Northern Beaches August 23, 2012
Kelly Hogan with a 10 lb., 2 oz. sheepshead he hooked on a live shrimp in the sound near Nags Head.
Betty, of TW’s Tackle, reports that surf anglers are running into sea mullet, croaker, bluefish, and puppy drum from the beaches around Nags Head lately. Bottom rigs baited with shrimp, bloodworms, and cut baits will attract attention from all those fish and more. Anglers may also be able to connect with the bluefish on metal casting lures.
Inshore, there’s been some solid sheepshead fishing along the pilings of Little Bridge pier and other hard structure in the area. Sand fleas will tempt bites from the sheeps.
Speckled trout are still feeding in the same spots and will fall for Gulp baits or a variety of other soft plastics.
Spanish mackerel and bluefish are still feeding around Oregon Inlet and just off the local beaches. Boaters are hooking plenty of both while trolling Clarkspoons, and pier anglers are getting in on the action by working Gotcha plugs and other metal lures.
Offshore, the billfish bite continues to be excellent, with boats tallying big numbers of blue and white marlin and sailfish releases, including some grand slams (all three in one day) last week. Skirted and naked ballyhoo along with baitless trolling plugs are attracting attention from the billfish.
The dolphin action also remains solid offshore, where anglers are hooking the fish trolling and while bailing them on squid and cut baits. Yellowfin tuna and wahoo are joining the dolphin in fish boxes many days as well, and skirted ballyhoo are fooling all three.
Geo "Cowboy" Craig, of Elizabeth City, NC, with a 40 lb. king mackerel he hooked while pin-rigging a bluefish off the end of Jennette's Pier. Photo by Daryl Law.
Denise, of Oregon Inlet Fishing Center, reports that boats are catching big numbers of billfish (enough that the marina’s boats took the top three places in the recent billfish tournament) offshore of the inlet while trolling both artificial plugs and skirted and naked ballyhoo.
Boats targeting dolphin are still putting together impressive catches both while trolling and bailing.
Good numbers of yellowfin tuna are also in the offshore mix these days, and scattered wahoo are making meatfish slams a possibility.
Boats bottom fishing offshore of the inlet are connecting with tilefish and some fat black sea bass (with citations for both over the past week).
Closer to shore, bottom fishermen are connecting with triggerfish, flounder, and more.
Spanish mackerel and bluefish are still feeding strong off the inlet, and trollers are catching big numbers of them on Clarkspoons.
Dave, of Skiligal Sportfishing, reports that the billfish bite is holding steady, and anglers released blue and white marlin and sailfish over the past week.
Capt. Dan Spencer and the "Double B" crew weighed the heaviest blue marlin in the 29th Pirate's Cove Billfish Tournament, the 521.3 lb. fish seen here. The "Bi-Op-Sea" and Capt. Jesse Granitzki took first place in overall points in the event for the second year in a row, releasing 19 sailfish and a white marlin to amass 1400 points and earn the victory.
Blackfin and skipjack tuna were feeding on the surface around the Point last week, and anglers caught big numbers while trolling there. Pulling baits a bit to the north is still producing some yellowfins as well.
Mike, of Jennette’s Pier, reports that anglers are connecting with some bluefish and spanish mackerel while working Gotcha plugs and other metal lures from the pier.
Bottom fishermen are hooking a wide variety of species including sea mullet, croaker, spot, sea robin, bluefish, black drum, flounder, pompano, and more. Shrimp, bloodworms, and cut baits will all attract attention from the bottom feeders.
Live-baiters also got in on the action last week, landing a king mackerel and a cobia on pin-rigged baits like bluefish.
Keith, of Corolla Bait and Tackle, reports that anglers are hooking up with big numbers of puppy drum (though most are undersized) while fishing the surf from the northern beaches. Spot, croaker, and sea mullet are joining the action, and they’re keeping anglers busy that are casting shrimp and bloodworms into the breakers.
Some schools of bluefish have also been working the surf zone and attacking metal casting jigs that anglers are working from the beachfront.
