Dr. Ken Neill
Some nice catches of spadefish have been made at the Chesapeake Light Tower and over some of the coastal wrecks. More are showing on structures inside the bay. “Nice” means by today’s standards, not the 9- and 10-pound spadefish we used to catch. Spanish Mackerel are being caught along the oceanfront and have begun to move on into the bay.
Cobia have arrived in the bay in force. Fishing has been good for both chummers and sight fishermen. While cobia are getting most of the inshore attention, red drum fishing remains excellent on the shoals at the mouth of the bay. Schools of big red drum are also being encountered by angler sight-fishing for cobia and by anglers trolling the oceanfront for Spanish mackerel.
Some really nice sheepshead (by any standard) are being caught at the CBBT. Flounder are showing some promise this year. Fishing for them has not been great the past few years other than around the ocean wrecks. Catches were good on the seaside this spring and more are being caught in the bay, so hopefully we will have a better summer.
Medium and small croaker seem to be plentiful in the rivers where some nice early spot are being caught. Speckled trout seem to have survived the winter freeze and decent numbers of puppy drum have been around.
Offshore action is off to a late start. Tuna fishing has been good out of Oregon Inlet all spring, but it took until June for the yellowfin to move closer to Virginia. They are now in range. Nice bigeye tuna are mixed with the yellowfins. Offshore action should swiftly heat up now.
Outer Banks
Surf Fishing: Bluefish, Sea Mullet and Spanish were reported in Avon. Buxton had the same with some flounder. Frisco had Sea Mullet and Puppy Drum were caught in Hatteras. Scattered sea Mullet and Bluefish are on the Nags Head beaches. Trout season is open. You can keep 4 a day, with 14-inch minimum length.
Sound Fishing Report:
The Little Bridge on the Nags Head/Manteo causeway reported some whopper Black Drum caught Wednesday. The bridge anglers also caught Spot, throwback Trout and Flounder.
Pier Fishing Report:
Avalon: Starting slow with Spades, flounder and Bluefish. There was a big Spanish bite from 4 to 7 on Wednesday.
Nags Head: Lots of Spanish along with some Blues.
Jennette’s: Bluefish and Spadefish.
Outer Banks: Bluefish on artificial lures. Spot and Croakers. They had some big Spanish catches Wednesday.
Inshore /Nearshore:
Nearshore boats had good catches of Bluefish and Spanish. Inshore boats catching Flounder and Sea Mullet in the channels.
Offshore Boats:
The Oregon Inlet Fleet laid out some nice Yellowfin and Mahi on the docks. There was also a Blue Marlin release.
Hatteras
The Hatteras Harbor fleet was out and about in the Pamlico Sound catching Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish on Wednesday morning. The afternoon was spent battling Cobia. One boat fished near shore and was successful with Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, and Amberjack. Several boats fished offshore and reported some squally conditions out at sea. The Dolphin bite was excellent Wednesday and boats returned with limits of mostly bailers. The “Bite Me” released a 74-inch White Marlin.