Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 1, 1994 TAG: 9405010102
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Flounder, croaker and spot - species you can catch without spending big bucks on boats and guides - are on the rebound, and the bluefish action in the Chesapeake Bay just might show improvement after a half-dozen dismal years.
Here's a species-by-species look at what anglers can expect:
\ CROAKER: Speckled-trout fishermen last week were complaining they couldn't keep a peeler crab bait in the water without a croaker stealing it. That was something new, because croakers have been so scarce that a whole generation of fishermen have come along who know little about them.
"There are obviously three- or four-year classes of croaker, and there seems to be lots of them again," said Claude Bain, director of Virginia's Salt Water Fishing Tournament.
\ FLOUNDER: Early-season flounder fishing has been impressive along Virginia's Eastern Shore, and surf fishermen in Cape Hatteras, N.C., have been reeling in some of the biggest catches in recent memory. One angler at Cape Point reported catching 45 flounder, many weighing more than 4 pounds.
The peak of Eastern Shore flounder fishing is expected about May 10 to June 10, Bain said. Early on, there have been good numbers of 15- to 18-inch fish. In an effort to protect the resource, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission passed an eight-flounder-per-day limit last week.
\ SPOT: This little panfish of the bay and sea has been in scarce supply for several seasons, but that's about to change. Since March, spot have been showing up in the nets of commercial fishermen, something that usually doesn't occur until about mid-May, at the earliest.
Many of the spot are small, but by mid-summer they could weigh a half-pound or more before the first blows of fall send them packing.
\ BLUEFISH: For several years, many of the jumbo-size bluefish migrating northward in the spring have stayed well offshore and bypassed the Chesapeake Bay. That could happen again, but Bain finds some encouragement in the fact that schools of big blues aren't as far offshore this spring as in recent years.
"Instead of the bigger fish being 12 to 25 miles off the coast, they are 5 to 10 miles," he said. "Does that mean they will come into the bay? I don't know. But things certainly are better for the near-shore fishermen than they have been the past several years."
Few big blues have been landed by surf fishermen along the Outer Banks of North Carolina, which underscores the fact that the time to head there is fall, not spring.
\ AMBERJACK: Warm water temperatures should favor amberjack and cobia, which are sub-tropical species. Cold weather can establish a barrier to these species, as well as to Spanish mackerel.
\ STRIPED BASS: With the population of stripers continuing to increase in number, the fishing outlook is all positive. There may be some liberalization of regulations, if not this year then next.
The major complaint last year was windy weather.
\ OFFSHORE: Species such as white marlin and dolphin were abundant last season, but you can't be certain on a year-to-year basis how much action these pelagic species will provide. It depends on the makeup of the Gulf Stream.
If you have warm-water eddies breaking off the Gulf Stream and moving inshore, the game fish will be within range of charter boats. If not, you can spend big money for a long boat ride.
\ BLUEFIN TUNA: Excellent tuna fishing last year was fueled by the development of a new angling method called "chunking." The technique involves scattering chunks of fish in the water to attract tuna, and that's how about 70 percent of the citation fish were taken.
Was last year's success the result of an unusual concentration of tuna along the coast, or have the fish been there for years without anglers knowing how to catch them? Bain isn't certain.
"It is a question mark that has the potential of being answered on the good side," he said.
by CNB