As might be expected, fishing quickly entered a mid-summer mode — even before the first official day of summer — in mid-June.  That generally means that surf and pier fishing is worthwhile only during brief windows of time at dawn and dusk.  Night fishing in the summer can be excellent for sharks and plenty are being reported from the beaches in southeastern North Carolina (Topsail, Wrightsville, Carolina beaches).

Despite the oppressively hot weather and water, fishing has been pretty good overall.  There have been some good reports of Spanish and bluefish on metal along the Hatteras and Ocracoke Island beaches; these reports are more noteworthy since most of the beaches that are traditionally best for this kind of fishing have been closed since early May.  It will be interesting to see how well those beaches produce once they start to open up in the next month or so.   Yesterday, the blues being caught on stingsilver-style lures at Ramps 43-44 in Buxton were big choppers between 8 and 20 pounds…a real nice surprise this far into the summer season.

There have also been good numbers of big pompano reported just about every day, mostly from the lower part of Hatteras Island, Buxton south.  Quite a few citation-sized fish (2 pounds and up) have been reported, with fair number of citation sea mullet (>1.5 pounds) as well.  Flounder fishing has been pretty steady, though not exceptional, up and down the coast.

In the sound, there have been some nice sized croakers up to 2.5 pounds, with good reports of sheepshead coming from the Oregon Inlet bridge.  I’ve also heard some reports of stripers from the bridge early and late, and scattered reports of stripers on plugs in the surf north of Oregon Inlet (Kitty Hawk) persist, although I’ve got to believe that the 80 degree water temps will shut them off in the surf, at least temporarily.  Black drum fishing inside has been good, especially around bridge pilings, with the Oregon Inlet bridge, the Little Bridge between Manteo and Nag’s Head, and the Highway 172 bridge over the New River in Onslow County mentioned.  Pups and flounder are also doing fairly well inside and reports of speckled trout fishing are picking up, with decent reports scattered from all over, but better the further south one goes.  Trout off North Caroina’s piers and surf in summer is a uniquely southeastern (south of Cape Fear, that is) phenomenon and that fishing has been pretty good of late.

There have been some good reports of tailor-sized and an increasing number of big blues, along with some nice-sized black drum and puppy drum, and nice sea mullet along all the beaches.  A few Spanish at Ramp 55 in Hatteras and off the piers when the wind has been down.  Hearing of a few more larger trout in the sounds lately, but most people still seem to think that the winter kill was worse than first believed, especially mid-coast, in the Carteret County area.  Not a while lot being reported behind Hatteras Island as yet.  One surf cobia was reported caught from Ocracoke and the boaters continue to see good numbers of fish, although they were more picky over the past week.

The forecast for the upcoming week is good with typical summer SW winds, mostly in the light-to-moderate range.  Should be a good week for fishing from both surf and pier.

First off, I remembered the tent, but forgot the tent poles!  I have to admit though, considering on the party crowd at the campground (where the pole deficiency was discovered) and Saturday afternoon’s relative heat and humidity, the need to get a hotel was not entirely unwelcomed.  Plus, I was sacked after fishing Friday night and Saturday early morning with only a brief snooze (in a noisy Wilmington hotel) in between – and trying to nap with two dogs in a hot tent with a party going on beside me is not my ideal.  The more serious issue, however, was the unprecedented lack of ORV (or even pedestrian) access at the Outer Banks.  All of the spits and points (in other words, all of the prime fishing spots) were closed, negating one of the great draws of the Outer Banks – normally, the sheer diversity of accessible fishing spots greatly improves one’s chance of success.

One of many "resource protection closures" at the Outer Banks - note how the area now teems with wildlife!

So, I was really torn about my itinerary.  On one hand, I knew there was an excellent bluefish and Spanish mackerel bite going down on the southeastern coast.  On the other, those beaches just don’t compare with the ambiance of the Outer Banks.  So, I did a little of both.  A lot of driving, yes, but a solid trip.

