THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 22, 1995 TAG: 9510190206
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 28 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Damon Tatem
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Although water temperatures along the beach have begun to fall with the arrival of cooler nights, pompano and other summertime fish continue to be landed by anglers along the Outer Banks.
Spot fishing has held up well on Kitty Hawk Pier, where some nice-sized croaker, a few sea mullet, tailor bluefish and a few nice speckled trout have been taken.
Anglers on Avalon Pier have landed some spot, tailor blues, pompano and croaker weighing as much as 2 1/2 pounds. Good catches of sea mullet were reported Oct. 13.
Fair numbers of 2- to 3-pound speckled trout were taken from Nags Head Pier on bucktails Oct. 11 and all afternoon Oct. 16. Spot were caught at a steady rate Oct. 12 and again Oct. 14. A few pompano, small black drum and tailor bluefish also have appeared in recent catches.
Jennette's Pier reported a good run of sea mullet just before dark Oct. 14. Most of the mullet were taken on fresh shrimp. A few bluefish, trout, pompano, black drum and croaker also have been landed.
Outer Banks Pier fishermen caught plenty of sea mullet Oct. 14 and 15. Black drum also have been plentiful. Some spot, small blues, croaker and a few trout also have been taken.
Scattered spot, mullet, black drum and trout have been decked on Rodanthe Pier. A good run of spot developed during the morning of Oct. 14 but was followed by a slow afternoon of fishing.
Anglers on Avon Pier caught spot at at good rate Oct. 13 late at night. Otherwise, lots of skate, a few mullet, several croaker and bluefish have been taken.
Lots of puppy drum, weighing as much as 7 pounds, were taken on Frisco Pier Oct. 13. The best action was early in the morning. Some small bottom fish and a few gray trout also have been landed.
Scattered small bottom fish, tailor bluefish and several puppy drum have been beached in the surf along the northern beach area recently.
Speckled trout were landed on plastic lures from sloughs north of Kitty Hawk Pier and Nags Head Pier Oct. 13 in the morning. A few fish were taken during the afternoon north of Kitty Hawk Pier.
Small bluefish, flounder, some sea mullet and a few puppy drum have been landed from the north side of Oregon Inlet.
On the south side of Oregon Inlet, lots of gray trout were taken by anglers the evening of Oct. 14.
Puppy drum, sea mullet, small bluefish and a few pompano have been landed regularly from Rodanthe to Buxton.
Puppy drum fishing at Cape Point has been consistently good. Some large drum also have been taken, usually at night. Anglers at Cape Point also have landed tailor bluefish, sea mullet and flounder.
Puppy drum action has been good on the south end of Hatteras Island from ramp 55 south. Lots of small bluefish, black drum and some pompano also have been taken in the area. Gray trout fishing has been good at night on the sound side of Hatteras Inlet.
Inshore trolling has been spotty around Oregon Inlet, with only an occasional bluefish caught.
Headboats in the area have had good luck catching sea bass and triggerfish in the ocean. Sound fishing has been slow.
Blue water fishing has continued to be hampered by rough weather. Dolphin fishing was good Oct. 13. Tuna fishing was fairly good Oct. 12, but only mediocre Oct. 13. Some good catches of king mackerel were reported around the 70-degree tower.
Weather conditions deteriorated Oct. 14, and only a few boats went offshore. Action was slow, with a few tuna, king mackerel and wahoo landed.
No trips were run Oct. 15, but fishing resumed Oct. 16. Only a handful of dolphin and tuna were taken, but king mackerel action was fairly good.
Hatteras Gulf Stream charters have reported fair to good dolphin and wahoo fishing. Billfishing was good Oct. 13, with five sailfish and four blue marlin released.
With water temperatures falling below 70 degrees along the northern beaches, speckled trout action should improve during the next few weeks. by CNB