With the beaches still closed, the only fishing spot available seems to be Davis Canal... and that's only if you have access to it. All public boat ramps, including kayak ramps are closed. Eventually, hopefully, things will start to open again. The ban on beach access will be lifted and fisherman will once again hit the surf. This doesn't mean that Davis Canal needs to be dismissed. On the contrary, there's plenty of good fishing happening in the canal year round. If you're looking for sharks or monster blues you might be disappointing. That doesn't mean there aren't large fish in the canal. Slot red drum, speckled trout and decent sized black drum are frequent visitors to the canal. With the right bait, the right timing and a little luck, you can take home a cooler full of fish. If you're just looking to have some fun and catch some fish and you aren't too finicky about what ends up on the end of your hook, your even more in luck. The canal is always full of croaker and other panfish that can be caught on a basic double drop rig and frozen shrimp. You might also be surprised at a few other species you might catch fishing Davis Canal. It's not uncommon to hook an eel on shrimp, especially if you're fishing around dusk. Sea robins can also be an unwanted bycatch. Fishing Davis Canal will produce different results depending on the time of year. In the spring, you might be lucky to land spot or silver perch. All you need for panfish is a double drop rig and shrimp or Fishbites. In the summer, you'll definitely attract croaker, especially if your using shrimp. It's doesn't mater what type of shrimp either, be if its frozen, fresh or live. However, you might also get lucky and land a summer flounder. For flounder, it's hard to keep the croaker off live shrimp so try throwing gulp. In the fall, the trout and the black drum move in. I've caught some of my best drum in the canal in the fall. For trout, soft plastics like artificial shrimp or paddletails work well. Black drum will seek out shrimp or sand fleas. There is one other critter you might run into fishing in the Davis Canal; an alligator. In my experience, they tend to leave people alone. I've bumped into a few small ones when I've been out on the kayak and as soon as they've seen me, they've dived down under the water. I have seen a few large ones from the boat and they too tend to move along. I''m not sure what a large gator would do if we ran into each other while I was in the kayak. I'm hoping we would go our separate ways. So far I've been lucky enough to not have to find out. If you want to see the big one, watch the video below. Fast forward to just past the 2 minute mark. Wanna guess how big she is? Bigger than a bread box, that's for sure. Fishing on Oak Island, NC
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Ian SandsFish along with Ian Sands of 'Sands in the Surf' on beautiful Oak Island, NC. We’re fishing the surf and surrounding areas targeting everything from puffer, to blues, to black and red drum, to sharpnose and bonnetheads. Archives
February 2021
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