I got a late start Friday afternoon, but wanted to be fishing somewhere at sunset/dusk, so I made the decision to veer off my NC 64 route to the Outer Banks for a detour onto 40 toward Wrightsville Beach.  Conditions were nice at Masonboro Inlet – rising/high tide at dusk, but the inlet was not filled up with Spanish as I’d hoped.  Instead, I managed a single 2-3 pound blue near the jetty – nothing to write home about, but a nice warmup on the trout rod nevertheless.

Saturday morning, I hit Surf City Pier on Topsail Island in a moderate SW breeze.  In the low light of dawn, the water seemed a bit cloudy and indeed the action was slow, with just a few extra small blues hitting gotcha plugs, but as so often happens, a nice bite developed as the sun rose in earnest.  I ended up keeping and/or releasing about a half dozen each blues and Spanish, including two of the latter in the 18-20″ range.  There was a nice flurry of fish on pin rigs on the end too – with a couple small-to-medium sized sharks as well as the freshly severed head of a large king.  It had been several years since I made a late spring or early summer trip to one of the central-southern NC piers to jig for blues and Spanish and I’d forgotten how much fun it could be.  I enjoyed it so much, I may just try to slip in another in the next month or so if the good fishing reports hold up.

That decapitated king (photo courtesy of Surf City Pier)

From Topsail, I made the trek up to the Outer Banks, finally landing in the homey confines of the Buxton Beach Motel in Buxton.  Saturday evening in a muddy hole up the beach from Ramp 49 produced just a couple tiny blues and sea mullet on cut bait.  Despite an ambitious 5:30 am alarm set for Sunday morning, I slept in and made a few unfruitful stops during the early afternoon, before deciding to give Ramp 55 in Hatteras a shot.  Pretty conditions with a bit of an onshore wind and scattered pelicans diving on bait, and indeed the surf was loaded up with blues.  I had steady action for a couple hours before dark – sporty action on the trout rod with fish up to 3 pounds – many of them stuffed with small menhaden (a good sign).  I kept a limit for the smoker and released and lost a number of others.

One of the nicer-sized blues at Ramp 55

Dawn patrol Monday was not nearly as successful, but I still managed about 5 scattered blues keeping a couple of the good eating two pounders for the cooler.  Saw a Spanish landed as well.  Waded a couple soundside spots on the way out of town, hoping to hit into some flounder or a stray trout or pup, but only managed to snag a big butterfly ray in the snout and to have a fish shake the hook at Blossies Creek behind Bodie Island Light.

Fishing highlights are bluefish and Spanish mackerel on metal lures – most of the action is from the piers, particularly since some of the better surf sports for these species have been closed for birds.  Some rare good beach access news is that the beach south of Ramp 55 in Hatteras Village has been opened all the way to the inlet – a prime spot for Spanish and blues.  Hopefully, this stretch of beach will remain open through the remainder of the breeding season.  I had excellent action for blues along this beach last weekend, even though inlet access was closed at that time.  A few Spanish were landed as well, but the calmer waters of the inlet proper are usually better for holding Spanish.  The pier fishing for blues and Spanish has been excellent and now fully covers all of the piers in North Carolina – all the way up to Avalon in Kill Devil Hills.  Many of the Spanish are nice-sized 2-4 pound fish, as are many of the blues.

In other news, strange reports of stripers in the surf continue to come in.   Spanish and stripers?!  I like it!  One gentleman caught two yesterday in South Nag’s Head and I heard of several 8 pounders from Fort Macon in Carteret County last weekend.  A striper is rare in the prime winter months at Fort Macon, so hearing of some this time of year is unique to say the least.  I’m assuming these are river fish and not migrators, but who knows.  I can’t think of any obvious reason they’d be prowling the surf more this year than usual.

Larger flounder have started hitting up and down the NC coast.  They’ve apparently moved into Oregon Inlet in the past week, indicating that it would be a good time to start targeting them throughout our area.  The speckled trout fishing is decidedly off.  Good numbers of larger fish coming from the southeast coast, but mostly shorts behind the Outer Banks.  The surf season couldn’t be much worse than it has the past two years, so it will be interesting to see if/how things  develop this autumn.

Cobia are still in our waters, following the warm water which has temporarily shifted a bit south again, and king mackerel are starting to hit better nearshore.  Should be some great fishing ahead for both species.  Look for some cobia to be landed in the surf at False Point/Hatteras Inlet and from the piers.

