Avon, NC report

[yakscientist]

So the weather this past weekend was beautiful in Avon, NC (outer banks), but the fishing was lackluster until the last day. Apparently there were good slot drum, and larger drum (up to and above 50") to be had down at the point, but I didn't have 4wd nor the beach permit, thus I was limited to where I could fish. I fished right by our house off the Avon beach, about a mile north of the fishing pier, and didn't catch anything there until the last day. A couple walking by told me that they hadn't caught anything in over 2 weeks from that beach, so I felt lucky enough to do so in only a couple of days. On Monday morning I caught 5 skate and 5 dogfish (to 40"+) using shrimp, squid, bunker, and some fake bloodworms. The water temperature was a few degrees warmer down south (especially at the point), so fishing was better down there. I did fish for a bit in Frisco (about 25 minutes south from where I normally fish) and caught only 1 puffer fish. All in all, I was glad to actually catch fish down there in February, and the temperatures hit 80 on Saturday, and 72 on Sunday, so I had no complaints. Surf fishing there is always a crapshoot, in my experience I'm always a couple weeks late or a couple weeks early, except one time I fished with my dad and we hit a big school of migrating bluefish right off the beach, which was an incredible day. I usually catch something there in Avon, certainly many different species, and IMO the best time to fish there is in the fall, right around thanksgiving.

If you've never been to the outer banks, I highly recommend it. It's a long drive (6-8 hours depending on where you live in MD), but the beaches are great, and it's much quieter than Ocean City. I think the fishing may be better too, but again, it's all about the timing. I plan to do a lot of exploring there on my kayak in the next few years, they have extensive marshes that really don't seem to have a lot of fishing pressure.