I'm staying in kitty hawk last week of September. I want to try out some surf fish. What is the best time and bait to try this out? Also is there a better beach location or they all about the same?

Lots of knowledge on this board so hopefully someone will see your post. You may want to go over to the main board first. I will not try to give you any info but I can tell you that over the years surf fishing in the fall can be awesome!

Some general, basic info. First rule Do Not Cast Far! Most fish will lay in the slough that runs between shore and the outer sandbar. More Better Fishing, Last Half of Incoming, First Half of Outgoing Tide. There should be a mixture of Trout and some Puppy Drum, plus small Black Drum and Bluefish, maybe a few Sea Mullet. Don't over kill on rods. If you want Trout, a 7 foot medium spinning rod capable of casting up to an ounce. Bottom fishing you might go a bit heavier, not bigger, you may have to use up to a 3oz sinker. If you need more than 3oz to hold bottom, it may be too rough for everything but Drum. Bait fishing, use small hooks, unless you only fish for drum. Good Luck.

Take a look at this site it can give you some info on surf fishing for the first time

Click to follow link...

As far as bait goes, I suggest small chunks of fresh finger mullet...about the size of a nickel. I use #1 or #1/0 snelled hooks on a 2 drop bottom rig. Look for deep holes to fish in by learning how to "read the beach". Youtube can help with this.

If you don't know how to surf fish, I'd personally recomend circle hooks, between size 2 and 1/0, they take the work out of it for you. You don't have to "set" the hook, when you get a bite, just lift the hook and apply pressure. Depending on the beach conditions, there isn't always a "best time", it's all about where you're fishing. You want to find the troughs and cuts in the bars. Don't overcast, there are times/places where you want distance, but usually most fish are caught within 30' of the beach, as thats where the troughs/sloughs are. Certain fish like certain types of water, but that doesn't mean you won't find them outside of said type. Drum and Sea Mullet love stirred up water, but I've caught my largest Red in beautiful clear water, Pompano are usually caught in the wash close up, and again I caught my personal best on a super long cast out to super clear water near Hatteras Inlet. Talk to the tackle shop guys, listen to them. They don't want to sell you things you don't need, they want to sell you whats working, because if you lose your rigs (assuming you don't tie your own), you'll come back for more!

Get a bag of shrimp, fresh or fake bloodworms. Put that on a small hook and cast close to shore (sometimes ridiculously close to shore) I fish with a guy that caught a 53" citation drum in mid-calf deep water while trying to catch bait on a piece of fishbites crab. Hopefully you'll catch some fresh spot or sea mullet. Cut that up, put on a bigger hook for drum. Friends of mine swear by using the spot heads for big Drum. Cast in in the slough behind the first breaker.

If you scroll down this first page a ways you'll find a thread where several different folks chimed in about the basics of surf-casting along the Outer Banks. Simplest is just a spinning rod/reel 7-8-9 feet long and a two hook bottom rig with shrimp or one of the various "gulp" baits and a 3 oz sinker. Bigger fish means bigger rod/reel and cut mullet for bait- this extends up to the "heaver;" the 12+ ft. rod with conventional reel that toss 8 ounces or more plus a big piece of mullet.

Ricks page is a great source of info !! Thanks Rick !!

Fresh Shrimp is always a good bait choice. Cut up mullet strips and bunker work too. I have even had luck with strips of frozen squid. Shrimp is probably the best all around though. Most anything will hit it.