By Dr. Ken Neill, III
Offshore, the billfish bite continues to roll. It will slow soon, but we probably have a couple more weeks of good action. White marlin are the main catch though good numbers of blue marlin and some round-scale spearfish are around. Some sailfish are being caught. Boats overnighting and some deep-dropping during the day are having good success with swordfish. The swordfish action should remain good through the fall, even after the other billfish have moved out. Dolphin catches remain strong. More wahoo are being caught and that bite should be just continue to improve through October. As the billfish action slows, the tuna bite should pick up. Currently, there are some yellowfin tuna and bigeyes around, but not enough to make a day on them.
Offshore bottom fishing remains excellent for blue-line tilefish. There are big sea bass mixed in with tilefish on the ocean wrecks. Sea bass is closed Sept. 22-Oct. 21. The wrecks are holding excellent populations of flounder and some big triggerfish. Spadefish are still on the wrecks though they are a challenge to catch this time of year.
This is a good time of year to try for jack crevalle and amberjack at the Chesapeake Light Tower. There are some big king mackerel being caught along the oceanfront and around some of the wrecks. Spanish mackerel are also around, though they will be leaving soon.
Cobia are still here and there were some nice catches (and releases) this past week. Big red drum are being caught in good numbers at the CBBT, around the shoals and along the oceanfront.
Puppy drum and speckled trout action is good. There seem to be a lot of small red drum and speckled trout, which holds a lot of promise for next year if we can have another mild winter.
If you like to fish for spot, this is the time of year to do it. Croaker catches remain strong so expect to catch plenty of them as you go to fill up your coolers with spot.
Chincoteague
A mixed bag in the main channel at Chincoteague with anglers reporting small flounder, sea bass, some bluefish, whiting and lots of trout. Queens Sound has been a flounder hotspot. Surf fishermen at Assateague Island are scoring on both red and black drum.
Nags Head
Surf: TWs in Nags Head reported another day of rain and wind on Tuesday. A few near shore boats caught blues and Spanish. Inshore boats caught specks and some keeper red drum. Some nice size sea mullet (one citation) were caught in the wash, the white water next to the sand.
On Wednesday, conditions improved. The piers have reported drum the last several days. Should be some puppies caught in the surf.
Sound Fishing: The Little Bridge on the Nags Head/Manteo causeway reported a good run of trout in the morning with some keepers, plus stripers and croakers
Pier Fishing Report:
Avalon: Spot, sea mullet and six red drum the previous night.
Nags Head: Trout, spot, blues, croaker and red drum.
Jennette’s: Black drum, pompano and red drum
Outer Banks: Croaker.
Inshore/Nearshore: Rain did not stop a few inshore boaters. They caught bluefish, Spanish and some flounder.
Oregon Inlet
Bad weather kept boats in port Tuesday and Wednesday. The last decent day was Monday with limits of dolphin, lots of billfish and one Grand Slam (white and blue marlin and a sailfish).
Hatteras Surf
Red Drum & Tackle reported a beautiful day on Wednesday and anglers took advantage. The catch of the day was a 40-inch drum. A few Spanish were beached early in the morning at the Point along with bluefish.
Hatteras Offshore
Hatteras Harbor said red drum were biting, but they were either too small or too large – no keepers.
The offshore catch consisted of good catches of dolphin – bailers and gaffers. Blackfin tuna put out a good bite and a few Yellowfin Tuna were reported. Two Sailfish were released from their fleet.