Atlantic beach seasons

[jamisjockey]

I live up near DC, but my Dad is here in Havelock. Actually sitting in his office today, we came down for Thanksgiving
Next spring I'd love to haul the boat down here to fish. When do the Cobia usually show up to the Atlantic beach area?
How far offshore does one need to get to find Dolphin, etc, and how early in the season?
Thanks!

[dragula65000]

Cobia won't be in untill the water warms back up again around may, and then you can get em all summer long all the way up to the end of november. Mid summer, I have heard of people catching them off piers, but you can't believe everything you hear. AR315 is about a mile off Atlantic Beach, but you gott travel a bit to get out Beaufort Inlet. Dolphin will be caught at NE places, 315, the Atlas, and anywhere in the Gulf Stream. AR 315 won't hold Dolphin till around mid to late summer. Kings can be caught just about all year round, but you gott go aways to get em in the winter. In spring, kings will come back strong, and the madness starts all over again. Hope this helps some.

[jamisjockey]

May, you say? Since my Dad's in Havelock I could launch in Morehead..... :-)

[Top Water]

The third week of May through the third week of June is our inshore Cobia season off BFT Inlet and Cape Lookout. In late April to early May Cobia show up in numbers on the wrecks south of Bft Inlet. Papoose, Naeco. One day in April 1990 I was working as a mate on the Cont Shelf and our first stop was on the Naeco. 80 dudes from Philly dropped and hooked 40 Cobias simataneously. they came up in balls of mono and knots of 4-8Cobias in the 40 pound range. It happened from 1 end of the Boat to the other. We had to trace every leader to find who's rig belong to which fish. It took 5 of us about 2 hours to get it right. The fish boxes were nearly full. I will never forget that day! Some years, like last year, prevailing winds and current, and bait, pushes the majority of the fish north of the shoals at Cape Lookout as they move towards the beaches. These years our fishing sucks while Hatteras gets the fish. Other years, we get the motherlode and our fishing is consistent for 7-10 days before the main body reached Hatteras. All of these fish are headed to Chesapeake Bay. The really big numbers occur out of Oregon Inlet. I believe that a thermocline is fairly common up there that makes their sight casting opportunities increase 10 fold over ours. Off Bft Inlet there are days when we find cruising Cobia and days we don't. Bottom fishing with bait is still and will forever be the best method off Bft Inlet. We do get a few sight casting chances on certain days. What really blows the numbers off OI off the chart are the years that the migrating Cobia run into barriers of cold water as they swim north. This will stop them dead in their tracks and they mill around on the surface. These are the days or weeks that the sight casters and chummers out of OI destroy them. Honestly, a good season out of Bft Inlet for anybody would be 10-15 Cobia. You would be "the man" down here. By comparison, Cato caught 38 one day a few years ago and who knows how many Aaron Kelly has caught this year, way over 200. Last year in 70 hours of fishing bait and riding the tower, I caught 3 or 4 small Cobia off Bft Inlet. I fished about 4 hours off Hatteras and caught a 61 and a 65. Good luck Cobia fishing off Bft Inlet. Fish Rough Pt and get in line with everybody else. My top fish came from there, a 92 pounder in 2007. We had a good week that year. 2-5 bites per day and lots of 50-90 pounders, all from Rough Point. Cape Lookout Bight is easier to fish and was our hot spot for years, Not so good the past couple of years. Behind Shackleford Banks in the 20-25 foot water was everybodies favorite in the 90's. It aint crowded now. Catch a load of menhaden and start fishing, change your bait every 5-10 minutes and forget trying to "hook the bites" they are the small Bluefish and just feed them. The fun stuff doesn't bite, it swallow and runs. This will be the 8-12 pound Bluefish, the Sharks, and the Rays. Everybody needs to catch a 200pound Southern Stingray. Honestly, in 25 years of hardcore Cobia fishing out of Bft Inlet, I have probably averaged 1 per day. Be careful and don't miss your chance because it might be your only chance. The better odds would be call Cato or Aaron Kelly. Just being honest....That was a rant...I need to go fishing. I got FUEL PROBLEMS and I am stuck at the dock and the weather is great!

Top Water Charters Beaufort, NC

[cnaff]

Hey Marty--Hate to hear you got the ethanol blues,sure wish I could help out.We worry about this fuel thing all the time.Seems you gotta pick your source carefully,test the fuel,and maybe even drain the tank and fill 'er with fresh stuff every now and then.We're hoping PRI-G will prevent phase sep and such,but who really knows,since gas and alcohol never really belong together.Give me a call if you wanna try a rock trip out of OI soon. Chris

[jamisjockey]

Thanks for the scoop! I'll spend most of my summer chasing them around the bay, but would love to get an early start in NC waters.
Folow up question:
When do the amberjack show up in good numbers out of OI?

[carey]

i would have to agree with all of top waters advice and info

for what its worth here is a monster day of cobia fishing out of oregon inlet...


AJ's are thick from spring time to early fall on wreck and ledges off both oregon and hatteras inlets.....they love a butterfly jig

[jamisjockey]

Holy hell thats a serious haul!
So if I was to start thinking about planning a pre-summer trip to chase Cobes out of OI, when should I think about it? Mid-May?
I'd also like to think about an offshore run during the same trip.....what might be available and how far offshore?

[want dem reds]

The beginning run of cobia you can count on ussually occurs the first couple weeks of june here at OI. I have been seen a couple seasons in mid may....but i would put my money on one of the first couple weeks of june. If you want to get down to Hatteras and fish those waters...then late may is a better bet than OI...Just my two cents but hope it helps ya.....

[jamisjockey]

Okay thanks! I might just plan a florida trip for March or April and then be patient for the cobes to show up here in Virginia