Virginians have been fishing for flounder all year, as have anglers in South Carolina with generous limits in each state. However, one of the Fisheries Pooh-Bahs in North Carolina effectively shut down the entire season – except for the next two weeks. As of September 1, fisherman have exactly 14 days to catch one flounder per day, at least 15-inches in length – mighty generous of those Pooh-Bahs.
Are flounder somehow threatened in the Tarheel state but not others? Hardly. It was a political appointment and thus a political decision. If it costs the Carolina recreational fishing industry a couple hundred thousand dollars in lost tackle sales and guide fees, who cares?
Regardless of flounder, it was excellent fishing on the northern beaches of the Outer Banks with Spanish mackerel, bluefish, jacks, sea mullet, spot, croakers, flounder, pompano, and some small cobia coming to nets. The Little Bridge to Manteo has had blues, a few trout, spot croaker, and some black drum. Spanish fishing from the beach in Hatteras continues to be good along with blues, mullet, drum, spot, and sharks.
Flags were flying for the offshore fleet returning to Pirate’s Cove! The boats released sailfish and blue marlin galore. Nearshore charters returned with bluefish, red drum, Spanish mackerel, and flounder.
Virgina Saltwater
Someone turned up the heat last week and it’s getting even hotter – especially the fishing. At Virginia Beach, there were lots of pompano in the surf along with. jack crevalle, sea mullet, spot, Spanish and blues.
The big story inshore is the striped bass bite. There have been appreciably more catches with glide baits and live eels fished near structure. Other fish of note include:
Red Drum. Some over-slot drum are showing up, with more fish moving through the area. The bull reds should only become more active as we move deeper into September.
Bluefish. There are plenty of bait pockets around, especially with the mullet run underway. Find those pockets and work an artificial through them for blues.
Mullet: Plenty of mullet are running right now, with the biggest concentrations generally showing up in the morning and evening. Get out early and find the bait before the day heats up.
The Bridge-Tunnel has been producing some stellar flounder fishing, along with cobia.
There have also been reports of big bluefish and good-size Spanish mackerel around the Bridge-Tunnel.
Offshore. The bite has been excellent and is only getting better.
The Mahi bite has really fired up, with lots of mahi being caught offshore and some good-sized fish mixed in. Sea bass are still biting well and continue to provide plenty of action on offshore wrecks.
