THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 24, 1995 TAG: 9506240344
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
COLUMN: Fishing on the Outer Banks
SOURCE: Damon Tatem
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
A shift in the wind to an easterly direction produced increased king mackerel and cobia action along the Dare Coast on Friday.
On Avalon Pier, two cobia weighing 23 and 57 pounds were taken, along with plenty of small bluefish. Three jacks were released. Fishing on Kitty Hawk Pier was fairly slow, with only a few bluefish and pigfish landed.
A 53.5-pound king mackerel was decked on Nags Head Pier, along with some Spanish mackerel, bluefish and a 29-pound cobia. Small blues, croaker and a 26-pound jack were landed by fishermen on Jennette's Pier. Outer Banks Pier reported a 21-pound king mackerel taken, and four jacks released. Some small bottom fish and bluefish also were landed.
On Hatteras Island, Rodanthe Pier reported red hot fishing, with six cobia weighing from 20 to 50 pounds each, and a 17-pound king mackerel taken. Avon Pier fishermen caught some small flounder and blues. Lots of croaker and a few bluefish appeared in catches on Frisco Pier.
Quite a few small flounder and bluefish were landed in the surf along the northern beaches, while small bottom fish, gray trout and small blues were caught from Oregon Inlet to Buxton.
Some sea mullet and a few nice pompano were taken from the north side of Cape Point during the morning. Scattered bluefish were landed later in the day.
The water was clear along the beach south of Cape Point to Hatteras Inlet, where small blues, Spanish mackerel and a few nice flounder were taken on Friday.
Inshore trolling around Oregon Inlet was fairly good for Spanish mackerel and blues. Head-boats reported good catches of small flounder and some croaker on morning trips, and plenty of croaker during the afternoon.
Boats fishing out of Oregon Inlet found good offshore dolphin fishing and fair yellowfin tuna fishing. Several jumbo bluefins were taken northeast of the inlet, including a 372-pounder aboard the First Crack, and others aboard the Suspense, the Sea Witch and the Obsession.
Off Hatteras Island, dolphin fishing was good. Yellowfin tuna fishing improved, with most of the fish taken from deep water in scattered locations. Two white marlin were released by the charter fleet, and 10 billfish were released by anglers participating in the Hatteras Marlin Tournament.
Marlin fishing should improve over the next few days, as a warm water eddy is moving up from the south.
The water temperature at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pier in Duck was 73 degrees on Friday. by CNB