Broad and Reel

Most fishermen in the Cape Fear area are aware of the boarding up of Yaupon Fishing Pier. But for those of you who don’t know what’s going on…here’s a short recap.

Yaupon Fishing Pier, which has been around for over 50 years, has been caught up in a legal battle for several months now.

Back in October, it was announced that the pier (among other properties) would be offered up for sale to prevent being auctioned off. But against Mayor Johnny Vereen’s will, Yaupon Pier and several other Oak Island properties were awarded to Mainstay Developers. Mainstay declined to buy the pier which opened it up to the town again.

In November, Mayor Vereen said the town would buy the pier (and restaurant) which was going to be leased to individuals. That plan was shot down after city council voted 3-2 against purchasing the pier.

The pier went back on the market and was entered into a foreclosure sale by the bank. The bank was the only bidder on the pier.

The pier is now closed but Vereen is determined to acquire the pier. The town hopes for state funding to buy the pier but will have to wait until the General Assembly meets which should be sometime this month.

With that said, Yaupon regulars are expected to fish at Ocean Crest Pier (the remaining operational pier on Oak Island) this summer which could lead to some really crowded weekends during tourist season.

Ocean Crest is a great pier…I spent many weekends down there last summer. A pass is good from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Both king fishing and shark fishing (after dark) are permitted and of course bottom fishing. The pier house has snacks and your standard terminal tackle. There is also a restaurant connected to the pier house.

I found a video about Ocean Crest Pier on the Star News website. The video was created by Matt Born. It gives you a nice visual of the pier and several Ocean Crest regulars are interviewed. The link is below.

Ocean Crest Fishing Pier Video

The sad decline of fishing piers continues.  Like I said before, Ocean Crest Pier is the last operational pier on Oak Island. Long Beach Pier was sold and torn down in 2005. The land was suppose to be used to build homes but that development hasn’t even started. Oddly enough, the land that Yaupon pier sits on cannot even be developed because of the rate of beach erosion. Oh…and a total of 244 king mackerels were caught off Yaupon in 2007…that’s the highest number kings caught from a pier last year on the east coast.

Photo credit and Yaupon Fishing Pier time line credit: Al Baird