I'm heading down next Thursday and bringing a rod or 2. Is anything biting yet in the sound or surf?

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dogfish.lots and lots of dogfish but a few blow toads as well which are some of the best eating fish you can get.
My son caught 21 off of ramp 55. BTW if you are down there the structure at hatteras inlet is now crazy because of all the sand that has been washed south this winter. Apparently all the beach nourishment is now at the inlet.
I would just watch the water temps and when they start climbing things will wake up.

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I'm heading down next Thursday and bringing a rod or 2. Is anything biting yet in the sound or surf?

Ok... It's Friday. I assume you've spent at least 12 hours out there already. Give us the scoop! It's getting pretty close to that time where I need to clean the kayak and get the reels cleaned up. Your report may speed up my process.

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I didn't get a chance to get out. I ended up having to work on the house for most of the time there but, I'm going back in a few weeks. At least 1 day will be devoted to "me time".

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Son went out Friday and saturday and slob size drum were had from 32 down and a 50-51" was caught on the point on the AM tide.
Soundside the puppy's are all in the channels and chasing fish so I would definitely wet a line or two.

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Son went out Friday and saturday and slob size drum were had from 32 down and a 50-51" was caught on the point on the AM tide.
Soundside the puppy's are all in the channels and chasing fish so I would definitely wet a line or two.

I took the yak out to Buxton on Sunday and it was a bust out on the flats. I had something small grab a lure I was trolling while headed out, but it was too small to hang on. I didn't see many signs of life. No mullet and no glass minnows although the chop on the water would have made them tough to spot. No stingrays, no busting fish or birds, nada. I saw one jellyfish and some small fry tight to the shore along the grass. For the type of fishing I do it's still a little early, but the weather was too good to pass up. Last year the fishing really turned on as soon as the cownose rays left the area which was mid to late April if my memory is correct.

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The canals around Brigand's bay have been alive with mullet and puppy drum. I desperately wanted to go out sat AM and fish but fixing 2 mansfield toilets and replacing the retractors on a andersen screen were first. I knew if I went out I would totally blow off the work I was supposed to be doing. Son got a few nice fish and we just cleaned them and packaged them for home and we have had some nice meals since sunday.
I wanted to go down to 55 and work the ocean and the sound since it has changed so much with all the sand down there now but never got the chance to even go look at it.

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The canals around Brigand's bay have been alive with mullet and puppy drum. I desperately wanted to go out sat AM and fish but fixing 2 mansfield toilets and replacing the retractors on a andersen screen were first. I knew if I went out I would totally blow off the work I was supposed to be doing. Son got a few nice fish and we just cleaned them and packaged them for home and we have had some nice meals since sunday.
I wanted to go down to 55 and work the ocean and the sound since it has changed so much with all the sand down there now but never got the chance to even go look at it.

I hear you on the work! I need to do a few screens this year. One of them I think I'll just replace outright because the frame is slightly askew. Washing the blinds is my least favorite chore I have staring me down.

Is there a public access point near Brigands to slip a kayak in that's not more than a mile away? I have launched from Frisco Woods when my dad has been camping down there and we did really well with drum on the flats in the area, but getting to Brigands from there is too far. There's a ramp at Scotch Bonnet, but we have not used it yet. Anything else around there that you know of? Usually I launch from NPS land, but it looks like Frisco is all privately owned as I scope around in Google Maps.

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I'm heading down Saturday or Sunday for a few days. I'll let everyone know how I make out.

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I finally got to wet a line Sunday. I only had 1 good hit in about 3 hours. Heading back down the 1st week in May. I'll post again when I get back.

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We were pretty lucky yesterday on ramp 34 in Avon with the guys catching some things: drum and puffer fish.

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Nice sheepshead? Good eats.

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Nice sheepshead? Good eats.

That's what I thought, but the guys said drum. We released everything however. Sometimes we keep, and sometimes we don't. They also caught a huge huge drum that was over the slot limit and of course had to let Mr. Limpet go!!!

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Picture of Mr. Limpet!

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Nice sheepshead? Good eats.

That's what I thought, but the guys said drum. We released everything however. Sometimes we keep, and sometimes we don't. They also caught a huge huge drum that was over the slot limit and of course had to let Mr. Limpet go!!!

They were probably thinking black drum, but that's definitely a sheepshead.



The dorsal fins is the best way to tell. Connected = sheepshead,

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The trout are chewing in the sound. They've been catching them for a bit now off and on. Increasingly catching them very close to the ocean side of the sound, i.e. accessible to non-boaters, over the past few weeks. I caught this one on Saturday. With the lip grippers removed, mouth closed, etc. it was 29". My new PB, but I released it and don't know its exact weight. 7-7.25 lbs is my best guess based on previous catches that were weighed at tackle shop. I'm getting twitchy for the next few weeks and am hoping the wind cooperates. I have taken the first 2 weeks of May off just in case.

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They were probably thinking black drum, but that's definitely a sheepshead.

+1 without a doubt.

I saw a pile of sheepshead in the sound on Saturday. Very small though, probably not even 10".

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I'm not sure at all about the stripey fish. I have seen them catch sheepshead in the sound and thought that was what it was, but it didn't have the sheepshead teeth they said. So, I just don't know since I am no expert.

Anyway, it was a fun day!!

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The drum bite has been INSANE for the last 48 hrs. Point 55 ramp Hatteras Inlet all have been getting rushed. Here is a catch yesterday off the Bonner Bridge Pier ( the old bridge)

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Sound fishing has been decent. We haven’t caught as many trout as we did last year at this time, but they are big. Dad and I each got a 29.75” one this week. His was 8.21 lbs. I released mine, but it would have been similar. A few drum and quite a few blues. The winds were a little stiff for kayaking many of the days, but we managed to grind through it when we could.

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Last night at Ramp 55.

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Last night at Ramp 55.

That's a scary shark, Lowtide!!! Kind of exciting!

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Son and I limited out on trout in under 1 hours soundside yesterday

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That's awesome Alexy. Nice work.

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Son and I limited out on trout in under 1 hours soundside yesterday

That's some good fishing! I've been seeing that large numbers of trout with many large ones have been caught the past few weeks.

Before I left the beach for the summer two weeks ago the big trout were there, but the numbers were not as impressive as last year during the same time. My dad and I had an unscientific hypothesis that the large blues were keeping them away. Are the large blues still running rampant in the sound? They seemed to peter out a bit the last few times I went about 3 weeks ago.

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