Outer Banks: 2.23.12 - Gorgeous Day at Jennette's Pier
Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Thursday, February 23, 2012.
This video was shot at Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head at 9:15 AM.
Perfect OBX weather. Feels like spring. Warm sun, blue skies, light offshore breeze out of the southwest at 5-10 mph, and temps in the upper 60′s. Doesn’t get much better than this.
This weather will stick around for tomorrow, and then the temps will dip to the 50′s for the weekend, and the sun will stay with us.
There’s a pretty little longboard wave out there today. Knee high for the most part with some sets hitting the waist. The longboard wave should stick with us tomorrow too.
OBX fishing is slow. Dog fish and skate at Jennette’s Pier and tuna offshore.
Late last week I posted a slideshow of some wave “magic” captured by one of my favorite blog subjects, Jordan, and today Jordan is back with another awesome glimpse of the Toys from God.
Enjoy some Everyday Magic from the OBX. Jordan titles this one “Here Come the Horses” – seems fitting…that wave is charging hard!
Good morning. Here’s your Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Thursday, February 9, 2012.
This video was shot at the Sutton St. beach access in Kill Devil Hills at 8:30 AM.
Pretty day with bright sun, blue skies, and temps in the 50′s, but there is a chilly wind out of the northwest at 10-15 mph. Temps will cool to the 40′s over the weekend, but the sun will stick around. Temps will be back to the 50′s early next week.
Surf is a mess today from the NW wind, but we could see a longboard wave tomorrow. The wind will switch offshore tonight and be real light out of the southwest tomorrow morning. There could be a clean knee to waist wave to start the day tomorrow, and that wave will fade through the day.
OBX fishing is slow. Dog fish and skate at Jennette’s Pier and tuna offshore. Other than that, it’s quiet on the fishing front.
Here are all of the Outer Banks stories that I couldn’t cover this. Let’s jump right into the fire with one of the most controversial topics the OBX has dealt with.
Outer Banks Beach Driving Restrictions
This has been years in the making, but it seems the hammer has finally been dropped. Permits are now required for Hatteras beach driving. And as the icing on the cake of disappointment, drivers will also be required to take a short “educational program.” Yikes! I love nature and birds as much as the next guy, but I’m not a fan of snatching our freedom and adding bureaucracy to our lives. Oh well. Life rolls on. But make sure you get your permit before you hit the beach on Hatteras. Fines are no fun.
Oregon Inlet Debate
While we’re on the subject of a sticky situation, let’s discuss the debate surrounding Oregon Inlet. Over the past few months, we’ve shared posts discussing the fact that Mother Nature is gradually – or not so gradually – closing the channel at Oregon Inlet. Oregon Inlet is crucial to the Outer Banks. It is a necessity to get boats out of the Sound and into the open ocean. Without Oregon Inlet, the OBX fishing industry – commercial and recreational – would change drastically. Question/debate is who pays to keep it open. Thanks to a great interview by the Outer Banks voice, long-time OBX resident Moon Tillett helps us understand that this debate is nothing new.
Wave Energy at Jennette’s Pier
Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head is super cool. Gorgeous architecture, live examples of local fish from the NC aquarium, great fishing off the pier, a pretty sweet surf spot, and a whole bunch of “green” energy going on. Check out this video of a new wave energy conversion tool they recently tested off the end of their. Rad!
PS – Checkout our webcam focused on the Pier…and the sweet surf spot.
Fall on the Outer Banks is ideal – warm air, warm water, empty beaches, fun surf, and great fishing.
Outer Banks: 9.13.11 - Perfect in Kitty Hawk?
It’s tough to find true perfection, but today is awful close to a perfect fall day on the OBX.
It would be nice to see some more size in the surf, and maybe slightly cleaner lines, but it’s darn close to perfection.
All the elements of a great beach day – Sun, 80′s, empty beach, almost no wind (very light west breeze), water at 75 degrees, waist high surf, & fish are biting!
OBX fall is here. 80 degrees, empty beach, fun surf, & fish are biting.
Fall on the Outer Banks is about as good as it gets. And we are just getting started.
A little overcast to start today, but the sun should make an appearance soon, and the week looks great with temps hovering around 80, water temps at 75 degrees.
