Northern Beaches – October 27, 2016
Betty, of TW’s Tackle, reports that anglers along the beach are catching a mixed bag of puppy drum, nice-sized trout, spot, sea mullet, croaker, bluefish, and black drum. The Little Bridge on the Nags Head/Manteo causeway has also seen steady catches that include trout, stripers, and puppy drum.
Inshore and nearshore boats have had a run of good fishing days, and they’ve recently been catching limits of puppy drum and keeper stripers, as well as steady catches of speckled trout and keeper flounder.
Local head boats have enjoyed decent fishing as well, with catches of sea bass, trout, sea mullet, and croaker.
Offshore fishing vessels have been limiting out on yellowfin tuna and dolphin. There have also been sailfish releases and several nice wahoo landed.
Nathan Heath with a limit of speckled trout, all weighing over 3 lbs. The fish were caught in Oregon Inlet. Photo courtesy of TWs Tackle.
Gabby, of Oregon Inlet Fishing Center, reports that offshore vessels are still catching limits of yellowfin tuna, and they’re also catching limits of dolphin. Quite a few wahoo were landed, and there were several sailfish releases.
Inshore and nearshore boats are catching puppy drum, black drum, and sheepshead, and anglers are also starting to see stripers show up in larger numbers.
Daryl, of Jennette’s Pier, reports that the large red drum fishing has been very good, with a lot of catch and releases reported off the pier. Anglers are also regularly reeling in speckled trout and bluefish, as well as pufferfish, spot, and gray trout.
The red drum are being caught on spot heads and cut mullet, and anglers are using soft plastics for the trout. Finger mullet has also been a solid and popular bait for pretty much all species.
Jerry, of Nags Head Pier, reports that anglers have been steadily catching speckled trout, a lot of puppy drum, and a number of nice-sized sea mullet. There have also been pufferfish caught off the pier, and blues and small spot have been steadily hitting as well.
A pompano was also recently landed, and the fishing in general has picked up since the storm.
Betty, of Avalon Fishing Pier, reports that anglers have been catching a mixed bag of species, including a large number of drum (both in and over-slot), spot, croaker, and a lot of small speckled trout.
Ed, of Bob’s Bait and Tackle, reports that there has been a good drum bite recently, with anglers reeling in mostly puppy drum, with roughly 25% or so in the slot and the rest just under slot. There has also been a really good speckled trout bite along the northern beaches with the cold front coming in, and it should get better as the water continues to cool.
Anglers along the beaches are also catching a few small blues, as well as ample bottom fish including croaker, spot, sea mullet, and flounder. The black drum bite has been solid, with mostly undersized catches, but a few clocking in over 25”. Fresh mullet and bloodworms have been working the best for bait, although shrimp has been working, too.
Big drum have been landed off the local piers, including Avalon Fishing Pier, and there was a huge hatch of stripers soundside, currently resulting in 10-12” rockfish (which will grow up to be nice and big in the coming year). There are also scattered keeper-sized rockfish along the Currituck Bridge, and they will hit bucktails and jigged Gulp soft plastics.
Keith, of Corolla Bait and Tackle, reports that surf fishermen are catching puppy drum during the day, and 40”+ drum at night. The drum are mixed in with croakers, sea mullet, spot, and bluefish.
Speckled trout have also started to show up, and bloodworms, fresh mullet, and cut bait are working the best for anglers across the board.
