THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 7, 1996 TAG: 9601040145
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 17 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Damon Tatem
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
THE 1995 FISHING year will go down in the record books as the year of the resurgence of Atlantic striped bass along the beaches of the Outer Banks.
After many years of almost total absence, scattered stripers appeared in the surf along the northern beaches and around Oregon Inlet during the winter of 1993-94. Fair numbers of small fish were landed and released along the beach north of Duck, and mixed-sized fish were caught around Oregon Inlet.
Action resumed again during the winter of 1994-95, with stripers taken from the northern beach surf and also along Hatteras beaches, particularly at Cape Point. A few stripers lingered along the oceanfront during the summer of 1995 and were taken by northern beach pier anglers and fishermen around Oregon Inlet.
As water temperatures began to fall with the arrival of cooler weather, increasing numbers of striped bass began to move into the area in early November 1995. One of the first fish of the fall run was an 18 1/2 pounder, landed Nov. 5 by Brad Bradley from Nags Head Pier.
Action increased in intensity, with multiple catches reported daily from a variety of locations scattered all along the Dare coast. By Thanksgiving week, substantial runs of 28- to 34-inch stripers were being reported regularly by piers along the northern beaches. Anglers on Nags Head Pier participated in the best run in the area since the early 1970s. More than 100 keeper stripers were landed from the pier Nov. 28. Many times that number were lost because of rough seas and strong winds. Anglers on other piers in the area shared in the harvest that day.
Striper action was not confined only to ocean piers. Surf fishermen caught plenty of fish during November and December. Fish were landed regularly by anglers fishing for speckled trout, puppy drum and bluefish. The largest striper reported taken from the surf was beached by Bill Harris in Southern Shores on Thanksgiving Day. Weighing 45 pounds, the fish hit a fireball rig baited with fresh mullet.
Striper fishing was good around the north point of Oregon Inlet and from the revetment and the catwalk on the south side of Oregon Inlet, with plenty of fish taken at night. Surfcasters along the beach from Oregon Inlet to Buxton also landed plenty of stripers, and some good runs were reported from Cape Point.
Inshore trolling for striped bass by charter craft around Oregon Inlet was productive during November and most of December. Big bucktails garnished with white plastic tails and large swimming plugs produced limits of stripers from 15 to 25 pounds almost daily. Most of the fish were landed adjacent to shoals around the mouth of the inlet. Some fish were taken by anglers trolling south of Oregon Inlet around the boiler and north along the beach in Kitty Hawk.
The great improvement in striped bass fishing in the ocean was paralleled by action in the Croatan, Albemarle and Roanoke sounds. During the past few years, the bass population in the Albemarle/Roanoke Management Area has increased dramatically. Striper fishing along the Manns Harbor Bridge in Croatan Sound has been excellent this fall, much reminiscent of the fishing in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Fish larger than the 21-inch legal limit were plentiful. Large quantities of smaller fish from the record-breaking spawns of 1993 and 1994 were hooked and released throughout the sound.
The road to recovery of the Atlantic striped bass population has been a long one. A moratorium lasting several years, both in the Chesapeake Bay and in the Atlantic Ocean, proved a critical ingredient in preventing the striper population from becoming endangered.
The recently adopted Amendment V and future amendments to the Striped Bass Plan will provide clear guidelines and recommend management measures for the recovered striped bass fishery.
Continued support by recreational and commercial fishermen, which made the recovery possible, will help maintain a healthy striped bass fishery for future generations.
Fishing has been unusually good recently along the Dare coast, with the majority of the action reported from the Hatteras area.
Good numbers of big bluefish were landed by anglers fishing at Cape Point throughout the day on Dec. 29.
Striped bass fishing also has been good, with early mornings and late afternoons being the most productive times.
A particularly good run developed late Tuesday afternoon around high water, with fish weighing up to 28 pounds taken. Some nice puppy drum up to 24 inches long were also landed in the Cape Point area.
Speckeld trout fishing has been fair along the Hatteras Inlet beach. Surfcasters in the area also have landed some nice puppy drum.
Some bluefin tuna have been released off Hatteras, but so far the expected run has not developed. Scattered bluefins up to 84 inches have been appearing in gillnet catches in 20 feet of water. ILLUSTRATION: File photo
After a couple of years of lagging, stripers were plentiful during
the winter of 1995. Anglers found the fish were jumping onto hooka
all along the Outer Banks.
by CNB