Carova beach surf fishing

george426f

Four Pointer
me and my family have rented a beach house the last week of september out in carova beach. I'm new(ish) to surf fishing. We used to go to Myrtle beach every fall and I'd do some fishing with little luck. I caught a couple flounder one year and my brother caught a shark once but usually its a whole lot of nothing. we finally decided we are done with Myrtle since a kevlar vest is looking more and more like a requirement down there. Now that we are going somewhere that has from what I hear, has pretty decent fishing, I'd like to go prepared. so I've got some questions. Thanks in advanced for the answers.

-what will I be fishing for that time of year and what setup is best? Ive got plenty of 2 hook bottom rigs in the tackle box thats all I've ever used in the ocean.

-What bait works best? I've got a casting net I usually use for catching live bait

-Sound fishing any good? the house we are renting is pretty close to the Carova boat ramp, is there any good fishing in those canals? I read that there are bass in the sound, and bass fishing is something I'm pretty good at. we wont be taking any boats or anything so what is fishable from the sound side of the island. looking at good maps I can really tell what the ground is like besides right there at the canals. Can you walk to the water's edge and fish?

-What fish are worth eating? I wouldn't mind providing a meal for dinner one night if me and my brothers can catch enough to feed our families.

-surf fishing with lures? Ive seen videos of people having decent luck with gold spoons, I am planning on taking my bass pole/tackle box as well to try some plugs and crap like that.


thats all the questions I can think of off the top of my head, we are just a few mountain boys looking to catch some fish. I'm looking forward to just getting away from the hustle and bustle so not catching anything is better than being at work though. Any other things I might have missed feel free to give any input.
thanks guys
 

Part-time hunter

Ten Pointer
I'm not familiar with that beach but here in the Wrightsville and Carolina Beach area Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish are biting pretty good right now. And they're both good to eat in my opinion. Your bottom rigs will work for blues and they and the Spanish will bite gotcha plugs if you can get it out there far enough. Spoons will also work and live bait is always good, especially for flounder but you need a different rig for flounder. Can't help much with the sound side. Hope this helps some and I hope you have good luck.
 

Wanchese

Twelve Pointer
I don't surf fish so not much help there.

All of the land around the canals is private and most is posted except for where the boat ramp/park is. There are bass and tons of perch in places but without a boat it's probably not that feasible.


Be careful around the canals, ponds and pretty much anywhere inside the dune line. I hunt and fish a lot of places that have snakes and can tell you first hand that area has just as many if not more cottonmouths than anywhere else I've been in eastern NC. And you are a long way from medical treatment even on a day with little to no traffic.
 

george426f

Four Pointer
didn't think about the snake situation, thanks for the heads up! Ive dealt with plenty of copperhead and rattlesnake infested areas here in the mountains so I'm no stranger to them but wouldnt have really gave it much thought down there. I'm sure I'll be doing most if not all my fishing on the beach, I do plenty of bass fishing here at home.
 

Gus

Six Pointer
Make or purchase some sand spikes to hold rods. Sea mullet, spot and croaker are good eating smaller fish and will hit shrimp or bloodworms well on bottom rigs. Bait a bottom rig with each, cast, draw line tight and set them in your sand spikes. Adjust your sinker weight to hold bottom. Early and late in day fish a spoon, gotcha plug or live/cut bait on a fish finder rig for blues, trout, flounder and drum-all will be around then- but be aware of the size and creel limits for them.(keep a good eye on your spiked bottom rigs while doing this).
Riptides and sloughs between sand bars are areas to target. At low tide you can see the sloughs. Note where they are so you can fish them when the tide is up too.
I would stop by Bob's Bait and Tackle in Duck on my way thru to pick up bait and tackle. They will give you an accurate report of what is biting and what they're hitting.
I wouldn't walk through the marsh to the sound in Sept.
Sound there is only a foot or so deep until well beyond casting distance.
Good Luck
 
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george426f

Four Pointer
Just got back from the coast last night. Had a great time! Hurricane Maria put a damper on the fishing the first half of the week. Tried surf fishing and the ocean was just too rough. Ended up walking some back roads and found some access to the canals and did some bass fishing. Caught a few largemouth one being pretty decent (3lb-ish) my brother caught a few perch and a couple bass on a spoon. Tue and Wed I didn't do much except for go on the beach to experience the wind and crappy weather. Thursday cleared up nicely ocean was still a little rough but I tried some fishing anyway and caught a puppy drum. Friday was a good bit calmer and i caught a keeper (21") drum. I was pretty pumped to final have some luck fishing the ocean. I didn't really put a whole lot of time into it or I'm confident I would have probably caught more. Maybe next year when the toddler isn't quite as much of a hand full I can get more fishing time in. All in all it was a great trip. Oh yeah, there were snakes all over that damn canal, just kept seeing that river snake attack scene from lonesome dove going through my head.
 
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