What would you recommend to anglers fishing in Wanchese, North Carolina for the first time?

If you are staying in Duck or Corolla plan on at least 55-75 minutes commute in the morning as it is a long way to Wanchese and speed limits are typically 35-45mph. The marina in Wanchese is pretty small but has a restaurant that is open early for coffee or breakfast sandwiches before you go - also has a full menu and beer when you return (or you can buy beer to bring on the boat if you have an afternoon trip). The same building has a public restroom in it. The first mate won't clean the fish for you like in other places I have been but there is a little shop on the grounds that does it for you when you return. For inshore trips cost was $0.50 of caught weight (ie. total weight of the fish, not just the fillets), this drops to $0.45 per pound for offshore trips. Everyone is super friendly and helpful.

Research what you want to fish for, and try to talk to the Boat Captain before going out. Captain Byrd of Hitman Sportfishing took time to listen to the kids, and after finding out my son dreamed of catching a shark, Hitman Sportfishing made it happen.

If you're fishing OBX in Late summer, go for at LEAST a 6 hour charter... 4 hour charters troll for ribbon fish, which aren't all that exciting. A trip to the gulf stream for Mahi, Sails, or Marlin is WAY more fun.

It was good in the early morning but as the day get to noon time it will get hot and there is no relief while fishing. The earlier you can get out the better it will be heat wise. The inshore fishing is for Mackeral and King fish. I thought the fish might taste strong but it cooked up great with some seasoning and EVOO. The King fish was given a big thumbs up from Grandma as this was our first time eating it.

Determine the type of fish you would like to fish for and plan accordingly. We went inshore or near shore fishing when we should have been deep sea fishing because our intended target fish was for mahi-mahi and Cobia but since we went inshore fishing we ended up catching Spanish mackerel and bluefish. Communicate with your captain through this website and you won't run into the same problems we did. It was last-minute excitement that had us booking without doing research. The Captain Crew in boat where everything we expected, the trip itself was great!!

Sun block. Plenty of food and drinks. A good attitude. Also understand that sometimes the conditions are not good for the fish you are after, and listen/consider the Captain's recommendations. Sometimes it works out better.

The fishing is good in May, the day before my trip the charter boats caught plenty of tuna, a lot can change in 24hrs so my trip produced very few fish, it was just one of those days with little action.

Could rain or storm at any time be ready for that. However good times with good people out of watches pier

Get there early so you can find the boat the day before. Call your captain and get any last minute instructions.

I would recommend it but know that the fish that most are wanting to catch may be difficult

We caught several spanish mackerel. We fished near shore , be ready for the heat.

The boats are plentiful and Captain Solomon from the fishing Taxi was very helpful!

I prefer to book 1/2 or 3/4 day trips. No one's gets overly tired and I get to learn from different captains.

Good marina with all the amenities you would need in terms of ice, store, bar, parking and fish cleaning. We did an in-shore charter and got a good number of blues and Spanish Mackerel.

Going out of Wanchese is far better than I expected and everyone at the Wanchese marina are so professional and friendly!

Go with an experienced captain who knows the waters and has the proper equipment to handle whichever species you are looking for.

Watch the weather closely and take the advise of the captain on the timing. I would recommend that you have some flexibility in your schedule to make the trip all you want it to be.

The captain had to work hard to get us tuna. The end of April is still a little too early when NC had several heavy rain storms.

I fish out of the outer bank about three times a year and leave from Wanchese 90% of the time.

Easy to get to and get in and out of and lots of trips to choose from. Nice day trip!

Make sure you talk to and get in writing from the captain what fish is being targeted.

Book a six or more hour trip to get out in the ocean and catch a wider variety of fish.