Weekly report: 4/22/10
Surf and shore fishing along the North Carolina coast continues to pick up – slowly but surely. Water temps remain in an early spring mode, ranging from the mid-50s north (Duck Pier) to the low 60s south. We’re still waiting for a few more degrees for the bluefish, drum, trout and flounder bites to take off. The best fishing this past week has been for bluefish (lures and bait) along Hatteras Island and lots of blowtoads all over Hatteras and Bodie Islands. Sea mullet are also hitting, but not quite as prolifically as the toads. The blues continue to be a pretty nice spring class of fish in the 2-5 pound range. The big skinny baseball bat blues haven’t started hitting in force yet and the bluefish bite south of the Outer Banks has yet to take off. It will soon.
North of Oregon Inlet, trout fishermen have been landing more puppy drum and a surprising number of stripers in the suds. The trout might need another degree or three of temperature rise to start hitting better. Some popular soundside locations – like the Little Bridge on the NC64 causeway in Manteo – are reporting trout, shad and a few stripers…a good sign that the sound waters are recovering from an inundation of fresh water from early spring rains.
The drum bite has been sporadic – Ocracoke is reporting a few big drum at night and Cape Point will have some when the wind is right (moderate-strong SW). The big – and bad – news is that access to Ocracoke’s South Point has been closed due to a pair of American Oystercatchers – ironically, a bird species that is officially listed as “least concern” meaning it is not threatened in any way. If I understand the Consent Decree (governing resource closures in Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreation Area until a permanent rule is adopted), the closure will be for at least two weeks and probably significantly longer. So, don’t expect many more reports of big drum catches from Ocracoke this spring…or Spanish Mackerel catches either for that matter.
While shore fishing on the central and southern NC coast has been in a similar early spring, blowtoad-sea mullet mode, the boater bite for favorite inshore species is picking up, with excellent puppy drum reports from the inside, good flounder on nearshore ocean structure, and an improving bite of trout, especially in the Cape Fear area. Bluefin tuna continue to bite well off the mid-north coast and bonito are hitting well further south. This is usually a short window of action that is highly dependent on weather and ability to get off the beach to fish. Shaping up as a good bonito season. They’ll occasionally be caught from shore, but it is far from a predictable fishery, as the fish are usually off the beach a couple miles. Lots of blues should be there with them, with Spanish Mackerel not far behind.
Looking like a pretty good weekend coming up, with an increasing SW wind forecast to peak Sunday night with the onset of a cold front late Monday or early Tuesday. Look out for a good drum bite from Cape Point and Hatteras Inlet on the heels of that front. Should have some good general fishing reports on milder winds earlier in the weekend as well.
