Dr. Ken Neill, III
Offshore fishing has been good when the weather has allowed boats to get out there. Good numbers of yellowfin tuna are being caught along with a few bigeye tuna. Dolphin catches are also good and some wahoo are around. Increasing numbers of blue and white marine are being encountered. Bottom fishing is producing some very nice blueline tilefish, some grouper and golden tilefish.
The ocean wrecks are holding sea bass, and flounder are also being caught around some of the wrecks. Spadefish can be found at the wrecks, at the Chesapeake Light Tower, at the CBBT and on other structures in the bay. Amberjack are at the southern towers. Some really nice sheepshead are being caught at the CBBT. Spanish mackerel can be found along the oceanfront and in the lower bay.
The flounder bite is picking up. Flatfish are being caught most everywhere. There are still some nice fish coming from inside the seaside inlets. The CBBT has been the hot spot – where most of the larger flounder are being caught. The Back River Reef area is picking up. There are some being caught in Back River and the York River continues to produce some nice flounder.
It is just not going to be a great speckled trout year, but the bite has picked up in the Mobjack Bay area. Some are being caught on Poquoson Flats and in the York, Back, and James rivers. Croaker fishing has also been good in the rivers.
Cobia remains the hot fishery in the bay and in the fishery management world where they are talking about managing cobia for 2017 and beyond. Enjoy this season, the season we almost did not have. So far, cobia fishing has been fantastic. Big red drum continue to provide great action around the shoals near the mouth of the bay and they are showing up on the cobia grounds up in the bay.
Corolla
OBX Bait & Tackle reports a nice day on Wednesday. The water temp was 73 degrees and the surf calm.
“We have had Mullet up here, Bluefish and some sea Trout as well. We also have quit a few shark anglers also. The piers are having children’s day today so grab a kid and take them fishing.”
Nags Head
TW’s reports:
Surf Report: Bluefish scattered up and down the beaches. They had a photo of a nice Drum caught, but where it was caught or the size was not revealed.
The winds are SW at 10 on Wednesday and the water temp is 61 degrees. Overcast, water is calm and clear.
Sound Fishing: The anglers fishing the Little Bridge on the Nags Head/Manteo causeway are catching plenty of small Trout, a few keepers, and small Black Drum, Croakers and Spot. T-Time Charters caught stripers in the sound to 24-inches.
Pier Fishing:
Avalon: Sea mullet, Spanish and Spadefish
Nags Head: Slow
Jennette’s: Slow.
Outer Banks: Bluefish and Spadefish.
Inshore Boats/Nearshore: The boats continue having great Bluefish and Spanish catches trolling along the shore.
Oregon Inlet
On Wednesday, the Fishing Center reported that
The morning and afternoon fishing with our Near-Shore and In-Shore fleet was nothing short of awesome! Anglers, young and young-at-heart, had a great time pulling in good numbers of very nice Spanish macks and bluefish. There are going to be some busy grills this evening.
Offshore captains put their anglers on some awesome fish! Congrats to Gregory H for landing a 201-pound Big Eye and to Bill W., Will Y., Jesse M. for their triple hook-up of 101 pound Big-Eye tunas! Also hitting the boxes, were 82 pound yellow-fin, and more big-eyes weighing in at 149 pounds, 137 pounds, 112 pounds, and 105 pounds respectively.
The Miss Oregon Inlet Head boat had another busy day, sailing morning and afternoon trips. Captain Randy put his anglers on some good spots, pulling in 13 different species of fish, including flounder, grey trout, sea bass, sea mullet, croaker, spot, bluefish, and more.
Hatteras Surf
Red drum reports on Wednesday:
We never know what we will catch down here. A young boy caught a 34-inch Mahi off of Avon Fishing Pier today while fishing in the kids’ tournament. We weighed a 3-2 Pompano caught between ramps 43 and 44. Ramp 38 had nice Sea Mullet.
On Tuesday, we had a beautiful day. Ramp 38 had some pretty Sea Mullet. Ramp 43 had a 33-inch Puppy Drum and a couple keeper Flounder. Ramp 44 this evening had a few Spanish. Avon had Sea Mullet and Blue Fish. The inshore boats are catching Puppy Drum and Trout.
Hatteras Offshore
On Wednesday, Hatteras Harbor reported:
Inshore fishing was good this afternoon with a limit of Gray Trout and some Spot. Clamming was real good and the Sand Dollars were “chewing like mad dogs”. Inshore trips ran in the morning and again in the afternoon.
Offshore, the “meat fishing” was slow today, with efforts being plagued by thunderstorms and rainsqualls. A few Dolphin and Blackfin Tuna were caught. Two White Marlin and four Sailfish were released.