[redeye33]

Just got back from Top Sail and the surf fisahing sucked again. I am done with it. The beach is flat and the fish are not there. Scoured the beach at low tide and could not find any structure to speak of. Fished 3 evenings for 2 whiting and 2 puffers. I was in front of surf city. Didnt go elsewhere to be fair but the 2 previous years it sucked in different areas so...
The marsh is where it's at. Caught sheephead, black drum, red drum, blues and trout off the ICW and in the marshes in my kayak. I love to surf fish but I also love to catch fish! Oh, I forgot the 2 blue crabs I caught in the surf. woohoo! I am not talking about the drum run and if I need to drive the entire coast looking for "good" beach then forget it. I remember fishing as a kid on the Fla. beaches and catching all kinds of trout, snook and other fish and I had no idea what I was doing. Just a hair jig and a pc of shrimp. Maybe I need to start bgoing to Fla. again. Such a long ride. The weather, sunsets and people were nice at least. Done complaining.

 

[poppop1]

Just got back from Top Sail and the surf fisahing sucked again. I am done with it. The beach is flat and the fish are not there. Scoured the beach at low tide and could not find any structure to speak of. Fished 3 evenings for 2 whiting and 2 puffers. I was in front of surf city. Didnt go elsewhere to be fair but the 2 previous years it sucked in different areas so...
The marsh is where it's at. Caught sheephead, black drum, red drum, blues and trout off the ICW and in the marshes in my kayak. I love to surf fish but I also love to catch fish! Oh, I forgot the 2 blue crabs I caught in the surf. woohoo! I am not talking about the drum run and if I need to drive the entire coast looking for "good" beach then forget it. I remember fishing as a kid on the Fla. beaches and catching all kinds of trout, snook and other fish and I had no idea what I was doing. Just a hair jig and a pc of shrimp. Maybe I need to start bgoing to Fla. again. Such a long ride. The weather, sunsets and people were nice at least. Done complaining.

You mentioned as a kid you caught many fish, what's that 25 years ago?, and even longer then that the fishing was much better along the NC coast, most on here know my opinion on that subject but I will not start another pissing contest. I was at North Topsail the first 2 weeks of Oct., the 3 days after Ian (hurricane) the fishing was pretty good, some nice reds, after that the fishing was really slow and I moved up and down the beach. Just to keep your hopes up, I'll mention that last year at this same time, first 2 weeks of Oct., same house, my buddy ( I wasn't there unfortunately) had the best fishing he and I have ever had, go figure?,...pop.

 

[redeye33]

You mentioned as a kid you caught many fish, what's that 25 years ago?, and even longer then that the fishing was much better along the NC coast, most on here know my opinion on that subject but I will not start another pissing contest. I was at North Topsail the first 2 weeks of Oct., the 3 days after Ian (hurricane) the fishing was pretty good, some nice reds, after that the fishing was really slow and I moved up and down the beach. Just to keep your hopes up, I'll mention that last year at this same time, first 2 weeks of Oct., same house, my buddy ( I wasn't there unfortunately) had the best fishing he and I have ever had, go figure?,...pop.

Well I am sure anyone can mention a time or two the fishing was good. There is a lake near me that used to be Crappie central, now it sucks, but every once in a while someone pulls a nice stringer. But it still sucks. The surf used to be good, now it sucks. Except if you go to the "secret spot". And it was more like 40 yrs ago.!

 

[Thorhammer]

Was at Surf City right after Ian- they crushed on the big drum at NTB directly after, but of course I got there the following weekend. Beach at Surf city is indeed flat as a pancake and ocean was dead flat, caught zilch.

 

[slosh]

Last year and the year before we spent a week at the tail end of October at Topsail Beach. I fished hard every day on the beach with very little to show. Few spanish and blues on metal, one decent sized blue on cut bait, lots of little croakers, a few flounder. I did really well on whiting a couple years back on Thanksgiving day.
We are looking elsewhere for our next big trip, either Ocracoke or Gulf Coast. Only 3 more hours to drive to Gulf Shores for us compared to Ocracoke (10 hrs vs 7 respectively), but either way the fishing is bound to be way better.

 

[retired]

I generally go to the OBX after selling out on OKI. Seems every couple years they pump sand and it never recovers. One of the main differences I see from say mid 80's to now is this. I could go 3-5 days to south OBX, and load up. Spot, Croker, blues,etc. You within that time frame could hit on something. Flounder came back in a cooler most likely fairly swell stocked. Now I generally go 2-3 weeks minimum. It takes that long to hit........as usual this year we would have 2-3 day periods where it was slow then bam we were on something. Its getting worse and I expect it to continue until someone in regulations in NC gets their head out of their ass. Winterizing my camper today. I decided a return trip was not in me this year.

 

[Mumbo_Pungo]

My experience fishing cape Lookout over the past 20 years has been similar. Our trips are becoming less productive. Even as our knowledge, gear, and tactics increase. The past 5 years have been pathetic. We take 2-3 day trips twice a year and haven't loaded a cooler in years. Surf fishing in NC is definitely declining.