The wind the past week+ has been brutal for kayaking. We went the past 4 days, but really the past 2 were the only fishable days. We ducked out of the wind near the Manteo airport on Tuesday and that was a bust for fishing. We tried down south on Hatteras on Wednesday and the NOAA marine forecast version of 10-15 kts is much different than mine. Yesterday we opted for an easy, close by day and hit OIFC and I caught 1 small trout and 2 “keeper” flounder had it been a week earlier. Today was a day on the Pamlico and I got 10 trout. The largest was 25.5” and probably a citation. Another I didn’t measure would have been just over 20” and the rest were in the 18-19” range except for one overachiever who was about 2” longer than my lure. I kept one 18.5” for dinner. All on popping cork.

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How deep were the trout?Been watching the water temps.

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How deep were the trout?Been watching the water temps.

Shallow. 4’ and less. I can see the bottom just about everywhere I fish. Being in a kayak I have a relatively limited range and cannot get to deep holes except for channels, e.g. out from Rodanthe boat ramp, south of Brigand’s Bay/Scotch Bonnet area, etc. I’m basically fishing flats.

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With that said, I am offshore and there were power boats around us. Today we were about 1-1.5 miles off of 12. It’s just shallow everywhere I can get to. I’ve never fished any of the deeper water in the sound due to being in a kayak. All of the fish we catch are in 2-4’.

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Hit ramp 49 today. What a zoo! So many people on Hatteras the last couple of years the few times I’ve been down on the beach here. That plus the strong southerly current and it was a good day to watch the waves/hang out and a crummy one for fishing. Many moons ago we used to vacation on Hatteras and things sure have changed. The island may not be as developed as up north, but the beach seems just as chaotic.

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Hit ramp 49 today. What a zoo! So many people on Hatteras the last couple of years the few times I’ve been down on the beach here. That plus the strong southerly current and it was a good day to watch the waves/hang out and a crummy one for fishing. Many moons ago we used to vacation on Hatteras and things sure have changed. The island may not be as developed as up north, but the beach seems just as chaotic.

The 48 and 49 beaches are flat and shallow out past the bar. I never have much luck fishing the surf there except when we Yak out baits with big reels holding lots of line. I'd rather surf fish at any other ramps but I favor 44 and 55.

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Hit ramp 49 today. What a zoo! So many people on Hatteras the last couple of years the few times I’ve been down on the beach here. That plus the strong southerly current and it was a good day to watch the waves/hang out and a crummy one for fishing. Many moons ago we used to vacation on Hatteras and things sure have changed. The island may not be as developed as up north, but the beach seems just as chaotic.

The 48 and 49 beaches are flat and shallow out past the bar. I never have much luck fishing the surf there except when we Yak out baits with big reels holding lots of line. I'd rather surf fish at any other ramps but I favor 44 and 55.

We didn’t try 55, but if this year is like last I imagine it’s a parking lot. Last year we rode the pole rd to the inlet and cars were stacked in there. We then rode the entire beach up to 55 and it was standing room only. We’ve just about given up surf fishing since discovering kayak fishing. We still enjoy it on the windy days to get on the beach and shoot the breeze.

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Fall fishing with pops is a wrap. It was a tough grind to say the least. The wind was ruthless most of the time and the trout bite was borderline pathetic. We did manage 7 yesterday all around 18-19” so we had a proper fish fry and gave the neighbors in Frisco Woods a big bag of fillets. They shared some stuff they caught on a charter the day before so it was a nice trade. The fishing the past two Octobers was much better for us. This October has been much windier than the past two so I don’t know if that played a part or if something else contributed, but we didn’t have the banner week we were hoping for. This morning we stopped in at Frank and Frans and she said they haven’t had any good news from the sound, either. Judging from what we saw and those we talked to there are smaller trout in there, but you have to work for them. No one mentioned any puppy drum. We didn’t see any schools. Usually we’d find a school a few times behind the campground, but nothing this year.

