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Old 10-30-2014, 12:37 PM   #1
Mahi Maniac
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Winter NC Diving

Well, with hunting season officially in and the cold fronts moving through I haven't been out to dive in what feels like forever. I'm hoping to spear some fish this Winter but know of almost nobody thats done it on the Northern OBX.

So, ideas anybody? Last year Oregon Inlet sanded over but I have good info that the stripers made it that far south. 7mm suit and a decent day would probably convince me to give it a shot. Anybody shot any tog or stripers in that chilly water? I've got some tricks from other parts of the country that could make diving the cold water bearable but to my knowledge nobody's tried.

And I don't expect the towers to be holding fish then but theres usually schools of football tuna and a few wahoo throughout the Winter and I'm considering trying to get on them. Has anybody done any Gulfstream diving this late in the year before? Flashers, Chum, Temperature breaks and schooling fish makes me figure putting a shaft through something offshore isn't impossible. I've tried this before but with a NE wind and the Gulfstream running the opposite direction it makes for a tough drift. I have an idea of how to do it but if anybody with more experience could chime in I'd appreciate it.

On that note, if anybody's insane enough to join me this Winter let me know!
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Old 10-30-2014, 01:50 PM   #2
hatterasfreedvr
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Re: Winter NC Diving

THe water is still pretty warm right now. There is usually some fish to be shot nearshore until the water gets super cold even then there are a few frozen togs here and there. The nearshore vis has sucked for a while now though. Early spring has some good vis days usually, but no fish until h2o gets mid 50s. I definitely wouldn't drive down here just to go shore dive... Far offshore, I know nothing about dat. I'm a landscaper with empty pockets haha. Trout fishing is about to turn on though... You need to learn how to surf too Zach
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Old 10-30-2014, 03:09 PM   #3
Mahi Maniac
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Re: Winter NC Diving

All my time away from school this time of year is spent hunting down there anyways. I might as well give diving a shot when I go down but I agree, this time of year could end up a wasted trip if conditions aren't good. And from what my brothers told me the drum fishings already turned on. He's caught some nice ones already. He'll probably be looking for trout pretty soon.

P.S.-I can surf and have a board but tore my ACL in high school surfing. Haven't touched it for probably two years now.
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Old 10-30-2014, 03:28 PM   #4
hatterasfreedvr
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Re: Winter NC Diving

PM'd ya Zach
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Old 10-31-2014, 12:11 PM   #5
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Re: Winter NC Diving

Ill be diving out of Wilmington till at least January. Hit me up if any one wants to join
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Old 11-01-2014, 06:38 AM   #6
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Re: Winter NC Diving

thanks, Bleu! I'll definitely get up with you if I can make it down that way.
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Old 11-03-2014, 09:01 AM   #7
Mahi Maniac
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Re: Winter NC Diving

Sam, I'm willing to make that drive again too. I'll be bringing serious cold weather gear next time though!
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Old 11-03-2014, 04:59 PM   #8
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Re: Winter NC Diving

Im in, heck that gulf stream water is a nice 80 degrees either way right?

Just give me enough heads up to get a suit!
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Old 11-03-2014, 09:03 PM   #9
Mahi Maniac
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Re: Winter NC Diving

Depends man, in the winter it's all about finding a good temperature break over the shelf to get on the fish. Could be the 70-80 degree side they are on, could be the 60-70 degree side. The blended water of an eddy is where most people try to fish for tuna but a hard Gulfstream break of 6-10 degrees will hold fish. (and create a massive fog bank)

I'll let you know in advance about water temp. Plus I have an extra 5 mil I can loan if you can fit in it.
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Old 11-03-2014, 09:08 PM   #10
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Re: Winter NC Diving

And for future reference in case anybody manages to make the run out in the cold without me:

I figure head to the break where everybody else is going and try to avoid getting run over, find the right water with manageable current and hopefully some sea life (birds, sharks, and of course pilot whales=tuna) and drift/chum until we draw something in or mark a school down low to keep doing drifts over. Might be a long drift over nothing or might be one of the days the tuna are thick. But I know the fish get thick pretty regularly in the Winter and concentrate over specific areas pretty hard. Not to mention we can just casually swim down to fish with lock-jaw instead of waiting for them to get hungry. Either way, it would be interesting.

