how get to the north
shoal of Hutaff Island,
you were in one of the
greatest red drum fish-ing
spots on the North
Carolina coast.
The welcoming
parties were ospreys,
snakes, sharks, giant
stingrays, loggerhead
turtles and roving
clouds of mosquitoes.
The only paths on the
island were narrow
game trails made
by deer, rabbits and
raccoons.
Massive dunes rose
like pyramids from the
undisturbed beach,
protecting a maritime
forest of oak, wild
cherry and myrtle.
Mourning doves came
in droves to roost in
the oaks, and marsh
rabbits played in
the wild blackberry
patches. Iconic beauty
tinged with an eerie
loneliness was the
island’s persona.
The fishing was
superb, but whether
you fished or not, just
being on Hutaff’s north
beach where the wind
blew wild through the
ancient spit of forest
and giant waves rolled
and thundered in the
surf was a rare and
unforgettable experi-ence
— the kind that
burns in one’s memory.
To get to the beach
you first had to find the
inlet. Old charts dat-ing
back to the 1800s
labeled it Old Topsail
Inlet, but the locals
who fished there knew
it as Elmore’s Inlet,
or simply Elmore’s. It
formed the northern
boundary of Hutaff
Island, which was then
a little-known barrier
island off the coast of
Pender County some
seven miles north of
Wrightsville Beach.
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com 21
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FISHING on HUTAFF ISLAND
never just a fishing trip — it was always an adventure O BY ROBERT REHDER
ROBERT REHDER