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Fall fishing with pops is a wrap. It was a tough grind to say the least. The wind was ruthless most of the time and the trout bite was borderline pathetic. We did manage 7 yesterday all around 18-19” so we had a proper fish fry and gave the neighbors in Frisco Woods a big bag of fillets. They shared some stuff they caught on a charter the day before so it was a nice trade. The fishing the past two Octobers was much better for us. This October has been much windier than the past two so I don’t know if that played a part or if something else contributed, but we didn’t have the banner week we were hoping for. This morning we stopped in at Frank and Frans and she said they haven’t had any good news from the sound, either. Judging from what we saw and those we talked to there are smaller trout in there, but you have to work for them. No one mentioned any puppy drum. We didn’t see any schools. Usually we’d find a school a few times behind the campground, but nothing this year.

I've enjoyed your posts about fishing the sound from kayaks and have envied the catches of you and your Dad. I have not fished the sound for fall puppies yet but will soon start wading behind the Coast Guard Station, Anne's Creek, The Crab Sanctuary, and all the way to the inlet.
I have surf fished Ramp 49 and Ramp 55 the past few days and have seen no fish caught. Seems the finger mullet were just starting to school with plenty of bluefish and a few drum being caught and when hurricane rolled in, then more storms and it was over.......to make matters worse, today I caught a skate....safe travels.

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Fall fishing with pops is a wrap. It was a tough grind to say the least. The wind was ruthless most of the time and the trout bite was borderline pathetic. We did manage 7 yesterday all around 18-19” so we had a proper fish fry and gave the neighbors in Frisco Woods a big bag of fillets. They shared some stuff they caught on a charter the day before so it was a nice trade. The fishing the past two Octobers was much better for us. This October has been much windier than the past two so I don’t know if that played a part or if something else contributed, but we didn’t have the banner week we were hoping for. This morning we stopped in at Frank and Frans and she said they haven’t had any good news from the sound, either. Judging from what we saw and those we talked to there are smaller trout in there, but you have to work for them. No one mentioned any puppy drum. We didn’t see any schools. Usually we’d find a school a few times behind the campground, but nothing this year.

I've enjoyed your posts about fishing the sound from kayaks and have envied the catches of you and your Dad. I have not fished the sound for fall puppies yet but will soon start wading behind the Coast Guard Station, Anne's Creek, The Crab Sanctuary, and all the way to the inlet.
I have surf fished Ramp 49 and Ramp 55 the past few days and have seen no fish caught. Seems the finger mullet were just starting to school with plenty of bluefish and a few drum being caught and when hurricane rolled in, then more storms and it was over.......to make matters worse, today I caught a skate....safe travels.

I’m actually living in Nags Head on a long-term/temporary basis. Dad is leaving tomorrow and I have plans this weekend so I’d love to see something happen fishing-wise before it’s too cold to go out, but I’m disappointed my can of whoop-ass wasn’t properly opened against him so we could bicker over two gator trout. You have to take the bad with the good. This year was not as we had hoped.

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Yeah, I'm here now and fishing is super slow. Not what I was hoping for. Water temp feels a bit warm for October, so maybe they haven't really started getting active yet. Will make the most of my 3 remaining days.

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Yeah, I'm here now and fishing is super slow. Not what I was hoping for. Water temp feels a bit warm for October, so maybe they haven't really started getting active yet. Will make the most of my 3 remaining days.

Where are you fishing? I don't know what the temp was last year at this time, but we thought maybe it had dropped in recent days. The week before flounder season it was 85 at the Little Bridge. We marked 63 this past Monday on Hatteras which we thought felt cool, but last year neither of us had a depth finder with thermometer so we were just guessing.

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Sorry, typed a reply on Thursday but apparently didn't post properly. Anyway, trip is a wrap. Back in VA now. Most mostly in nags head to Manteo area. One truly awesome day and the rest of the week fairly slow. Last 2 days were awful, even though conditions were fine. I'm a bit baffled, but a nice time anyway. Got some reports of big trout in the surf, in numbers too, but not sure how exaggerated that may have been.

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