By Dr. Ken Neill III
The NE blow this weekend may fire things back up once it settles down. Decent numbers of spot were already being caught so we may see that fishery take off. Everything is biting, but except for the spot, it’s just not as good as during the previous few weeks. Flounder fishing slowed around the wrecks and at the CBBT. The great catches of Spanish mackerel along the oceanfront took a breather. The exception is cobia fishing, which continues to be great, and there was an uptick in the bigeye tuna catches this week. Offshore, in addition to the bigeye bite, billfish action remains good and should continue to get better. More and more wahoo will start joining the catches and dolphin fishing should be good. Amberjack are at the towers and over some of the wrecks. Big jack crevalle have been encountered by anglers looking for cobia inside the bay. Big red drum are also being found. There were actually a few speckled trout caught on Poquoson Flats this week, so maybe there will be a little fall fishery for them. It will probably take several years of mild winters to see the trout fishery really rebound. The Spanish mackerel bite should pick back up when things settle down and the water clears a bit, and there should be more big kings caught along the oceanfront over the next month and a half. Sheepshead fishing should get even better at the CBBT during this same period and spadefish continue to be available.
The White Marlin Open was held this week. It was hampered by rough weather for most of the week. With over 300 boats fishing, fish were caught. The big winner was the Backlash with Capt. Steve Richardson out of Rudee Inlet. They weighed in a 94-pound white marlin that won them $1,180,237. The second place white marlin was a 79-pound fish caught on the Lights Out. They won $1,005,872. The top blue marlin was a 551 pound fish caught on the Goin In Deep winning $778,352. The top tuna was a 220.5-pound bigeye caught on the Miss Annie, winning $398,834. The top dolphin weighed 46.5 pounds. It was caught on the Streaker earning them $24,847. A 45-pound wahoo won $33,271 for the Warden Pass.
Roger Burnley has a new world record. His 4-pound, 6-ounce Spinycheek Scorpionfish has been approved as the All-Tackle World Record by The International Game Fish Association. Roger was fishing at the Norfolk Canyon onboard the Healthy Grin. This is the second IGFA All-Tackle World Record caught on the Healthy Grin this year. Johnny Boyd established the All-Tackle World Record for Carolina Hake earlier this year with a 5-pound, 10-ounce fish. A total of twelve IGFA All-Tackle World Records have been set on the Healthy Grin. Roger has caught three of the Healthy Grin world-record fish. In addition to his Spinycheek Scorpionfish, Roger has set the world record for snowy grouper twice and he holds the current snowy grouper IGFA All-Tackle World Record at 70 pounds 7 ounces.
Nags Head
TW’s Bait And Tackle Reports
Surf Fishing Report: There were Croaker, Sea Mullet, Flounder and Pompano caught along the beaches. On Tuesday, the wind was NW at 5 and the water temp 77 degrees..
Sound Fishing Report: The Little Bridge on the Nags Head/Manteo causeway reported small Trout, Flounder and Croaker.
Pier Fishing Report:
Avalon: Spanish, Flounder, Spot and Bluefish.
Nags Head: Spot and Blues.
Jennette’s: Flounder, Gag Grouper and Pinfish.
Outer Banks: Pompano and Bluefish.
Inshore Boats/Nearshore Report:
The near shore boats caught a few Bluefish, Spanish and Ribbonfish. The inshore boats decked Ribbonfish, Flounder and Puppy Drum. The inlet charters are catching Croaker, Sea Mullet, and released Rockfish. The Headboat caught a 27 inch Cobia. A wreck fishing trip brought in a boatload of Triggers.
Offshore Report:
The charter boats caught a vast amount of Dolphin yesterday. Again, most of the boats limited out. There was a Barracuda with some Wahoo as well. Oregon Inlet charters released 25 White Marlin, 3 Blue and one Sailfish. Pirates Cove Annual Billfish tournament is now happening. They had a really good day yesterday. Many Billfish released and some grand slams.
Hatteras Surf
Red Drum & Tackle reports:
Not a lot to report on Tuesday. Hatteras Inlet had some Blue Fish and Croakers. Avon had Sea Mullet and Croakers. Ramp 43 had a couple of Blue Fish.
Ramp 55 had Spanish and Blue Fish on Monday morning. Ramp 55 also had Sea Mullet and Pompano during the day. Ramp 43 and 44 had Blue Fish and Puppy Drum.
It was windy on Sunday, but some fish were hungry. Bluefish were reported last night and this morning hitting lures down at Hatteras Inlet. Ramp 49 had one group of lucky fishermen using bloodworms and catching spots like crazy. They said they had a full cooler full and were having a fish fry tonight. Ramp 44 had bluefish on bait and pompano on sand fleas. Clamming and crabbing are still filling baskets for all who want something to eat.
Hatteras Offshore
Capt. David Wilson reports:
There was a better sign of dolphin on Tuesday, but the schools we found were not the most cooperative. Before we started dolphin fishing, Mike caught a white marlin, then we jumped off one out of a double. After 30 bailers, I suggested that we skip baits some more, if they had all the fish they needed. It was almost worth it when we hooked another white marlin, but pulled the hooks after a 50 yard run.
