For some reason, the transition from spring to summer happened in the blink of an eye this year. It seems like Highway 12 instantly changed from a quiet rural road to a freeway of vehicles laden with fishing gear and kayaks. Hatteras Island is a most popular vacation destination because of its great beaches and surf, awesome fishing, and lack of commercialization compared to the beaches on the mainland.
Offshore fishing is at its peak during June. Blue marlin fishing is probably most consistent during this month and there is a tournament scheduled each week. Dolphin fishing remains excellent, and even though there are still a good number of “gaffers” caught, more of the school size “bailers” start to become plentiful. Fewer yellowfin are caught down here during the summer, but the blackfin fishing has remained pretty good. More wahoo start inhabiting the water over the breaks and ledges, giving anglers some fast action on trolling gear.
The nearshore boats hit it hard in June, as they sight cast for cobia. Bucktails are casted to these prehistoric looking creatures as they cruise the surface. They range in size from under ten pounds to over 100. Don’t let a cobia’s appearance turn you off. They might look like an old ugly brown catfish, but many would choose them as their favorite fish to eat. I got some from Risky Business Seafood the other day and had it blackened. It was superb.
In addition to the cobia fishing, Spanish mackerel and bluefish become abundant along the beach and can be caught trolling or casting spoons.
The boats fishing in the sound are catching nice size puppy drum and I’ve already heard of a few speckled trout. I’ve gotta say that the clamming has been excellent too!
The surf fishermen are starting to enjoy quite a variety of action in addition to the Spanish mackerel and bluefish that come within range. Blowtoads and sea mullet are biting bottom rigs along with puppy drum.
Commercial crabbers are in the peak of their season right now, and are bringing in great catches of blue crabs. Some of the guys are fishing nets in the sound while other are setting for Spanish mackerel in the ocean. The bottom fishermen wait for stretches of little or no current in the Gulf Stream so they can make a trip to target grouper and tilefish.
I’ve gotta say that as much as I enjoy the quiet of Hatteras Island in the winter, we all are thankful and depend on tourism and our guests to help our island thrive. Come enjoy a week with us!
