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Florida Pompano
OpenTrachinotus carolinus
The NC rulebook, translated for the Banks.
The Short Version
North Carolina puts no size floor on Florida Pompano; measure nothing, but count everything. The daily creel is no creel limit, and the fishery is open through the whole calendar year.
Keep Size
No minimum
Any size is legal to keep
Run the tape from the snout to the far edge of the tail pressed flat together — a pinched tail adds the half inch that decides a citation.
Daily Creel
No creel limit
What one angler may take per day
Counts are per person unless the rule says "per boat," and they aggregate across everywhere you fished that day — sound, surf, and ocean all land in the same tally.
Season Window
Year-round
When harvest is legal
Open through the year unless an emergency closure posts.
Where It Stands
Open
Harvest is legal; emergency in-season shutdowns are rare but do happen — glance at the DMF proclamations page anyway.
Pompano in the Surf
Pompano run the sandbars and sloughs of the Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills surf in summer — July is the local month — and they are the beach fishery's best-eating panfish. They work the troughs and the edge of the bar where the water is moving, often within sight of shore.
A pompano rig with a small piece of sand flea, shrimp, or FishBites fished in the wash is the standard approach. They are a schooling fish, so where you find one you usually find more. No size or creel rules apply, which makes pompano the beach's best bonus fish.
The Fine Print
- •No size limit and no creel limit under NC rules.
- •Summer surf fish on the sandbars and sloughs; July is the peak local month from Nags Head south.
- •Fished on a pompano rig in the surf wash with sand fleas, shrimp, or FishBites.
- •Not a targetable trophy fish — a schooling bonus fish that turns up in the beach catch.
Updated Oct 30, 2026