DATE: Wednesday, July 9, 1997               TAG: 9707090438

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

COLUMN: Fishing on the Outer Banks 

SOURCE: Damon Tatem 

                                            LENGTH:   50 lines

FISHERMEN FIND ACTION MIXED ALONG DARE BEACHES

Action was mixed Tuesday on piers along the Dare beaches.

Fishing was slow on Kitty Hawk Pier, with a few Spanish mackerel taken.

Avalon Pier reported lots of one-pound bluefish taken on bucktail rigs and jiggers during the morning. Quite a few small spot were landed in the afternoon.

Anglers on Nags Head Pier caught a few Spanish mackerel and a few trout early in the day. A few more trout were landed in the early afternoon.

Good numbers of spot were caught off and on by fishermen on Jennette's Pier.

Seven jacks were caught and released on Outer Banks Pier. Scattered bluefish, Spanish mackerel and a few bottom fish also were taken, and a 63-pound cobia was landed.

South of Oregon Inlet, Rodanthe Pier reported cobia taken weighing 28 and 30 pounds. A 14-pound king mackerel also was decked.

Anglers on Avon Pier caught a few Spanish mackerel and small croaker.

Cobia weighing 22 and 37 pounds, a 22-pound king mackerel and Spanish mackerel weighing 4 1/2 and 5 1/4 pounds were landed on Frisco Pier

Surfcasters caught small bottom fish and a few bluefish from deeper sloughs along the northern beaches.

A few keeper flounder, smallbottom fish, gray trout and speckled trout measuring as much as 17 inches were landed around Oregon Inlet.

Plenty of small croaker were beached by surf fishermen from Rodanthe to Buxton.

A few mackerel and small bluefish were landed at Cape Point early in the morning. Small bottom fish were taken during the day, with the best action along the south beach.

A few sea mullet, small bluefish and flounder were hauled from the surf between Ramp 55 and Hatteras Inlet Tuesday.

Inshore trolling outside Oregon Inlet was good, with king mackerel, bluefish and Spanish mackerel taken. Some cobia also were landed.

Headboats in the area caught sea bass, triggerfish and mixed small bottom fish.

Blue water action off Oregon Inlet was fairly good, with plenty of dolphin and scattered tuna taken. A 198-pound big eye was taken by the Boss Lady.

Dolphin fishing was good off Hatteras. Some nice wahoo also were taken.

Billfish releases included a white marlin and a sailfish by the Top Billing, blue marlin by the Sea Creature, the Hatteras Fever and the Chaser, and a sailfish by the Wahoo.

The water temperature was 76 degrees at the Army Corps of Engineers Pier in Duck and 75 degrees at Frisco Pier on Hatteras Island.

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