THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 23, 1996 TAG: 9604230382
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
COLUMN: Fishing on the Outer Banks
SOURCE: Damon Tatem
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Fishing was good during the weekend along the Dare Coast.
A few sea mullet were landed and some school striped bass were released Saturday on Kitty Hawk Pier. Scattered gray trout were taken on double bucktail rigs Sunday afternoon.
Avalon Pier reported a few sea mullet, toadfish, tailor bluefish and plenty of skates landed Saturday. Several striped bass measuring about 18 inches in length were released. The stripers hit green grubs and jiggers. Good numbers of toadfish, a few croaker and lots of skates were caught Sunday.
Some sea mullet, croaker, toadfish, skates and small gray trout were taken from Nags Head Pier during the weekend.
Outer Banks Pier reported slow fishing Saturday. Action improved Sunday, with scattered sea mullet, toadfish and skates landed during the afternoon.
South of Oregon Inlet, Rodanthe Pier fishermen caught a few mullet, croaker, toadfish and lots of skates throughout the weekend.
Avon Pier anglers landed plenty of sea mullet and toadfish, along with a few gray trout, spot and croaker Saturday afternoon. Fishing was good again Sunday afternoon, with big mullet and 3-to-the-pound spot plentiful.
Frisco Pier also reported plenty of action. Anglers caught lots of croaker and sea mullet Saturday morning. Croaker, spot and sea mullet were landed Sunday morning. Big sea mullet and 5- to 7-pound puppy drum were taken Sunday afternoon.
Low water temperatures in the surf from Corolla to Oregon Inlet kept weekend action to a minimum. A few toadfish, small croaker and skates were beached around Oregon Inlet.
Surfcasters from Rodanthe to Buxton caught scattered sea mullet, toadfish and some small croaker Saturday and Sunday. Inshore water in the area was dirty because of southwest winds.
A good drum run developed at Cape Point Friday night. Woody Pierce of Colerain landed several, ranging from 27 to 48 inches, and Tommy Taylor of Elizabeth City accounted for a 38-incher. Some sea mullet and tailor blues were landed from Cape Point Saturday.
Drum fishing conditions were good Saturday night at Cape Point, but only a handful of large fish were beached.
Some nice sea mullet were landed along the beach south of Cape Point Sunday. An 8-pound bluefish was landed at Cape Point that afternoon.
Good catches of bottom fish and small bluefish were caught by surf fishermen from ramp 55 to Hatteras Inlet Saturday. Some gray trout also appeared in catches. One big drum was taken in the Hatteras Inlet area Saturday night.
Some puppy drum and sea mullet were landed along the beach from ramp 55 to False Point Sunday afternoon.
Blue water fishing off Oregon Inlet was fair Saturday. Mostly small yellowfin tuna were landed, although a couple of 50-pounders were reported. A few dolphin, wahoo and big bluefish also were taken. The Fish-N-Frenzy released a spearfish.
Tuna fishing was fair again Sunday. In addition to yellowfins, a few king mackerel were taken. A couple of spearfish were released.The Hatteras fleet caught plenty of nice-sized yellowfin tuna well south of Hatteras Inlet Saturday. Many of the fish weighed between 70 and 80 pounds. The Marlin Mania landed a whopper weighing 100 pounds.
The best action was between the 39890 and 39900 Loran lines in fairly deep water.
Fairly good catches of big yellowfin tuna were reported by Hatteras charters Sunday. Some king mackerel also were taken, and a blue marlin was released by the Tom Cat fishing out of Teach's Lair Marina.
Headboat fishing south of Hatteras was good during the weekend. The Miss Hatteras caught good numbers of big bluefish, triggerfish and some king mackerel.
The water temperature was 47 degrees Monday at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pier in Duck, and 64 degrees at Frisco Pier on Hatteras Island.
Bottom fishing along the northern beaches should improve dramatically this week, as inshore water temperatures begin to rise above 50 degrees. by CNB