THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 8, 1995 TAG: 9510050211
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 36 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Tight Lines
SOURCE: Damon Tatem
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
Moderate northeast winds along the Outer Banks have kept pier anglers happy but have plagued offshore fishermen.
Spot fishing has been excellent on Kitty Hawk Pier on a daily basis. Bluefish, trout, croaker, some nice-sized puppy drum and lots of small black drum also have been caught.
Avalon Pier fishermen also have reported some good runs of spot. Some Spanish mackerel and a 4 1/2 pound trout were landed from the pier Sept. 27. Although water temperatures have dropped a little, some pompano have been taken from Avalon Pier, including a 2 3/4-pounder landed overnight Sept. 28.
Bluefishing was good on Nags Head Pier Sept. 27. Nags Head Pier anglers also have caught scattered spot, croaker and some nice speckled trout. Puppy drum have been tipping the scales at 8 pounds recently.
Fishing on Jennette's Pier has been a little slow. Some spot have been landed, but runs have not been consistent. A few trout, puppy drum and nice-sized croaker also have been taken. A 34-pound drum was caught on fresh spot by Keith Russ of Kitty Hawk from the end of the pier at 2 a.m. Sept. 29.
Fishermen on Outer Banks Pier caught spot throughout the day Sept. 29. Small black drum have been taken in good quantities from the pier, along with some nice croaker and puppy drum.
South of Oregon Inlet, anglers on Rodanthe Pier have caught plenty of keeper puppy drum and some nice spot. A 34-pound drum was taken from the pier by Kyle Lovell of Rodanthe Oct. 2.
Avon Pier reported plenty of 4- to 5-pound puppy drum landed Oct. 1. Good numbers of tailor bluefish have been taken daily on cut bait.
Spot, mullet, tailor blues, pompano weighing as much as 2 1/2 pounds and some puppy drum have been taken periodically from Frisco Pier. An 11-pound black drum was landed from the pier Sept. 30.
Offshore fishing, more subject to the whims of Mother Nature than other forms of fishing, has been good on the few days sea conditions have permitted passage across the Oregon Inlet bar.
Dolphin fishing has been fairly good, but tuna catches have been mostly mediocre. The exception was Oct. 2, when the Pirate's Cove and Oregon Inlet fleets landed good catches of 50- to 60-pound class yellowfin tuna. The best action was northeast of the inlet around the triple zeros, and also near the 400 to 480 Loran lines.
Billfishing has been slow off Oregon Inlet recently but was good Oct. 2. Two sailfish were released by the Right Hook, one white marlin each by the Temptress and the Capt. B.C., two white marlin by the Obsession, and a blue marlin by the Joe Boy. A blue marlin weighing 538 pounds was taken by the Gannet.
Billfishing was good off Hatteras Sept. 27. Releases included a blue marlin and a sailfish aboard both the Wahoo and the Big Eye. Two sailfish each were released by the Hatteras Fever, Judy Ann and the Release, and a white marlin and a sailfish by the Citation.
Several marlin and sailfish were released by the Hatteras Fleet the following day, with the best action reported from south of the Diamond Shoals Light Tower.
Dolphin and wahoo fishing has been good off Hatteras recently. Tuna fishing has been fair to slow.
Inshore trolling around Oregon Inlet and Hatteras Inlet has been good with tailor bluefish plentiful. King mackerel catches a few miles offshore southeast of the Zane Gray, a wreck southeast of Oregon Inlet, have been excellent. Most of the king mackerel, weighing between 5 and 15 pounds, have been taken on spoons pulled deep behind planers.
Surf fishing along the northern beaches has been particularly good. Anglers fishing the north side of Oregon Inlet have caught plenty of tailor blues and some scattered puppy drum on cut bait.
Good speckled trout fishing has been reported from Green Island Slough on the inlet's south side. Some nice flounder, big croaker, spot and gray trout have been taken from the revetment, the catwalk on the Bonner Bridge and the Coast Guard Channel. Puppy drum fishing has been good at night along the beach south of the revetment.
Bluefish, puppy drum and small bottom fish have been plentiful in the surf from Rodanthe to Buxton.
Good catches of puppy drum have been reported at Cape Point during the evening and early in the morning. Spot, bluefish, speckled trout and flounder also have been beached in the area. Big Jack crevalle were landed at Cape Point Sept. 27. The Jacks had chased spot up on the beach during a feeding frenzy.
Gray trout fishing has been good at night in the Hatteras Inlet area. Bluefish, puppy drum, pompano, speckled trout and small bottom fish have been beached regularly by surfcasters from Frisco to Hatteras Inlet.
A gradual drop in water temperature should result in in increase in channel bass action around Oregon Inlet, on ocean piers in Hatteras, and at Cape Point. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
Tom Colligan, 66, of Annandale, Va., casts for baitfish on the south
side of Oregon Inlet on Oct. 3.
by CNB