Coastal NC anglers will be relieved to know that the fishing is picking back up in the wake of last week's poor weather. Read more to find out when and where anglers are catching fish
Northern North Carolina Tidal Waters Fishing Reports (Ocracoke Inlet to Surf City)
Overall Summary for the region
Ocean: Offshore anglers caught limits of dolphin and large yellowfin tuna. Bigeye tuna, some in excess of 160 pounds, along with blackfin tuna, wahoo, amberjack, skipjack tuna and little tunny were also caught in moderate amounts. Billfish catches were scarce. Bottom fishing boats out of Ocracoke and Hatteras caught an assortment of blackbelly rosefish, vermilion snapper, blueline tilefish, triggerfish, and assorted groupers. Midrange anglers reported catching a few king mackerel. Near shore fishing was limited due to rough seas, but on calm days there were moderate catches of large bluefish, sea mullet, and flounder.
Oregon Inlet Fishing Center brings us these reports:
6/01/2012 Offshore boats had good catches of yellowfin tuna, gaffer size dolphin and several bigeye tunas. There were lots of fish on the screens indicating excellent fishing ahead. Bill Pucher from Cape Charles, Va. got a citation for his 143 pound bigeye tuna. Gregory Williams from Midlothian, Va. also got a citation for his 149 pound bigeye tuna. Inshore bottom fishing produced triggerfish, black sea bass, spanish mackerel and tilefish. Several good catches of tailor bluefish were made. Open boats caught several cobias. Very good spanish mackerel catches were made at one location and 12 pound bluefish were caught casting into them. Miss Oregon Inlet caught a variety of fish, bottom fishing in the sound
5/31/2012 Our offshore fleet had a great day today. They all came in with their limits of yellowfin tuna, scattered dolphin and an 85lb. Big Eye tuna. Our nearshore boats pulled in tiles, sea bass, good bluefish and spanish mackerel. The inshore fleet caught trout, sharks and cobia.
5/30/2012 This day started out quite nice with some specatcularly beautiful clouds. Beryl was due to arrive later on in the day permitting enough time to get some offshore fishing. The catches were all good but mixed between dolphin and yellowfin tuna. Three citation size bigeye tunas were caught.Kimberly Cook from Chilligothe, Ohio got a citation for her 142 pound bigeye, Scott Breidenbach from Pottstown, Pa got a citation for his 114 pound bigeye. A 172 pound bigeye was also caught. Nearshore one boat sailed and had good bluefish fishing. An open boat caught speckled trout. Beryl did pass by on schedule putting a lot of moisture in the ground.
5/28/2012 Offshore boats had a good day catching yellowfin tuna and gaffer size dolphin. In addition several citaions were recorded. James Dougherty from Kitty Hawk caught and released a 40 pound jack crevalle measuring 41 inches in length. That is a powerful fish I imagine Mr.Dougherty had an exciting time with it. Mr. Shane Francis from Kill Devil Hills caught a 81 pound cobia that measured 65 inches in length. That is a nice trophy. Mr. Brodie Beasley from Pittsboro, NC got a 150 pound bigeye tuna. Mr. Peter Dunklee From Yorktown, Va. landed a 55 pound wahoo another impressive fish reminds one of a torpedo. Mr. Sam Arnold from Fort Defiance, Va. got a 43 pound wahoo. Inshore boats caught tailor bluefish.
5/27/2012 Today was, without a doubt, a fantastic day of fishing here at Oregon Inlet. There were twenty two boats that went offshore today and they returned with limits of yellowfin tuna and lots of dolphin including gaffer dolphin. There were two citation big eye tuna landed weighing 236 lbs. and 207 lbs., as well as wahoo and white marlin which were released. Nearshore trips had excellent catches of bluefish and spanish mackerel and an inshore trip caught a 55 lb. citation cobia, as well as spanish mackerel.
Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Anglers that targeted flounder had good success catching keeper-sized fish. Most of the catches came fromOregon Inlet, but other areas saw improvement from the prior week. Anglers in near the Little Bridge and under the Washington Baum Bridge in Roanoke Sound had nice catches of spotted seatrout. The best times for fishing were in the early to mid morning and just before nightfall. There were moderate catches of large sea mullet, along with spot, croaker, and pigfish throughout the area.
Piers/Beaches: The main catches along the shore were bluefish and sea mullet. Fishermen also caught flounder, spotted seatrout, weakfish, silver perch, striped burrfish, croaker, spot, and pigfish. Catches of black drum increased, while catches of skates, stingrays and dogfish decreased.
Central North Carolina Tidal Waters Fishing Reports (Ocracoke Inlet to Surf City)
Overall Summary for the region
Ocean: Fishermen had successful offshore trips despite wind and rough seas. Dolphin were caught in large numbers, and blue marlin hookups were reported from multiple boats fishing in the Gulf Stream. Headboat and offshore bottom fishing produced excellent catches of vermilion snapper, red porgy, bank sea bass, scup, tomtate, white grunt, amberjack, and various grouper.
Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Cobia were caught inside the hook at Cape Lookout using menhaden fished on the bottom. Anything from a Carolina rig to a drum rig did the trick. Flounder were caught in the creeks and sounds on rigged mud minnows or finger mullet. Fishermen caught numerous pigfish, pinfish and small spot on two-hook bottom rigs with squid. Trout and drum were caught at the Haystacks around Morehead City and in the marshes around New River Inlet.
Piers/Shore: Anglers fishing on ocean piers caught large bluefish and a few Spanish mackerel using live bait, spoons and plugs. Those bottom fishing caught silver perch, pigfish, pinfish, and an occasional sheepshead or flounder. Two-hook bottom rigs baited with cut squid or shrimp worked well.
Southern North Carolina Tidal Waters Fishing Reports (Surf City to North Carolina line)
Ocean Isle Fishing Center brings us these reports
6/01/2012 Glenn, Nolan, and Nick joined us for a half day backwater adventure today. After yesterday's lack of action, expectation were a little low. We had several flounder chewing on the baits with in the first 30 minutes of the trip, but not getting the hooks in them. Finally, Nick lands our first short fish. The flounder just did not seem to be hitting hard today, so we changed gears. The next line in the water and drag was peeling of the line. Daddy Glenn of the group was on the rod and showing his two boys how it's done! Glenn landed a respectable 5 pound black drum. Oh yeah! Normally black drum are in schools, but we only got one more small one out of that hole. Moved on around, found a nice school of reds in the lower slot 19 to 21 inches and a 12 pound skate.*Daddy Glenn again put the hurt on the boys finishing off our day with a stud 7 pound 26 3/4" redfish!
-- Capt. Jacob Frick
5/29/2012
Jesse, Patrick, Paul and 6 year-old Lanny joined us for a half day backwater adventure today. I concentrated on getting Lanny a fish on first. First cast and something rather large hit the line? Lanny did an awesome job at angling and landed a 12 pound*skate! Not exactly the flatfish we were after, but lots of fighting excitement! After a few toadfish...we finally landed a keeper redfish. As we were just finishing up with pictures, another rod went down hard! Patrick was on the rod and battling with something with some shoulders? Once the fish ran back past the boat several yards up current...I was thinking large bluefish or skate. After a serious battle, Patrick landed the 23 pound beast! Meanwhile, Lanny was working on what I thought was another toadfish, but the fish started taking drag just a few feet from boatside. Not a toadfish? Lanny lands another nice lower slot redfish. Purdy work right there little man! The action was much slower that anticipated so we moved to find some more action. We hit several holes before finally finding a few flounder. Jesse, Patrick, and Paul weeded through some small ones as Lanny and I keep the hooks baited. We finally brought home the bacon with two solid keeper flounder!
-- Capt. Jacob Frick
5/28/2012 Touching base from the OIFC.* We have had our head down and working hard to make all the island visitors feel welcome at the OIFC.* I am happy and thankful to all the folks who have stopped in and shopped with us.* The real bummer this weekend has been of course the tropical storm that has whipped up the wind and seas.* We had north wind Saturday AM and Sunday AM and were able to get in some nearshore fishing for Spanish and Blues, but other than that, offshore fishing has been a bust this holiday weekend.* The inshore guys continue to do well on Flounder and Redfish- Capt. Jacob and party had another 5+ pounder yesterday.* We have seen a transition over the past couple of years towards inshore, and with all the recent obstacles to offshore fishing, you can certainly see why.* Anyway, thanks again to all those who have made it down.* Besides the wind, it has been a nice weekend.
-- Capt. Brant McMullan
Overall Summary for the Region
Ocean: Offshore anglers landed good amounts of dolphin, along with a few wahoo. Billfish catches increased, with blue and white marlin and a few sailfish. Those who targeted grouper and hogfish caught limits 40 to 45 miles offshore. Anglers fishing near shore caught king mackerel and cobia while trolling with live bait around artificial reefs and ledges.
Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Inshore anglers targeting flounder saw improved catches in size and numbers. The most productive areas were the Cape Fear River and Ocean Isle. Live bait, such as peanut-size menhaden or finger mullet, produced the best flounder catches. Spotted seatrout were caught around Bald Head Island using artificial bait or live shrimp. Black and red drum were caught throughout the area around oyster reefs.
Piers/Shore: Those fishing area piers caught Spanish mackerel, sea mullet, and bluefish. There was also an increase in flounder catches.* Anglers fishing on Oak Island piers caught spotted seatrout on live shrimp in the early morning hours. Anglers fishing from the surf caught larger sea mullet, slot size red drum and pompano using mole crabs.
See you on the water,
Bryce Butner
Tidal Fish North Carolina Associate Editor
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