Fishing in Pier

North Carolina has an abundance of fishing piers extending into the ocean, some reaching more than 1,000 feet out. They begin in Kitty Hawk and continue down to Sunset Beach. Pier fishing is a great way for the whole family to enjoy the sport at a reasonable cost. Most piers have some type of entertainment center, a restaurant or snack bar, and a tackle shop. The cost is less than a movie and you get to take your catch home.

A few serious pier jockeys will spend hours fishing live baits in hopes of hooking a big king mackerel, tarpon, cobia, or bluefish. This takes patience, skill, and a serious investment in tackle. It is easier and more productive to soak a bait on the bottom and catch a mixed bag of blues, trout, sea mullet, croaker, spot, and anything else that happens to swim by. Blues and Spanish mackerel often stage feeding frenzies at the end of the pier early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Lures cast into this melee will bring instant strikes and exciting action.

In the spring and fall, big red drum and striped bass are caught from piers north of Cape Hatteras. Chunks of cut bait fished on the bottom at night collect most of these trophies.