Some of the most exciting fishing on the East Coast is coming soon at a North Carolina town called Weldon – “The Rockfish Capital of the World.” That’s because rockfish, stripers, will be there by the hundreds of thousands as they begin their spawning run up the Roanoke River.
The Roanoke River, begins, or should I say ends, in the Albemarle Sound. From there, the Roanoke climbs its way up from Weldon into Virginia, where it becomes the Staunton River, with its origins in Montgomery County.
But Weldon, about an hour and a half from Raleigh, and just below the VA/NC state lines, is where it’s at.
Most stripers in the river in mid-April will be males in the 2-6 lb. range, but there will be many females around as well – some in the 30-40 pound category. The hardest part, they say, is to avoid the smaller males in order to latch onto a big female rockfish. With a fly rod or light tackle, it’s easy to catch as many as 100 fish per day.
Stripers will hit a variety of lures but the standard rig is a 3- or 4-inch grub on a basic jig head. Often, the fish will hot topwater – and that’s fun to the extreme.
North Carolina has a split season for stripers in the Roanoke River. Anglers can keep two fish per day, at least 18-inches in length, but no fish between 22 and 27 inches may be possession at any time. The season runs from April 10-16 in the lower river downstream of the U.S. Highway 258 bridge and April 24-30 upstream from the US 258 Bridge.
If you want a good guide, the man to call is Capt. Allen Cain, 336-613-2975 or go to www.sightfishnc.com
Fishing for stripers in the lower Roanoke River at Weldon should be on the bucket list of every fisherman alive.