In non-surf fishing news, striper action for boats out of Oregon Inlet has been good, with large fish, including a potential state record caught today.  Sounds like the bluefin tuna bite has been good the past week or two as well.

On the heels of Thursday’s fabulous all-day puppy drum bite, Friday’s fish were more scattered, but still a blast.  After a solid morning bite near the pier, the name of the game was sight-casting to smaller schools of pups (maybe 10-40 fish per school) cruising the surf zone from Frisco to Hatteras Inlet.  The fish were easily visible in the waves as the tide fell and it was a pretty easy drive along the beach to scan the shore break and find your own pod of fish to work.  Very short but precise casts were the ticket to entice hits out of these fast moving schools.  After dark I waded into the calm surf with my headlamp illuminating the water and was enraptured by the schools of fish I saw – lots of pups, but also a speck, a black drum, a cob mullet and some scattered baitfish.  So cool to see what they do up close and personal.

Frisco Pier at sunset

Saturday started very slow but as the morning progressed, a growing weekend crowd started following a huge school of pups on the prowl in the surf zone.  The fish apparently started at the Pier and finally stopped about a mile south of Cape Point, almost 5 miles later!  (I think the school found some bait as the air started smelling very fishy once they stopped)  I joined the fun near Ramp 49.  Yes, it was combat fishing, but it was a blast.  Dark outlines of fish swimming along the shoreline like a 100 yard long school of finger mullet added to the excitement and the scene was much like an old fashioned bluefish blitz with everyone and their grandmother getting a piece of the action.  I still don’t understand how people can wade in 49 degree water in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt!  After the fish finally stopped moving, part of the school stuck around one of the holes, creating some nice afternoon action for the handful of us who stopped chasing.

Weekend crowds, but lots of fish

Everyone gets in on the action!

My Avon rental has come to an end after nearly two months and I couldn’t have dreamed of more exciting conclusion, especially after such a miserable December.  Last week, in particular, was one of the finest stretches of Outer Banks weather and surf conditions I can remember, and likely the best sustained fishing I’ve experienced in over 15 years of fishing there.  So often, the season peters out, leaving me wanting more; this year, I can say I’m totally satiated going into our brief Carolina off-season.

The fish started as a few smaller schools cruising the sloughs and bars just north of the pier (accompanied by at least two big, 20-pound plus stripers I saw caught), but then coalesced as a big school which basically stayed in one general location – a bar about 500 yards up the beach – from 9:00 am till dark.  Hundreds of fish were caught.  I estimate that I caught around 40 pups.  My big fish was 13 pounds, but the vast majority were in the 5-7 pound range – mid-slot fish.  Thank God for the Boga (thank my parents actually for the very well timed Christmas present) or my hands would be even more shredded than they already are.  Many of the pups were snagged, but many were hooked in the mouth.  Most of mine were mouth hooked; the secret of course is to not jig your rod so hard – just a short twich and a very slow retrieve.  Its more appealing to the fish and less likely to stick in the side of a nearby pup.  The mouth-hooked fish are easier and more sporty to fight.

At dark, the big school seemed to disperse, but I whacked a few more pups closer to the pier after dark and also snagged a most welcomed, respectable 18″ trout.

Note that I didn’t use the word blitz (although many have used that word).  To me a blitz must include at least three prerequisites:  fish on every cast or almost every cast, visibly feeding fish (fish thrashing or busting water) and bait being chased into the wash or onto the beach.  This was an awesome school of fish just chilling out on the bottom, waiting for a meal to crawl their way.  But it was a great bite – epic.

The scene north of Frisco Pier, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010

The dark, reddish spot to the right of the bar behind the breaking wave is a school of puppy drum

Combat fishing, but fun

Clear water - yea!

One of many pretty fish

North Beach

…to this hole:

South Beach

Fishing, so far, has been outstanding with lots and lots of puppy drum with a few speckled trout mixed in.  The trout are there (the nets tell us so), but they are just not as aggressive as the pups in the borderline water temperatures.  Since last night, I’ve landed 16 pups and one trout and pulled off countless numbers of fish.  The pups are mid-over slot fish in the 22-32″ range.  Great fun on trout gear.  My trout was 19″, but I saw some heftier and some smaller fish in a net today.

The conditions are finally perfect for exploring the many beautiful holes these winter storms have produced.  Time to rest up for a day of my favorite kind of fishing.

Tues. evening with frostbit fingers

Wednesday's first pup

Cold fronts are a big driver of our fall surf fishing season, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a cold spell having such a dramatic effect this late in the season.  Its quite ironic that the prime months of November and December were so slow and some of the best fishing is coming in mid-January with water temperatures along many beaches too cold for a bite.  The thought is that the dangerously cold inshore water pushed a big slug of fish out of the sounds and along the surf.  With a nice bunch of fish along the beaches, a warming trend and some much more serene surf conditions than we’ve seen most of the fall, the next days and weeks should be very interesting.  I’m heading to Avon tomorrow and should have some first-hand reports through the rest of the week.

