By Brian Horsley

For the first time since last season, it’s sticky hot at 9 a.m. as we prepare to launch. Our plan is to primarily tap into the speckled trout bite in eastern Pamlico Sound, which is kicking in nicely now that the water temps are finally in the upper 70s. A light southwest wind is beginning to blow and the tide is getting ready to ebb—perfect conditions as I see it. As is typical in most North Carolina coastal waters, summer specks in the eastern Pamlico are not huge, 12 to 18 inches on average, but what they lack in size they make up for in quantity and aggressiveness.

We began drift-fishing about 10 miles south of Oregon Inlet in four feet of water over spotty grass bottom. The wind direction and tide flow combined to carry us right along the edge of a deeper slough that normally holds good numbers of fish. We began fan-casting the flat with both scented and unscented soft-plastic jerkbaits. My partner’s line came tight on his second cast, and a decent trout surfaced immediately to wage a typical head-shaking surface battle. Before he could land it, I got thumped too, so I held my rod high and opened the anchor locker to slip the hook over.

“Looks like we found a school, let’s stay with ’em awhile,” I said, and we enjoyed over an hour of steady action before moving along to mix things up a bit with some bluefish, flounder and redfish, all of which are dependable to varying degrees in the Sound during the summer.

Pamlico Sound is a huge body of water, extending from Oregon Inlet south to Hatteras Inlet inside the “reef.” This savannah of aquatic vegetation seems to go on forever; the solid grassflats are broken up by sloughs, channels and sand shoals. This variety makes perfect habitat for crabs and small fish such as pinfish, pigfish and croakers. In addition, shrimp and glass minnows inhabit these grassy waters. In the warm months, speckled trout, bluefish, flounder, gray trout and redfish flood into these grasses to do some serious rooting.

These rich fishing grounds can be difficult to navigate by boat, but with a little knowledge and a pioneer spirit you can do quite well. Though standard shallow-draft skiffs get you into the action, sea kayaks and aluminum johnboats are ideal because you can drag them off a trailer or from atop a car and launch them in shallow water along roadsides and unofficial ramps. Though these waters can also be accessed by bigger boats launched from public ramps at Oregon Inlet, Rodanthe, Avon, Buxton, Frisco or Hatteras Village, intimate knowledge of the water is needed to keep a day trip from becoming an overnighter.

Fishy Hangouts

In such a vast body of water, where does one start? It all looks good, but many of the sandy shoals or big sand flats have little cover, thus little food, so they are generally devoid of gamefish. Big and small reds will occasionally “sunbathe” on top of such shoals, but are conspicuous, and not surprisingly, very spooky and will move to deeper water as soon as they feel threatened. Bluefish will at times herd baitfish on top of the shoals, but once the bait gets scattered, it is hard to find concentrations of blues.

The best fishing takes place over what locals call “spotty bottom,” found around sloughs, depressions or settles, particularly along the bigger sand shoals. These grass humps can be the size of a 5-gallon bucket or 20 feet across or bigger, and are interspersed with clean sand bottom. Such bottom is rich with tiny forage, so attracts smaller fish like pigfish, pinfish, spots and croakers. Small crabs, shrimp and bay anchovies also favor these areas. This large food source attracts predators including speckled trout, flounder, reds and bluefish. The most productive spotty bottom in the Sound is in water depths from 3 to 6 feet.

The other main feature to look out for is solid grass bottom. Crabs like to molt or shed in these areas. Of all the features inside the reef, the solid grassflats get the least attention from anglers, but they are proven areas for big speckled trout, and somewhat surprisingly, flounder, which many anglers automatically think prefer bare mud or shell bottom. If you watch the region’s commercial flounder fishermen, they spend the bulk of their time over the solid grass.

Also keep your eyes open for sloughs and “settles,” or depressions. Sloughs and channels are deeper areas that divide the shallows, providing ways to navigate the flats. The grassy areas on the edge of the sloughs can be red-hot spots for speckled trout, and settles and smaller sloughs are favored by schools of reds. Along the edges you can often find spotty bottom, making theses areas some of the most productive spots. If you can find a point or turn in the slough, this structure can be even better, as the point or turn makes a natural ambush spot.

Dealing with Floating Grass

The only downside to this grassy sound is that eelgrass and other grasses have a tendency to break off and float. Nothing ruins a fishing trip faster than having to shake grass from your lure after every cast. But if you keep wind direction in mind, you can avoid the worst of it. Hatteras Island generally lies on a north-south axis, but below Cape Point the island curves sharply to the west. So if you are fishing north of Buxton on the Point, an easterly wind will push floating grass off the shoreline into deeper water, allowing you to fish the flats adjacent to shore. Southwest and west winds push grass back to the shoreline, and that’s when you’re forced to drift-fish over flats farther out in the Sound. By midsummer the water temperature climbs well into the 80s and after several days of high winds, floating grass and submerged grass can become very thick, making the entire area just about impossible to fish, unless you seek out places where tidal current is strongest. You’ll find good current around dredge islands inside Hatteras Inlet, and the waters behind New Inlet, where the current and wind tend to line up the grass in rows, making it somewhat easier to fish.

