Winter fishing in Cape Hatteras
The winter season in Cape Hatteras offers prime fishing opportunities, supported by 12 years of personal experience and observation. While there may not be scientific data to back it up, this information is based on factual evidence.
After the fall season peaks, usually around Thanksgiving, anglers can expect catches of whiting, speckled trout, and both black and red drum to decrease leading up to Christmas.
In Cape Hatteras, the mild winter weather often leads most fish to migrate to their winter home in the Pamlico Sound. Despite fishing for the entire months of January and February, I have yet to receive a single bite. This pattern has persisted year after year.
In my fourth year at this location, I began doing indoor maintenance on my fishing equipment in order to pass the time until March arrived. The canal in front of my house was frozen over and there were reports of dead speckled trout everywhere. However, a friend invited me to join him in catching a lot of drum and I quickly took up the offer. For three weeks straight, we caught slot redfish and oversized redfish in the same spot near the pier in Frisco, in front of the yellow house. The news spread quickly and the entire town gathered in that spot. It was simply a matter of heading to the yellow house, catching as much as we wanted, and then releasing them back into the water, keeping only the one we wanted to keep. It was a truly a unique experience.
In the following year, my persistent desire to catch fish led me to scour every wash from one end of Frisco to the other. However, the milder winter yielded no bites, leading to immense frustration. I eventually gave up on fishing and focused on indoor tasks
Following a three-year interval, the winter season experienced another cold snap causing the reappearance of fish. This time, the fish were found in multiple washes along 49 and 55. This led to my contemplation on the relationship between water temperature and the fish's migration to warmer regions when their winter habitat becomes too inhospitable. As a consequence, we now only fish during harshly cold winters, avoiding the milder ones.
With the recent colder than normal winter of 2024-2025, the fish in the sound are seeking warmer waters, making it the perfect time for a beach fishing trip. In the Hatteras inlet, red drum have been easily caught for 3-4 weeks straight, with lures proving to be successful every time. These fish have been found also up and down the Ramp 55 beach in hard washes and deep holes near the beach, along with some impressive black drum.
From Christmas until almost the end of January, this year has been one of the best and coldest I have experienced in this region. The data speaks for itself - this is no coincidence, but rather a result of the harsh weather conditions. As a seasoned resident, I have learned how to make even the most mundane winter days enjoyable for fishing. With that, I leave you with some food for thought. Happy fishing!
Jim