Protecting our Deepwater Friends
The Fisheries division of the National Oceanic and Atmoshperic Association (NOAA) has recently issued an amendment for discussion and approval to its Grouper-Snapper off the South Atlantic States. Proposed will be an opening of eight new Marine Protection Area (MPA) that will prohibit fishing for Grouper and Snapper species by both recreational and commercial fisherman. One of the proposed MPA’s is 55 nautical miles southeast of Southport, NC and consists of an area 10 nautical miles by 15 nautical miles. According to NOAA, the Snapper and Grouper species are currently being overfished and measures must be taken to protect the sustainability of these species.

North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Reports
This week we are hearing lots of reports of good fishing. Offshore, trolling boats have caught and released a lot of sailfish, as well as many gaffer sized dolphin. The tuna bite has been slow, with only a few tunas boated all week. Deep dropping boats are catching a lot of big black sea bass, snapper, and grouper. Nearshore, boats have still been picking up lots of cobia and king mackeral, as well as spanish mackeral. Inshore boats have been catching small tailor blues and spanish mackeral, as well as a few flounder.

Bill from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center reported: ”
August 6, 2008 Fishing Report
Offshore some good dolphin catches. Twelve sailfish flags were displayed. Sailfish are still providing a lot of action. They also provide excellent photo oportunities. Deep bottom fishing is bringing up a lot of good size tile fish. Tiles are very mild and very good on the table. Inshore trolling is good with lots of spanish mackerel and tailor bluefish. Open boats went after a variety of fish. Some caught sharks mostly Atlantic sharp noses. Some caught spanish mackerl and flounders. One thirty two pound king mackerl was caught while live baiting for cobias. One boat caught eight cobias releasing one and spanish mackerel. Miss Oregon Inlet caught croakers in the morning and good flounders in the afternoon.

August 4, 2008 Fishing Report
Offshore some good dolphin catches. Scattered wahoo. The bigest wahoo was 43 pound the bigest dolphin 44 pounds.Five sailfish and a blue marlin were caught and released. Inshore Good tailor bluefish and spanish mackerel trolling. Open boats one fished for sharks, One open boat had a good catch of tailor bluefish.Another caught spanish mackerel and cobias. Miss Oregon Inlet caught croakers and sea mullet in the morning, flounders and croakers in the afternoon.”

TW’s Bait and Tackle reported: ”
August 7, 2008 Fishing Report
In Summary: The water temp is 85 degrees this morning. That is hot. Calm winds are NW.
Sound Fishing Report: The Little Bridge reported early morning Puppy Drum and now catching Croaker and Black Drum…
Pier Fishing Report:
Avalon: Spanish and Sea Mullet
Nags Head: Spanish and Blues early and now catching Small Croaker and small Flounder.
Outer Banks: Spanish, Blues, Spot and keeper Flounder and small Flounder.
Inshore Boats Report: Deep sea bottom anglers are catching lots of Tilefish. Trolling boats are still having good Spanish and Blues fishing. One open boat caught eight Cobia on Wednesday.
Offshore Boats Report: Gulf Stream anglers are catching many Dolphin. Yesterday was a good Sailfish.

August 5, 2008 Fishing Report
In Summary: Fishing is good everywhere this morning. It is excellent on the north end. Anglers are beaching plenty of Blues, Sea Mullet and bottom fish. There have been some Spanish caught from the surf. All piers are catching the same. Avalon pier weighed in a 17 lb Cobia on Monday.
Surf Fishing Report: Fish everywhere.
Sound Fishing Report: The little bridge reported Trout early, Black Drum, Spot and Croaker.
Pier Fishing Report:
Avalon: Sea Mullet, Spanish and Blues.
Nags Head: Spanish, Blues, and Spot.
Outer Banks: Spanish, Blues and Spades.
Inshore Boats Report: Good Spanish and Blues. Lots of Tilefish.
Offshore Boats Report: Dolphin and scattered Wahoo

