Hatteras

[Foul Hook]

Anyone ever done any trolling down in Hatteras. We're heading down and I want to troll inshore and along the beach. Not sure what to bring and pull. Thanks FH

[Gerry Zagorski]

Spanish Macs are pretty popular down there in the surf so I would guess trolling in close to the beach as well...I've caught them casting Avas in the surf..

If you're going to troll I would suggest Clark Spoons with a drail weight since you'll be trolling on the fast side...

Here's an article I found https://www.pointclickfish.com/fishing/saltwater-fishing/inshore/north-carolina-spanish-mackerel-fishing-tips/

[Pauls1976]

Agreed, this time of year trolling along beaches for Spanish Mackeral and small Blues is the main game. They use small spoons either on planers or drails. Though I found and tackle shop says they can’t keep them stocked, a mini spreader bar with small squids and a Clark spoon as a trailer. Ocean was a mess last week with weather, so have no idea what else was going on other than trout and drum in the sound

[Gerry Zagorski]

Agreed, this time of year trolling along beaches for Spanish Mackeral and small Blues is the main game. They use small spoons either on planers or drails. Though I found and tackle shop says they can’t keep them stocked, a mini spreader bar with small squids and a Clark spoon as a trailer. Ocean was a mess last week with weather, so have no idea what else was going on other than trout and drum in the sound

Yes! Article says 0 or 00 sized Clark Spoons, I might throw an AVA 17 in the spread too or cast the ava if you see any commotion and reel it in FAST :cool:

These Spanish Macs are a blast on light tackle!!

[Gerry Zagorski]

And Tony not sure if you knew but the water drops off pretty quick there so the deep drop is really close there if you want to screw around with some heavier stuff

[Foul Hook]

And Tony not sure if you knew but the water drops off pretty quick there so the deep drop is really close there if you want to screw around with some heavier stuff
Yes. We charter for wahoo,tuna,ect. The boat we have there is only 18ft so kind of limited on how far to stretch out. Thanks for the input everyone.

[shrimpman steve]

Have fun tony and above all be safe my friend

[Foul Hook]

Have fun tony and above all be safe my friend

Thanks Cappy

[Capt. Debbie]

Good luck.

And don't bother crabbing in Pamlico. The bay is HUGE. Cant see other side almost 20 miles across.

I spent a week down there with my crab machine docked in backyard. NADA.

Bait shops tell you same. Even out by those stand alone duck blinds in open waters 4 miles out- CRAPPO. Really disappointing since I loved everything else there.

I thought it would be on par with Chesapeake Bay Estuary, It's more on par with crabbing in Paterson's Home Depot's parking lot. DISMAL!! Shallow water the bottom is devoid of vegetation and bait fish

Good luck Ocean side! Forget a slow day crabbing.

[Papasown]

I love Hatteras. If you will be staying in the village of Hatteras with an 18 Ft. boat, there is endless things to do inshore, and in the sound.
You can dig sand fleas in the surf and fish them around the channel markers for Sheepshead. Gotta be quick. In the sound you can clam in 2 1/2 Ft. of water that has eel grass. We filled a big cooler in a couple of hours with 5 people and 2 labrador retrievers that were digging them too....lol Gotta love that. Drift for fluke around the edges of the channel along the ferry route. Hang on when the ray picks you up.
You can fish the wash in the surf and catch lots of Mullet with subikis, and small trout hooks I dress them with a little flash, and kids ( and adults ) love it.
Venture into the inlet ( if you pick your day, and cast for Cobia around the channel markers on the way out. ( Stop at any bait shop and tell you what you want to do. Their info is stellar, and have any tacle/bait you could need. ) On a good day you can troll the beach for Spanish, but get them on ice immediately, or you eat mush. Please, PLEASE do not head offshore on an 18 ft. boat, as it is the Grave Yard of the Atlantic, and conditions change quickly. I ran off in my 23 Parker, but watched the weather closely, and had good reports.
Hatteras is a beautiful little village. Enjoy the fish cleaning daily at Hatteras Harbor, and bring a beer for the fish cleaner. He appreciates it.
Catching bait is typical as it is here. Bring a killey trap to catch Pinfish, but make it your old one. I had a couple of them walk away, unfortunately.
If you have an onshore day cruise the town and see some beautiful shore type scenes. Stop at the gallery and see my wife's paintings. Audrey Linstrom is popular there. I also have cast netted half a 5 gallon pail of shrimps that I was going to use as bait, but because they were so large, my family demanded them. At least I got the heads before they cooked them.
Enjoy Hatteras. Having grown up on LBI in the 1950's and 60's i found it to be a familiar beach.......Be safe out there...........Papa
Did I say I love Hatteras ???

[rwp2101]

I do a lot of planer fishing here in NJ. It can be extremely productive for spanish macks as well as many other species. I learned through the owner of my local tackle shop, countless YT vids from the area you're planning to visit, and experience. You can catch them trolling within 1/4 mile of the beach and then stop and cast epoxy jigs at them if you see surface activity.

Four rod trolling spread for Spanish Macks (put them out in this order and bring them in using the reverse):
Bring your outrodders that you use for trolling stripers.
(1) Down the middle anywhere from 100'-150' back run one of those clarkspoon spreader bars mentioned eariler if you can get one. If you can't get one, then run a daisy chain of 3" bulb squids culminating with a #0 or #1 clarkspoon.
(2) On a flat line in the first clean water run a 4" cedar plug. This won't catch many fish but it will catch big spanish macks which put up great fights.
(3) Portside outrodder: Mainline to coastlock ball bearing snap swivel to the ring on a #1 Clarkspoon Planer. Off the back of that planer another coastlock ball bearing snap swivel to 15' of 30# mono to a ball bearing swivel and from that swivel run 15' of 20# fluoro tied directly to a 00 clarkspoon.
(4) Starboard outrodder: Similar setup but a #2 Clarkspoon planer and a 1 clarkspoon.

