Fall Fishing in Cape Hatteras
The fall can be a great time to fish here. Usually around mid-October things really pick up. Trout, Flounder, Big Whiting, Black Drum, Slot Redfish and Bull Redfish are on the menu.
Slot and Bull Redfish
Cape Point is the place to be, and everyone knows it. So, my advice is to get there early because around 9:00am the parade starts. You will be lucky to find a spot after then.
The bait of choice is Bunker and Mullet (Striped Mullet). I prefer Cobb Heads; most all my Bulls have been caught on that. Truly I have never caught any Redfish on Bunker, Blues but not Redfish.
There is no guarantee that you will catch one but the odds there are much higher than anywhere else on the island. Usually with a southwest wind typically over 15 the odds go much higher to catch one at the point. Where they are located there's no guarantee either they could be 30 yards out or they could be 100 yards out but most of the experienced fishermen like to fish right in front of the actual point on the South end close to the Breakers where they will go in and look for food.
All of my bulls have been caught on the South end and they have been out deep and all on a finger mullet head the only one I caught on the North End was in short and right before the Breakers.
I am not a fan of fishing at the point personally, because in the fall I'm looking for something good to eat usually trout, whiting, slot red fish.
The one on the Truck is 52 inches.
Whiting Trout and Slot Redfish
I'll fish for these north of the point and there is an important reason why. The migration is usually north to South and when the migration gets to Cape point there are so many predator fish and sharks and it's so far out that the migration goes way out, and they never seem to return to the surf South of the point in the fall. So, I'm going to get them before they get to the point typically, I'll wait till October the 15th when they open up ramp 34 it's a wide beach and you can fish from Avon pier back towards 32. Sometimes I will fish 38 depending on what tide it is 38 is typically deeper and has a lot of sloughs. I usually have real good luck there and you never know what you're going to catch. Believe it or not I typically start out with a blood worm short and medium that's going to tell me if there's any fish at the area I am in if I catch anything small or large, I will keep fishing that spot. If there are no fish there I will move down 1/4 mile at a time looking for a good wash I will keep repeating these steps until I find fish. Usually when you find fish there is more than one and if you start to catch large Whiting it would take a bulldozer to move me from that spot the rest of the day.
The Bait
like I said I start out with the blood worm. What has been successful in the past has been 3 baits the bloodworm, fish bites and shrimp. I net finger mullet out of my canal, or the ocean and I use the small finger mullet heads which usually pulls in the slot redfish, but I will tell you one day two years ago I caught 5 over slot redfish on fish bites bloodworm in less than one hour at ramp 34 in water less than two feet.
Each year I have a big dilemma on bait because it seems like one year the bloodworm catches the big Whiting and then the next year the fish bites catch the big Whiting. It usually takes about a week or two to figure out which one they're going to hit that year. Trout seem to like the bloodworm or a piece of cut mullet not the head. Flounder usually hit it all they really don't distinguish any favorite bait. My favorite spot is about 100 yards north of Avon pier it seems to be where I get the most fish and I always line up in the exact same spot every time. There is an issue with that area though people park there and go surfing and after that I just head north so if you catch a day without any surfers that's where I would start. I haven't had much luck South of the pier I will run under the pier a few times and try it down there, but the Avon pier seems to be like a stopping point for the fish. So, my hotspot in the fall is anywhere from where you in a ramp 34 down to Avon pier. There is another geographical area that I love to fish down there also and if you take a long look at ramp 34 it will be straight, and everything looks the same until you get about 1/2 mile from the pier this is looking North to South. The water changes right there it gets deeper with lots of slews right at the area where that changes is a great place to fish. I saw the state record Whiting caught there a few years back the guy was right beside me. I caught probably 8 pound and a half to two pound waiting that day.
What do I target?
So, what I actually target is the big whiting. And then one pole I will have the finger mullet head on targeting the slot red fish. Anything else I catch is a bonus. There are a lot of small black drum there that can ruin your day and take all your bait but from my experience you just have to hang in there because I'll also get the big Whiting and slot red fish around them. So, if you're using shrimp, you must use bait thread and that will help with the bait snatchers.
So, in conclusion I fish just the opposite of how fish in the spring where I will sit there all day in one spot for that trophy Pompano. Here in the fall, I will move a lot until I find the fish and somewhere along ramp 34 you're going to find them. Have blood worms, shrimp, Finger mullet heads and use the finger mullet body to target trout and flounder.
What Rigs
My rigs don't very much in the fall I prefer the sand flea with eggs and the coquina clam all with the Mustad demon perfect 1/0 hook. I Always have the fisheye floats out there with the bright orange skirt but they tend to bring in a lot of blue fish and if blue fish come in then your other fish are going to leave. But I have caught many slot redfish with the fisheye float with the skirt.
This year I have the new shrimp rigs which I have designed specifically for fall fishing, and I can't wait to give or report on how they work but I am really excited about these new rigs.
Peak Times
Thanksgiving a week before a week after seems to be the absolute hot time for catching the large Whiting and catching a cooler full of them.
When does it end?
I've caught slot redfish trout and big Whiting deep into December, but it seems like after the Christmas season and the rush on the beach that week it never returns.
There is one other thing that can end it and it can end it early. If we get a nor'easter storm that lasts for more than a day, it pretty much wipes out the rest of the fall fishing season. The fish just never seemed to return after that.
Pompano?
No I do not catch them from October on because I'm not targeting them I'm not fishing deep I am fishing for fish in washes and sloughs.
Small Pompano yes, and lots of them, but nothing like what we catch in the spring.
Jim Price
Psychos Surf Fishing, LLC