Redfish fishing in Outer Banks & Hatteras

In Outer Banks & Hatteras, redfish peak April–May and July–November and are around year-round, spawning in July–September, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. April: The spring run of big 'old' drum hits the Hatteras surf — Cape Point and the Ocracoke beaches, cut mullet or menhaden on a fish-finder.

1. JanuaryAroundPuppy drum hold in the deep sound creeks; the surf is quiet.
2. FebruaryAroundThe quiet month. Deep sound creeks on the warmest afternoons; wrecks when the ocean lays down.
3. MarchAround
4. AprilPeakThe spring run of big 'old' drum hits the Hatteras surf — Cape Point and the Ocracoke beaches, cut mullet or menhaden on a fish-finder.
5. MayPeakSpring drum still in the surf; puppy drum on the sound-side marsh.
6. JuneAround
7. JulySpawningAdult drum gather in Pamlico Sound to spawn; working the sloughs and shoals at dusk with big popping corks.
8. AugustSpawningPeak of the spawning drum on the western Pamlico and the lower Neuse — Maw Point, Brown's Shoal — on the bait balls.
9. SeptemberSpawningBig drum leave the sound through Hatteras and Ocracoke inlets; the surf starts to light up.
10. OctoberPeakThe fall surf run: big drum at Cape Point and the inlets, puppy drum in the sloughs.
11. NovemberPeakLast of the bulls in the surf after the northeasters; puppy drum in the sounds.
12. DecemberAround

A hundred and twenty miles of barrier island — Ocracoke, Hatteras, Pea Island, Bodie, the northern beaches — with Cape Point at Buxton where the Gulf Stream and the Labrador Current meet, three inlets (Ocracoke, Hatteras, Oregon), and behind them Pamlico, Croatan and Albemarle sounds and the Neuse and Pamlico rivers. The Gulf Stream runs 20 miles off Oregon Inlet.

• Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.
• PinfishHooked through the back ahead of the dorsal on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook; the small ones free-lined, the big ones on a fish-finder rig.
• Finger mulletLip-hooked on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook and free-lined, or on a fish-finder rig in the surf. Cut mullet on the bottom for redfish and drum.
• Blue crabsWhole and small for permit and tarpon; halved or quartered on the bottom for black drum, redfish and cobia.
• CroakersHooked through the back on a 2/0 to 3/0 circle hook, free-lined or on a Carolina rig — big trout and redfish can't leave them alone.

• Leader20–30 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook1/0–3/0
• Jig head1/8–3/8 oz
• Braid10–20 lb

Feeds in 58–90°F water, best at 65–82°F.

All about redfish · The Outer Banks, the whole year