TROUT SEASON IS CLOSED so if you are fishing lead heads and grubs, be sure to tell the game and fishery rangers that you are fishing for puppy drum and blues. If you want to go out beyond the bar, you really need a kayaker to help you. stick with a 7 to 9 ft surf rod and spinning reel and fish in the slough. Good luck and leave one in the water for me. Try 3/4 oz head with green grubtail, slow retrieve. I don't think you are going to cast 1/2 to 2 ounce lures with those big rods. If you cast more than 50 yards you could be over the fish or on top of the sandbar that runs almost the length of the Outer Banks. Most people use nothing more than 7 feet, small to medium high retrieve spinning reels with 4 to 10 lb test line. The fish you are targeting will be Trout, real small Blues, flounder and other bottom fish.

Those big rods you talk about are more appropriate for Hatteras or rough surf, when the drum are running. Make the investment once and you won't have to do it again. If you buy the cheap gear, you'll end up frustrated with it because no rod can properly load between 2 and 8 oz., and the gears in the cheap reels will fall apart (probably because they're plastic instead of metal). Even the newer reels will last a long time with proper care. The rod will last 10 years (or more) if you take care of it. 13' is probably a bit much, especially if you're lobbing lighter weight AND using a spinner (which I assume you are). Get a Penn Fierce 5000 ($55), spool it with 15 lb Big Game Solar Collector, and put that on a 10'-11' Tica, Penn, or Star (up to $150) rod rated to 6oz. You mention you're a once-a-year angler - cool. More than likely, the sweet-spot is 5 oz (with bait) and the max I'd comfortably throw is 6 oz (with bait). The Whoopin Sticks may advertise they handle 2-8, but I wouldn't bet on it. Nothing beats having a well-equipped kitchen and outdoor grill for getting together to cook your fish and steam your crabs and clams in the evenings.Д¬ontact: Holly Austin at Hatteras Realty check out the site to see dozens of homes.Don't waste your money - and I don't mean that to sound condescending. To be sure, youвЂ™ll find hotels and motels, but realty companies will help you find your own home here for a week or however long.

Staying There: For families, the many large rental homes that vary from quaint to magnificent add great appeal to a vacation here.

This 61-foot boat is able to handle larger groups, up to 15 people. Best not to be in too big a hurry while driving down the speed-controlled Highway NC 12: Speed limits intermittently fall to just 25 to 30 mph, and on weekends (particularly Saturday), long, slow lines of cars can be the rule. The fishing is equally good for meat fish in the area, with numerous bass. Getting There: The closest major airports are at Norfolk (82 miles north of the upper OBX) and Raleigh-Durham (192 miles west). Planning a Family Vacation/Fishing Trip to Hatteras Island Courtesy The Outer Banks of North CarolinaДЄll three inlets - Oregon, Hatteras and Ocracoke - offer good access to the Atlantic, though Hatteras Inlet suffers an ongoing problem with siltation, and the responsibility for dredging it to keep it navigable for larger boats has become something of a political football between federal and state authorities. The Hatteras Ferry chugs relentlessly across the inlet, transferring cars and passengers.

IвЂ™m happy to report in retrospect that my good name wasnвЂ™t tarnished: A good time was had by all. Since folks would be converging on the state from all over - Washington, California, Minnesota, Virginia, Missouri, Florida - I felt the responsibility of my choice weighing on me. Not long ago, that became my task: finding a spot for a family reunion where two dozen kinfolk - mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles and so on, from 1 to 70 years old - could spend a week together.ДЄlthough I considered the coastline of the entire lower 48, from Washington state to Maine, the choice didnвЂ™t take long, and soon IвЂ™d booked two huge beachfront homes with 15 bedrooms in total on North CarolinaвЂ™s Outer Banks. Who wouldnвЂ™t want to be here? This great aerial shot, looking north - with the upper part of Hatteras Inlet in the foreground - shows why itвЂ™s easy to fish varied habitats, with Pamlico SoundвЂ™s inshore waters to the west (left) and to the east (right) the deep blue Atlantic.

15 foot outbank fishing pole