Overwhelmed Fishing the Currituck Sound

[Rucksack]

It's starting to warm up. I just got a kayak and I've got the rest of the year to figure out how to fish the Currituck Sound. I'm on the Northern OBX side.

 

Despite being excited, I'll admit to being totally stumped on how to even begin. I'm used to fishing small municipal lakes, not large natural bodies. I am also used to working with major drop offs, the sound is fairly flat and shallow (max 8-ish feet). I'm accustomed to fishing wood, the sound seems mostly weedy. There's not the shoreline tree cover I'm used to from the Piedmont either. It's very much alien to me. 

 

Any advice, general or specific, would be appreciated. What lures you think would work would be great. What features (docks, shallow bays, etc) to look for would be awesome too. Even book or article recommendations but how fish orient in a big system like this would help me. I have no electronics, but I can certainly read a map if there are useful charts out there!

[JHoss]

When you say Northern OBX, are you referring to the Corolla area? I've fished Back Bay a few times, which is connected and very similar so I'll try to help a bit. 

 

I've found the canals and creeks easier to break down than the wide open sound or miles of shoreline. Some hold fish, some don't and I've found that to vary day to day. I typically cover water with something like a bladed jig, buzzbait or spinner bait until I find an area with fish. Then I'll slow down and pick it apart flipping a T Rig or Wacky. I'll also fish hollow body frogs, toads, flukes, swim baits, cranks, etc. There's plenty of things they'll eat.

 

I suspect there's plenty of duck blinds down that way too. They're a good thing to check since it's one obvious piece of cover you can break down quickly. Hit a couple and you'll know if that's a pattern worth running. 

 

If I'm not finding them in creeks, canals, or on duck blinds then its time to cover water. If the water's up in the bank grass then I'm throwing buzzbaits, speed worms, swim jigs, etc. If I'm fishing off the bank, I'm going with chatterbaits and rattle traps. 

 

I'm sure there are guys who have spent enough time out there to have found hidden honey holes in the middle of nowhere, but I aint one of them.

 

The last thing I'll add is to be cautious in your kayak out there. Sometimes when you're fishing in those creeks or canals, you don't realize how much the wind has picked up on the main sound. I once made a long run across Back Bay to fish some canals and didn't notice the wind picking up. By the time I left and headed back I was dealing with 30mph and 2-3 footers in my face. Nothing for a boat, but my overloaded kayak was taking on water and I barely made it back without sinking. If you find yourself in that situation, hug the shoreline. At least then if you have to get out to bail water or you flip, you should be in thigh deep water while you're getting things right again. 

[Rucksack]

1 minute ago, JHoss said:

When you say Northern OBX, are you referring to the Corolla area? I've fished Back Bay a few times, which is connected and very similar so I'll try to help a bit. 

Yup, I'm up in the Corolla area. 

 

3 minutes ago, JHoss said:

The last thing I'll add is to be cautious in your kayak out there. Sometimes when you're fishing in those creeks or canals, you don't realize how much the wind has picked up on the main sound.

 

This is very true. I got out of a protected bay last weekend and immediately went back in. The wind is gnarly out here.  

 

Thank you so much. Your response was super helpful. I'm literally writing down notes from it. 

[JHoss]

No problem. One other thing that would probably help a lot on this fishery would be to use Google Earth (downloaded on a computer) to view historical imagery of the areas your fishing. I think you'd likely find some images with low water levels, which you could scour for cover or contours exposed by that low water. Just a quick glance at the online version shows a lot of areas of grass and some high spots.

 

If you google 978 Cruz Bay Lane and look off their dock, you'll see an area with what appears to be a strong grass line or contour plus a bunch of scattered grass. There looks like there may even be a duck blind or something there. Places like that can be a great place to start because you can check 4 or 5 types of cover/structure in one small area to see what they're on.

 

The part I don't know how to advise you on is finding the salt line. If I'm remembering correctly, my buddy owns a place on Cruz Bay Lane and we caught a couple speckled trout off his dock the one time we were there. I would think that's far enough from Oregon Inlet to be brackish and have bass and some salt species in there, but can't say for sure.

 

With the warm weather we're having and time of year, I'd expect the first wave of fish to be moving up to spawn. A lot of these fish will look for good bottom in creeks, canals, and backwaters of the marsh where they're protected. I'd be starting at the back of those places and work my way out. Do that in a couple spots and you should run into them. 

[casts_by_fly]

I've not fished it, only researched it from our trips down there so that that FWIW.  I think you need to get further up towards northwest river to get away from the salt.  The sound up by Corolla is still pretty brackish.  If you're living in Corolla, then that's going to be a bit of a trek though either by car or by paddle. Like JHoss, I'd say focus on the smaller areas and pick them over.  Find some deeper water near the shallow water and then play the tides.  They fish will push up shallower when the tide comes up and then pull back to the deeper slots and wait for baitfish when the tide is pulling out.  There isn't a huge depth swing on the sound, but there is enough.  

[JHoss]

2 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

I've not fished it, only researched it from our trips down there so that that FWIW.  I think you need to get further up towards northwest river to get away from the salt.  The sound up by Corolla is still pretty brackish.  If you're living in Corolla, then that's going to be a bit of a trek though either by car or by paddle. Like JHoss, I'd say focus on the smaller areas and pick them over.  Find some deeper water near the shallow water and then play the tides.  They fish will push up shallower when the tide comes up and then pull back to the deeper slots and wait for baitfish when the tide is pulling out.  There isn't a huge depth swing on the sound, but there is enough.  

Tides are a good point. Back Bay and Northwest River are wind driven but I would think the sound near Corolla is more tidal. Even Tulls Bay (where Northwest dumps in to) has a decent salinity to it most of the time. 

 

If you're thinking about driving to Northwest River, do yourself a favor and go to North River instead. I live 5 minutes from NW and it's nothing special. Plenty of dinks, but bass over 3 lbs are rare. Most of the guys who win tournaments out of NW are running to Back Bay or somewhere well out of the river.