Kayak Fishing in Sunset Beach, NC - Into the Reds

[Polar Rock]

Left Severna Park on Sunday night to head down to Sunset Beach for Thanksgiving with the wife's family. We always go down in the dog days of summer in August and NEVER catch fish so we were determined to figure things out.

Monday Morning - Ocean side is like a lake so my 15 year old son and I launch the Hobies into the surf... get in behind the breakers at the North/East inlet and start trolling / jigging for whatever takers we can find. We're met by 5-7 dolphins hanging out with us for a few minutes.... Really Cool. The ride in was a breeze for Ben. He caught a small wave on his Hobie Sport and cruised right in. My larger Hobie Outback didn't do so well. A small wave caught me from behind and turned me sideways and flipped me. I was able to recover everything that wasn't tied down or under the hatch.... EXCEPT my Rods and Reels. Ben and I searched frantically in the surf and miraculously, Ben found 2 of the 3 rigs. Someone ended up with a nice set up at low tide.

Tuesday - Spent some very good money and got a great local guide: Patrick "Smiley" Kelly - www.captainsmileyfishingcharters.com . Smiley put my 2 sons and I onto Speckeled Trout early and then showed us some tricks of finding the Red's. Ben caught the biggest Red of the week in this video. 31" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svdph...edu:clapping2:
I Jumped in the Hobie as soon as we got back. Spent the rest of the afternoon on an incoming tide to use the local knowledge in the tidal creeks. I hit a Grand Slam from the Kayak! A couple of small Speceled trout on the troll down to the creek. A small flounder and my first (ever) Red from the Kayak. It was a small 16" but I couldn't have been happier. Went on to catch 2 more with the biggest being 21".

Wednesday - Ben and I got down to check out a great tidal creek but the tide was still too low when we got there. Ended up having to drag the Kayak over mud and oyster shells. Our Sanuk beach shoes were perfect for stepping over the oyster shells. This was a great time to see the holes and Oyster beds and fingers off the creek. Ended up looking for sand and oyster islands that we could stand up on. Very difficult to navigate around and avoid Mud "Quick Sand" Hard to find any takers,,,, very cool seeing the big swirls and splashes as we came up on holes and turns. I finally got into a 24" that fought like crazy, come to find out he was gill hooked: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38s7E...eature=related

Thursday - Talked the girls into holding off Thanksgiving dinner until 5:00 so my Brother-in-law and I could get out. By the time the wind calmed down enough to get down to our favorite creek, the tide was a little low but not bad. Beautiful cruise through the creek. Tommy managed 1 Red on this trip. but it made for a successful trip and gave us our fix for the day!

Friday - I was able to get my 13 year old son out for our final trip. It turned out to be one of the best. We caught a higher tide as it was going out. We were able to get up into some great holes way up in the creek and enjoy the lazy river ride back out. We found 7 Reds on this trip. My 2nd fish was found in a hole right off the main creek. I told Robert to go back over and try it one more time. He did and pulled another Red out. Then he went back for a 3rd try and sure enough, he pulled a beautiful 24" out of the same 5' hole. It made for a VERY happy kid. He can't wait to get back out.

We fished the same Tidal Creek all 4 days. It was amazing to see how much different it was each time we fishing it. We caught our fish on White Twisty Grubs on a small jig head and a White Gulp Shrimp on the same small jig head. As the Tide was coming in or out it was just like being in a stream. Very Cool experience that we just don't get up around here.

[J.A. Veil]

Very nice report. Those reds sure are fun from a kayak. Even a medium sized one is strong enough to pull you around.

[Capt.Nick]

Good weather,good company,good family get together.You had a great Thanks Giving with a lifelong great memory.they should all be just like that.

[bigjim5589]

report! My father was raised in NC, and when I was a kid, we spent time for several winters in Holdens Beach, just up the coast a bit. My uncle had a beach house there. The family got together a few years ago for a week, and the last time I was there before that was over 30 years ago. Lot of great memories about that part of the world & the fishing down there! Even in February, when we were there most, the fishing wasn't too bad as I recall! The food in Calabash ain't bad either!