Stripers Coming to Weldon
Capt. Alan Cain
I just wanted to send out a quick email to let you know I have set dates for Roanoke River striped bass fishing. This fish takes place on the Roanoke River near Weldon NC where the stripers come to spawn every spring. Weldon is located right off of Interstate-95 and is about 1.5 hours northeast of Raleigh near the NC/VA state lines. Striped bass are also called rockfish due to their spawning in rock rapids. Weldon is known as the “Rockfish Capital of the World” because of the hundreds of thousands of stripers that migrate up this river from the Atlantic Ocean to spawn.
This is very easy fishing and can often produce very high numbers of fish. Most stripers in the river at that time are males in the 2-6 lb. range, but there are many females around as well that are often 30-40 lbs. The hard part is getting past all of the males to catch a bigger female. For that reason, this is more of a quantity vs. size fishery, and it is not uncommon to have 100 fish days whether you are fishing fly or light tackle gear.
Due to the short boat rides and ease of fishing it is a great place for kids or beginners. However, even the seasoned angler will have fun catching big numbers of these hard fighting fish.
I have May 6 through 10 available for full day or afternoon and morning half-day trips are still open. This year I won’t be guiding any April dates due other obligations, and the fact that May is typically better and offers more consistent fishing. May often produces great top water action early and late in the day.
When fly-fishing, we typically use 7-8 weight rods with sinking lines and large baitfish flies. The first few hours and the last few hours of the day, when topwater fishing is better, we switch to a floating lines and poppers.
For light tackle spin fishing, we use medium light rods with matching size reels and 10-15 lb. braided line. Stripers will eat a variety of lures but we usually fish 3-4 inch soft plastic lures on jig heads or weedless, swimbait hooks. When topwater action is good, we use poppers or ‘walk the dog’ style surface lures.
Let me know if you have any questions or are interested in coming to fish one of the most famous striped bass fisheries on the east coast.
Capt. Allen Cain, 336-613-2975