Target Species and Seasons

This fishery is at its best from late spring through fall. The Oregon Inlet region fishes best in summer and down at Hatteras Island, the action starts earlier and finishes later, giving you a longer window to plan a trip.

Though speckled trout are the most abundant species from March through summer, bluefish raid the grassflats in packs, though you will find some loners. The blues tend to feed along slough edges and deeper holes, primarily in spring or fall. In mid-summer they move off over the reef into the deeper, cooler waters of open Pamlico Sound. Flounder are prevalent inside the reef from spring through fall and again, prefer solid grass bottom here, but can be caught over sand bottoms, particularly near the inlets.

Though popular here, redfishing can be hit or miss. North Carolina is known for its big reds, particularly in the Hatteras surf, though the average red is 18 to 24 inches. Soon after they reach 28 inches they join the adult population either in the ocean or in the southernmost reaches of Pamlico Sound.

Some years redfish are abundant and others scarce. This is not a classic tailing redfishery, but anglers do sight cast to waking fish. Most are caught while blind-casting. They are creatures of habit—find them holed up and they will likely remain there most of the summer. For a good staring point, check out the shallow coves along much of the Sound-side Hatteras shoreline, and around Gull Shoal Island just south of Avon, a few miles north of the Cape. SWA

Pamlico Sound Tackle

Spinning or plug tackle in the 8- to 12-pound class will cover the bases here. Summer breezes come up in the afternoon, so perhaps spin tackle will be your best bet for tossing lighter lures, especially into a headwind. Every local speckled trout fisherman has a favorite plastic-tailed jig, but curly-tailed models are hard to beat.

Carry along a selection of plastic jerkbaits (jerk shads) such as the Bass Assassin, Finn-S or something similar. These baits can be fished with lightweight jigheads (1⁄8- to 1⁄4-ounce) over grass and oysters, or rigged weedless on a plastic worm hook for the shallowest water. Color and shape of the heads is a personal preference. Many locals prefer round, unpainted heads. When fishing in strong current and deeper sloughs, switch to 3⁄8- to 1⁄2-ounce jigheads. Scent-impregnated baits such as Berkley Gulp! are effective when the fish are finicky, but be aware that pinfish, crabs, lizardfish, pigfish and croakers also chew on them.

Surface commotion can be the clincher some days. Speckled trout, bluefish and redfish are suckers for grubs fished under traditional popping corks or rattle floats. Fish a light jig on a 3-foot leader under a cork in the sloughs and perhaps even shorter over shallow grass. Surface plugs take the biggest trout, and reds, but should be reserved for days when floating grass is minimal. If targeting flats reds, weedless gold spoons are tops.

Though sight-fishing is limited here, a 7- to 9-weight fly rod is right at home. An intermediate-sink line is ideal; it allows you to fish the entire water column. Leaders can be simple—a 6-foot piece of 16-pound-test mono will do, or you can fish an 8- to 10-foot tapered leader if you like. If there’s bluefish in the mix, add a short bite tippet of 25-pound-test fluorocarbon. A Clouser Deep Minnow is as good a pattern as any. Top color combos include black over orange with copper flash; olive over white with copper flash; chartreuse over white with silver or gold flash; and brown over tan with gold flash. Sea-Ducers and Bendbacks are also effective, and small poppers will make fly fishing for bluefish even more fun. My motto is: If they can be caught on a jig they can be caught on a fly

Where to Launch

Hatteras Island is over 63 miles long and is dotted with several villages between sections of the National Seashore. The Oregon Inlet Fishing Center is located just to the north of Oregon Inlet and has public boat ramps. After you cross over Oregon Inlet Bridge heading south, it is approximately 15 miles to the village of Rodanthe, which has a public boat ramp on the western side of the island. The villages of Waves and Salvo are just to the south of that, and a 17-mile stretch of Cape Hatteras National Seashore separates Salvo from Avon, or Kinnakeet, as the locals call it. There you’ll find another public boat ramp and this is the easiest access to Gull Shoal Island. Cape Hatteras and the village of Buxton is 10 miles south of Kinnakeet. Just north of Buxton there is a public use area on the Pamlico Sound side called the Canadian Hole. It is very popular with kite boarders but also is an excellent place to launch kayaks. There are a couple of small public ramps just south of Buxton at the Scotch Bonnet Marina.

Farther south, Frisco is the next village and has several spots to launch kayaks with roadside parking. The final village is Hatteras Village and it has several charterboat docks and boat ramps. This is the best access of all to Hatteras Inlet.