Check TW's daily fishing report, this time of year very little fish catching occurs from the beaches. Best bet would be to head towards the southern end of Hatteras Island starting at Buxton and working your way south towards Frisco and Hatteras, they have been catching a few fish down that way when the weather is cooperative. Not sure if any of the piers will be open next week down that way(Rodanthe and Avon ) but you may want to check them as well.
It depends on how much you fish. If you fish a few times a year an inexpensive reel would be fine. If you fish 40-50 plus days a year the expensive reels are worth the price. I have multiple Shimano Stradics from the 1000 to the 4000 . The best of the bunch is my Stradic ci4 3000 which I use in fresh and salt water. I fish with many of the locals on the Outer Banks and most of them use Stradics for the majority of species they go after.
The Stradic is $200+ reel and is worth every penny, I also fish with guys that use the $700+ Daiwas the reason being that they catch upwards of a 1000 American shad per year on the Delaware River and they burn out the reel. Daiwa repairs or replaces the reel each year at no charge. After a few years the reel more than pays for itself.
Fishing is supposed to a relaxing and enjoyable outing, how enjoyable is it when you have to constantly look over your shoulder for a warden because you don't have a license. I was checked at least 6 times last year when fishing on public lakes. Buy a license!
Shimano reels matched with St Croix Avid series rod. Reel spooled with Nanofil line.
keitech paddle tail minnows for lake and river bass, also yum dingers-4 inch fished wacky style, best colors are dark green dinger with red flake plus various dingers in blue colors
Various soft baits including Keitech paddle tails and Yum Dingers in various colors in blue and green with red specks, also hooks including 3/0 narrow gap , drop shot hooks in 1 and 1/0, fluorocarbon leader material -8lb, drop shot weights. They routinely have sales on Keitech paddle tails -buy 3 and get 4th free.
All above are focused on bass fishing in lakes and rivers.
I fish the Outer Banks NC a lot with the locals who fish it every fishable day. The number one line I see used there is Berkley Nanofil. It will out cast any braided line by 10 yards or more. If casting distance is needed this is the way to go. You should match up the nanofil line diameter to the type of rod you are using. With a 3000 size reel ( I use a 3000 stradic for the majority of my saltwater fishing) you should not need more than 10-12lb nano for that setup. Get a 150 yd spool of the nano and use a mono backing( high quality mono not needed), also there is a calculation you can find on line that will tell you the amount of mono to use for the backing based on the 150 yds of nanofil used as your terminal line. It is very precise. You will need to tie a fluorocarbon leader on the end of the nano, 8-10 bound should be good for most fish. I can handle 20-27 in. red drum with this setup no problem, and American shad 3-6 lb range in the rivers in moderate to heavy current , all fish caught on an Avid inshore 7 ft medium light rod rated to 12lbs.
Hi All: New to this forum and look forward to reviewing many of the topics posted, I am an all season fisherman from Pennsylvania and am currently fishing the ice on various lakes in eastern/northeastern PA, spring finds me on the Delaware for shad and the various streams for trout, summer is bass season on various lakes and rivers in the area. Also will be trying my hand on muskies in a near by lake . Fall finds me on the Outer Banks of North Carolina for various species. Look forward to any and all topics in this forum. Greg