Welcome to the site. Not surf fishing but....As you come into the entrance of the marina, on the right is a pier that you can fish from. The entrance is constantly being dredged and where the barge anchors up to work, a hole is created by backwash from its diesel. There's been some nice flounder caught in and near these holes. On the other side of the entrance is a concrete wall with rocks on both sides that provides nice structure. You can fish from that wall but be prepared to lose some terminal gear to the rocks. Green Teal trail, off of West Bald Head Wynd, gives you access to a bay in the river where I like to fish for blues and mullet on an outgoing tide. Cape Fear trail gives you access to a point nearest the shipping channel which has a maintained depth of at least 40'. It's a great place to do some sharking. At the southeastern most part of the island is the shoals of the Cape Fear, where the river meets the ocean, best fished on an incoming tide imho. Check it out on low tide and you can get an idea where you might want to soak some bait. It's probably the most fished place on the island. Early morning and late evening sometimes provides some top water action for blues, lady fish and spaniards. I like to throw a hopkins to them when I'm lucky enough to be there when they are. Be prepared for a 300 meter walk to the shoals. To the north of the shoals is East Beach. Between accesses 39 and 42 you should be able to find some sand fleas, aka mole crabs, for sea mullet and pomp fishing. Typical summer days, two ounces of lead will hold the bottom. It's been my experience that the best fishing on the island is in the marsh. Unfortunately, the only public access to the creek to surf fish is access #1 on the north end of the island at the mouth of Bald Head creek. However, you can rent kayaks, I think they might have two fishing kayaks, and fish the creek for reds and flounder. Four inch white gulp shrimp is my go to artificial bait but I prefer fishing with live bait. Bring a cast net with you as the only bait sold on the island is frozen, sold at the market. They do sell food grade fresh shrimp but they are awfully proud of it and priced accordingly. The hardware store sells tackle but like the market, they are proud also. Public consumption on the beach is permitted but open containers while in your golf cart is not. Coming to a full stop at stop signs is a good idea also. You picked a great beach to bring the family for a vacation. If you have young children, check out turtle central. They offer a variety of activities that might interest them. East beach will probably be the most crowed with West beach the least. Hope you have a good vacation and catch 'em up!
