DATE: Sunday, May 25, 1997                  TAG: 9705230297

SECTION: CAROLINA COAST          PAGE: 42   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: HOW TO HOOK `EM 
SOURCE: Damon Tatem 

                                            LENGTH:   79 lines

SPRING SURF FISHING SHOULD PEAK THIS WEEK OFF HATTERAS BEACHES

Bottom fishing should be good on ocean piers along the Outer Banks during the coming weeks.

Northern beach pier fishermen should catch plenty of spot and sea mullet if inshore waters aren't crystal clear.

Gray trout fishing also should be fairly good during the day, and particularly good at night. Most of the gray trout should be taken on bucktail rigs.

Bluefish should be plentiful for anglers fishing early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Most of the blues will range from 1/2 to 2 pounds and will be taken on bucktail rigs or jiggers.

Scattered speckled trout also are an early morning possibility. Most of the speckled trout should be landed on soft plastic lures fished near the shore break.

If water temperatures manage to rise into the mid-60s, Spanish mackerel should appear in pier catches - mixed in with tailor bluefish.

Cobia and king mackerel landings are a possibility for northern beach pier anglers. But this, too, is tied to an overall increase in inshore water temperatures. Plenty of large rays already are in the area - and usually cobia arrive not far behind.

South of Oregon Inlet, pier fishermen on Hatteras Island should catch a mixture of sea mullet, spot, croaker, pigfish and gray trout.

Bluefish should be taken regularly from the ends of ocean piers - along with quite a few nice-sized Spanish mackerel, provided the water is fairly clear.

A few king mackerel and cobia should be caught by pier anglers on the southern end of Hatteras Island. Usually many of these large fish are seen. But few are hooked and landed early in the season.

Surf fishing along the Dare coast should be at its late spring peak this week, with a wide variety of fish available.

Fishermen along the northern beaches should land spot, sea mullet, croaker, gray trout and small bluefish. Scattered speckled trout should be hauled from deeper sloughs early mornings.

Fair numbers of bottom fish, tailor bluefish, gray trout and keeper flounder should be available around Oregon Inlet for surfcasters and fishermen on the bridge catwalk. Some sheepshead should begin to appear around the Bonner Bridge pilings. Gray and speckled trout should be taken in the Off Island channel behind Bodie Island Lighthouse, in Green Island Slough and around Duck Island.

Small bottom fish, trout and bluefish should be landed in fair numbers along the beach from Oregon Inlet to Buxton. Catches of puppy drum, Spanish mackerel, and an occasional pompano also are a possibility in this area.

Puppy drum, Spanish mackerel and tailor blues should be beached fairly regularly at Cape Point. Scattered big drum should be landed at night during periods of southwest winds.

Flounder fishing should be pretty good along the south beach near Cape Point. Small bottom fish, bluefish and some Spanish mackerel should be landed in the surf from Ramp 55 to Hatteras Inlet.

Boaters and beach fishermen around Hatteras Inlet should bring in plenty of nice gray trout. Flounder fishing also should be fairly productive in the area.

Inshore trolling around Oregon Inlet should be good for tailor blues, with some Spanish mackerel also taken. Headboats in the area probably will land small bottom fish, blues and flounder while fishing in the sound, and sea bass, bluefish, triggerfish and trout while fishing in the ocean.

Blue water action off Oregon Inlet should be fairly good with dolphin, wahoo and scattered yellowfin tuna taken. Good numbers of king mackerel also should be landed near the point. A few billfish should be hooked and released.

Inshore trolling should be good in the Hatteras area, with Spanish mackerel and small blues plentiful. Boaters also should land some drum and cobia.

Gulf Stream charters off Hatteras should deck yellowfin tuna, king mackerel, wahoo and good numbers of dolphin. Fair numbers of sailfish, white marlin and blue marlin should be released.

Dolphin fishing should continue to improve along the Dare coast as more fish move into the area with the arrival of summer weather. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON

Heather MacKintosh, left, and Rose Toon, both of Sprinfield, Va.,

untangle fishing lines on the Frisco Pier.

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