Fishing in the Ozarks (MO/AR/OK/IL/KS) all 12 months! even winter! what is working, what is not working, new ideas and photo's of great fishing experiences. Kayak Angling is spoken here with a heavy emphasis on Kayak Fishing and paddling!
This blog is dedicated to fishing in the Midwest/ Mid-South, however, about once a year we like to venture out to the east coast for a family vacation, which always includes plenty of fishing and kayaking.
The weather was great in the first half of our week long trip. We opened up by surf fishing Ocracoke Island. My brother, Charlie, caught a nice, nice Cobia, but was unable to land it...plum snapped the 50# test we had rigged up. I caught my first blue, which was small and was thrown back into the water.
The next day I was able to venture out and kayak fish the sound. I was throwing a bottom rigged curly Gulp! white grub on a jig head, and I managed to catch my first speckeled trout...exciting!
Then came the wind....It got incredibly windy and cool (which, sitting in 100 degree + weather currently) sounds not so bad. The sound was too choppy and white capped to paddle and fish with any degree of sanity, and the ocean side had 15' waves and rip current warnings, so the fishing and kahyaking came to a complete halt for the rest of the trip. Maybe next year the weather will be excellent the entire week. We have been lucky in the past to have outstanding weather.
This is a compilation of a couple of days of kayak fishing on the sound in North Carolina. I ended up renting a Necky kayak (very happy with) instead of bringing either my sea kayak or fishing kayak. It was easier than loading on top of the durango we took to get there.
The needle fish was a real kick to catch (it is the gar looking fish about halfway in the video). This was the one I landed (I lost 2 other due to the fact that they snapped the line with their sharp teeth). These fish are fun to catch. They hit the bait hard and run with it, jumping out of the air and flipping around....what a rush!
I got a better nav map of the sound, so when I go back next year, I will go out even farther and catch even more fish. What a great experience!
I know this does not count as the Midwest, however, as director of the site I am going to take artistic license and allow occasional Outer Banks, NC post on this, as well as other locals as I see fit. We come out to the Outer Banks every year for our family vacation, and it is one of my favorite places on earth. I have another post coming soon in regards to some kayak fishing as well.
The Miss Hatteras is a head boat (which means you pay by the head, not by the boat). We first went out with them a few years ago and really enjoyed the experience. Captain Ron and Natalie do an incredible job and work real hard to get the clients on fish. The fishing was not as good as a couple of years ago, but we still got on some fish, which is more than I can say in comparison to some of the trips I have gone on this year myself. They are docked at Odens Dock, North Carolina. I do not think they have a web site (or else I would link it) but you can look it up on the dock site through the Internet. If you are coming out, I would recommend them highly.
Caught a nice Sea Bass, but that was about it. Charlie got on a few more fish than I did, but none of his were keepers (he even caught a shark)
Really looking forward to coming back to the OBX to get back on the Miss Hatteras
We chartered the Miss Hatteras and went out about 28 miles to the Gulf Stream out of Hatteras Island on the Miss Hatteras. Weather was good. Drift fished with live bait (tandem rig) about 170' deep. Got on a MESS of trigger fish at the first spot. One catch I had (2) on at the same time. My forearms were THROBBING after bringing them in- what a great fight! Our second spot was about as deep. Stared to catch all kinds of interesting fish. Charlie caught a real colorful, exotic fish (photo above) that is you get "finned" you could die- wow! This spot also got us on some red snapper (photo above). Charlie also caught a nice grouper (I think it was the only one of the day). The boat and crew did an EXCELLENT job getting us on a ton of fish. It was one of the best fishing trips I have been on in a while. Cannot wait to go back next year.
Surf and sound fishing not as productive this year. Caught a couple of nice flounders on the ocean side using Berkley Gulp! Saltwater Shrimp on a light spinning rod with 12# test. My brother-in-law used the traditional set up with heavy rod, heavy test, cut bait- no luck. Weather was real good except for the first day.
Last year the shipwreck provided a lot of good redfish action, this year it was very non-productive. I think there were some active sharks in the area.
The saltwater fishing absolutly ruled! I caught so many redfish (puppy drums) around the shipwreck outside of the house we rented, I became tired and had to go back and take a nap! We used a Cajun Rattle Cork (it is like a bobber, with a glass bead, brass bead "clacker"- like a top water carolina rig). Below the Bobber, we used red jigs with Gulp! shrimp. What an amazing rig!
The fishing was great- a couple of days into it, I realized that there were about 10-20 small sharks swimming around the wreck while we were out there. They left us alone, but once the huge Man-O-Wars moved in, I was out of there!
We just got back from a week in the Outer Banks, NC. The weather and fishing was incredible! We really got on some fish this week. My brother-in-law, Rob, came down with us and we fished all week long- very cool! We could not have done it without the help of the local tackle and bait shop, Hatteras Jacks. They were so helpful in assisting us with strategies for saltwater (not like we have any saltwater in the midwest- I wish!). I think that is the secret if you really want to get on some fish- ask for direction. I know that when people ask me about what is biting and how to go about it, I really try to make myself and open book. We live in a fishing world of abundance. What you sow in this world is what you reap-Givers Gain, as we say in BNI. The same holds true to fishing.
