Does anyone know when the fishing in the sound starts to pick up in the spring? I'm especially interested in when the trout fishing starts to resume on the east side of the sound. Current reports of trout are on the mainland side and further south in NC. I'll be gaining access to a kayak in upcoming weeks and I'll be here until the first week of May at the latest and was hoping there'd be some fishing to be had before then. I'm in South Nags Head, but would be willing to drive down to the island if the fish are biting.

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I can tell you it's all about water Temps. The sound (s) are shallow and water Temps can fluctuate significantly. You want consistent Temps for long periods. The Trout hit the "Little Bridge" in April, also behind Bodie Island Light. In fact there have been several people on the Bridge the past couple of days. I can tell you there has been some real good Puppy Drum on HI in the Salvo, Waves area in the surf, real close in. You have to know your beach.

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I can tell you it's all about water Temps. The sound (s) are shallow and water Temps can fluctuate significantly. You want consistent Temps for long periods. The Trout hit the "Little Bridge" in April, also behind Bodie Island Light. In fact there have been several people on the Bridge the past couple of days. I can tell you there has been some real good Puppy Drum on HI in the Salvo, Waves area in the surf, real close in. You have to know your beach.

Thanks Pickle. I'll keep an eye on the reports and the sound temps. Launching at the Little Bridge or the official kayak launch up the street was going to be my plan. Also Salvo Day Use area. Behind the Bodie Island lighthouse would be awesome, but I don't feel like hauling gear that far. Regarding surf fishing... I'll be in a kayak so I think I'll do a hard pass on the ocean. :-)

I haven't driven past the Little Bridge in probably 6 weeks oddly enough. I gave up on fishing just after New Years because even the dogfish stopped biting, but now I'm getting the itch. Maybe I'll swing by the Little Bridge in the next few days and wet a line.

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Real soon for the sound but need the water to creep up like Pickle said. You will also have good fishing from the beach in SNH and Nags pretty soon as well. I had a really good spring from the beach with puppies and trout the past 2 years. All artificial baits. Once the ocean water stays in the mid to upper 50s it should be good.

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Real soon for the sound but need the water to creep up like Pickle said. You will also have good fishing from the beach in SNH and Nags pretty soon as well. I had a really good spring from the beach with puppies and trout the past 2 years. All artificial baits. Once the ocean water stays in the mid to upper 50s it should be good.

I hope it picks up soon. I’ve taken up disc golf to pass the time. I had an awesome 2 weeks of kayak fishing in October on the island and looking forward to doing it again. I’ll start hitting the beach on warmer days as well.

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Not a report of "fish"... but lots more people fishing Little Bridge this week... a few on the Northside rocks... and a kayaker out a hundred yards or so. This may all be people "hoping" to catch... but with warmer days, we're getting closer at worst.

Did see a school of mullet swimming in circles off the pier near our place.

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Not a report of "fish"... but lots more people fishing Little Bridge this week... a few on the Northside rocks... and a kayaker out a hundred yards or so. This may all be people "hoping" to catch... but with warmer days, we're getting closer at worst.

Did see a school of mullet swimming in circles off the pier near our place.

If the kayaker was in a green(ish) kayak, a rotund guy, and on Friday evening or Saturday midday of last week then that was probably me! I caught nothing.

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Fished the little bridge yesterday for about an hour and caught 2 trout and missed one more before the wind picked up.

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Fished the little bridge yesterday for about an hour and caught 2 trout and missed one more before the wind picked up.

Nice! Any size to the trout?

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Fished the little bridge yesterday for about an hour and caught 2 trout and missed one more before the wind picked up.

Nice! Any size to the trout?

17 and 15 inches. Both went back for good luck. I also saw 2 21+ inch fish caught right before I left.

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Fished the little bridge yesterday for about an hour and caught 2 trout and missed one more before the wind picked up.

Nice! Any size to the trout?

17 and 15 inches. Both went back for good luck. I also saw 2 21+ inch fish caught right before I left.

Dang, that's great news. I was there two days ago for about 30 mins on my way to run errands and didn't do anything. Sounds like they are moving on over to this side of the sound. I'll be ramping up my afternoon trips. Thanks for the intel.

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Not a report of "fish"... but lots more people fishing Little Bridge this week... a few on the Northside rocks... and a kayaker out a hundred yards or so. This may all be people "hoping" to catch... but with warmer days, we're getting closer at worst.

Did see a school of mullet swimming in circles off the pier near our place.

If the kayaker was in a green(ish) kayak, a rotund guy, and on Friday evening or Saturday midday of last week then that was probably me! I caught nothing.

yep... it was you... color of the kayak caught my eye

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