THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996 TAG: 9604040173
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 30 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Tight Lines
SOURCE: Damon Tatem
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Surf and pier fishing showed some signs of improvement along the Outer Banks recently.
A few toadfish and several small flounder were landed from the beach south of Cape Point on March 31. Some puppy drum, most of which were under the legal limit, were released by anglers fishing the same area. A few puppy drum have been beached in the surf on Ocracoke Island's south end.
Action had been virtually nonexistent on ocean piers until April 1, when anglers fishing from the end of Avalon Pier caught some one-pound croakers. Outer Banks Pier also reported some small croaker taken.
Pier fishermen have caught a few skates on Hatteras Island, where water temperatures have remained around 48 to 50 degrees.
Striped bass season closed with a bang March 31. Fish were fairly plentiful along the Manns Harbor bridge throughout the day. Anglers caught stripers trolling and casting bucktails. The best action was on the south side of the bridge's eastern end, where fish were schooling during most of the afternoon.
Some action also was reported in the Roanoke Sound along the Washington Baum Bridge and on the Melvin Daniels Bridge on the Manteo-Nags Head causeway. Fair catches have been made at night by anglers using bloodworms.
Scattered stripers should remain available in fair numbers in the Croatan Sound area throughout the spring. This fishery is currently a hook-and-release fishery, but should reopen for ``keepers'' in the late fall.
Charters out of Oregon Inlet caught fair numbers of 20- to 40-pound yellowfin tuna on March 31. Some dolphin and a few wahoo also appeared in catches.
Bluefin tuna fishing was good around ``the rockpile'' off Hatteras during the afternoon of March 30. Fishing continued to be good in the same area the following day. Action got even better April 1, with a larger class of fish reported.
King mackerel catches also have been outstanding around ``the rockpile.'' Most of the mackerel have weighed 10 to 18 pounds.
Hatteras charters caught plenty of yellowfin tuna around the 280 rocks March 30. Fishing was good again the following day, but the tuna were quite a bit smaller.
Yellowfin tuna action should improve off Oregon Inlet as water temperatures rise in coming weeks. 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 ROBIE RAY
The coming of spring has brought out the fishermen in Nags Head.
While anglers lined the causeway between Nags Head and Manteo, some
reported the catches were slow.
by CNB