By Damon Tatem

BEACH AND PIER FISHING

Corolla to Oregon Inlet

Surfcasters along Dare County’s northern beaches should land a mixture of small fish this week. Widely scattered pinhead croaker, small spot, sand perch and a few sea mullet should be taken from deeper sloughs on high water. The best action should be early mornings and late afternoons if the weather is clear and hot. Low tide and a falling tide will be the least productive times to fish. A few flounder, including an occasional keeper, should be beached. Also a few small pompano should be caught if water temperatures are high and the water is clear. A few speckled trout and gray trout should be landed on artificial baits in deeper sloughs early mornings in the Avalon area.

Scattered bluefish and possibly a few Spanish mackerel will be available in the northern beach surf just about any time of day when the water close to the beach is clear. Terrified baitfish showering out of the water and feeding gulls are a dead giveaway to the presence of hungry bluefish and Spanish mackerel. Most of these aggressive fish will be taken on metal lures.

Pier fishermen along the northern beaches should be greeted daily with early morning and late afternoon runs of bluefish on the ends of piers when the water is clear. A few nice Spanish mackerel should be mixed in with the bluefish. Jiggers will provide most of the action. Some triggerfish and possibly a few spadefish will be reeled in from around the pier pilings when clear warm water is inshore along the beach. There also may be some big fish action when the water is clear. Pier live-bait fishermen should deck some big cobia, plenty of jacks and a king mackerel or two.

Some nice flounder should be caught by anglers using live minnows or strips of squid on the bottom near pier pilings. Throwback flounder always seem to outnumber keeper-sized fish by a wide margin. Fishermen should keep in mind that flounder have a minimum size limit of 14 inches and only eight fish can be kept per day per angler. Speckled trout fishing should be good early mornings with lots of small throwback trout landed along with fair numbers of keepers. Anglers can keep 10 speckled trout 12 inches or larger per day. Bottom fishing on northern beach piers will be fair when the water is somewhat murky. Small croaker, some sea mullet, pigfish, pinfish, spot and sand perch should be easily taken on small hooks baited with bloodworms or shrimp.

Oregon Inlet Area

Surf fishermen around Oregon Inlet should beach small bluefish, scattered small bottom fish and a few keeper flounder. Anglers fishing from the catwalk on the south end of the Bonner Bridge should catch some nice spot, croaker, a few flounder and an occasional striper. Some big sheepshead should be landed on sand fleas near the bridge piling. Anglers wading in the sound west of the Bonner Bridge will reel in some nice flounder on live bait. A few trout also should be taken in the area.

Pea Island to Buxton

Surfcasters in this area should catch mainly sea mullet, pinhead croaker and some spot. Most of these fish will be landed on bloodworms or shrimp when the water is a bit muddy. Fair numbers of pompano and a few keeper flounder also should appear in catches. Bluefish and Spanish mackerel should make sporadic appearances along Hatteras Island’s northern beaches when the water is clear. Most will be taken on Stingsilvers or Hopkins lures.

Pier fishermen in this area should deck small bluefish and a few Spanish mackerel daily as long as the water is clear. Bottom fishing should be fair with lots of pinhead croaker caught along with a few mullet, spot, pigfish and sand perch. Some triggerfish, keeper flounder and pompano also should be landed. A few cobia and king mackerel will be hauled in by pier jockeys when onshore winds push warm clear Gulf Stream water inshore.

Buxton to Hatteras Inlet

Surfcasters near the Buxton jetties should catch some flounder, sheepshead and pompano. Spanish mackerel and bluefish should run daily at sunrise and sunset on Cape Point when winds are moderate and the water is clear. Some nice pompano and flounder should be landed along the beach south of Cape Point. Surf fishermen along the beach in the Frisco area will reel in some nice pompano along with scattered sea mullet. Spanish mackerel and bluefish should make regular appearances in the surf from Ramp 55 to Hatteras Inlet. Pompano and small bottom fish also should be taken off and on in the area. Frisco Pier fishermen should deck some bottom fish, keeper flounder and scattered pompano. Bluefish and Spanish mackerel will be caught regularly when the water is clear.

INSHORE TROLLING AND BOAT FISHING

Inshore trolling in the Oregon Inlet area and along the beach north and south of the inlet should be good with limits of small bluefish, some Spanish mackerel and bonito landed. Headboats in the area should deck plenty of small bottom fish, bluefish, some keeper flounder and gray trout. Boaters fishing outside the inlet a few miles offshore should haul in jacks, school dolphin, some king mackerel and an occasional cobia. Drift fishermen will catch some nice flounder in Oregon Inlet when the water is clear. Anglers fishing along channels west of the Bonner Bridge should land quite a few speckled trout along with some puppy drum.

Hatteras Inlet boat fishermen should do well catching plenty of small bluefish and big Spanish mackerel. Gray trout action should be outstanding with limits taken. Lots of nice flounder will be decked. Speckled trout fishing should be good in the sound west of the inlet.

OFFSHORE, GULF STREAM

Dolphin and yellowfin tuna fishing should be good off Oregon Inlet near the point. Most of the tuna should weigh between 30 and 50 pounds. Some wahoo also will be caught. A few billfish should be released with the best action when winds are from the northeast. Hatteras blue water action should be excellent with lots of nice gaffer dolphin, some big wahoo, scattered yellowfin and blackfin tuna and a few king mackerel landed. Some marlin and sailfish should be released.