Had a long weekend and a good weather window, so I saw a rare opportunity to fish this time of year. Drove down to VA Beach Thursday to fish out of Rudee Inlet Friday morning. The Owl's Creek inlet was an absolute zoo at 0530 in the morning. I cleared Rudee inlet at 0630 and headed south to Rockfish around the Va/NC state line. Trolled all day with no bites and hardly any life in the water. Intel from a very reliable source is that most of the Rockfish caught off of VA and NC in the last couple of weeks are 8-12 miles off shore. There are some heated topics on other sites concerning this. IMO, the blatant disregard to the rules is frustrating. Put my boat up Fri afternoon and headed south.
Made it to the OBX around 1830 in the evening and met up with the Capt of the Split Bill out of Wanchese NC. The Capt is an old friend of mine and after getting caught up, we racked out ready to make the run to the point (45 miles SW) of Oregon Inlet in the morning.
Up early and ran to the temp change. It was easy to find, the water jumped from 42 to 68. We put the lines out in flat conditions and started the troll. We fished all day without a knockdown. Lots of life out there, just no tuna. Numerous large pods of porpoise, whales and saw some large sharks finning on top. Some great weather and good friends and we were able to tuna fish in Jan, a rare treat.
Well, that was probably my last fishing trip in my boat that far south as I will brining it up to my new home in Philly this spring. Anyone know of a Marina along the coast with a slip available?
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