THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 3, 1996 TAG: 9604030401
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
COLUMN: Fishing on the Outer Banks
SOURCE: Damon Tatem
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Offshore fishing was good along the Outer Banks this past weekend.
Although only one boat fished out of Oregon Inlet Saturday, lots of craft went offshore from Hatteras. Plenty of bluefin tuna were hooked and released on ``The Rockpile.''
The best action was during the afternoon. Some good catches of yellowfins and kings also were reported around the 280 rocks.
A few more boats made the effort southeast of Oregon Inlet Sunday, and were rewarded with fair catches of yellowfin tuna, some weighing as much as 40 pounds.
The tuna were scattered and not concentrated in any particular area. A few dolphin and several wahoo also were caught.
Hatteras charters reported good bluefin action around ``The Rockpile'' Sunday. Good catches of king mackerel also were landed by the fleet. Yellowfin action was good around the 280 rocks, but most of the fish were small.
The final weekend of the unusually short striped bass season was generally productive. Anglers fishing along the Manns Harbor bridge Saturday caught fish steadily, even though weather conditions left much to be desired.
Fishing was pretty good again Sunday, with fish schooling along the south side of the bridge toward Manteo. Anglers caught fish trolling and casting into the surfaced schools.
Scattered fish also were reported by anglers fishing along the Washington Baum Bridge, the Melvin Daniels Bridge on the Nags Head/
Manteo causeway and in the Alligator River.
Surf fishing along the Outer Banks was slow during the weekend because of low water temperatures. About the only fishing activity reported was from along the beach south of Cape Point, where a few toadfish were landed and some puppy drum under the legal size limit were released.
Pier fishing also has been slow, with only a few anglers even trying. Rodanthe Pier reported a few skates landed. Piers along the northern beaches reported no appreciable catches over the weekend. Conditions improved Monday and so did the fishing, with Avalon Pier reporting some one-pound croaker taken from the end of the pier.
Water temperature at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pier in Duck was 45 degrees. Frisco Pier on Hatteras Island reported a surf temperature of 48 degrees. MEMO: This report marks the start of Damon Tatem's daily fishing update for
1996 in The Virginian-Pilot. As in 1995, the report will run Tuesday
through Saturday, with a Sunday column on fishing in the Carolina Coast
by the longtime operator of a Nags Head tackle shop. by CNB