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I have been very busy since returning from vacation and have not had time to finish my recap reports from my OBX trip.
My second recap will be our Kayak trip out of Oregon Inlet. Codfish and I decide to launch on the Pea island side of the bridge due to the short paddle to deeper channels. This was also Codfish’s first test of the torque he purchased from Pinch. The Google maps view of the parking lot showed a quick walk to a launch site but upon arrival we found a long haul around jetty rubble and soft sand which turned our quick launch into a long portage.
After looking over our options we decided to take a shot and launch at the other side of the road next to a construction site. As luck would have it as soon as we unloaded all the gear and I parked the car the construction crew arrived. They were nice enough to let us launch from the site but due to the work they were performing we would have to land at the original site and portage everything back to the car. Now on to the fishing.
We were concentrating on finding flounder this trip. I had a fish finder rig with a squid strip on one rod and a 4" gulp swimming mullet on the other. We made our way to a deep channel just off the launch site and started drifting. Right away we started catching lizard fish. Those things are as much of a pain in the A@@ as the toadfish up north. Their mouths are double hinged and it’s a pain in the butt to remove hooks without ripping their jaws of. I saw some birds working 1/8 mile away and decided to haul tail to investigate. My first cast netted a nice dinner sized Blue that was spared. The fish went down after this fish and I could not get another one to grace my present.
We made our way to several islands next to cuts and continued catching lizard fish and occasional small croakers. The flats back there were beautiful and the water was crystal clear. We could see bottom in 12' of water. The flats reminded me of the keys minus the fish. At this point 2 hrs in we still had no flounder action. We headed back towards the bridge to see if anything was popping there. On the way I saw some fish breaking and tossed my gulp in the froth. I have several hits reeling it back in but no hookups. As soon as my lure got close I saw why I wasn't hooking up. There was a huge school of large Hound fish crashing the bait. I tied on a metal and started ripping it back to the Kayak with hits and fish following it back every cast. I finally hooked one and what a fight. It tail walked and tore line like a mini Sailfish. I was surprised how strong these fish are. I have caught plenty of smaller ones that were fun but these things were brutes. I caught several more before the school moved out. What a blast. Codfish’s torque was performing flawlessly. He was sitting back trolling, Sipping a drink and rebating another rig while I was paddling to keep up. I was really impressed on how easily the kayak turned. That giant rudder does a great job. I wish they made a larger one for the tridents.
We brought some sandflee's with us in case the current was safe enough to fish the bridge pylons. To our astonishment it was dead slack when we got to the bridge. I put a single dropper rig on and threaded a sandflee on the hook for a possible Sheepshead. Again the water was crystal clear and we fished several pylon sets with nothing but dink Black Sea bass and small grunts. We moved out away from the bridge and decided to try for flounder again. This is where we made a very bad judgment call.
The current was almost slack when we moved off the bridge and between the view of crystal clear water and the direction of the wind our backs were to the inlet mouth the whole time. Codfish finally picked up a small flounder and during the maneuvering around we noticed how far from the bridge we have drifted. We also quickly realized the current was starting to rip outgoing and the waves were starting to stack about 1/8 mile behind us at the inlet mouth. This now quickly turned into a very bad situation. We were almost mid channel
In Oregon inlet on an outgoing tide. We hauled tail across current to the pea island side while being pushed out. We luckily made the beach about 200 yards from the inlet mouth and the deadly rip and shoals. Talk about a stupid move on our part. If we waited another 5 mins before hauling a@@ back to shore we would have been pushed out of the inlet and into the unknown. At the time we landed we were relieved but the whole reality of what could have happened did not sink in until later.
We gathered our self’s and looked at our options. We decided our only safe option was to hug the shore and work our way back to the landing. The only problem was their were no lee's in the current. The current was moving at close to 3mph just off the beach in knee deep water. We mounted up and started working our way back. I was paddling full steam and only going 1 to 1.5 mph against the current. After 20 mins and maybe 200 yards of progress I look back and Codfish is sitting still in the water. The current equaled the torques forward speed. I yelled to him to start paddling like hell to get back to the launch. It took 45 mins of hard paddling to make the 1/4 mile trip back to the landing site. The whole time I kept cussing at my self for getting into this situation. I must have told myself 20 times before leaving for this vacation not to mess with this inlet and look where I am.
We finally got back to the landing exhausted and happy to be out of the mess. Our only other problem is now the portage back to the car. We walked two kayaks, 2 car batteries and 100 lbs of misc gear over jetty ruble, soft sand and a narrow winding reed lined path. What a great end to the day.
If you ever make it down to Oregon inlet please do your self a favor and stay away from the bridge during an outgoing tide. In two years of Kayak fishing I have never felt uneasy or nervous. I was slapped back into reality that day.
