Warm weather returns to the Carolina coast

We have had great weather for almost a week now. It was warm enough for shorts and washing cars this past weekend. On Monday I took the boat out on the river for a short run.

Tuesday was so nice that I regretted having to work. That night my fishing buddy and I made plans to go fishing on Wednesday. We knew we were unlikely to catch any fish, but we wanted to check the water, and start to distance ourselves from winter.

Wednesday dawned cloudy but warm. The morning low tides were such that we decided to wait until after lunch and hope that the weather might improve.

About eleven AM the sun broke out and it looked like we were going to have a great day, but by the time we pulled away from the dock, the clouds had come back and the winds were picking up.

We took a short ride out into the White Oak River and stopped at one of our favorite spots. It was good to the water temperature reading 55 degrees even if it was only the top foot or so. We also saw fishing moving in the river on the fish finder.

Farther down the river towards Swansboro, we also saw a deep water clam digger.

With great optimism, we anchored and started fishing. After about an hour and one half it was clear that we were not having any luck figuring out what the fish might be biting.

Our only catch of the afternoon was one ornery blue crab.

As the winds picked up and the sun refused to come from behind the clouds, we decided to head back to my dock.

There will be lots of nicer days for fishing, and we managed to banish the thoughts of winter from our heads. That is all that we had hoped to do.

After a lot of wind last night, this morning has dawned with a beautiful blue sky. I am actually more excited about the low temperature last night being 57 degrees.

I suspect we should be on track for some normal weather once again. We might not see shorts weather for a while, all I want to do is forget where my coat is until next winter.

The picture of the tidal flat included with the post was taken at the Croatan National Forest ramp on the White Oak River in Cedar Point.