By the Cotton Patch Landing Team

It’s hard to believe we’re already six weekends into summer at Cotton Patch Landing. Creekside Grill has been rolling since Memorial Day, the marina has been steady most Saturdays, and Blount’s Creek is fishing about how you’d expect for late June. Here’s what the first stretch of the season has actually looked like, and what we’re watching for as the July 4 holiday week settles in.

Creekside Grill: Six Weekends In

The food bus has been open Friday through Sunday every weekend since Memorial Day weekend (May 22). The smash burger has been the bestseller all six weekends. The fish sandwich is a close second on Saturdays, especially after the boat ramp clears out around noon and folks come back hungry.

A few notes from the first stretch. Friday nights are quieter than Saturdays. The line moves fastest right at open (5pm) and right before close (8pm). And we sell out of the weekend special more often than we’d like to admit, so if you see it on the board, order it. The grill will keep running Friday through Sunday through Labor Day weekend, with a couple of bonus Wednesdays we’ll announce on our Facebook page closer to the holiday.

If you’re rolling in for a long weekend, the easiest dinner play is walking up around 6pm and eating at one of the picnic tables overlooking the creek. Bring bug spray if you’re staying past sunset.

The smash burger has been a bestseller every weekend since Memorial Day.

What’s Biting on Blount’s Creek and the Pamlico

Late June on the Pamlico River is classic mixed-bag season. Water temperatures at the USGS gauge at Washington have been hovering near the June seasonal average of about 79 degrees. Salinity sits in the brackish zone moving east from Washington toward Blounts Bay, which is exactly where speckled trout and red drum want to be.

Here’s what our guests have been bringing back to the cleaning station the last few weekends:

• Speckled trout: Best on live shrimp or mud minnows under a popping cork. Soft plastics like a DOA Shrimp or a MirrOlure are working too, especially first light and last hour.
• Red drum: Topwater plugs early, then gold spoons or paddletails through the heat of the day. A few slot-size fish have been coming out of the creek mouth on the falling tide.
• Black drum: Cut shrimp on the bottom near structure. Slower, but reliable, and a good option when the wind kicks up.

The NC DEQ recreational fishing reports have been mirroring what we’re seeing on the creek. If you’re new to the Pamlico, those reports are worth checking the night before you launch.

Late June on the Pamlico is mixed-bag season: speckled trout, red drum, and the occasional black drum.

Marina, Boat Ramp, and Storage

Saturday mornings have been the busiest stretch at the ramp, with most boats in the water by 7am. If you’re trailering in for the day, the smoothest play is showing up by 6:30am or waiting until after 10am once the early crowd has cleared. Sundays have been noticeably calmer, and weekday launches are about as quiet as it gets.

Our wet slips have been steady all month, and we’ve had a handful of new long-term boat storage customers settle in. Boat servicing is currently booking about a week out, so if you’ve got something that needs attention before the holiday, don’t wait. Our bait & tackle shop is fully stocked with the basics (beer, wine, ice, snacks, ice cream, frozen bait, terminal tackle), so you can usually grab whatever you forgot on the way to the dock.

Heading Into July 4 Weekend

Spacious FHU RV Sites

Saturday, July 4 falls in the middle of a classic four-day window for boating and fishing. A few things worth knowing before you load up the truck:

• Life jackets: NC law requires kids under 13 to wear an approved PFD while underway, and every vessel needs a properly sized PFD for every person aboard. Boats 16 feet or longer also need a Type IV throwable. The NC Wildlife Resources Commission has the full rundown.
• Fireworks: Not allowed at Cotton Patch (this includes sparklers and smoke bombs). The City of Washington and several waterfront communities typically host public displays, and a few of them are visible from the river if you want to make a night of it on the water.
• Ice and bait: The Thursday-night grab is your friend. The shop will be open, but Friday-morning lines move faster when most folks already have their cooler packed.
• Heat: Late June heat indexes have been pushing into the upper 90s. Schedule your hard fishing hours before 10am and after 5pm. Bring more water than you think you need.

What’s Still Open for the Holiday

As of this the writing of this post, we only have one water & electric RV site available for the July 3 to 6 stretch. The Redfish Retreat and Captain’s Quarters are booked through the holiday, but both have openings later in July if you’re flexible. So do our FHU RV sites and Creekside Cabins. Everything runs through our booking page, and we’re taking transient marina slip reservations by phone at (252) 946-8226.

See you on the water.