Wednesday was a scorcher. The fishing was hot, too.
On the south beaches, there were croaker and sea mullet caught along with Spanish macs at Ramp 45. On the north beaches, the spot bite picked up along with some nice sea mullet. The piers enjoyed good catches of sea mullet, Spanish, flounder, bluefish, black drum, sheepshead and pinfish. They are catching lots of trout on the Little Bridge Causeway as well as some decent spot and other bottom fish. Out of Pirates Cove, 14-year old Braden Haley was on the rod for 3 ½ hours before the big Big-Eye Tuna came to gaff. The monster measured 72-inches and weighed 248-pounds. The bluewater fleet out of Oregon Inlet skirmished with wahoo, bigeye, yellowfin and a few Mahi.
Nearshore boats are catching all the blues and Spanish they want, plus sea mullet, trout and flounder inside the Inlet. At Hatteras, inshore anglers enjoyed a good catch of Spanish mackerel and bluefish. Dolphin fishing was good offshore, along with a few blackfin tuna and wahoo. Bottom fish catches included tilefish, triggerfish, grouper, Vermillion snapper and rosefish. Two blue marlin and one white marlin were released.
The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament out of Morehead City was held last week. Boats fishing the tournament fished between loran coordinates, North 40275 and South 39200. The northern boundary is a little southeast of Hatteras Inlet. Fourteen blues were weighed in, ranging from 429 to 914 pounds. The winning boat was Top Dog, owned by the Dickerson family from Olney, MD. They took home a purse of $793,187. That’s in excess of three-quarters of a million dollars. Not bad for a few days fishing.
In Virginia waters, everything is biting.
Red drum, cobia, spadefish, sheepshead, flounder, bluefish and Spanish mackerel. Offshore, the same. Tuna, dolphin, marlin, tilefish and sea bass.
Some of the best Spanish mackerel action in years continues along the beaches, with many fish topping three pounds. Bluefish are mixed in with the Spanards.
Spadefish are around buoys, the pylons of the CBBT and the Chesapeake Light Tower. Also hanging around the pylons are hungry sheepshead. Big red drum are plentiful throughout the lower Bay. Anglers are having success sight casting and bottom fishing. Most catches are coming from the shoals on the north side of the bay and around the islands of the CBBT.
Cobia action remains red hot. Most anglers are fishing live bait in chum slicks. But you never know when they’ll pop up on the surface, so always have a rod ready to sight cast. Flounder catches are finally picking up. Captain Craig Paige, Paige II Charters had six keepers up to 23-inches on his last trip .
Pier and surf anglers are finding bluefish, flounder, croaker and sea mullet. Small spot are starting to show up in better numbers.
Coastal wrecks are holding bluefish and triggerfish. Big AJ’s (amberjacks) are arriving as well.