Weekly report – 12/22/09
Nothing promising to report, I’m afraid. This week’s report is just like last weeks…except a bit worse. The coastal water temps have fallen to the precariously low lower 50s, with about 49 at Duck Pier and low 40s inside Oregon Inlet. Those numbers will bump up pretty quickly with some warmer days, less cold nights and (especially) some easterly winds, as forecast for the end of the week, that will blow in some warmer surface water (warm water rises) and push some of the cold stuff off the beach. Nevertheless, the season seems to be passing us by…and what a disappointment its been.
Apparently the striper runs of the late 90s and early 2000s are history. In some previous years, the theory was that recent warmer winters weren’t driving them off the mouth of the Chesapeake, but the last two years have been plenty cold – especially this year – and numbers of ocean stripers are nowhere to be found in NC waters. We’ve got bait, so my theory is that their numbers have declined to a point where their range is again restricted. Of course, we haven’t had consistent runs of big blues for years and this one is no exception. The big disappointment, however, is that there has been almost no trout run at the Outer Banks this fall. Given recent mild winters, I had high hopes for good numbers of quality fish. I still believe the weather – and especially unsettled water conditions – has something to do with it. Its still possible that some decent catches will be made on Hatteras Island if the weather moderates some in the next few weeks. But I don’t expect anything sustained. The only real bright spot is puppy drum, which should be available on lures whenever they are fishable and the water is clearer than chocolate milk. Further south, there has been a good trout bite with big fish in the creeks – generally not of help to us foot fishermen, but there are a few creeks that offer good trout fishing from the bank.
Leave a Reply