This page explains where the information on Outer Banks Surf Fishing comes from, how it is checked, how mistakes get fixed, and who pays for it. If anything here is not being honoured, that is a bug — please report it.
Who publishes this site
Outer Banks Surf Fishing is written and edited by Bret Doman and is owned and operated by Beach4x4, a 4x4 rental company in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. That ownership is disclosed on the About page and on the Ownership Disclosure page, and every link to Beach4x4 is identified as such at the link itself.
Where the numbers come from
- Water temperature and wind — NOAA CO-OPS stations 8651370 (Duck Pier), 8652587 (Oregon Inlet Marina) and 8654467 (USCG Station Hatteras).
- Tides — NOAA CO-OPS Station 8654400, Cape Hatteras Fishing Pier, MLLW datum.
- ORV permits, ramp status and closures — the National Park Service Cape Hatteras National Seashore site and Recreation.gov.
- Licenses, seasons, size and creel limits — the NC Division of Marine Fisheries and the NC Wildlife Resources Commission.
Readings are fetched on the server every 15 minutes and rendered into the page, then refreshed again in your browser. That means the number a search engine or a screen reader sees is the same number you see, and it carries the real observation time rather than the time the page loaded.
Forecast versus confirmed catch
This is the distinction we care most about getting right, because most fishing reports blur it.
- Confirmed Catches is a hand-kept log. Every entry has an area, what was reported, a named source and a date. Nothing automated writes into it. If nothing has been reported, the section says nothing has been reported.
- Conditions-Based Outlook is calculated from the live NOAA readings and long-established seasonal patterns. It is a forecast. It is labelled as a forecast on the page, every time.
- We will not describe a temperature calculation as a firsthand observation, and we will not invent catch reports to make a page look busy.
Reader-submitted catch reports
Anyone can send a catch report through the Report a Catch form. Nothing submitted appears on the site automatically. Every report goes into a queue and is read by a person before it is published, and these are the rules that queue is worked to:
- A report with nobody behind it does not run. If there is no name or set of initials to attribute it to, it stays out.
- Reports are checked against the live conditions for that day. A species that does not fit the water temperature, or a beach that was closed at the time, gets queried by email or left out.
- Location is published at the level of the stretch of beach, never the exact hole or a GPS mark. This is deliberate. Burning someone’s spot is a good way to stop receiving reports, and a visitor deciding where to fish tomorrow only needs the region.
- Wording may be tightened for length or clarity, but the substance of what was reported is not changed. If it needs changing, it does not get published.
- Email addresses supplied with a report are used only to check a detail. They are never published, never sold, and never added to a mailing list.
- A quiet week stays a quiet week. If nothing credible comes in, the section sits empty rather than being padded out.
How often pages are checked
- Live conditions: every 15 minutes, automatically.
- Confirmed catches: by hand, several times a week in season.
- Permits, licenses and fees: at least quarterly against the primary source, and immediately on any announced change. These pages carry the date they were last verified.
- Species, seasonal and month pages: reviewed as each season turns, with limits re-checked against NCDMF before the season they describe.
- Ramp and beach-access pages: at the start of each season and after major storms.
Corrections policy
- Report a problem by email with the page and the issue. You do not need to prove it; we will check it.
- Regulatory corrections — fees, permits, seasons, size and creel limits — are verified against the primary source and fixed the same day they are confirmed.
- When a correction changes the substance of a page, the “Updated” date moves and a short note at the top of the page says what changed. We do not silently rewrite and act as though it always read that way.
- If a reported change cannot be verified against a primary source, the page states that the point is unconfirmed instead of picking a side.
Money, and what that means for you
- No affiliate links. Nothing on this site earns a commission if you buy a rod, a reel, a rig or a bag of sand fleas.
- No sponsored posts and no paid gear reviews. Nobody can buy a mention here.
- No paid outbound links. Links to NOAA, the National Park Service, NCDMF, town permit offices, piers and tackle shops are there because they are useful.
- The one commercial interest is Beach4x4, which owns the site. It appears only where beach access is the actual problem — the ORV permit guide and the ramp and beach-access pages — and it is always named as ours.
What we will not publish
- Invented or second-hand catch reports presented as confirmed.
- Fees or limits quoted from another blog rather than the issuing agency.
- Advice that encourages fishing a posted closure, keeping an out-of-season or out-of-slot fish, or driving where vehicles are not permitted.
- Precise directions to a sensitive nesting area or to private property.
Contact
Corrections and questions: hello@obxmaps.com. A real person reads it.