Virginia Saltwater
Dr. Ken Neill, III
Small rockfish are pretty much everywhere. More fish over 30 inches are being caught. Some of the better catches are being made in the York River, at the James River crossings and at the CBBT. Larger fish are on their way with fish to over 50 pounds being caught a bit to our north this week. A little more of the cooler weather will have more of the coastal migrants make their way down to us. Nighttime eelers will start scoring larger rock at the High Rise area any day now. There are still some flounder in the bay but the better catches are being made around the coastal wrecks. Tautog action is very good at the CBBT and on wrecks inside of the bay. Some puppy drum are being caught by tog anglers. Speckled trout, mostly small, are being caught inside of Lynnhaven and Rudee Inlets and in the Elizabeth River where a lot of small striped bass are being caught.
The coastal wrecks are holding sea bass, triggerfish, flounder, and bluefish. The offshore wrecks are holding large sea bass. Both sea bass and blueline tilefish are available along the 50-fathom curve. Golden tilefish, blackbelly rosefish and some grouper are available at the Norfolk Canyon. Yellowfin tuna are a possibility in our offshore waters and bluefin tuna should be arriving over the next few weeks. Most of the pelagic action is happening to our south out of the Outer Banks with a good yellowfin tuna bite going on along with some wahoo being caught. The Point has been tuna central lately. Some impressive king mackerel are being caught on live bait out of Hatteras.
Nags Head
Tw’s Reports on 11/19/15.
It is a dreary morning and fishing news is scarce. I have no boating news and there is one on the piers yet. I did get news from the sound. Shaun Buen caught 18” and 20” Stripers fishing the bridge to Currituck. He was Kayak fishing and got pretty beat up from the waves and wind. He opted for better conditions and headed over to Colington and caught a couple 19” and 20” flatties. I would say he had a good day. The winds are SE at 14 and the water temp is 63 degrees.
A fair number of fish were caught from the surf Tuesday. Small Bluefish and small Trout were caught. Linda Harper caught a huge flattie. Dennie Bomar caught Drum. If there is one in the surf, he is going to catch it.
Anglers caught Stripers on the Little Bridge and the wild life pier on Nags Head/Manteo Causeway on Tuesday night.
Pier Fishing:
Avalon: Blues and Trout.
Nags Head: Mullet, Blues and Trout.
Jennette’s: A big Sea Mullet bite early morning. Spot and small Gray Trout.
Outer Banks: Trout and Black Drum.
Inshore Boats/Nearshore Report:
The inshore and nearshore boats are catching a generous amount of Stripers.
Oregon Inlet
Oregon Inlet Fishing Center reports fantastic fishing on Wednesday. The Off Shore Charters were fishing today and brought in a good amount of Yellow Fin Tuna. Tuna Fever reeled in 18 nice-size Yellow Fins along with several Black Fin Tuna. Paul Wanemaker, an angler on Trophy Hunter caught a whopping 164 lb. Big Eye Tuna. All of the boats are also bringing in some nice Black Fin Tuna.
Near Shore and In Shore charters are still catching a good amount of Sound Stripers.
On Tuesday, it was another beautiful November day with some good fall fishing. Five Offshore boats sailed with anglers bringing in yellow-fin, black-fin, and wahoo.
On Monday, three offshore boats sailed and anglers enjoyed a nice haul, with limits and near limits of yellow- fin and black-fin tuna. There was one Mahi-Mahi in the haul, as well.
Hatteras Surf
Red Drum & Tackle reports:
It had been good fishing for the most part Wednesday. This afternoon during high tide a few 40 inch plus Drum caught and released. Eugene Clinton released a 43-inch drum. Also there were Puppy Drum and some Yearlings. The Point area had Sea Mullet and Bluefish. Ramp 38 is still producing good Sea Mullet fishing. Ramp 55 to the Inlet had Trout, Puppy Drum and Flounder.
On Tuesday, Ramp 38 was the spot for big Sea Mullet. Thelma brought in one at 1-14 with the rest of her prize catch. The Point had Bluefish most of the day, all caught on glass minnows and sting silvers. Behind the motel to the Jetties, there were some Speckles, Bluefish and some keeper Flounders. Lots of blow toads up and down the beaches. Nice size ones, too. Ramp 49 had lots of Bluefish with Puppy Drum and Flounder at the Jetties.