Cape Hatteras
National Seashore

Fly Fishing North Carolina's Outerbanks

   For the ten year that I resided on the Outerbanks of North Carolina I always had a boat.  In fact I usually had several boats at any given time.  Exploring the vast shallow regions of the Pamlico Sound in search of redfish and speckled trout was one of my favorite pastimes.

    After I moved away from Hatteras Island it was not always convenient to drag a skiff with me every time I had the opportunity to visit Dare County.  Thus began my search for fishing areas that were accessible from the shoreline. 

    My attempts to find places that consistently produced redfish were marginally successful at best.   However, finding places that regularly produced speckled trout, small striped bass, gray trout, and other assorted panfish on a fly rod was relatively easy.

    I will give directions to these locations beginning at the northern entrance to the National Seashore near Nags Head.  There is only one highway through the Seashore, Rt. 12, all references of the highway will be Rt. 12.

Off Island Slough

    A little more than four miles south of the entrance to Cape Hatteras National Seashore is Bodie Island Lighthouse.   You should park in the lot at the lighthouse visitors center.  At the south end of the parking area is a gravel road blocked to vehicles by a gate.  A couple of hundred yards down this gravel road is a small private boat dock.  Directly across the channel from the dock is Off Island which is occupied by a private hunt club.  

    The channel of Off Island Slough provides excellent fishing for several hundred yards to both the north and south of the boat dock.  The area adjacent to the boat dock is very popular with bait fishermen.  They are usually easy enough to avoid by wadding north or south of the dock area (The small creek just north from the dock has a very soft bottom; it is much easier to cross this area by wadding out into the main channel a few yards before proceeding north).

    The tidal current in the center of Off Island Channel is strong enough that an intermediate line will not be sufficient to present your fly on the bottom in the deepest areas of the channel.  Presenting your fly very close to the bottom is generally necessary to consistently catch speckled trout and redfish in this area during daylight hours.  At night, and at sunrise it is possible to catch fish very close to shoreline using a floating or intermediate line.

    Off Island Slough is often one of the first places where small redfish are caught in the early spring.    Small striped bass regularly cruse the channel from March through January.   Speckled trout can make a showing almost anytime the water temperature is above 54 degrees.  During the summer the slough hosts a mixed bag of small bluefish, gray trout, and croakers.

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