Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report: 1.24.12 – 60′s & Pretty Surf

Posted on January 24, 2012

Outer Banks: 1.24.12 - 60's & Pretty Surf in Kitty Hawk

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks, Beach, Surf & Fishing Report for Tuesday, January 24, 2012.

This video was shot at the Lillian St. beach access in Kitty Hawk at 8:45 AM.

Two days in a row of warm temps, fog, and surf. A little rain and fog to start today, but the sun should fight it’s way out. 60 degree temps and surf have carried over from yesterday with a light offshore breeze put of the southwest.

Temps will dip to the upper 40′s tomorrow but jump back to 60 to close out the week.

We had head high waves in the area yesterday. That swell will fade to waist high through today, the light offshore breeze is cleaning up the waves nicely. The tide is a bit heigh this morning, but late morning should see some fun surf.

The wind will switch a bit north this afternoon so there could be a bit of chop later today, but today could be the best surf this week. Hit it.

OBX fishing is slow. Still waiting on that striper bite. In the meantime, we’re getting good reports of blue fin tuna offshore.

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!

OBX Moment of Zen: 1.23.12 – Warm, Foggy, & Surf

Posted on January 23, 2012

Outer Banks: 1.23.11 - Foggy in Kitty Hawk

Good morning. Here’s your OBX Moment of Zen for Monday, January 23, 2012.

This video was shot at the Lillian St. beach access in Kitty Hawk at 8:30 AM.

Foggy start, but the sun is fighting its way out. Mild temps in the 60′s. Mild week ahead with temps 50-60, some spots of rain, but mostly sunny.

Big swell in the area today. Still a bit messy this morning, the light southwest wind should clean up the surf throughout the morning. Chest + surf today, and as the swell fades, waist + surf tomorrow.

OBX fishing is slow. Still waiting on the striper bite. The good news is we are still getting reports of big blue fin tuna offshore from the boats out of Oregon Inlet.

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report: 1.12.12 – Sun, 60, & Surf

Posted on January 12, 2012

Outer Banks: 1.12.12 - Great Winter Day in Kitty Hawk

Good morning. Here’s your Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Thursday, January 12, 2012.

This video was shot at the Lillian St. beach access in Kitty Hawk at 8:45 AM.

Beautiful winter day. Sun, 60 degrees, and fun surf. The offshore wind out of the southwest is a bit strong at 10 – 15 mph, but overall it is a gorgeous day.

Unfortunately, temps are going dip down heading into the weekend. The sun will stick around, but temps at 60 today will drop to 45 tomorrow and through the weekend.

The surf is fun today. Clean waist high sets coming through. The southwest wind is a bit strong, but a fun day to be out there. Surf should be the same tomorrow, but the drop in air temp will take some of the fun away.

Unfortunately, OBX fishing is slow. Still waiting on a good striper bite. The good news is that boats out of Oregon Inlet have been hooking up with some decent tuna over the past few days.

By the way, now is a great time to start thinking about your summer vacation. You can find out more at www.OuterBanksVacations.com.

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!

OBX Moment of Zen: 1.4.12 – Winter Chill

Posted on January 4, 2012

Outer Banks: 1.4.12 - Winter Chill in Kill Devil Hills

Good morning. Here’s your OBX Moment of Zen for Wednesday, January 4, 2011.

This video was shot at the Hayman St. beach access in Kill Devil Hills at 8:30 AM.

The winter chill is sticking around again today. Pretty day with bright sun and blue skies, but the temps are in the high 30′s. The good news is mild temps will be back tomorrow. Temps will get back to 50 tomorrow and be up around 60 for the weekend.

There is a northwest wind to start today, but the wind should clock around to the southwest around noon. The wind switch should clean up the surf pretty well for the afternoon with chest high sets fading as the day comes to an end.

Outer Banks fishing is still slow, but word is the stripers are headed this way.

