THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 28, 1995 TAG: 9507270156
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Lee Tolliver
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Vacations are a wonderful thing.
Responsibilities are cast aside, along with worries and headaches. Nothing has to be done if you don't want it to be. Relaxation and enjoyment are the only real priorities.
Yep! Vacations are a wonderful thing. Especially when they involve time spent enjoying Mother Nature's fantastic work.
A couple of weeks spent on the beach of North Carolina's Outer Banks provides such an opportunity.
Fishing, bird watching, shell collecting . . . more fishing - it doesn't get much better, now does it?
Unfortunately, on this particular vacation, the catching wasn't nearly as good as the fishing. With the sweltering heat, many fish have retreated to cooler waters. Surf fishing for trout, spot, croaker and flounder was a futile effort. They just weren't there.
The only fish that appeared in any numbers in the surf were bait fish and many of the area's ospreys and pelicans had a lock on catching them.
Pier fishermen, within binocular range of the beach cottage deck, caught an occasional cobia. But smaller species usually available in the surf had gone elsewhere.
That left bass fishing in the brackish waters of Currituck Sound and its tributaries or speckled trout fishing in the saltier waters of the Roanoke and Croatan sounds as the best angling options.
Bass fishing was a one-effort affair that wasn't really given a fair chance - mainly because the first speckled trout outing turned out so well.
With a little help from freelance outdoor writer Ed Wilkerson - a resident of the area - we located and caught speckleds right off the bat.
None were anything deserving of bragging rights, although the first one caught by a buddy was nearly 3 pounds - a nice fish by any standards and one that several locals told us was especially good for this time of year.
Many of the fish were just above keeper size and we kept only enough for a good meal. But on light tackle, specks provide a rousing challenge.
And we could have caught all the croaker we wanted had we brought the right bait.
But we were lure fishing for trout and that's where the concentration was.
That is, as much as anyone can concentrate when they're on vacation. MEMO: Got an interesting sports-related story to tell? If so, call The Beacon
at 490-7228 and let us know about it, or write to The Beacon, Sports
Department, 4565 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach, Va. 23462. The
fax number is 490-7235.
by CNB