Sorry to see that picture.

Start simple, woolly buggers in different sizes and colors( black and various green colors). A few caddis nymphs in brown and green, hares ear nymphs, pheasant tail and sulpher nymphs and stone flies. That should cover the flies that are most consistent in NEPA.

Costa is the way to go. If you out on the Charter boats with the captains and mates on the OBX everyone of them is wearing Costa,that tells me something. That's what I wear when I am out fishing the rivers, streams and lakes 100- 150 days a year.

I fish the northern Outerbanks, Corolla down to South Nags Head several times a year. I would recommend the following. First go on TW'S Bait and Tackle website and look at the daily fishing reports starting in late April which will give you an idea of what is being caught in the area you are planning to fish, I would recommend fishing the Nags Head pier vs Jeanettes as it seems to have a more consistent catch rate and sits closer to the water than Jeanettes which is less of a haul to bring fish over the rail. Next I would consider a smaller rig for fishing the pier as most of the fish at that time are smaller fish including speckled trout, sea mullet, flounder and small blues. Ideal rig would be a 7 foot medium or medium light( what most of the locals use) with a 2500/3000 series reel spooled with 6- 8lb mono or 8lb braid or Nanofil( a favorite of the locals due to it castability/distance). Use soft plastics as your bait of choice for above species listed with the Gulp 3 or 4inch swimming mullet in pearl color being my number 1 choice, fish it on a 3/8th or 1/4 ounce jig head. Cast out and jig it back slowly. Fish the south side of the pier as the fish are migrating north in the spring.

Save the big gear you have for the beach with cut bait or shrimp although I do better with the same technique listed above for the pier. I catch most of the fish from the beach no more than 20 yards off the beach. Best time to fish the beach is 2 hours before and two hours after high tide. Good Luck

General rule is two hours before and two hours after high tide.

Ditch the mono (except for backing) and go with braid or better yet try Berkley Nanofil (which is not a braid), casting distance is much better with the Nano and it does not fray or strand separate like braid. Nano is a single core synthetic line.

If you are feeding the fish their waste will generate ammonia which will cause them to die in short order.You can buy an ammonia removal chemical but my experience is that it does not work that well. You need to keep the water cool to approx 50-55 degree range an keep oxygenated. If you are changing out the water make sure to let change water set for 1-2 days prior to use if the water is chlorinated .

Gulp Mullet(white) on a drop shot rig with 1/0 mosquito hook. Deadly on trout and puppy drum as well as flounder and sea mullet(kingfish).

Spool it your self especially if you use a mono backing with braided line. Tackle shops are not going to do that, there is a calculation that you can find on line that will give you the precise amount of mono backing to braid. Calculation is based on capacity of the spool and the diameter of the braid and the diameter of the mono you use. I have used this on all of my reels and the results are perfect.

Speckled trout, nice size for eating, for best eating experience eat within a day or two of catching,they don't freeze that well.

You can get a kit on Amazon from Ardent which contains Reel Clean, Reel Butter Reel Oil and Reel Butter grease, Those would be the three items you would need to do thorough basic maintenance on your reels. Cost for the kit as I recall is around $10.00. I just did my first two reels and noticed quite an improvement.Also there is a video on youtube on how and where to use each of these items to maintain your reel.

I soak my twister tails in WD 40 prior to the start of the shad run in the river. I witness a better hook up rate using the WD-40 vs not using it. Odor definitely helps, also the small oil slick that come off the tails acts as an additional attractant.

Big advantage of a kayak over the powered boats is you can get into the skinny water that the big boats can't as well as the weedy areas that foul their electric motor props. Lots of fish in the skinny water especially early in the morning.

number 1 hook I use for small and large mouth bass in lakes and rivers with 4 inch senkos and 4 inch paddle tail grub/minnow patterns.

It depends on how much you fish, the President is an good reel for the causal fisherman /weekend warrior. Most of the locals I fish with on the OBX are using the Stradic Ci4 +s (3000 model). Some of these guys work in the tackle shops and fish 200 + days per year and their choice is the Stradic. I have 5 Stradic F model reels but my first choice is always the Ci4 when the fishing gets hot and heavy.