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report: 12.15.11 – Amazing December Day & Great Surf

Posted on December 15, 2011

Outer Banks: 12.15.11 - Perfect OBX December Surf Day

Note: Sorry about the lack of audio. Not sure what happened there. But if you forward to about the 1:50 mark, you can get a look at the beach and waves. Enjoy!

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Thursday, December 15, 2011.

This video was shot at the Nags Head Pier at 10 AM.

Amazing December day! Sun and temps at 65 degrees. Temps will dip back to 50′s looking ahead, but looks like great OBX weather all the way through Christmas.

Big news for the day is the surf. Perfect weather, a light southwest breeze, and clean chest high surf. Hit it if your on the OBX. Tomorrow looks like more of the same, but the wind will be stronger and the swell will fade through the day. Water temps at 52 degrees.

OBX fishing is slow, but stripers are on the way; so we should have a great striper bite soon.

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report: 12.13.11 – Bright Sun & Chilly Wind

Posted on December 13, 2011

Outer Banks: 12.13.11 - Bright Sun & Chilly Wind

Good morning. Here’s your Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Tuesday, December 13, 2011.

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

December is moving quickly. A little less than two weeks until Christmas (my math was off in the video)!

Pretty day with bright sun, blue skies, temps in the 50′s, but a stiff northeast wind is adding a chill to the day. Temps will warm up to the 60′s over the next couple days, and the sun will stick with us through the week.

Unfortunately, no surf to report today. There is chest high swell, but this northeast wind is knocking it down. The good news is that Thursday and Friday look decent. The swell will stick with us, the wind should switch to the southwest. Thursday looks like chest high surf with a southwest wind at 5-10 mph. The swell will drop and the wind will pick up a bit for Friday, but it still looks like it could be a decent day for OBX surf. Water temps at 55 degrees so you’ll need a 5/4 wetsuit.

OBX fishing is slow. Wind is stiff and water temps are cooling. The good news is that stripers are showing up. Two 40 pounders caught at the Oregon Inlet bridge two weekends ago, and a 30 pounder caught in Mann’s Harbor this past weekend.

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report: 11.29.11 – Quiet & peaceful at the beach…

Posted on November 29, 2011

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.

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report: 11.21.11 – Great Thanksgiving week…

Posted on November 21, 2011

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!

Hope to see you soon. Have fun!

OBX Pic O’ the Day: Ocean is Raging…Battle of the Banks on Thursday?!

Posted on November 1, 2011

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:

Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report: 10.27.11 – Perfect OBX fall day!

Posted on October 27, 2011

Outer Banks: 10.27.11 - Perfect fall day in Kill Devil Hills

Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Thursday, October 27, 2011.

This video was shot just south of the Avalon Pier at the 5th St. beach access in Kill Devil Hills.

Before I dive into the report, I want to send out a quick happy birthday to my parents. Oddly enough, they share the same birthday. Happy birthday Moms and Pops!

And back to the report…wow, it’s a nice day! Pretty much a perfect OBX fall day. Bright sun, blue skies, temps reaching the upper 70′s, light offshore breeze out of the southwest, and the water temps are still real warm…67 degrees at Avalon Pier this morning.

The only missing ingredient today is surf. Unfortunately not much surf to report. The offshore wind is keeping the swell clean, but the waves are only in the ankle to knee high range. If you can find the right spot, it’s a great to be outside enjoying a longboard wave, but it’s pretty small.

The swell is going to jump the next couple days though. Unfortunately, the wind is going to switch too. We have a cold front moving into the area tomorrow, and temps are going to dip to the low 60′s, maybe some showers, and the swell is going to jump to head high + through the weekend and into next week. Unfortunately, the wind is going to be pretty stiff out of the north and northeast, so the good swell won’t have a chance to turn into great surf. Fingers crossed something changes.

OBX fishing is going great. Offshore is catching their fill of black fin and yellow fin tuna. The piers, bridges and surf are very active with a wide variety of fish – spot, sea mullet, blue fish, some flounder, speckled trout, gray trout, black drum, some puppy drum starting to show up, it’s striper season, sheepshead.

Great time to be on the OBX. Hope to see you soon. Have fun!