Onto the trout kill in the creeks, opinions vary as to the severity of this particular event.  The next few days should be particularly telling, as snow or other frozen precipitation (as forecast for tonight) can wreak additional havoc on the water temperatures, as can the melting of ice that’s formed on the surface.  We’ll have a better read next week.

With subfreezing temperatures settling in on the entire state, the inside waters are dangerously cold and there have been unfortunate reports of widespread trout kills.  Most of the reports I’ve seen have come from the lower Neuse area, but I’ve seen some photos of frozen banks along the sounds of the Outer Banks, so I’d guess the fish are taking a hit in the creeks in the Albemarle/Pamlico area too.  We’ve been riding a long wave of relatively warm winters without any major trout kills.  Accordingly, many, including myself, expected this to be a banner year for specks, but rather it has been a disappointment.  Our expectations will certainly now be much lower next fall.  With very strict gray trout limits looming due to their recent population collapse and the ongoing speckled trout kill, us trout-hunters might be in for a tough year or two.  Rest assured, it will turn around and surprises always abound in the ocean!

Once the weather does finally moderate, I expect fair puppy drum fishing along the south beach of Hatteras and on Ocracoke Island.  A few trout might also be around (the few that appear to be in the surf zone should weather the cold front just fine) and who knows, the slow onset of cold water inside may have even pushed a few more into the surf or down from the Chesapeake.  Just after Christmas prior to the arctic blast, there were reports of big trout around Masonboro Inlet between Wrightsville Beach and Masonboro Island, but the water temps have dropped a few more degrees since.  Big stripers are plentiful in the Chesapeake area, just outside of Rudee Inlet and off of Cape Henry, and the Oregon Inlet charters are still finding them some days.  The wind and weather have been the biggest challenge.

January 2, 2004.  Outer Banks, NC. A glorious day all around.  Weather and fishing.  Light SW wind, warm, sunny to partly cloudy.  Great water everywhere.   A fishy day!

Ramp 55 to Hatteras Inlet. Started fishing for speckled trout at a great hole right at the base of Ramp 55.  Right after first light.  After about a cast or two, started seeing “backs” coming out of the water and knew the albacore were in.  Got an 8-9 pounder out of that hole while they were blasting, then spent the rest of the morning gunning for fish up and down the beach, taking one from the other nice trout hole about halfway to the inlet and then a couple others south toward the inlet.  They were pretty finicky, but when they were really raging you had a decent chance of hooking up.  I landed 4 from 5 to 10 pounds.  The first was on a 2-3 ounce kastmaster.  Two were on a small white stingsilver imitation with feathered single hook and one was on an epoxy glass minnow fly dropper.  The fish were on very tiny baitfish that were all up against the beach.  They looked like glass minnow fry or something.  Never seen the albacore so close to the beach before.  At times, they would actually charge in with a breaking wave and almost beach themselves.  Quit around noon and went back to the room for a nap (bad move as stripers were blitzing Pea Island).

After that great morning, I managed to get some action on the tail end of a big striper blitz along the north beaches of Hatteras Island.  I ended up dropping 3 or 4 big fish on black plugs after dark near Oregon Inlet.  Nevertheless, a very memorable winter’s day and still the best I’ve ever had for albacore in the surf.  So much late season action is dictated by the weather and the persistent, strong and cold westerly winds that have absolutely dominated this fall have done nothing to sustain the fishing.

S OF OREGON INLET TO CAPE HATTERAS NC OUT 20 NM-
S OF CAPE HATTERAS TO OCRACOKE INLET NC OUT 20 NM
INCLUDING THE MONITOR NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY-
933 AM EST SAT JAN 2 2010

...GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON...

.TODAY...NW WINDS 25 TO 35 KT. SEAS 5 TO 8 FT DOMINANT PERIOD 7
SECONDS.
.TONIGHT...NW WINDS 30 TO 35 KT WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SEAS 7 TO 10 FT
DOMINANT PERIOD 8 SECONDS.
.SUN...NW WINDS 25 TO 35 KT. SEAS 6 TO 9 FT.
.SUN NIGHT...NW WINDS 25 TO 30 KT. SEAS 4 TO 6 FT.
.MON...NW WINDS 20 TO 25 KT...DIMINISHING TO 15 TO 20 KT IN THE
AFTERNOON. SEAS 4 TO 6 FT.
.MON NIGHT...NW WINDS 20 KT. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT.
.TUE AND WED...NW WINDS 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 3 TO 5 FT.