Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 4.7.11 – Perfect Spring Day

Posted on April 7, 2011

Outer Banks - 4.7.11 - Perfect Spring Day

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Thursday, April 7, 2011.

This video was shot at the Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills at 9:00 AM.

It’s great to be back on the Outer Banks, and thanks to Brittany for doing a great job filling in for me with the reports while I was gone. I was in Hilton Head, SC for a vacation rental conference, and I can say Hilton Head is a nice beach, but it is no Outer Banks!

Perfect spring day today. Bright sun, blue skies, and temps around 70 degrees. This weather should stick with us for through the weekend with temps in the mid 60′s and sun.

We have a nice offshore wind heading out of the southwest at about 10 mph. Perfect wind to clean up the surf, but unfortunately, there’s only a trace swell coming through today…about ankle high. The good news is that the swell should build over the next couple days, and it looks like the wind will match up late Saturday and early Sunday for some clean chest high surf. It looks like Sunday morning may be the best bet, but I’ll keep an eye on it.

OBX fishing is going strong and picking up steam. It’s been a bit slow for the past couple days, but the variety of reports is increasing. We are still getting reports of blue fin tuna catches offshore, with some yellow fin mixed in as well. Puppy drum catches have been reported in the Sound, a flounder catch at the Little Bridge heading to Manteo, a rock caught in the Sound, and now that the piers are open again, we got a report of a croaker and a sea mullet caught at Avalon Pier. Nothing consistent and only one fish at a time, but it is a sign of what’s to come. As the water continues to warm, the fishing will continue to increase.

Enjoy!

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 3.16.11 – Thunderstorms, but warm…and getting warmer.

Posted on March 16, 2011

Outer Banks - 3.16.11 - Thunderstorms in Kitty Hawk

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

This video was shot in Kitty Hawk at “Lucky Tides” at 8:30 AM

We have some wet weather to start today. Thunderstorms are in the area to start the day, but the storms should move off by early afternoon, and the sun should return soon. Temps are in the upper 60′s today, and getting warmer as we approach the weekend. The sun and warm temps will be with us through the weekend.

Not much going on for surf today. It was better than expected when I got to the beach, but still only waist high or so….looks fun though. There is some swell in the water, and almost no wind this morning, so there’ s small window of opportunity for some small surf.

As for OBX fishing, the big news is still the NC state record blue fin tuna that was hauled into Oregon Inlet over the weekend. 805 pounds! Huge. It shows the quality of fish that are in the area now. We are getting a lot of reports of big schools of blue fin tuna offshore and a few schools of yellow fin here and there. We are also starting to get reports of puppy drum being caught out of the surf in Ocracoke. Rock is might be over, but OBX fishing is still going strong!

Enjoy.

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 3.14.11 – Spring Forward, Surf, & an 800 LB Tuna!

Posted on March 14, 2011

NC State Record Blue Fin Tuna - 805 Pounds

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

This video was shot at the Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills at 9:00 AM.

It was a very exciting weekend on the Outer Banks. First of all, we are soooo close to spring. It was daylight savings time this weekend, and now that we have sprung forward, night isn’t falling on the OBX until almost 7:30! We have reached the middle of March, and the official first day of spring is less than one week away! Such a great time of year.

And this weekend definitely felt like spring. We had bright sun and temps in the upper 60 – lower 70′s all weekend with a light wind out of the west. The west wind was perfect for cleaning up the head high swell we had in the water all weekend. Clean head high surf with glassy conditions for most of the weekend. Perfect start to the spring surf season.

Unfortunately, the weather has shifted a bit, and we’re off to a chilly, overcast start to the week, but the sun and warm weather will return tomorrow and stick with us for most of the week and into next weekend.

In addition to a great surf weekend, it was also a record setting OBX fishing weekend! The rock fish have headed back north, but OBX fishing is heating up. We got our first report from Ocracoke of a puppy drum catch, so the fish are on the move, and the Osprey are showing up, so that’s a good sign that the Sound fishing will start to take off soon.

But the big (nay, giant) news from the weekend is the record setting blue fin tuna that was hauled into Oregon Inlet on Saturday. The Charter boat Sea Breeze out of Oregon Inlet skippered by Capt. Ned Ashby and angler Corey Schultz hooked and landed a 805 lbs 8 oz. blue fin tuna that could be the new North Carolina State Record. The catch beats the current state record of 744 pounds set in 1995.

A very exciting weekend all around.

Enjoy!

Outer Banks Surf - 3.12.11

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 3.10.11 – Rain today. Surf tomorrow!

