Dr. Ken Neill, III
Cobia are going out with a bang. On clear days, sight-casting anglers are finding them in pods as they prepare to migrate out. On windy, NE blow days, chummers are having a field day. Enjoy them now as the season closes after September 15. If you have a recreational cobia permit and have not filed a catch report, do so by the end of September if you want to be able to get a permit in 2018. Even if you did not catch a single cobia on your permit, report that you did not.
The spot bite is the best we have had in years. They are scattered throughout the lower bay and up in the rivers and seem to be getting bigger by the week. All of the fishing piers are having good spot runs. It should be a great September of spot fishing as long as the tropics leave us alone.
Flounder are being caught in good numbers in the bay, but the best fishing is around the coastal wrecks where limit catches are being made. The Triangle Wrecks have been good. Triggerfish are thick on some of the wrecks and good numbers continue to be caught at the CBBT. This is also a great time to catch big sheepshead at the CBBT.
Fall is a good time to catch sea bass on the coastal wrecks but be aware of a one-month closure that tends to sneak up on us. The sea bass season is closed from September 22 through October 21.
Big red drum are being encountered by anglers looking for cobia at the bay mouth and along the oceanfront. Big, fat drum are also staging at the CBBT.
Big king mackerel have made a showing along the oceanfront along with some jack crevalle. Spanish mackerel continue to be abundant along the oceanfront and in the lower bay.
Puppy drum fishing is good and some nice speckled trout are being caught in the shallow areas. Poquoson Flats and Goodwin Island have both been good spots.
Offshore, it is billfish time. The white marlin bite is reaching its seasonal peak. Some big blue marlin are being caught. Decent number of sailfish and spearfish are also being caught. Dolphin, wahoo, and yellowfin tuna are all around and the occasional bigeye tuna is being caught. Those that try are having success with swordfish.
Nags Head
TW’s Thursday Report:
Surf Fishing: The conditions improved somewhat, but it was still pretty much unfishable from the beach.
The winds are SW at 9 and the water temp is 75 degrees.
Sound Fishing: The anglers fishing the Little Bridge on the Nags Head/Manteo causeway had a busy day catching Puppy Drum, Trout, Black Drum and bottom fish.
Pier Fishing: Avalon had Spot. Nags Head, Jennette’s and Outer Banks piers were slow.
Inshore Boats/nearshore: A few boats fished the Inlet and caught Bluefish and Spanish. The headboat from Oregon Inlet fished and caught a few bottom fish.
Offshore boats stayed in the creek.
Hatteras Surf
It turned out to be a beautiful day on Thursday. Ramp 49 had a couple of slot Puppy Drum. Shelly Island had some Blue Fish. To get to Shelly Island now is pretty deep. So be careful if you go over there. Thursday should be a little better for fishing. The water was a little dirty today
Hatteras Offshore.
Northeast winds made for much cooler temperatures on Wednesday. Inshore boats made the best of it and returned from their morning trips with keeper Drum and over slot Red Drum (citations). Sting Rays provided a little extra excitement. This afternoon, fishing slowed down a little in the Pamlico Sound, however some Spanish Mackerel were caught in the ocean. No boats fished offshore, but they are gearing up to head out tomorrow after five consecutive days of staying onshore.