Although, I'm still a little bummed we can't shoot the big boys.
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Old 11-03-2014, 10:41 PM   #11
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Re: Winter NC Diving

I hopped in off VB at the Chesapeake Light two years ago in January. The water was like 41 on top. Saw a lot of very, very large striper.

That is to say, people have had worse ideas than yours.
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Old 11-04-2014, 07:29 AM   #12
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Re: Winter NC Diving

Ya I stop diving when the water gets below 50.
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Old 11-21-2014, 04:11 PM   #13
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Re: Winter NC Diving

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mahi Maniac View Post
Well, with hunting season officially in and the cold fronts moving through I haven't been out to dive in what feels like forever. I'm hoping to spear some fish this Winter but know of almost nobody thats done it on the Northern OBX.

So, ideas anybody? Last year Oregon Inlet sanded over but I have good info that the stripers made it that far south. 7mm suit and a decent day would probably convince me to give it a shot. Anybody shot any tog or stripers in that chilly water? I've got some tricks from other parts of the country that could make diving the cold water bearable but to my knowledge nobody's tried.

And I don't expect the towers to be holding fish then but theres usually schools of football tuna and a few wahoo throughout the Winter and I'm considering trying to get on them. Has anybody done any Gulfstream diving this late in the year before? Flashers, Chum, Temperature breaks and schooling fish makes me figure putting a shaft through something offshore isn't impossible. I've tried this before but with a NE wind and the Gulfstream running the opposite direction it makes for a tough drift. I have an idea of how to do it but if anybody with more experience could chime in I'd appreciate it.

On that note, if anybody's insane enough to join me this Winter let me know!
I'm always down to hop in the water bud, I have a 25' whitewater than can get us out there. Im down in hampstead, nc and go out until the water drops below. Big sheeps until then and tog near bogue inlet I have a few good sports. Im game for your gulfstream trips your idea sounds perfectly logical! Cant hurt to try
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Old 11-21-2014, 04:40 PM   #14
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Re: Winter NC Diving

I was watching some of the Wicked Tuna North/South and they were showing some good vis and all sorts off bait action. You guys should definitely check it out. You don't need to run that far to get to the Gulfstream, so it means if you can get a nice day with no wind, you could get out there, look for some structure or bait, whales, etc.. I'm not familiar with the area at all, but it looked pretty similar to the Offshore diving conditions we have up here in the northeast. Up here it's cold, 32 and windy, the water is 48, but if we could get offshore.. the gulf stream is still 68-70 within 100 miles. But, that's a long run in the cold water out there. My guess is you guys are sitting on the doorstep of an awesome blue water speahfishery. Get a Chart and memorize the differences between a Big Eye, Yellowfin, and Bluefin. People would get pissed in a hurry if they thought you were spearfishing for Bluefin. Thanks to the efforts of Mark Labochetta, Roberto Reyes, Terry Maas, and others, we are able to spearfish for Yellowfin, Big Eye, Wahoo, Blackfin (I think), Albacore. I'd go lurk around the docs and see what people are catching. If they are catching with rod and reels, then you can catch with spearguns. That is what we learned up here in the NE this summer. Check out your Oceantemp charts and you'll begin to see things.
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Old 11-25-2014, 09:28 PM   #15
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Re: Winter NC Diving

Im in wilmington and am absolutly down for some gulf stream action. Wahoo and blackfin tend to make their appearances at familiar areas. Also hitting some nearshore structure for sheeps and tog, and dont forget that the flounder stack up on offshore structure over the winter as well.
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