THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 21, 1996 TAG: 9601180160
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Tight Lines
SOURCE: Damon Tatem
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
PIER ANGLERS along the Dare coast caught quite a few big fish during the late spring and early summer of 1995.
Cobia initially appeared in mid-May in the Hatteras Island area. Frisco Pier reported the first of the season, landed May 14 by Douglas Howell of Frisco. The fish weighed 50 pounds. The next day, Howard Cator of Buxton caught a 58-pounder while night fishing for drum at Cape Point.
Cobia began to show within a week along the northern beaches. They were caught by pier anglers and also by boat fishermen around the mouth of Oregon Inlet.
The best cobia fishing was during June. Fifty-pounders were caught almost daily from ocean piers along the Outer Banks. Some of the largest fish reported included a 71-pounder taken by Kevin Holland of Nags Head and a 64 1/2-pounder by Steve Dombrowski. Both fish were landed from Outer Banks Pier.
Good cobia action continued through most of July, tapering off by the end of the month. Action in August and throughout the fall was spotty. Only a handful of fish were reported, landed mainly by boaters.
Fair numbers of king mackerel were landed during the summer of 1995 by pier anglers. After a slow start in early June, fishing improved with catches of several fish weighing between 20 and 40 pounds reported daily. A few kings weighing more than 50 pounds were taken, including a 53 1/2-pounder from Nags Head Pier June 23, a 62-pounder from Outer Banks Pier June 26 and a 51 3/4-pounder July 11 from Rodanthe Pier.
King mackerel also were landed by boaters using live bait off Oregon Inlet and Hatteras during the summer and fall. Some of the best action occurred during November, when boaters found good concentrations of big fish off Avon. Fishing was good in late November and early December around and behind the wrecks off Hatteras.
Kings and cobia weren't the only sizable fish taken by pier anglers in 1995. A substantial number of jacks were landed by live bait fishermen during the summer months. Most of the jacks, weighing between 15 and 35 pounds, were released.
A number of tarpon also were landed, and many were hooked and lost. The majority of the action was on Frisco Pier, although several other piers reported occasional catches. Nags Head Pier reported a 72-pounder landed in mid-June.
Blue water action off the Dare coast was good throughout the past year. Bluefin tuna fishing was spectacular during the months of January, February and March around several wrecks along the 20-fathom curve south of Hatteras Inlet. Large numbers of the tuna, weighing between 250 and 600 pounds, were fought and released regularly by charter and private boats in the area.
A number of big bluefin tuna also were taken by charter off Oregon Inlet in early July. The largest reported weighed 744 pounds and was landed July 7 aboard the Hog Wild by Thomas Bailey of Culpeper, Va.
Yellowfin tuna fishing was good off Oregon Inlet throughout the year. Most of the action was at ``the point,'' southeast of Oregon Inlet. The average size of the fish was larger than in the past few years.
Charters out of the Hatteras area also reported good yellowfin fishing southeast of the Diamond Shoals light tower during most of the season.
Dolphin fishing was productive in 1995, with good numbers of small fish and a few gaffers available throughout the summer. Action was shared by both the Hatteras and Oregon Inlet charter fleets.
Exceptionally good wahoo fishing was reported off Hatteras late in the summer. Daily catches of six per boat were not uncommon, and some charters took as many as 20 per day. Some large fish also were taken, including a 112-pounder landed aboard the Fast Lane May 29.
Billfish made several strong appearances during the 1995 season. Plenty of white marlin, along with a few blue marlin and sailfish, were released during the early part of June by both the Oregon Inlet and Hatteras fleets. Most of the action was southeast of the Diamond Shoals light tower in 30 to 100 fathoms of water.
Good numbers of white marlin and a few blue marlin were taken in early August northeast of Oregon Inlet. One of the largest blue marlin reported was taken Aug. 13 by Sandy Griffin of Nags Head. The fish weighed 965 pounds and was caught northeast of Oregon Inlet.
Good action continued in the area until fishing was interrupted by the passage of Hurricane Felix. As many as 70 billfish were released on a daily basis prior to the storm's arrival. When the weather improved, anglers found billfish scattered. Billfishing remained fairly slow until the end of September, when a flurry of marlin action developed during a two-day period northeast of Oregon Inlet.
Inshore fishing action has been confined to the Hatteras area recently. A few speckled trout have been taken at Cape Point, and several stripers are said to have been landed along the South Beach. A handful of puppy drum have been caught in the surf near ramp 55.
Yellowfin tuna have been abundant at ``the point'' southeast of Oregon Inlet. The few charter craft fishing have reached their limits on yellowfins on every trip. Most of the fish taken have been small.
Bluefin tuna action was excellent on the ``Rockpile'' of Hatteras on Jan. 14-15. Most of the fish released weighed between 150 pounds and 250 pounds although some bigger fish were reported. by CNB