River Herring in Trouble
North Carolina increased its budget on River Herring recovery efforts this year to over $250,000 appropriated just for the herring studies. Each week, our state’s biologists set out trawl nets to take samples of the River Herring, as of mid-August the biologists have yet to even see a herring. Collecting these fish in the the summer time show whether or not the spawning was successful. Considering that the biologist have yet to catch a single fish all summer, the spawn could not have been successful. One of the main culprits of this depleted fishery is the development of our coastal lands; many of the spawning grounds from the 1970s and 1980s have been drained and commercialized. Earlier this year a moratorium was placed on the harvest of these fish, which is one step towards the rebuilding of the stock. Studies are currently underway to determine if the temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen, as well as the plankton (a main food source for River Herring) levels within the Albemarle Sound. One study from 2005 suggested that the stock could be rebuilt, but that it would take nearly 20 years–since 2005 the stock has depleted even farther. Hopefully our Division of Marine Fisheries will come up with a plan to properly manage this species and bring it back to life.

(Pictured above is a sailfish caught aboard TidalFish member HIT N RUN, check the report here.)

North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Reports

Bill from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center reported: ”
August 28, 2008 Fishing Report
Weather wise we got some showers and a SSE wind. Only a few boats went offshore. The boats that went offshore caught good size yellowfin tunas and dolphin. One of the dolphin weighed 43 pounds. A blue marlin was caught and released. It was the tenth blue marlin for this boat this year. None of the inshore boats or open boats fished.

August 27, 2008 Fishing Report
Offshore good dolphin fishing and some nice yellowfin tunas. Five sailfish, a white marlin and a blue marlin were caught and released. Inshore a good run of ideal size bluefish and spanish mackerel. An open boat caught to cobias a flunder and a sheepshead. The larger cobia weighed 40 pounds. A much bigger cobia was faught for a long time but won the battle. A second open boat caught big speckled trout a third caught speckled trout and bluefish. Miss Oregon Inlet caught sea mullet, croakers and grey trout in the morning, croakers and sea mullet in the afternoon.

August 26, 2008 Fishing Reports

Offshore all the boats limited in dolphin. Two boats caught and released sailfish. The sailfish were present in good numbers but reluctant biters. Two boats also had two yellowfin tunas each. Inshore lots of spanish mackerel and bluefish. An all day trip had good false albacore fishing . An open boat had real good speckled trout fishing in the morning, caught and released sharks in the afternoon. Two young ladies caught most of the trout. Miss Oregon Inlet caught croakers and sea mullet.”

TW’s Bait and Tackle reported: ”
August 28, 2008 Fishing Report
In Summary: The open shoreline is open from ramp 4 south for 2.1 miles to Oregon Inlet and Ramp 4 north for 2.1 miles. Nighttime driving is prohibited from 10 pm to 6 am. Sea turtles will be nesting until November. Closures are smaller.
Surf Fishing Report: Slow. Rough water.
Sound Fishing Report: The Little Bridge anglers are catching a few Puppy Drum.
Pier Fishing Report:
Avalon: Slow.
Nags Head: Few small Blues
Outer Banks: Few small Blues and Croaker.
Inshore Boats Report: Trolling boats caught Blues and Spanish. Open boats caught nice Cobia, Flounder, Trout and Sheepshead on Wednesday.
Offshore Boats Report: Dolphin and Yellowfin Tuna

August 27, 2008 Fishing Report
In Summary: Rough seas this morning. Water temp is 77 degrees. Wind straight out the east at 18 kts reported by Army corps of Engineers Research Pier in Duck.
Surf Fishing Report: A few bottom fish and Blues.
Sound Fishing Report: Little Bridge is slow. Anglers are catching a few Spot and Flounder.
Pier Fishing Report:
Avalon: Bluefish.
Nags Head: Blues and Spot.
Outer Banks: Double header Spot this morning, Blues and Flounder.
Inshore Boats Report: Open boat had a good Trout bite yesterday. Inshore boaters also caught Spanish, Blues and false Albacore.
Offshore Boats Report: The offshore boats caught their limits of Dolphin on Tuesday. A few Yellowfin Tuna was also caught.

