FIRST TIME ON THE CURRITUCK!

What was a hard day of fishing turned into a stellar, hour long, top-water bite!

The Currituck Sound is about as far Northeast in our great State as you can get!  The beautiful Northern Outerbanks is a favorite destination for people with it’s amazing beaches, wild horses, and of course the historical Currituck Sound I’ve hunted and fished the Albermarle sound just to the South but haven’t had the pleasure to fish the Currituck.  Until now!

The backwaters of the Currituck Sound hold larger numbers of Largemouth Bass with plenty of structure to target.

The Currituck was more diverse than Imagined with pines and cypress lined banks...

My buddy Kenneth Chesson is the cameraman on this trip and we’re meeting up with Matt Greschak of Avery's Guide Service 252-207-7795 out of Coinjock. Matt is a physically fit, retired State Trooper and current fireman and entrepreneur, who grew up in the Coinjock area has a deep passion for bass fishing and the outdoors. He loves tournament fishing and exposing clients to the awesome fishing on the Currituck.

We met up with Matt at a boat ramp near the Highway 158 bridge.  We boarded and quickly eased out onto the waterway heading south to destinations unknown.  I immediately noticed a parade of large yachts coming down the waterway.  Some of these were massive and I could only imagine that their price tag would range into $multi-millions.  Matt said that this time of year large boats are headed north to their homes in New England from a long winter along the Southern Florida Coast.  That's a long drive but I couldn't help but imagine how cool that would be to live on a boat for a few weeks getting to take in all the sites and sounds of the US Coastline.

Yachts like this travel up and down the intracoastal waterway, which is an easier voyage than out in the open water of the Atlantic.

Snapping out of my "la la Land" trance, we pulled off the waterway and moved toward the backwaters and creeks of the Sound.  I was taken back by the beauty of the Currituck.  It’s more diverse than you might imagine. In one place you’ll be fishing around cypress knees and old growth stumps and logs with pines and cypress lining the banks and then you’ll be fishing creek channels in open marshlands where you can barely see the tree-lined horizon.

Cypress knees and innumerable amounts of stumps make the Currituck an angler's paradise.

An example of tree-lined banks...

To open marshlands surrounding the Currituck.

There had been some unstable weather the day before and Matt was concerned that we may have difficulty with the bite.  "Up-front and honest is the mark of a great guide" I always say. But with my schedule as tight as it is, I told Matt that we’ll risk it and hope for the best.  We fished hard all day.  Matt, knows every spot on this sound it seems and it felt like we hit everyone of them. He was on top of his game, throwing top water plugs, jerk baits, soft plastics and spinner baits. Throughout the day we pulled around 20- 1 to 2 pound bass out.  Not the greatest day but under the conditions we felt like we didn’t do too bad.  

We beat the banks for the bite and were rewarded from time to time.

On the way back in, we were coming close to the 158 Bridge and saw a guy in a boat setting back on what looked to be a good fish!  As we approached, we realized it was a really nice striper!  He yelled out “They're all over the place!” pointing to an explosion of water near the guard rails where they were pushing baitfish to the top and completely clearing the water.  Matt asked if I wanted to try them. “Ahh... Yeahh.” I said facetiously.

Pointing to a blow up as striped bass thrash shad holding around bridge pylons

Matt hooked up using a chatterbait

Feeling the tug of a big striper is one of the joys of fishing!

He quickly rigged up a pink 4 " fluke for me and I waited for the next blow up! Boom! The water erupted and I pitched into the melee.  I felt the hard thump as I twitched my bait just under the water. I set back and the telltale rip of the drag confirmed I had hooked up! Matt quickly hooked up too and for an hour we caught nice stripers back to back in the 5 to 10 lb range! I caught so many that I had to hand a rod to my buddy KC as he'd hung in there with us all day to capture the trip for an upcoming show! After a few casts KC was hooked up and we all felt complete!

Long time friend and co-founder of Carolina ALL OUT Kenneth Chesson got in on the action!

What started out as a hard day of bass fishing quickly turned into a banner day with a bonus rockfish bite! Being on the boat with a guide who can quickly adapt and has exactly what you need to cover the bite was, definitely, what made this day a success!

If you're looking to experience the fishing on the Currituck Sound Give Matt a call!  252-207-7795 averysguideservice@gmail.com Check out his Facebook page "@Avery's Guide Service" as well to see some of the chunks he's pulling out of his home waters.

The great thing about the Currituck is you can have a fantastic day of bass fishing in the Sound while the wife and kids enjoy the beaches of Carova and Corolla and then the family can reunite for an evening of coastal cuisine and beauty of a Sunset over the sound! It is a true paradise that everyone can enjoy! Check out https://visitcurrituck.com/ and plan your next trip to one of our state's most amazing places!

Look for this episode this summer/fall on Carolina ALL OUT on Pursuit Channel and Youtube!