Eastern Carolina to Core Sound

 

June is the heart of our summer season in Eastern North Carolina.  It is true.  Rising at 3 am, I am anxious about getting to the ramp usually it is either Hide-Away Marina off Button Creek or the Wildlife Ramp in Oriental. If you go to Hide-Away, be sure to bring a dog cookie for Fraser.  Our day begins early with a sunrise a little after 5 am. 

 

June and the beginning of summer is also the start of serious fishing fever in Pamlico and Carteret County and all the shorelines leading up to Cape Lookout.   Understand that Pamlico sound is a nursery for every ocean going game fish we know, including Tarpon.  This is a unique area because of the Labrador Current and the Gulf Stream.  The confluence of these major ocean currents (one cold and the other warm) bring huge numbers of game and bait fish to our waters.

So it is June and we have every reason to be out fishing because the catching starts getting really great.   I’ll reflect once about Ken Bay (author of Saltwater Flies).  I poled him on to a flat where we became surrounded by 500 redfish.   “Where should I cast?” came his question.   “Anywhere you want” was my reply. 

 

The point is this magnificent place you’ll find an abundance of every kind of fish, from giant redfish to crusher blues, from 100-pound tarpon to 15-pound Spanish mackerel.   A fly anglers dream come true.   There are speckled and gray trout, flounder and cobia and they are all inshore.   Catch the picture of Capt. Gordon Churchill and his beautiful Spanish he caught near the bight at Cape Lookout.

June, July and August are prime times to be out with your fly rod and a guide who knows these waters.   I prefer Borski Sliders and Kwans, and also Big-Eye Baitfish flies.  Take your 8-weight but always have a 12-weight close by.  The catching action is outstanding!

It’s funny how fishing and water connects our lives. We get up early. Our minds are clear. We enjoy listening to the water lap and inch its way along the hull and watch the spectacular sunrise mushroom its way across the horizon and stretch out to meet us. Everyday Mother Nature provides a new seascape, new challenges and blessings we all need to share. Til nextime...please don't teach your trash to swim.  From the most beautiful place on earth - in Alliance, North Carolina - Capt. Doug Sinclair 252-745-3373.