Posted on March 10, 2011

Outer Banks - 3.10.11 - Rain today. Surf tomorrow!

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Thursday, March 10, 2011.

This video was shot just north of the Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills at 8:30 AM.

Signs of spring are starting to pop up. Flowers are starting to bloom, and Billy’s Seafood in Colington is open for the season! Come on spring!

We have a rainy day today, but it’s warm (in the 60′s), and there’s a great reward on the other side of the wet weather. Clean, head high surf tomorrow through Saturday, possibly carrying over to Sunday.

The rain will move off tonight, and sunny weather with temps in the upper 50′s will be with us through the weekend. There’s a stiff wind blowing out of the south at 20+ mph today, but the wind is going to swing west tomorrow and lay back to 10 – 15 mph. The west wind is going to clean up the head high swell that has been in the area all week, and we will have clean surf to enjoy tomorrow. The head high surf will taper off to chest high on Saturday, but the clean surf should be with us all of Saturday, and could carry over to Sunday as well.

A few great days of OBX surf on the way! Break out the wetsuit and wax up the board. We’ll have a reason to get in the water soon.

Outer Banks Surf Forecast - 3.10.11

Unfortunately, not much news on the OBX fishing front. We haven’t gotten a fishing report in almost a week. Seems the rock fish are officially gone, but it was one heck of an Outer Banks rock fish season. Now on to blue fin tuna. We’ve had great reports and some big catches of blue fin recently, but this week has been slow. Hopefully the reports, and catches, pick up again soon.

Enjoy!

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 3.7.11 – More sun on the way…

Posted on March 7, 2011

Outer Banks - 3.7.11 - Here Comes the Sun

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Monday, March, 7, 2011.

This video was shot just north of the Avalon Pier at the Hayman St. beach access in Kill Devil Hills at 8:30 AM.

We’re coming off a beautiful weekend with temps in the 60′s, but the temps dipped a bit last night, and we’re starting the week off a bit chilly with overcast skies. Temps will be in the low 50′s today, and the sun will peek out any minute now. The sun will be with us all week, and the temps will warm throughout the week towards the 60′s for next weekend.

We have some swell in the water, but the surf is messy today due to a north wind at 10 – 15 mph. The swell will be with us all week in the chest high range, and it looks like the surf should clean up on Thursday and/or Friday…maybe even into Saturday.

A mix of good news/bad news for the OBX fishing. It seems like the rock fish season may be drawing to a close. The last reports we’ve gotten are from last Thursday and Friday, and the boats had to run all the way to Corolla to find the stripers. Seems like the rock are back in VA at this point. However, the bright side is that blue fin tuna fishing is starting to heat up off shore. There have been a lot of reports of large schools of blue fin, and some big catches tipping the scales at over 200 – 300 pounds.

Enjoy!

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 3.4.11 – Pretty day. More on the way.

Posted on March 4, 2011

Outer Banks - 3.4.11 - Pretty Day, Stiff Wind

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Friday, March 4, 2011.

This video was shot in Kill Devil Hills, south of the Avalon Pier at 8:30 AM.

March weather has been quite a roller coaster so far. Luckily today is shaping up nicely. Bright sun with temps in the 50′s. There is a stiff wind at 15 mph off the ocean, but it should slow as the day goes on, and this nice weather will be with us for the weekend with sun and temps in the 60′s.

No surf today. The ocean is active from the east wind, but nothing rideable. Based on the forecast, it doesn’t look like we’ll have surf until later next week, but the surf changes quickly, so we’ll keep an eye on it.

The OBX fishing is still going strong. Our friends at Rock Solid Fishing (www.RockSolidFishing.com) reported that yesterday they were catching stripers all day. However, they need to run quite a bit to catch up with the fish. We are nearing the end of striper season, and the fish have started to head north. Still plenty in the area, but the boats need to cover quite a distance to get to them. The Rock Solid reported that they ran 50 miles back to the dock at the end of the day, but it was great fishing with catches up to 50 pounds.

Rock season might be on the way out, but we have blue fin tuna to replace it. We are getting a lot of reports of big schools of blue fin tuna off shore. There have been a bunch of small catches and two large catches out of Oregon Inlet that tipped the scales at 200 and 300 pounds!

Great weekend to be on the Outer Banks!

Enjoy.

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 3.2.11 – Happy March. Sun & Waves

Posted on March 2, 2011

Outer Banks - 3.2.11 - Happy March. Sun & Waves

Good afternoon. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Wednesday, March 2, 2011.

