Pea Island Artificial Reef/Pamlico Sound Advice..

T-Rock

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
This October my wife and I plan on dragging our Scout Dorado 172 to the OBX. We found a ramp to launch at, Rodanthe/Waves, to avoid the larger vessels and boat traffic at and around OI. Having said that, this will be our first time in the Pamlico Sound.

Has anyone here made the run out to the Pea Island Artificial reef? Via noaa chart 12204/11555, the run to the reef looks to be roughly 14 miles or so from Rodanthe. If it's windy, the boat will sit on the trailer.

Hopefully we'll be targeting Drum, Blues, sheepshead or whatever will bite, Lol.

Any boating tips or suggestions for fishing that area? Is October a good time to fish that particular reef?

Any first hand experiences with that reef in October?

Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Reef map: https://ncdenr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=3b27e8594cb6444c88b5525bf763aa55

http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/11555.shtml

http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/12204.shtml

http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/artificial-reefs-program

Edited to add: The coordinates for the reef is:
Lat: 35' 40.008 N
Long: 75' 36.962W
Does that put you on top of the reef?
 
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T-Rock

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Thanks 1SHOT1KILL. I've scoured those boards without finding a whole lot of info, but have found this board to be pretty much steel on target, thus the reasoning for asking here.
I'll keep searching, thanks for the reply....
 

Downeast

Twelve Pointer
Just watch the forecast and go find out. If you catch any fish come back and tell us how bad it was and that it ain't worth the trouble. :cool:
 

Wanchese

Twelve Pointer
I think they have some markers on that one still. It is fairly new, a lot of the stuff was just put there in the last couple years. The one north of that is definitely marked, has a big white floating marker on each corner.

I see some of the inshore charters fishing at the more northern one but haven't seen much activity around that one. But I also watch those guys go to the same places every day with different charters knowing they'll likely only catch pigfish and pinfish.


If you're leaving from down there, I wouldn't worry about those. There is a lot better fishing inside around the sloughs and shoals and you would be running right by it. You really don't have to go far at all.


If you do venture out there be sure it isn't going to blow, that is one of, if not the roughest areas in our sounds when it blows and you'll likely not be within sight of another boat.
 
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T-Rock

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Thanks for the info wanchese. The weather in October will probably be one of the things that'll deter us from venturing out that far in a small boat, particularly if the fishing is better close by. However, if we have a super nice calm, flat day, we may head there out of curiosities sake. Hopefully we won't make the news. Lol

When we fish OBX, we usually hit the surf, or point, so I'm not familiar at all navigating that area, but we do have a GPS and depth finder. Approximately how far out from Waves/Rodanthe are the sloughs and shoals? Does that area hold any Drum?

Last year our trip got cut short because of the hurricane, nevertheless we ended up catching more Drum soundside than we did oceanside...
 

Wanchese

Twelve Pointer
The shoals stick out into the sound from right at the shoreline out to several miles and there are sloughs cut all through them. The channel leaving Rodanthe harbor is marked all the way to the outside.


Definitely holds drum, if you get a pretty day might find a school waking and be able to sight cast to them.
 

Gus

Six Pointer
Agree with all Wanchese said.
Don't be in a hurry or you'll find yourself grounded in a foot o water.
 

darenative

Twelve Pointer
I wouldn't base my trip down here around fishing that AR, as there is better fishing to be had that time of year much closer to home and in much less exposed areas. Like wanchese said, that is about the roughest area of our sound and with a smaller boat it's gonna be out of reach more often than not.
 

T-Rock

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Thank you all for the input! Good information for a novice like me!

Are the most up to date charts obtained through NOAA, or are there others that you would recommend?
 

Wanchese

Twelve Pointer
Those charts are about as good as you'll find. I've never seen any that show much detail like the sloughs in that area. I would try to give you directions to a couple places but there's no landmarks, other than the channel markers at Rodanthe channel and a few pilings that mark the outside boundary of Pea Island Refuge.

Looking at google earth will give a better idea of the shoals and sloughs but even that is not that great.


Are you planning on leaving from the public ramp at Rodanthe or from a private ramp?
 

T-Rock

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Spoke with the KOA general manager (camp Hatteras) and found they have a concrete boat ramp for wave runners and small boats. From May till September it is leased by Charlie's boat rentals, but after September, if a day pass is purchased, it's available to anyone willing to purchase a pass from the campground. That is where we will try and launch since it's only a block from the house we're renting. Spoke with Charlie's as well, and he said it's roughly 4' at the end of the ramp so it should be enough for a 17' boat.

We have a Garmin GPSmap 162 so if you have any Lat Long coordinates for hot spots nearby, we'd by happy to try them 😎

Good idea regarding google earth, thanks! We'll look at that too.

Thanks again for the replies!
 

T-Rock

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Trip Report.

I'll have to say it's not worth the trouble, leave the boat at home... :D

But if you're inclined to bring a boat to the Rodanthe/Waves/Salvo area, Rodanthe Harbor is a public boat ramp, but I would be leery of trying to launch anything larger than 21'. It's a packed gravel/shell ramp and if some are going to try it, stay as close as possible to the south side of the ramp near the piles while launching, it drops off quickly and you'll need a 4WD to launch and retrieve. Too far on the north side of the ramp, near the sunk catamaran, you're likely to get stuck in silt, and it drops off sharply there too, more so than the south side.

First 3 days were too windy to make the run to the reef, our little Dorado took a pounding just 3-4 miles out with 3-4' waves, that were really close together. The last 3 days were perfect for fishing, but didn't make the run due to having too many kids with us. Lol

We didn't slay them, but we did catch numerous puppy drum just under the slot (released), sheepshead, croakers, spots, flounder, eels and skates. No luck casting nets on top of pogie meal for shrimp, but I suspect august would've been a better time for that, maybe next year!

Highlight of the trip, with the kids (nephews) in the boat, was a pod of 15-20 dolphins that set up shop about 15 yards where we anchored, and played most of the time we were there. They seemed just as fascinated by us as we were by them.

All in all it was well worth trailering the boat, and now that we've gotten to know the area a little better (sloughs/channels, shoals, etc.) we're definitely gonna bring it our next trip.

The sunsets in the Pamlico were absolutely fantastic, pictures don't do justice.....

Good luck fishing!

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