I’m amazed how poorly things went in North Carolina. While I didn’t expect to do well, I didn’t expect to do as poorly as we did. I expected that we’d only catch a few fish decent sized fish at each location, but all we caught were little Spot fish and Croakers. They were just as annoying, if not more so, than the sunfish that we’re used to in freshwater.
If I could do it again, I would have tried two other spots. They were told to us by one of the employees at the Kitty Hawk TW’s Bait and Tackle shop. There was a pond with access from a park near Kitty Hawk Village where we could have done some freshwater fishing and another spot near there with a boat launch with docks in saltwater. By the time I had decided I needed to do some freshwater fishing, it was late in the week and the $10 license wouldn’t have been worth the only hour or two I would have fished there.
I would also have done an inland charter. The pontoon tour was fun, but without a guide, it was like trying to find the cheese in a maze that was pitch black. I would love to have done an offshore charter, but that was a bit too expensive for us. And our last experience on the West coast soured us when we spent 4 hours looking for salmon and only caught one fish that wasn’t even a keeper.
I’m not so sure about the piers. You don’t need a fishing license, but it costs $9/day to fish there. If I did do a pier again, I would go to the Outer Banks Pier at the South end of Nags Head. My uncle spoke to a local that said that was the best pier in OBX. And when it comes to local experiences, it’s best to follow the locals.
At the end of my trip, I was struck by how familiar I am with freshwater fishing and how unfamiliar saltwater fishing felt. With freshwater, I know where to go, what bait to use, and how to make adjustments. Saltwater fishing depended so much on tides and happening on schools of fish that it just seemed like an exercise in futility. But there were people catching fish. Just not us.
