When Andy McCann put the Nags Head Fishing Pier up for sale, many of the offers came from buyers who only wanted the land. As Outer Banks Voice reported in July, they planned to tear the structure down and build houses. The pier went instead to Kevin and Connie Nielsen, who had decided over breakfast at the pier one morning to make an offer. They are Nags Head residents themselves. They paid just over $4 million in late December, and they are the first new owners since 1985.
This October is the renovated pier's first fall season. Nags Head now has two ocean piers, and they charge nearly the same for a day of fishing. What sets them apart is how each one fills the hours around the fishing. You can see it in their price sheets, their October calendars and the questions about winter hours that only one of them has answered so far.
What the Nielsens changed, and what they left alone
The pier still sits at 3335 S. Virginia Dare Trail, Milepost 11.5, and the structure over the water is the same one that has stood there for close to 80 years. According to the Outer Banks Voice, the renovation covered nearly everything on land: the restaurant and kitchen, the bar, the fishing counter, the merchandise area and the cluster of rental cottages. Old wiring had to be brought up to code, and that pushed the planned Memorial Day opening back to a late-July target. No source we found gives the exact day it reopened.
These are the new pieces:
- Pier House Cafe, which serves breakfast from 7 to 10:30 a.m. and dinner from 4 to 9 p.m. daily, according to its hours page. The menu page says it was updated October 12, 2026.
- Off the Hook Beach Bar, built in the old tiki bar. It is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., serves food from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and has live music from 6 to 9.
- Beaches & Cream, a coffee and ice cream counter open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Its page says those hours may vary by season.
- A motorized gangway. It lowers during operating hours to make a ramp from the sand to the pier, wide enough for track wheelchairs, and it doubles as a fire exit.
- Renovated cottages. Connie Nielsen told the Outer Banks Voice that most of them will go back on the market as short-term rentals.
McCann told the Outer Banks Voice he always ran it as a family pier, the kind where parents bought their kids a season pass and lunch money and picked them up at the end of the day. Kevin Nielsen said in the same piece, "We're going to continue all the fishing tournaments, kids' programs and everything else that makes the pier so special for families." The new price sheet keeps the season pass in a central place.
Nearly the same price for a day, very different prices for a season
| Nags Head Pier | Jennette's Pier | |
|---|---|---|
| Walk-on or sightseeing | $2.00 | $2 |
| Adult day of fishing | $16.00 | $15 |
| Kids | $8.00, ages 15 and under | $10, ages 12 and under |
| Multi-day | $42 for 3 days, $95 for 7 days | Not listed |
| Season pass | $400, or $525 for a couple | Not listed |
| Add-ons | Pin rigging $32, rod rentals $16 per day | Cobia/King pass, add $15 |
Jennette's lists its fees before tax. A single adult day costs a dollar more at Nags Head Pier, so for one visit the price makes little difference. It starts to matter for anyone who fishes often. At $16 a day, the $400 season pass pays for itself on the 25th visit. Kids can fish at Nags Head Pier for $8 up to age 15, while Jennette's child rate stops at age 12. That puts McCann's picture of a pier full of kids into the actual prices.
Jennette's posts no season pass with its daily rates. Its page says the pier and pier house are open year-round and fully ADA accessible.
What's at the end of the rail this week
Both piers are catching the same fish this month. The newest dated reports come from Jennette's daily fishing log:
- Monday, Oct. 5: red drum caught and released, plus sand perch and sea mullet.
- Thursday, Oct. 8: several red drum caught and released, along with northern puffers, Spanish mackerel, spot and throwback speckled trout. Water temperature was 69 degrees.
- Friday, Oct. 9: bluefish, northern puffers and small speckled trout in a clean, small swell.
- Saturday, Oct. 10: the log reported that "the end of the pier is packed with anglers looking to catch a RED DRUM." The water was 70 degrees, and the weather was windy, cloudy and rainy.
Nags Head Pier's most recent dated report is from September 4. It listed Spanish mackerel, bluefish, king mackerel, false albacore, spot, sea mullet, croaker, flounder and cobia. Its seasonal calendar names sea mullet, bluefish, spot, flounder, sheepshead, red drum, speckled trout and king mackerel as "biting now" in October. That calendar describes the usual season, not a log of actual catches, so the pier cam page is the better way to check current conditions at the north pier.
Two October calendars
For the rest of the month, the two piers run different kinds of schedules. Jennette's community events calendar is mostly fishing and surfing:
- Wednesday through Friday, Oct. 14 to 16: headquarters for the Nags Head Surf Fishing Club Tournament. According to the club's schedule, registration, the station drawing and the parties happen at Jennette's on Oct. 14, and the fishing takes place on Nags Head beaches Oct. 15 and 16.
- Tuesday, Oct. 20, 7 a.m.: the N.C. Lions Visually Impaired Persons (VIP) Fishing Tournament.
- Saturday, Oct. 24, 8 a.m.: ESA OBNC District surf contest.
The VIP tournament ties the two piers together. McCann told the Outer Banks Voice that it started at the Nags Head Fishing Pier and has grown into one of the largest events of its kind in the country. This year Jennette's lists it on its calendar.
Nags Head Pier's tournament page says "No upcoming events right now." Its October schedule is at the bar instead. The Off the Hook events page lists something nearly every night through October 29:
| Date | At Off the Hook |
|---|---|
| Wed., Oct. 14 | Open Mic Night With Heather H |
| Thu., Oct. 15 | Brad Pivot |
| Fri., Oct. 16 | Broughton Aycock |
| Sat., Oct. 17 | John Baldwin |
| Sun., Oct. 18 | Sunday Football |
| Mon., Oct. 19 | Graham Outten |
| Tue., Oct. 20 | Brent Nultemeier |
| Wed., Oct. 21 | Grace Waters |
| Thu., Oct. 22 | Bryan Campbell |
| Fri., Oct. 23 | Gravitation |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Brad Pivot |
| Sun., Oct. 25 | Sunday Football |
| Mon., Oct. 26 | Graham Outten |
| Tue., Oct. 27 | Grace Waters |
| Wed., Oct. 28 | Grace Waters |
| Thu., Oct. 29 | Jim Ansel |
On Tuesday, October 20, someone could watch the VIP tournament start at Jennette's at 7 a.m. and hear Brent Nultemeier at Off the Hook that evening. The tournament that began at one pier and the bar that replaced the other pier's tiki bar share the same date.
The schedule only one pier has published
Jennette's has posted its off-season schedule. It is open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. through October, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. in November and April, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from December through March. It closes on Thanksgiving and Christmas. That means the evening hours get shorter on November 1, less than three weeks from now.
Nags Head Pier has not posted a winter schedule yet. Its own pages give two closing times: the homepage lists the pier and bait shop at 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and the FAQ says the pier is "generally open daily, 6 AM - 11 PM." The FAQ adds that hours "can shift with weather and season." The FAQ also says the cafe takes reservations during its off-season hours. No public source we found says yet how the cafe, the bar or the pier will handle the colder months in their first year under new owners. The pier info page is the place to check before a cold-weather trip.
Kevin Nielsen spoke with the Outer Banks Voice about what he and Connie took on, calling it a great investment. For this October, at least, Nags Head has two working piers, red drum in the water and live music on the deck at Milepost 11.5 through the 29th.
Ashley Massey follows the changes along the Nags Head beach road, piers included, as closely as the market. If you're curious which stretch of beach road puts you closest to the rail on a fall morning, Let's Connect.