August 26, 2008 Fishing Reports
In Summary: It is rumored, beach access at ramp 4 will be opened all the way to the bridge this week. I will let you know. I fished south of ramp 4 on Monday. Not much luck but much grass.
Surf Fishing Report: Bottom fish and Blues.
Sound Fishing Report: The Little Bridge reported Specks and Flounder.
Pier Fishing Report:
Avalon: Blues and Spanish. Caught a 65 lb Cobia early this morning.
Nags Head: Blues and Spanish
Outer Banks: Blues, Spanish and Spot.
Inshore Boats Report: Spanish and Bluefish caught by trolling boats. Triggerfish, False Albacore, King Mackerel and Cobia.
Offshore Boats Report: Good Dolphin fishing. Lots of Billfish caught on Monday.”

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 had very high success rates, with the exception of tuna catches, which were slow.  Plenty of dolphin, greater amberjack, wahoo, blueline tilefish, black seabass, triggerfish, barracuda, and vermilion snapper were caught this week.  Billfish anglers caught sailfish and both blue and white marlin on a fairly regular basis.  Midrange catches took a downward trend. Fishing was slower, with the exception of a few isolated catches of striped bass and a few triggerfish and sheepshead on the artificial reefs. Inshore anglers had very good success rates with Spanish mackerel and bluefish for some short term yet high-volume action.
Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Fishing improved over what we saw last week.  Flounder catches were much improved, with nice specimens being caught throughout the area.  Oregon Inlet produced the bulk of them. Most were caught in the shallow areas near the various islands and landmasses.  Spotted seatrout and very large croakers were caught in the same area in very high numbers.  Sheepshead and tautog were caught around the bridge structure at Oregon Inlet on a regular basis, with mole crabs (sand fleas) being the bait of choice. Striped bass catches at Manns Harbor made a modest improvement.
Piers/Shore: Anglers had similar success rates to the inshore boaters, with catches of Spanish mackerel and bluefish making up the bulk of their catches.  Atlantic spadefish, banded rudderfish, blue runners, silver perch, spot, pigfish, pinfish, croaker. skates, stingrays, and assorted sharks were caught with moderate regularity.  Cobia catches on piers were very good, with citation size specimens being caught on a regular basis.
General Overview: Success rates improved across the board, with water temps in the surf throughout the area in the upper 70s-lower 80s.  Tropical depression Fay may affect fishing efforts mid-late week.

From Portsmouth to Surf City:

Ocean:  It has been rough  offshore all week and not many boats have ventured out. Large Spanish can still be hooked off the beach and around Cape Lookout.
Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Nice pigfish are popping up everywhere. Sheepshead are around all bridge and pier pilings in Carteret and Onslow counties.  Good catches of spotted seatrout are reported if you fish at night under the lights of bridges. They are also still up in the marshes with redfish.  Bluefish and small sea mullet, croakers and black drum can be hooked in the turning basin of the state port. All in all – fishing is a little slow.
Piers/Shore:  Sheepshead are being caught around the pilings and black drum in the surf. Croakers, small spot, sea mullet and bluefish can be hooked.

From Topsail to Sunset Beach:
Ocean: Weather-wise, last week was not good. The wind blew most of the week and did not allow boats to venture offshore. There have been some reports of the wahoo starting to bite. Red grouper fishing has been decent if the wahoo don’t cooperate. Closer to shore, there are some African pompano and some nice kings being reported around the tower. Near/shore reefs are producing some flounder, spadefish, and over-the-slot red drum.
Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Not much has changed. There are some flounder coming out of the river, with fish being caught from the mouth of the river all the way to Wilmington. Trout are still being caught around Oak Island/Southport area. Tarpon fishing around the muddy slough area has been producing some fish of late. Late evenings/night has been the best time to fish.
Piers/Shore: Fishing dropped off last week due to weather. Area piers report some keeper flounder, pompano, blues and sea mullets. Spanish mackerel fishing was good before the wind starting blowing.

Trackback URI |