NORTH CAROLINA FISHING REPORTS COVERING THE ENTIRE NORTH CAROLINA COAST

Reported from North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries

From Knotts Island to Ocracoke:
Ocean: Offshore anglers saw a substantial increase in catch rates as compared to the last several weeks.  Tuna catches were slow, but anglers caught plenty of dolphin, wahoo, amberjack, king mackerel, blueline tilefish, and billfish.  Midrange action was moderate to good with striped bass and king mackerel being caught around 6 to 8-miles offshore from Duck southward to the Pea Island area.  Anglers should note that striped bass caught in the ocean beyond three miles are unlawful to possess, and those caught within the three mile range, that are legal specimens, must have a landing tag affixed and catch card filled out.  Tags and cards are available at most marinas, piers, and tackle shops.  Triggerfish, black sea bass, and a few very large sheepshead were caught around most of the artificial reefs.  Inshore anglers caught bluefish and Spanish mackerel on a fairly regular basis in the very near shore surf zone.  Access was tough, allowing anglers to catch them only when seas were calm.  Flounder catches slowed somewhat compared to last week’s high-volume action, but some nice specimens were caught, with sand fleas and shrimp being the bait of choice.
Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Flounder, spotted seatrout, and very large croakers made up the bulk of the catches in these waters. Anglers that fished in the early morning hours had good results, and catch rates quickly dropped off around noon.  Flounder keeper ratios were very good with well over 50% of them being legal size.  There were some good catches of red drum, kingfish, puffers, pigfish, pinfish, silver perch, spot and bluefish. Sheepshead and tautog were caught on a regular basis around the bridge structure at Oregon Inlet.
Piers/Shore: Rough seas didn’t stop pier and shore fisherman from catching plenty of bluefish and Spanish mackerel on a very consistent basis.  Spoons, jigs, and assorted lures on the surface were the best thing to catch them on when they passed by for some short-term high-volume action.  Cobia catches off of piers were very good, especially at night. Flounder catches in the near shore surf zone were moderate to good, with sand fleas being the bait of choice.  Red drum catches from Avon southward improved somewhat.
General Overview: Fishing continues to improve across the board, with anglers having moderate-good success rates in all zones.  Water temps in the surf throughout the region remain in the upper 70s.

From Portsmouth to Surf City:

Ocean:  Good catches of Spanish mackerel continue.  Spanish around two and three pounds can be hooked around the Beaufort Inlet-Shackleford Banks area. Kings are on AR 315 and AR 320. There were great catches of grouper and black sea bass reported on AR 300. Dolphin and billfish continue to be the prime catch of the charter boats.
Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Sheepshead continue to be caught in good numbers around all bridges in Carteret County and the bridge over the White Oak River.  Spotted sea trout and flounder are reported from the Topsail Sound area. There also are many tarpon in the Topsail area and up around Oriental. Anglers at the Turning Basin of the Morehead City port are catching flounder, Atlantic cutlassfish, small pigfish and sea mullet.
Piers/Shore:  Small spot, croaker, pigfish, bluefish ,and sharks were caught this week.

From Topsail to Sunset Beach:
Ocean: Very few reports from boats fishing offshore. Bottom fishing in the 35 to 55-mile range should be producing some grouper, mostly reds along with some scamps and gags. Closer to shore, there are some kings biting, nothing great but there are some fish around. Places that have been producing some fish are the shark hole and jungle down south, and the 23-mile rock area. There were a good many sailfish caught last week, with some fish coming as close as a couple miles off the beach. There are good numbers of tarpon being reported on the south end of Topsail Island. Near/shore reefs have been producing some decent flounder catches of late. John’s Creek has been a good spot to try.
Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Inshore, fishing has remained fairly good. Flounder are being caught in the river in decent numbers along some nice trout. Most trout are coming out of the southern part of the river. Sheepshead and black drum are biting well at places such as the ADM dock and Snow’s cut.
Piers/Shore: Fishing is somewhat slow. There are some keeper flounder being caught along with some sea mullets, pompano, and bluefish. Topsail Island piers saw a good many tarpon last week

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