Northern Beaches – March 3, 2016
Betty, of TW’s Tackle, reports that February fishing has been slow along the northern beaches, but the southern beaches are reporting puppy drum catches around the point and a few black drum at the jetties using bait and grubs. The past couple of days have been a noticeable improvement with spring-like temperatures and some nice-sized blow toads and sea mullets being reeled in off of Buxton.
Anglers on Jennette’s Pier have also been catching dogfish, and this will likely continue (along with some skates) while the weather and winds stay calm over the next few days.
The big news in the past couple weeks has been the recent bag limit change for cobia which took effect on February 27. Recreational anglers can keep one fish per person (the commercial limit will remain two fish per day).
Ted Moore with a striped bass that inhaled a live eel near the Manns Harbor Bridge. Photo coutesy of TWs Tackle.
Norma, of Oregon Inlet Fishing Center, reports that while the late February wind has been keeping most vessels close to shore, a couple of offshore charters that went out last week came back with a 220 lb. bluefin and a couple of decent-sized yellowfin. This past weekend was more successful, with a report of a 430 lb. bluefin on Saturday, and some yellowfin and bluefin reeled in on Saturday and Sunday.
The cold snap and change of wind direction might lead to more impressive bluefin catches, as well as some yellowfin and blackfin floating around.
Tim, of Outer Banks Fishing Charters, reports that they are getting ready to start fishing the last week of March, targeting both the ocean and sounds. By mid-March there will likely be some red drum inshore, and the tuna bite will be strong offshore.
Jennette’s Pier is reporting catches of dogfish and skates, and a scattering of dogfish in the past couple weeks when the wind gusts (which went up to 50 mph) weren’t driving anglers away. At least 22 dogfish were reeled in on Friday afternoon alone, with more dogfish catches reported on Saturday and Sunday, and the water temps and air temps have been hovering around 45 degrees off the pier.
Keith, of Corolla Bait and Tackle, reports that fishing has been slow in the past few weeks with lots of wind and cold conditions throughout the month of February. There has been some bluefin tuna offshore, however, and the northern Outer Banks should start seeing the fishing pick up around April 1 when blow toads and croakers should make an appearance.
By mid-April, northern anglers should start to see sea mullets, small bluefish, and dogfish–all depending on how quickly the water wants to warm up.
