A few years ago, we did an episode for our YouTube The Road Trip series on ocean fishing in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. We had such a great time that 10 of us are heading there again in October. My dad and Bassmaster Elite Series pro Matt Robertson will be part of the group.
It will all be surf fishing from beaches with big rods, big reels and heavy line. We’re hoping to tangle with some giant sharks.
There were eight of us on the previous trip, and everybody caught at least one shark. The biggest were 6 1/2 to 7 feet long. They were mostly sand sharks and blacktips, but there’s always a chance at a hammerhead.
We also caught several different species of stingray. My dad hooked a butterfly ray that had a 6-foot wingspan. I’ll never forget that experience because it took him two hours to reel it in. My dad’s stubborn. He wasn’t giving up that rod. He wanted to catch that thing.
When you hook a stingray, they’re often out in deeper water off the initial drop. They suction-cup to the bottom so hard that half the battle is trying to lift them off the bottom.
When you hook something in the ocean, you never know what’s going to be on the end of the line. We’re going to fish a different area than last time and a few weeks earlier. We have a house booked right on the ocean, but we’ll sleep a lot on the beach.
We wade out into the surf and cast big baits as far as we can out into the ocean. This year we’re bringing a kayak so we can paddle out and drop baits as far as a few hundred yards offshore.
Our baits will be whatever we can catch. We’ll probably start with cut up mullet. Hopefully, we can catch some whiting. They make really good shark baits.
The 2025 Elite Series schedule: I’m super excited about fishing the Elite Series next year. I can’t wait for it to start. I’m hungrier than I’ve ever been. Hopefully, I’ll have my best year yet.
I really don’t care where we go. Wherever an Elite tournament takes place, I’m going to have fun. I haven’t been to some of the places on the schedule, and I’m good with that. One of my favorite things about bass fishing is going to new bodies of water.
I’m especially looking forward to fishing the 2025 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Ray Roberts. It’s one of the places I’ve never been to before. I plan to head there sometime in the next three weeks to put some hours on my Mercury.
I don’t do much fishing when I visit a tournament lake before a cutoff. I just idle around and try to see as much water as I can. An important part of it is learning how to navigate the lake.
That’s especially important on Ray Roberts and other lakes that have a lot of standing timber. I need to learn how to run Ray Roberts efficiently to avoid wasting time during the official three practice days before the Classic.
I love to fish for smallmouth, but I’m completely fine not going back to the St. Lawrance River next year. I’ll get my smallmouth fix when we go to Lake St. Clair.
I can’t wait to take on the Sabine River again, even though I had my worst finish there last year. I suck at tidal fishing, but I still love the challenge. Tidal tournaments are typically grinder events where you don’t get many bites. Things can change quickly because a 3- to 4-pounder goes such a long way. You’re always one bite away from having a good showing.
Lake Hartwell is also high on my list for next season. That’s where I qualified for the Elite Series.
