THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512210192
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 17 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: TIGHT LINES
SOURCE: Damon Tatem
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
FISHING has been unusually good along the Dare Coast recently, considering it is mid-December.
Speckled trout fishing was excellent off the beaches of the Outer Banks from Kitty Hawk to Hatteras Inlet Dec. 13. Action was particularly good in sloughs south of Nags Head Pier, north of Rodanthe Pier and behind Buxton motels and the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. Anglers fishing at Cape Point caught trout weighing as much as 7 pounds during the day.
Scattered striped bass also were taken by many trout fishermen. A good run of stripers developed in the Ramp 34 area during the afternoon.
A few striped bass were beached from the Kitty Hawk surf Dec. 14. About 20 stripers were decked during the morning on Avalon Pier. Anglers at Cape Point caught speckled trout and puppy drum in the surf behind the Cape Hatteras lighthouse.
Trout fishing improved along the northern beaches Dec. 15, with good catches reported south of Jennette's Pier.
Anglers on Kitty Hawk Pier reported an excellent run of striped bass Dec. 15, beginning about 8:30 a.m. Most of the fish weighed between 15 and 25 pounds, and were taken on large white bucktails garnished with a six-inch white twister tail.
Scattered stripers were taken along the beach, and fishermen on Nags Head Pier also landed several.
A 17-pound, 14-ounce bluefish was taken by George Price of Kill Devil Hills from the south side of Oregon Inlet during the early afternoon Dec. 15. A few big blues were landed along the Pea Island beach later in the day.
A little farther south, trout catches were good along the Avon beach, behind the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, along the beach south of Cape Point and in the surf in the Frisco area.
Speckled trout fishing was fairly good along the northern beach area on the morning of Dec. 16. Anglers on Hatteras Island also reported good catches of trout from deeper sloughs. Fairly good numbers of stripers were landed on lures from Nags Head Pier. Fishing was slow during the afternoon and the following day because of rough seas.
Offshore action has been good southeast of Oregon Inlet near ``the point'' recently. Charters have returned home with limits of yellowfin tuna when weather has permitted trips.
Chunking is a fishing method that has been used for tuna off the Jersey coast for many years. Using chunks of butterfish for bait has proven very effective lately in our offshore fishery.
King mackerel fishing has been spotty off Hatteras. Fairly good catches were reported Dec. 15 after a two-day period of slow fishing.
Striped bass fishing has been excellent in the Manns Harbor area, but that's over at 5 p.m. today when the season ends in the Albemarle Sound inland waters. The best fishing has been around the Manns Harbor bridge when the current was fairly strong. Action was exceptionally good Dec. 16 and 17 when strong winds generated a strong tidal flow through the bridge pilings.
Water temperatures along the beach have varied from 44 degrees to 50 degrees during the past few weeks. Stripers and some speckled trout will remain in the area, and will bite when water temperatures are elevated. 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
Buster Bratton of Manns Harbor holds a sriped bass he pulled from
the Croatan Sound. Striped bass season ends today at 5 p.m. in the
Albemarle Sound inland waters.
by CNB