- I don't like running two of the same number planers, it can lead to tangles. Some people do it. Tangle your planers just once though and you will hate life.
- Speed is usually 5-7 knots.
- Checkout YT for videos on how to planer fish (specifically setting the planer and tripping the planer).
- If you aren't getting bites in a good looking area then switch the colors up (silver, gold and there's a greenish hologram one that is good), switch the sizes up (generally 00, 0 and 1 are the go to but you can go as big as 2 on the spoons), drop the baits further back, change up your speed, and try trolling through that promising area downcurrent, upcurrent, crosscurrent both ways.
- Bring extra clarkspoons because you will get bit off once in a while but you will get more bites with that 20# fluoro than with wire or 30# mono.
- You'll need some decent rods and reels to pull those planers at 7 knots. I like something capable of at least 20 lbs of drag on the #2 planer so I'm not stressing the reel too much.
- Set your drag on the planer rods so you can easily pull line off the reel with one hand but tight enough that they don't creep. When you get bit back off on the drag.
- Leash your rods.

Catch care:
- Bring plenty of ice
- Bring an empty bucket to fill with seawater when you're out there to bring back to the dock with you
- Bleed the fish immediately in the livewell
- Hose the slime off the fish using the raw water hose and put it right on ice once its bled (don't leave it in the livewell more than 5 minutes)
- When you hit the dock, clean the fish and then wash the fillets by dunking them in the seawater bucket. Put them in a ziploc that rests on a bed of ice in a bowl that you place in the fridge. Cook them that night. I grill them with lemon and garlic. My family's favorite fish. Don't bother saving any for the next day or trying to freeze it. It doesn't keep, at all.

Good luck and have fun!

[Gerry Zagorski]

I do a lot of planer fishing here in NJ. It can be extremely productive for spanish macks as well as many other species. I learned through the owner of my local tackle shop, countless YT vids from the area you're planning to visit, and experience. You can catch them trolling within 1/4 mile of the beach and then stop and cast epoxy jigs at them if you see surface activity.

Four rod trolling spread for Spanish Macks (put them out in this order and bring them in using the reverse):
Bring your outrodders that you use for trolling stripers.
(1) Down the middle anywhere from 100'-150' back run one of those clarkspoon spreader bars mentioned eariler if you can get one. If you can't get one, then run a daisy chain of 3" bulb squids culminating with a #0 or #1 clarkspoon.
(2) On a flat line in the first clean water run a 4" cedar plug. This won't catch many fish but it will catch big spanish macks which put up great fights.
(3) Portside outrodder: Mainline to coastlock ball bearing snap swivel to the ring on a #1 Clarkspoon Planer. Off the back of that planer another coastlock ball bearing snap swivel to 15' of 30# mono to a ball bearing swivel and from that swivel run 15' of 20# fluoro tied directly to a 00 clarkspoon.
(4) Starboard outrodder: Similar setup but a #2 Clarkspoon planer and a 1 clarkspoon.

- I don't like running two of the same number planers, it can lead to tangles. Some people do it. Tangle your planers just once though and you will hate life.
- Speed is usually 5-7 knots.
- Checkout YT for videos on how to planer fish (specifically setting the planer and tripping the planer).
- If you aren't getting bites in a good looking area then switch the colors up (silver, gold and there's a greenish hologram one that is good), switch the sizes up (generally 00, 0 and 1 are the go to but you can go as big as 2 on the spoons), drop the baits further back, change up your speed, and try trolling through that promising area downcurrent, upcurrent, crosscurrent both ways.
- Bring extra clarkspoons because you will get bit off once in a while but you will get more bites with that 20# fluoro than with wire or 30# mono.
- You'll need some decent rods and reels to pull those planers at 7 knots. I like something capable of at least 20 lbs of drag on the #2 planer so I'm not stressing the reel too much.
- Set your drag on the planer rods so you can easily pull line off the reel with one hand but tight enough that they don't creep. When you get bit back off on the drag.
- Leash your rods.

Catch care:
- Bring plenty of ice
- Bring an empty bucket to fill with seawater when you're out there to bring back to the dock with you
- Bleed the fish immediately in the livewell
- Hose the slime off the fish using the raw water hose and put it right on ice once its bled (don't leave it in the livewell more than 5 minutes)
- When you hit the dock, clean the fish and then wash the fillets by dunking them in the seawater bucket. Put them in a ziploc that rests on a bed of ice in a bowl that you place in the fridge. Cook them that night. I grill them with lemon and garlic. My family's favorite fish. Don't bother saving any for the next day or trying to freeze it. It doesn't keep, at all.

Good luck and have fun!

Some good stuff right there rwp... Thanks for taking the time to share it!

[atcojg]

Can't go wrong trolling Clark Spoons. we caught Spanish and King Macs right off the beach. plus loads of small blues. Keep a rod rigged with a bucktail for cobia if you see any weed lines. Also there are good amounts of chicken mahi right off the beach some years. Love it down there

[rwp2101]

Some good stuff right there rwp... Thanks for taking the time to share it!

Thank you Gerry for the great site for all of us to share info! Happy to contribute. If I can bring just one person over to the dark side of planer fishing I'll be happy.