The first part of the video was shot at the Lillian St. beach access in Kitty Hawk at 9:00 AM, and then a quick surf update was shot at Lillian St. at 1 PM.

March feels good today. It was chilly with heavy winds to start March yesterday, but today the sun is out, the temps are in the upper 50′s and the wind has died down a lot. This weather will stick with us for the rest of the week; bright sun, blue skies, and temps working towards the 60′s for the weekend.

Yesterday’s weather built some decent swell, and with the change in wind today, the OBX surf is looking good. Started off a bit disorganized in the morning, but the wind clocked around to the west a bit more, and this afternoon offers some great chest high, clean sets. There were about 30 people in the water when I went for the afternoon surf update.

Still great OBX fishing going on. I got a report from a boat out of Oregon Inlet that caught 97 stripers on February 27th…97! That’s an amazing day. But the same report also mentioned that the rock fish are starting to run north towards VA, so we’re reaching the end of the season. If you want to get some OBX striper fishing in, you should probably head down soon.

Some great tuna fishing is starting up as well. We are getting a lot of reports of huge schools of blue fin offshore, and some reports of yellow fin in the area. There have been a bunch of smaller catches, and a couple catches at Oregon Inlet that have tipped the scales over 200 & 300 pounds!

Spring is almost here. Come on down!

Enjoy.

OBX Pic O’ the Day: In Like a Lion

Posted on March 1, 2011

Outer Banks - 3.1.11 - In Like a Lion at the Avalon Pier

March is coming in like a lion. Cool temps have returned and the wind is blowing out of the North/Northeast at 25 mph. The ocean is very active, and swell is building. The wind will shift to the west tomorrow and die down. Nice offshore wind and swell! Clean, chest high surf tomorrow?! Rock fish & blue fin tuna biting.

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 2.28.11 – Adios February

Posted on February 28, 2011

Outer Banks - 2.28.11 - Adios February

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Monday, February 28, 2011.

This video was shot on the Kitty Hawk Pier at 8:30 AM.

Last day a February! We’re inching closer to spring, and it feels like it today….topping out at the 70 degree mark. Overcast skies and a stiff wind out of the southwest, but it still feels like spring.

The nice weather will stick with us for the week, although the temps will be more seasonable. Temps drop back to the 50′s tomorrow, and will climb back to the 60′s by the weekend. Sun should be out all week.

No swell today, so no surf, but the swell is building tonight and tomorrow to the head high range. Unfortunately, the wind will be blowing out of the north at about 20 mph tomorrow, so no surf likely. However, the good news is the wind will swing around to the west and die back on Wednesday. So, we should have a nice light offshore wind to clean up the chest high waves all day Wednesday. Wednesday looks to be the day for surf this week…hopefully it extends to Thursday…we’ll see.

Great OBX fishing still going on. The rock fish are still in the area, and now blue fin and some yellow fin tuna have joined the fish frenzy. A lot of boats were out of Oregon Inlet over the weekend, and I got a report yesterday at 11 AM, and boats had already returned with their limit of stripers. In addition, there was already a blue fin tuna catch by 11 AM! Some of the reports are now saying they are starting to see yellow fin tuna in the area as well. Still very few reports of any catches out of the surf.

Enjoy!

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report – 2.25.11 – Warm but windy.

Posted on February 25, 2011

Outer Banks - 2.25.11 - Warm but windy in KDH

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Friday, February 25, 2011.

This video was shot at the Sutton St. beach access in Kill Devil Hills at 9:00 AM.

The warm weather has returned, but it brought overcast skies and stiff winds with it. Temps will be in the upper 60′s today, but the sun is hiding behind the clouds, and there is a stiff wind out of the southwest at 25 – 30 mph. The sun should find it’s way out this afternoon, and the warmer weather and sun will stick with us through the weekend and into next week.

There is some waist high swell in the area, and it was surprising clean this morning. If the wind lets off a bit and adjusts to the west, there could be some decent surf this afternoon. The swell will die down tomorrow, and it should be pretty flat to start next week.

OBX fishing is still going well. Still getting reports of boats out of Oregon Inlet catching rock fish. Our friends at Rock Solid Fishing (www.RockSolidFishing.com) are reporting catches in the 30-50 pound range. Good sized rock fish still out there, but we are also starting to hear captains mention that the season could be winding down. This week has been a bit hit or miss with some days being great and others tough to find the fish. If you still want to get in on the rock fish action, you should probably do so in the near future.

We also have some good reports of tuna in the area. Getting reports of large schools of blue fin tuna offshore, and last weekend there was a catch over 300 pounds.

Enjoy!