refreshing wind sending the sweet smell of salt air to the beach.
Tomorrow and Wednesday should be in the upper 60′s, maybe even hitting 70 degrees to start the month of December.
Today is probably the best bet for fishing for the next few days. The light wind is cleaning up the water nicely. The winds will pick up tomorrow, and as the water gets choppy and the dirt moves around, the fishing tends to slow down.
There are trout, stripers, and few drum. We’re still waiting for the big drum and rock fish to show up. The off shore fishing is doing well with tuna.
Unfortunately, there is no surf today. The forecast is calling for swell in the range of 5 – 6 feet towards the end of the week, and the winds should switch to the south/southwest at the same time. Hopefully we’ll see decent surf Thursday and/or Friday.
), and I’ve coined the fantastic title of this new series, “Outer Banks Behind the Lens.”
