THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 14, 1995 TAG: 9505110187
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 26 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Tight Lines
SOURCE: Damon Tatem
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Inshore fishing along the Dare beaches has been fairly good over the past week. Pier fishermen along the northern beaches have caught good numbers of small bluefish. The best of the action has been early in the morning and just before dark. Jiggers and double bucktail rigs have produced the best catches. Some fairly significant runs of trout have also been reported.
Anglers on Kitty Hawk Pier caught 2- to 4-pound speckled trout for several hours on May 6. Most of the fish were taken on soft plastic artificial baits. Fishermen on other piers in the area also had good catches at the same time. Scattered sea mullet and other small bottom fish also have been taken. The best sea mullet catches have been made at night.
On Hatteras Island, sea mullet continue to be the mainstay of pier fishing action.
The fast pace of previous weeks has slowed, but Avon Pier reported excellent catches on the afternoon and evening of May 7. Most of the good mullet fishing has been after dark. Pier anglers on the island have also caught croaker, spot, nice flounder, tailor blues and some gray trout. Good catches of medium gray trout were reported from Frisco Pier the morning of May 9.
Surf fishing from Corolla to Oregon Inlet has improved. Speckled trout were landed from the beach south of Kitty Hawk Pier on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The speckles, weighing up to 4 1/2 pounds, were taken on Fin-S and other assorted plastic lures. Trout have been scarce along the beach at other locations. In addition to trout, tailor blues and mullet have been landed from deeper sloughs on the incoming tide.
Anglers have beached a few keeper flounder and fair numbers of tailor blues around Oregon Inlet.
Speckled trout fishing has been fair in the sound, west of Oregon Inlet around Duck Island. Some good catches have also been reported from the Off Island channel behind Bodie Island lighthouse. Most of the fish have been small.
On Hatteras Island, surf fishermen have caught small bottom fish, tailor blues and flounder all along the beach. Sea mullet fishing has been real good from ramp 23 south for several miles. Although a few puppy drum have been taken, action at Cape Point has been slow. The larger fish have been absent from the area for about a week due to adverse wind directions.
Well offshore, southeast of Oregon Inlet, gulfstream yellowfin tuna fishing is beginning to have its ups and downs as summer approaches. On May 5, just about all charters out of Pirate's Cove Marina and Oregon Inlet Fishing Center limited out on yellowfin tuna. Fishing was considerably less productive the following day, with only a couple of limits reported. Action picked up again Sunday but tapered off Monday. Big eye tuna have been scarce, but one was taken weighing around 140 pounds by the ``Suspense'' Sunday. In addition to tuna, fair amounts of gaffer dolphin and a few king mackerel have been landed. Billfish released include sailfish by the ``Osprey'' and the ``Fish-N-Frenzy.''
Hatteras offshore fishing has been good, with yellowfin tuna, dolphin and plenty of wahoo taken. Quite a few blue marlin have been seen in the area, but so far few have been hooked. Charter boat billfish releases include white marlin by the ``Tuna Duck'' and the ``Release,'' and blue marlin by the ``Outlaw,'' the ``Fin-Fantasy'' and the ``Hatteras Blue.''
With water temperatures along the northern beaches approaching the 60-degree mark, and temperatures in the Hatteras area well above 60 degrees, Spanish mackerel should soon appear at Cape Point and along the south beach. MEMO: Damon Tatem covers Outer Banks fishing for The Carolina Coast. Send
comments and questions to him at P.O. Box 10, Nags Head, N.C. 27959.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
Ryan Oliver, 9, of Nags Head, leans over the railing at the Outer
Banks Fishing Pier to cast for trout spotted lurking near the
bottom.
by CNB