Fly Fishing Trophy Striped Bass along North Carolina Outerbanks

It starts around November 15th, it's almost a sure bet that before the 17th of the month passes, somewhere close to the Nags Head area the first striped bass surf blitz of the season will occur.  Many local fishermen keep a watch on Kitty Hawk Fishing Pier as the bellwether of the fall ocean striper season.

Those first groups of striped bass are seldom big.  Most will not scale more than 18 pounds, and there is a good chance that they'll be mixed in with bluefish of equal or slightly greater size.  By Thanksgiving Day you can be sure that the roil shoals of Oregon Inlet will be holding enough stripers to make a day of it, provide the sea state is conducive for safe fly fishing.

Oregon Inlet can be big, mean, and is a proven man eater.  Fishing the inlet's breaking shoals is a feat that might best be left to those with considerable local knowledge.  Small skiffs or 200 ton steel hulled trawlers, Oregon Inlet has taken them all.

By Christmas Day dense schools of striped bass will all along the Outerbanks.  Cape Point at Buxton will have had some banner days.  The shoals  off the "Point" out to a couple of miles will now hold everything from those that will not meet the State minimum 28" up to some real trophy size bass.  Hatteras and Ocracoke Inlets shoals will now both offer fairly consistent conventional fishing opportunities, but it might be more hit and miss with fly tackle.

The Oregon Inlet Charter boat Fleet will find schools and scattered striped bass from just outside the inlet, and to the north and south a dozen or more miles.  The action may be just clear of the breaking surf, or out two to three miles.  Everyday, some boats will head north, some south, and some will stick close to the inlet.  Very seldom will any of the experienced skippers fail to find fish. 

New Years Day.  If I was forced to choose.  If I could only pick one day a year to fish for big striped bass.  If I had to pick one single day to bet on form now to the end, it would have to be News Years Day at Oregon Inlet.  Barring a coastal storm that keeps the fleet in, New Years Day has consistently been exceptionally good to me.

If you are considering at trip on or near New Years Day, plan ahead!  Book that charter early.  If you intend to fish your own boat, get to the ramp early.  Last year park rangers were turning away boaters trying to launch at Oregon Inlet Fishing Center.  By 10:00AM the parking area was overflowing, and so many truck with boat trailers were parked on the Hwy 12 right-of-way, that the Park Service closed down the boat ramp.

It was indeed a exceptional day.  Big striped bass were everywhere.  In the surf, up the beach, down the beach, close in, and out a ways.  Slick calm ocean, gentle warm breeze, and more than enough fish for everyone.  Wow what a day!

Related Articles:

Fly Fishing Cape Hatteras

Roanoke River Striped Bass

Manns Harbor Bridge Stripers

Wind & the Weather.  A bluebird sky, a genteel ocean, and a warm breeze is the exceptional winter day along the Outerbanks.  They do come along, occasionally several in a row.  But, often they don't.  Bad weather can keep even the largest sportfishing boats tied to the dock for days on end.  As the season progresses, the frequency of bad weather tends to increase, and the length of the good weather windows tends to decrease.

A fly caught striper this size will hardly noteworthy on the Outerbanks

By the time February rolls around, the time when the biggest of the big fish are available.  Those of us with smaller boats often must be content with a few early morning sprints into the ocean.  Buy keeping a close eye on the weather map, one can often foresee a brief window of opportunity just before the next low-pressure system rolls up out of Georgia.

I spent almost twelve years of my early working life plying a living from the costal waters of North Carolina and Virginia.  I can tell you from hard earned experience that the winters along the Outerbanks will often settle into a pattern of wind shift every two or three day; or into a pattern when the weather shifts ever 4 or 5 days.  The longer the period between 360 degree wind shift, the more likely there will be a brief period of light wind and a calm sea.  It's a game of wait and see, a game you'll have to play if you want to chase big stripers in the winter ocean off North Carolina.

If you did manage to slip away from the crowd and hook a fish on your fly rod, chances are there would be a dozen or more anglers sling 12' surf rods and 8 oz leads all around you before you got your fish to the beach. One might have half a chance of fly fishing close to the Point in the middle of the night. 

Surf Fishing at Night.  Fly fishing the Outerbanks surf for striped bass is quite simply not extremely productive for most anglers.  Yes there are some surf blitzes that are almost mind boggling.  I have seen angler simply sit down on the beach, too exhausted from catching  fish to make another cast.  Unless you are fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time, you might (as most) find you surf fishing on the Outerbanks less that fruitful with your fly rod.  There is an alternative to being just pain lucky.  You can save your energy and concentrate your efforts at night.

Simply switching you daylight tactics to night might not be any more productive.  You'll need to learn the ways of the "dark side."  There is a small group of fly angler who regularly ply the dark winter water of the Outerbanks surf.  They are as secretive and stealthy as the anglers who regularly pull 3, 4, & 5 pound speckled trout from the same dark waters.  Unless they know you, they'll never admit success; and even then there response to queries is often cryptic.