Video Recap.
Oregon Inlet Recap Video
My second recap will be our Kayak trip out of Oregon Inlet. Codfish and I decide to launch on the Pea island side of the bridge due to the short paddle to deeper channels. This was also Codfish’s first test of the torque he purchased from Pinch. The Google maps view of the parking lot showed a quick walk to a launch site but upon arrival we found a long haul around jetty rubble and soft sand which turned our quick launch into a long portage.
After looking over our options we decided to take a shot and launch at the other side of the road next to a construction site. As luck would have it as soon as we unloaded all the gear and I parked the car the construction crew arrived. They were nice enough to let us launch from the site but due to the work they were performing we would have to land at the original site and portage everything back to the car. Now on to the fishing.
We were concentrating on finding flounder this trip. I had a fish finder rig with a squid strip on one rod and a 4" gulp swimming mullet on the other. We made our way to a deep channel just off the launch site and started drifting. Right away we started catching lizard fish. Those things are as much of a pain in the A@@ as the toadfish up north. Their mouths are double hinged and it’s a pain in the butt to remove hooks without ripping their jaws of. I saw some birds working 1/8 mile away and decided to haul tail to investigate. My first cast netted a nice dinner sized Blue that was spared. The fish went down after this fish and I could not get another one to grace my present.
We made our way to several islands next to cuts and continued catching lizard fish and occasional small croakers. The flats back there were beautiful and the water was crystal clear. We could see bottom in 12' of water. The flats reminded me of the keys minus the fish. At this point 2 hrs in we still had no flounder action. We headed back towards the bridge to see if anything was popping there. On the way I saw some fish breaking and tossed my gulp in the froth. I have several hits reeling it back in but no hookups. As soon as my lure got close I saw why I wasn't hooking up. There was a huge school of large Hound fish crashing the bait. I tied on a metal and started ripping it back to the Kayak with hits and fish following it back every cast. I finally hooked one and what a fight. It tail walked and tore line like a mini Sailfish. I was surprised how strong these fish are. I have caught plenty of smaller ones that were fun but these things were brutes. I caught several more before the school moved out. What a blast. Codfish’s torque was performing flawlessly. He was sitting back trolling, Sipping a drink and rebating another rig while I was paddling to keep up. I was really impressed on how easily the kayak turned. That giant rudder does a great job. I wish they made a larger one for the tridents.
We brought some sandflee's with us in case the current was safe enough to fish the bridge pylons. To our astonishment it was dead slack when we got to the bridge. I put a single dropper rig on and threaded a sandflee on the hook for a possible Sheepshead. Again the water was crystal clear and we fished several pylon sets with nothing but dink Black Sea bass and small grunts. We moved out away from the bridge and decided to try for flounder again. This is where we made a very bad judgment call.
The current was almost slack when we moved off the bridge and between the view of crystal clear water and the direction of the wind our backs were to the inlet mouth the whole time. Codfish finally picked up a small flounder and during the maneuvering around we noticed how far from the bridge we have drifted. We also quickly realized the current was starting to rip outgoing and the waves were starting to stack about 1/8 mile behind us at the inlet mouth. This now quickly turned into a very bad situation. We were almost mid channel
In Oregon inlet on an outgoing tide. We hauled tail across current to the pea island side while being pushed out. We luckily made the beach about 200 yards from the inlet mouth and the deadly rip and shoals. Talk about a stupid move on our part. If we waited another 5 mins before hauling a@@ back to shore we would have been pushed out of the inlet and into the unknown. At the time we landed we were relieved but the whole reality of what could have happened did not sink in until later.
We gathered our self’s and looked at our options. We decided our only safe option was to hug the shore and work our way back to the landing. The only problem was their were no lee's in the current. The current was moving at close to 3mph just off the beach in knee deep water. We mounted up and started working our way back. I was paddling full steam and only going 1 to 1.5 mph against the current. After 20 mins and maybe 200 yards of progress I look back and Codfish is sitting still in the water. The current equaled the torques forward speed. I yelled to him to start paddling like hell to get back to the launch. It took 45 mins of hard paddling to make the 1/4 mile trip back to the landing site. The whole time I kept cussing at my self for getting into this situation. I must have told myself 20 times before leaving for this vacation not to mess with this inlet and look where I am.
We finally got back to the landing exhausted and happy to be out of the mess. Our only other problem is now the portage back to the car. We walked two kayaks, 2 car batteries and 100 lbs of misc gear over jetty ruble, soft sand and a narrow winding reed lined path. What a great end to the day.
If you ever make it down to Oregon inlet please do your self a favor and stay away from the bridge during an outgoing tide. In two years of Kayak fishing I have never felt uneasy or nervous. I was slapped back into reality that day.
Video Recap.
Oregon Inlet Recap Video
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