DATE: Thursday, November 6, 1997            TAG: 9711060620

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C8   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BOB HUTCHINSON

                                            LENGTH:   28 lines

FISHING FORECAST A WEEKLY GUIDE TO THE REGION'S HOT SPOTS

The good news is that big bluefish have appeared over wrecks off the Virginia coast. The bad news is that big bluefish have appeared over wrecks off the Virginia coast.

In many ways, bluefish are an autumn enigma. Just when you think you know something about them, they prove you wrong. Small wonder anglers view them with mixed emotions.

Just a few years ago, the November arrival of hordes of giant blues along Nags Head beaches was cause for rejoicing by hordes of East Coast anglers.

But it was another matter for dedicated legions of speckled trout enthusiasts on the Outer Banks.

If the blues weren't gorging on specks, which they often did, they at least chased trout out of sloughs and out of reach of beach fishermen.

Still, the blues provided a major transfusion for Nags Head anglers as well as local tackle shops and it was ironic to see Yankee anglers driving past the area to get to Hatteras, where blues were scarce.

Times have changed. For the past couple of years, the best bluefish action has once again been on Hatteras.

Is that the way it will be again? Time alone will tell.

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