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Will be fishing out of Oregon Inlet the second week of June in a
17' Whaler (montauk). What wind direction and speed is the safest in a small boat? What direction and speed is a no go? Normally fish out of Beaufort Inlet and know this info for it. Any help appreciated.
fishing out of oregon inlet can be real bad if your not carefull a 17 foot boat is ok on some days but be mindful of changing winds while outside the inlet. I have fished outside a few times and have seen it bad trying to get back in on a 23 foot boat. I was down a few weeks ago and was going to fish on a friend of mines 36 foot grady and opped to charter and it was still to bad for a 52 foot charter so be careful!! talking of wind direction the best is a due west wind is best up there but any winds from the west hope this helps.
stay in the sound. They have not dredged this year, and the inlet is next to godly bad rad now. Even when they dredge its fing scary, but its crazy right now. Incoming tide with a east wind = stacked up and breaking across the bar.(and the wind forcasts are almost never right)
I wouldnt venture outside unless they are calling for light and variable or 5-10 west, on the day before the day of and the day after you plan to fish.
I would stay in the sound, the drum trout , and flatones should be chewing pretty good by then. Check out Duck island, Green Island Slough, or davis channel for flat ones
I wouldn't take a 17' whaler outside of that inlet ever... I don't care if they are unsinkable. I've seen that inlet go flat to a 6 ft washing machine in no time. Stay in the sound dude or book a charter to get out.
__________________ "no matter how beautiful a woman is, someone, somewhere is sick of her sh*t"
41 Hatteras - Hatt'ras Bound Sportfishing
O.U.P.V. Captain
Well, I'm planning on going to Pirates Cove in July instead of my normal Ocracoke trip. I've got a 40' express. Would you recommend that I stay with Ocracoke instead of OI?
I went out a few weeks ago and we were fine in a 25 Contender. The bar was a little tricky heading out but was no problem. At low tide when we returned the shallowest depth on the bar was 7ft.
Here is a report I gave after the trip. I beleive everyone heading toward the inlet using the cut is now using the far west channel of the cut (Not the old Channel close to the bridge) past the turn to go to the OI Fishing Center. The first red channel marker after you go under the bridge going toward the inlet was missing the channel marker itself only the base was above water . Watch out for it. I dont know if they replaced it yet. Hells gate was fine.
I thought I would just give a short report on how the run from Wanchese to the inlet was Saturday.
On the morning run out we went around through hells gate and there is plenty of water all the way to the bridge.
Coming back in we went through the cut. We took the channel with the green and red round markers as soon as you go back under the bridge to the right. It is a little shallow for the first 100yds or so. The depth was from 2.9-4.5 ft but after that it was fine all the way back around to the main channel heading north to Wanchese. Looks like there was another channel due west of this channel and saw a few charters running it. There is a bar between the old channel and the channel due west. I didn't see any entrance markers for the channel they were running but it merged with the old channel well before you get to the starboard turn to OI fishing Center.....Mark
The bar across the Inlet is was 7ft at low tide where we came through in the afternoon. We had a pretty good swell in the morning but no problem making it out or back in........Mark
"Well, I'm planning on going to Pirates Cove in July instead of my normal Ocracoke trip. I've got a 40' express. Would you recommend that I stay with Ocracoke instead of OI?"
you'll be fine, its about 8 miles by water from there to OI, and then an additional 14-25 miles to the gulf stream than hatteras or OCR
Howdy fellow OBXers. Long time looker, first time post.
I also want to know as much as I can about OI. I have a 20' GW WA and last year I was tempted to try OI. I just couldn't get up the nerve to try it. I do want to get out and try my hand at some blue water fishing. I'm very comfortable with my boat, but not OI. So I've been thinking of giving Hatteras a try. Would that be a better solution?
I live in Poplar Branch (Currituck county) and to tell you the truth the fishing isn't all that great in either the Currituck or Albe sounds. So that means hauling down to either IO or HI. By the way...how far is the stream out of Hatteras?
I have fished out of oregon inlet for the past 5 years. Inshore and offshore. I started in a 17ft scout and never had any problems. Just be sure there is a wind dominant out of the west. Either SW, W, or NW but definately has to be from the West it will lay the water in the inlet flat and near the beach. The best person to answer this is you. You know your skill level on handling a boat. I have went through it when it was marginal and made it safely. Do not let your guard down in the inlet it can bite you in a hurry. Oregon Inlet is a lot better than Carolina Beach inlet. I will go through OI in the dark any time. I will not go through Carolina Beach inlet at all in my 25ft boat. I opt for Masonboro Inlet.
Afew things, first I would not venture to the gulf stream in a 20ft boat from OI, yes its been done but its not smart, squalls come on fast, conditions change, and engines break. You are looking at a 30+ miles to get to the gulf stream and thats a long way if somen goes wrong.
Inshore (less than 20miles) youd be fine on good days.
while west winds are good here, they can also create havoc. Picture 10mph west wind on an outgoing tide and the already rushing current is aided by the wind, if their is any residual ground swell from the previous days the inlet can get nasty.
Thats what a lot of people tend to forget about, waves here on the obx travel a long ways across the ocean before they reach shallow water and sand bars to make themselves crest up. Just because its suposed to be 5-10 west today and only 2-3 foot sees outside of the inlet does not mean the inlet will be only 2-3 foot seas. The left over ground swell from the previous days 4-5 footers becomes very evident the morning after in the inlet. By afternoon it will usually lay down.
Pick your days and weather and youll be fine.
Just remember when encountering OI and you scan out the inlet and see only white water across the bar don't go half way out the channel to decide to turn around, its to late, and many of boats have been capsized by trying to turn around in or ontop of the bar. Once you decide to go use your boat skills to throttle through the waves and commit on going forward. I cannot stress the importance of never turning around out there on the bar when its bad, your stern can get lifted up and turn you sideways realllllll quick.
All and all jsut pick your days, be safe, and be smart. Safe and Smart get you home in one piece, if you have to risk it and you arent sure about the conditions, then the trip turns to stress and not fun.
yea it was DEEP last year, but the damn turning basin was so shallow! Thats the problem around here being "national Park" it takes an act of congress to get dredging done. Last years dredging was only done because of "emergency issue". The coast gaurd couldnt get the big boy out with out hitting problems. So they were able to declare it safety issues should a rescue need to occur and VOILLA we got emergency dredging.
What about Hatteras inlet? I hear that the run to the Stream from Hatteras is about half that of going out of IO. I have ran across the Chesapeake bay to Fishermans Island and Cape Charles out of Littlecreek. Thats about a 20 mile run. Of course my safe heaven in the case of bad weather is the leeward side of Fishermans Island into a cove and anchor out and ride the weather out. I know that out at the Stream that there are no safe havens and 90% of the weather comes out of the West. So heading back in only means meeting the weather head-on.
Oregon Inlet Info needed 