Looks like we’ll be able to enjoy some clean, chest high OBX fall surf over the next few days. Some fun waves out there this morning, and it should get better as the tide fades towards the afternoon. The swell is going to jump to overhead by the end of the week as Tropical Storm Maria rolls through the Atlantic sending some big waves our way.
Fall fishing is in full swing as well – speckled trout, flounder, blue fish, pompano, Spanish mackerel, black drum.
Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Wednesday, August 24, 2011.
This video was shot at the Carlow Ave. beach access in Kill Devil Hills at 6:15 AM.
I made it to the beach early this morning to catch the sunrise, and it was well worth it. Gorgeous OBX sunrise, and a gorgeous OBX day.
I’ll move through the beach report quickly so I can get to Hurricane Irene since that’s the main topic on our minds today.
We’ve had perfect beach weather the past week, and it will continue today and through the next couple days. Humidity has dropped, and temps are in the mid 80′s. Bright sun and almost no wind this morning.
No surf to report today, but the forecast gets gnarly over the next few days as Hurricane Irene approaches. Surf grows to double overhead by the weekend!
OBX fishing is going great. Offshore is catching dolphin, wahoo, black and yellow fin tuna, and some bill fish mixed in. The piers, bridges, surf, & Sound are all very consistent with a wide variety of fish – spot, croaker, flounder, sea mullet, Spanish mackerel, blue fish, cobia, trigger fish, spade fish, pompano.
But the main topic on everyone’s mind is Hurricane Irene. What path will Hurricane Irene take? Will it impact the Outer Banks? A direct hit to the OBX?!
Hurricanes are pretty erratic. Their path can change drastically, quickly.
At this point, Hurricane Irene is a category 2 hurricane, and the projected path brings it to Ocracoke late Saturday night and into Sunday.
However, it’s too early to know for sure. We are starting to prepare, and think through emergency plans, but there is still ample time for things to change. It’s only Wednesday, so we have 3-4 days for predictions, computer models, and the actual path that can change considerably.
It’s more “wait and see” than anything at this point. Preparations are being made, but the hope is the beast of a storm will continue to move east and head out to sea. Some great waves and no impact to land would be awesome!
Ocracoke is in the process of being evacuated starting today. Guests must leave the island today, and permanent residents are being asked to leave tomorrow. But this is just a precautionary step. The emergency planning needs to give enough time for everyone to evacuate if need be, and this is just the first step in the process.
Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Monday, August 22, 2011.
This video was shot at the Sutton St. beach access in Kill Devil Hills at 9:00 AM.
Kids start going back to school this week! Ah, where did the time go?! End of August, wrapping up another great OBX summer!
I always have mixed feelings this time of year. It’s tough to see summer slipping away, but this really is the BEST time of year on the Outer Banks. Over the past week or so, the temps have cooled and the humidity has dropped. Temps have cooled form the 90′s to the mid 80′s. Ideal beach weather, warm during the day and getting cool at night. And this great weather will last for the next couple months! Warm air, warm water, empty beaches, great fishing, great surf. Fall on the OBX is perfect!
Today we’re seeing sun, temps in the mid 80′s, and light offshore breeze out of the southwest, and this fab weather will stick with us through the week.
Unfortunately, there’s not much surf to report today. There is a tiny bit of swell in the knee high range, and the offshore breeze is keeping it clean, so there’s a longboard wave out there if you find the right spot.
It’s pretty flat today, but the forecast is showing all sorts of activity towards the end of the week. Hurricane Irene officially formed yesterday, and it’s down around Haiti today. Forecasting hurricanes is pretty difficult, they can change drastically pretty quickly. So, it’s far to early to know where this storm is headed, but the current tracks have it coming relatively close to the Outer Banks. Fingers crossed that it drifts back to sea, but we’ll have to wait to find out.
However, in the meantime, it seems pretty certain that we’ll see some significant swell from the storm. This could be large and completely unsurfable, but knowing that swell is on the way is a good thing from the surfing perspective. The best bet for surf from a system like this could be on the backside after it moves past us, so fingers crossed for a storm out to sea and great waves late this week to early next week. Please be kind Mother Nature.
As for OBX fishing, going very strong. Offshore is catching dolphin, whaoo, yellow and black fin tuna, and some bill fish. The piers, bridges, surf, & Sound are very consistent with a wide variety of fish – speckled trout, croaker, blue fish, spot, sea mullet, pompano, flounder, cobia, Spanish mackerel, trigger fish.
