THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 27, 1995 TAG: 9508240260
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 44 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Tight Lines
SOURCE: Damon Tatem
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
The recent passage of Hurricane Felix off the Dare coast brought pier, surf and boat fishing to a virtual standstill for almost a week.
Gusty winds and high seas began Aug. 14 and made pier fishing difficult. Although conditions were bad, anglers on Kitty Hawk Pier caught a lot of spot Aug. 14 and 15. Avalon Pier also reported plenty of spot and croaker taken. Fishermen on Nags Head Pier, Jennette's Pier and Outer Banks Pier shared in the good fishing, landing spot two at a time.
Weather conditions deteriorated by Aug. 16, and little fishing action was reported for several days.
Winds fell and seas began to calm Aug. 20, but anglers had only fair success because of dirty water inshore.
Nags Head Pier reported scattered spot taken. A few nice speckled trout were landed on cut bait from Jennette's Pier. Outer Banks Pier fishermen caught spot during most of the morning.
Piers on Hatteras Island reported very few people fishing, and only a few croaker landed during the same period.
Pier fishing improved Aug. 21, as seas continued to fall and water clarity increased.
Some spot and croaker were landed from Kitty Hawk Pier. Avalon Pier and Nags Head Pier reported plenty of nice spot during most of the morning. A few spot and croaker were taken on Jennette's Pier. Good numbers of spot were caught by fishermen on Outer Banks Pier.
Pier action on Hatteras Island was fair. Rodanthe Pier reported some spot and sea mullet landed. Avon Pier anglers caught spot, croaker and a few mullet. Frisco Pier fishermen landed spot, croaker and tailor bluefish.
Surf fishing conditions were poor from Aug. 14 through Aug. 20. The only action was from protected areas, such as around Oregon Inlet, where lots of croaker were taken. By Aug. 21, seas along the northern beaches had fallen substantially, and surfcasters landed a mixture of small bottom fish and tailor blues.
South of Oregon Inlet, some croaker and mullet were beached from Rodanthe to Buxton. Anglers at Cape Point caught puppy drum, bluefish, bottom fish and flounder. Small bluefish and bottom fish were taken along the beach from Frisco to Hatteras Inlet.
Inshore trolling around Oregon Inlet has been slow recently because of murky water left by Felix.
Headboat catches of croaker, pigfish and trout have been fair, with most of the action in the sound.
After a week of inactivity due to Hurricane Felix, the Hatteras charter fleet fished the Gulf Stream Aug. 21. Good catches of dolphin, wahoo and billfish were reported. Hatteras offshore fishing slowed, however, the next day. Small dolphin were plentiful, but billfish were scarce.
Dolphin fishing was good off Oregon Inlet. Quite a few wahoo were taken, and fair numbers of billfish released.
Billfish action off Oregon Inlet should continue to be good, peaking with the arrival of early September northeasters. by CNB