DATE: Tuesday, November 25, 1997            TAG: 9711250599

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

COLUMN: Fishing on the Outer Banks

SOURCE: Damon Tatem

                                            LENGTH:   62 lines

COOLING WATERS SHOULD BOLSTER STRIPER ACTION

Pier fishing was fairly slow Saturday along the northern beaches, but improved dramatically Sunday with the arrival of hordes of hungry jumbo blues.

Kitty Hawk Pier reported plenty of big blues taken on Gator lures and surface plugs throughout the day.

Bluefish were taken from the end of Avalon Pier on artificial lures during the morning, but little action was reported Sunday afternoon.

After a slow morning, Nags Head Pier reported plenty of big blues landed Sunday afternoon on Hopkins and Gator spoons from the end of the pier.

Anglers on Jennette's Pier started catching big blues on lures from the pier around noon and continued to catch fish the remainder of the day.

A good run of big blues hit Outer Banks Pier late Sunday morning. Action continued throughout most of the afternoon.

South of Oregon Inlet, fishermen on Rodanthe Pier reported little action Saturday. A few small trout and ling cod were landed Sunday.

Striper fishing was good Saturday on Avon Pier, with 15 bass weighing between 19 and 25 pounds landed. Skates, dogfish and only one 31-inch striper were taken Sunday.

A few black drum and croaker were landed on Frisco Pier Saturday. Throwback flounder, puppy drum and a few toadfish were caught Sunday.

Surf fishermen along the northern beaches landed scattered stripers Saturday. Some nice speckled trout were beached from sloughs along the beach.

Some speckled trout were landed north of Nags Head Pier and a few stripers around Oregon Inlet Sunday morning.

Bluefish action was super along the Nags Head beach north ofJennette's Pier, where fish weighing between 12 and 18 pounds blitzed early in the afternoon.

Most of the fish were landed on artificial baits. Trout were run aground in the area by the schools of voracious bluefish.

South of Oregon Inlet, fishing was slow in the Rodanthe-Salvo area during the weekend.

Good numbers of keeper striped bass were taken Saturday along the beach in Avon. Scattered bluefish were landed in the area Sunday.

Speckled trout were caught by surfcasters at the Cape Hatteras Light House Saturday.

A few stripers and some drum were taken at Cape Point during the day Saturday by anglers wading to the bar. Drum and striper action was good on the bar Saturday night. A few speckled trout were landed near the lighthouse Sunday.

Fishing along the beach from Frisco to Hatteras Inlet was slow during the weekend, with small blues, flounder and throwback puppy drum beached.

Bluefish were thick outside Oregon Inlet Saturday. Some stripers also were taken. Charters landed plenty of big blues north of Oregon Inlet a mile or so off the Nags Head beach Saturday.

Striper fishing was good in the Manns Harbor area during the weekend.

Plenty of king mackerel were landed Saturday by charters southeast of Oregon Inlet, not too far from the point. Tuna fishing was fair near the point Sunday. Rough seas kept offshore action to a minimum Saturday off Hatteras. Kings and some nice blackfin tuna were landed Sunday behind the wrecks.

Striper action should be good along the Dare coast as cool weather moves more fish south from along the Maryland and Virginia coasts.

The water temperature was 55 degrees Monday at the Army Corps of Engineers Pier in Duck, and 59 degrees at Frisco Pier on Hatteras Island.

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