The techniques are basic, the execution is mostly a matter of hard work and perseverance.  They search the beaches during daylight hours.  They look for deep holes and sloughs, for signs of bait, for signs of big stripers out from the beach.  They make detailed notes on how to return to these spots without the aid of light.  They know all too well that one sweep of a trucks headlights will clear all the big stripers from a slough.  Some go as far as to cover the dome light and cargo lights of their 4x4 pick-ups. 

I to have played this game of mid-night madness.  It is a game that can become quite addictive.  Big fish are always fun to catch, but catching a big fish standing in the surf with a fly rod adds a bit more spice to the experience.  For me the most successful nocturnal surf technique in North Carolina employed a fast sinking line.  I used a Teeny 550 on a fast 11wt rod and a 5 foot long leader.  The fly was a long Deceiver style tie with a slider type foam head threaded on the leader and pulled down on the fly head.  I fished the fly by casting out into the slough and allowing the line to carry the fly down to the bottom.  The fly was fished with a long hard pull.  The weight of the heavy shooting head would pull the suspended fly toward the bottom (remember that we are fishing from the beach, low angles), and on the pause the fly would "swim" up from the bottom.  Most of the strikes would come as the fly was "swimming" up.  The take was seldom subtle, these fish were in the slough close to the beach to feed.  I never invested too much time in any one spot.  I would work each hole in a methodical pattern.  From one end to the other.  Some areas were so small that three or four cast was all that was needed to cover the area.  No fish in one hole, then I would move on down the beach to the next area I had scouted during the day.

From two hours before high tide, till two hours after high tide were often the most productive.  If I was on the beach just at sunset, I would always make a cast or two.  Then I would pack it in for a few hours.  It always seemed like after it got too dark to see your rod tip, it then took about two hours for the striped bass to resume activity.  My only assumption is that it took a while for their eyes to adjust for nocturnal feeding.

Aluminum skiffs and kayaks are becoming an ever popular alternative for chasing winter striped bass within a mile or two of the Outerbanks beaches.  Wetsuits and a quality PFD are probably a much better alternative than chest waders and pure dumb luck.  Cold water kills!   I see way too many anglers venturing off the beach wearing boot foot loose fitting chest waders, no wader belt, and no Personal Flotation Device .

We can catch striped bass on the fly with water temperatures as low as 43 degrees F.  An unprotected swimmer (even with a PFD) that is in peak conditioning might at best last 10 or 15 minutes in water that cold, before losing the ability to maneuver.  Remember, the harder you swim, the quicker you loose body heat.

Flies for Kayak Fishing

When I first started kayaking for these big stripers, I was using the same old flies I had always cast.

The problem was that these big striper would start to tow my kayak in one direction, then make a quick course change.  I would be going in one direction and the striper would be coming right back at me.  I could not reel fast enough to keep the slack out.  Consequently, I lost several big fish.

I started tying some big menhaden patterns on circle hooks, and have not lost a striper in my kayak since.

From Cape Point (Buxton) to NC/VA Line, a light southwest wind is generally best for beach launch.
 

• wetsuit or drysuit

• neoprene gloves

• PFD w/pockets

• loud whistle

• flares

• waterproof flashlight

• waterproof VHF

• orange signal flag

I caught more than a dozen striped bass in the ocean this day, all well over thirty pounds.  Another kayaker paddled up just as I landed this fish.  I tossed him my waterproof camera, and he kindly snapped this photo for me.  We engaged in a bit of small talk, and he paddled off.  Just as I was making my next cast, I heard a big splash.  Looking over my shoulder I saw my recently drafted photographer in the water, his kayak sunny side down.

I paddled over to see if he required any assistance.  What a mess.  He had two spinning rods rigged with big multi-treble hook swim plugs, both rods on a leash.  Tackle box, gaff, bilge sponge, and a paddle; all ensnaring him.  When we righted his kayak, and finally disentangled legs; the first word out of his mouth, "how do you get back on these things?"

It was a struggle, but after about 15 minuets he was back on top of his kayak.

The moral to the story is:  If you intend to venture very far from shore, or into the ocean, or in cold water; BE PREPARED !  Learn self rescue techniques.  Practice with your cold-weather gear on.  And trust me when I tell you that it is much much much easier to swim wearing a wetsuit that if your are trying to open-water kayak fish wearing a dry-top over a pair of chest waders.

During the off-season, you can purchase a very comfortable 3/2 wetsuit from a surf shop for less than $100.  A small investment for safety.
 

Menhaden, Croakers, Spot, Whiting, as well as sand eels, bay anchovies, and silverside minnows are all on the  menu for striped bass that winter along North Carolina's Outerbanks.  Getting a big fly down deep is often the key to success if you are angling for a trophy size bass.  Even when fish are rolling all over the top; as a general rule, the biggest fish will be down below the smaller ones.   When the wind is not howling, and I can stand a few tangles; my rig of choice is 30 foot of LC-13 attached to a mono shooting line.  In my experience, this rig will get a fly down to the bottom as fast or faster that shooting heads of even higher weight.

Harry Hall sefly.com