Bald Head Island

Frying Pan Shoals

NOAA ENC chart tiles · planning aid, not for navigation

⚠ Hazard🎣 Fishing

✈ Brief this trip–

⚠ Gale Warning

Gale Warning issued October 16 at 2:21AM EDT until October 19 at 6:00AM EDT by NWS Wilmington NC

Live · National Weather Service, for this position

Right now at this spot

oldest reading 30 min ago

Stay in

The National Weather Service has a gale warning out for this water. Nothing about this spot is worth it today.

The sea state in that call was measured 22.9 nm away at NDBC 41013 — that is open water, not this basin.

What that call is built on

· Observed wind WSW 10 kt gusting 12 — NDBC 41013 · Frying Pan Shoals
· Observed seas 2 ft — NDBC 41013 · Frying Pan Shoals
· Gale Warning in effect — National Weather Service

Wind now

WSW 10 kt

41013, 22.9 nm off · 30 min ago

Gusting

12 kt

41013, 22.9 nm off · 30 min ago

Seas now

2 ft

4s period · 41013, 22.9 nm off · 30 min ago

Tide

4.3 ft

falling · low 18:58

Water and airAir 78°F

NDBC 41013 · Frying Pan Shoals (22.9 nm) · NOAA 8659084 Southport · MLLW

What a local would tell you

Shoals run roughly 30 miles offshore off Cape Fear. Great fishing, genuinely dangerous water. Do not shortcut across — go around the sea buoy.

The tide today

4.3 ft right now

Next low 18:58 · 0.8 ft3.7 ft range today

Best window to be here. Aim for the window around high water at 00:06 or 12:35 — this spot is tide-sensitive.

Why the tide decides this one

It is flagged for shoaling or hazard in the dataset.

Sunrise 7:17 AM · Sunset 6:37 PM5h 47m of light left

NOAA CO-OPS 8659084 · Southport · MLLW · live predictions. Sun times from the NOAA solar algorithm for this position.

Wrightsville Beach is reading 0.5 ft ABOVE prediction (8 min ago). Wind is holding water in. That gauge is 25.4 nm away, so treat this as the regional trend rather than your basin.

measured 4.93 ft · predicted 4.41 ft · +0.5 ft · NOAA 8658163 · regional

What’s biting here

All species

Red drumOpenPeak

One of the best months of the year for them here.

Min 18" total length · 1 per person per day

Spotted seatroutOpenPeak

One of the best months of the year for them here.

Min 14" total length · 3 per person per day

FlounderClosedPeak

One of the best months of the year for them here.

Unlawful to possess right now.

Ranked on the month and the measured water temperature. Limits are North Carolina’s current rules — confirm with DMF before you keep anything.

Depth

Nobody has reported a depth here. This spot is tide-sensitive, so sound your way in and post what you read. We timestamp it and correct it to the datum automatically, so the next boat gets a number they can actually use.

Getting there

from Wrightsville Beach

Distance

30.3 nm

by the waterway

Run time

85 min

arrive about 2:15 PM

Fuel, round trip

32.1 gal

21% of your 150 gal

Home before dark

2h 57m

to spare, leaving now, out and back

On the ICWoff channel · 8.9 nm from mile 307

Worked out for

a typical 26 ft centre console · 2 ft draft · 26 kt cruise · 14 gph

✈ Full briefing 🧭 Plan the run

Distance from ICW mile markers where both ends have one, winding-padded straight line otherwise. Time and fuel from your boat profile at 26 kt.

Worked out for a typical 26 ft centre console — we do not know yours yet. Add your boat and these become your numbers.Add your boat

What else is out here

straight line, true bearing

⛽Fuel · Dock & dine · Marina · Pump outBald Head Island Marina6.3 nmNW 🛻RampDutchman Creek Boat Ramp11.1 nmNW 🛥Public dockCarolina Beach Municipal Docks14.1 nmN

Nearest artificial reefAR-420 Tom Mcglammery Reef11.0 nmWNW

30 ft site average · Concrete, Vessel

NCDMF site reference position, not a surveyed obstruction. Material stands well above the site average — never steer over a reef on these numbers.

Distances computed from the shipped place dataset and NCDMF reef records. Great-circle, not a route — check that the water actually connects.

Live from the water

No reports here yet. If you run this spot, post what you see — fuel price, depth, how busy it is. Depths get corrected for the tide automatically, so the number you leave is worth something to the next boat.

Know before you go

Extent~30 nm offshore

RuleRound the sea buoy, never cut

FishingKings, mahi, bottom fish

OffshoreDangerousFishing

Comments

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✈ Brief this trip Map

Conditions, tides and alerts are live from NOAA CO-OPS, the National Weather Service and NDBC. Distance, run time, fuel and clearance are calculated from your boat profile. Member depth reports are corrected to the datum at the moment they are filed. Planning aid only — not for navigation. Carry current charts.