Further north, I’ve heard that another slug of big stripers hit the central Jersey surf again last week.

The big day was Tuesday – a gorgeous day, almost too hot.  Dad and I made the drive to Island Beach State Park in central Jersey for the first time.  I was impressed all around – good tackle shops (some even sell great, big hoagies!), beautiful scenery, and good access (though you have to pay) to an excellent looking beach – more Outer Banks than South Jersey with some nice bars, points and holes all along.  We fished just over the dunes from access A-7, but didn’t have a touch on our fresh clam and bunker (or my plugs).

Dad enjoying the May heatwave

Pretty beach @ IBSP

From there, I hit Barnegat Inlet, but without a beach driving permit, instead of the north jetty accessible through IBSP, I had to make the trek to the south jetty at the north end of Long Beach Island – a rather long ride from IBSP.  Despite some fine recent reports of gator blues running the inlet, I again drew a blank, but was still impressed by the surging inlet as well as the comfortable mile-long jetty – I can definitely see this place rocking and rolling.

IBSP from the South Jetty - can't get there from here

Old Barney

At dark, I hit one of my favorite spring surf fishing spots – a uniquely meandering, tranquil inlet in South Jersey that often holds big tiderunner weakfish in the spring, along with some blues and stripers.  I was wishfully geared up for weaks, but it was stripers that hit.  I didn’t feel like I had the right stuff to throw at them, mostly carrying an assortment of mirrolures and soft plastics, but no other swimming plugs.   Other guys were nailing some nice fish (I’d estimate 26-34 inchers) for about an hour at the change in current.  I finally did hook one up on a nightstalker mirrolure and almost had the fish on the beach before the hooks pulled.  Once the incoming current picked up, the bite slacked.  Definitely made me think of Frank Daignault’s writings – he is a strong proponent of the slack tide in inlets, positing that you can hit the fish as they change positions before they settle up for the incoming or outgoing current.

Thursday morning, on the way back to North Carolina, I experienced a really special treat, meeting up with a friend from graduate school to fish the James River in downtown Richmond, Virginia.  Chris has been imploring me to make the trip up the past few springs, but this was the first time it came together for us – 5:30 am on a Thursday morning before work!  We had a great time plugging and jigging a variety of cool spots along a few hundred yards of river.   We even caught fish!  I landed two stripers – a baby (on a pink zoom superfluke) and a 16-17 incher (on a white gulp mullet) and had another nicer fish (20 inch maybe, on a yo-zuri swimmer) hooked up but lost.  Chris maintained his streak of at least one bass every morning for the past couple weeks.  I am definitely jealous!  I keep wanting to do a more extended striper/weakfish tour up the Atlantic Coast one of these springs (although I should probably wait for the weakfish population to recover) – and I think the James River will need to be one of the first stops!  One very cool sidenote about fishing the James in Richmond is that the river is actually tidal in the lower reach…in addition to daily tides, blue crabs and some saltwater species make their way there as the salt wedge works its way upriver in the heat and drought of summer.

Some random photos of the James @ Richmond that I pulled from the web, as my dazed early morning mind forgot to bring the camera…

Next up: Outer Banks this weekend.

The big news along the NC coast is the explosive arrival of some of our favorite inshore summer species, cobia and Spanish mackerel.  Cobia fishing from nearshore boats (and a kayak or two) the past few days was described as “the best ever” from Cape Hatteras south to Cape Lookout or thereabouts.  Apparently, the fish are schooled up in a long finger of warm water.  Some boats reported catching dozens of cobia in the 30-90 pound range sightcasting bucktails.  Haven’t heard of any off the beach yet and the continued closure of Ocracoke’s south point decreases the possibility significantly.  Spanish fishing off the piers and along the inlets of the beaches of the south-central coast has been excellent as well, with all the tailor bluefish an angler could want.  Some of the Spanish have been nice 2-4 pounders while other runs have featured smaller models.  Just a few being reported from the Outer Banks, but with more warm weather that could change any day.

North of Oregon Inlet, small bluefish and some speckled trout are being caught in the surf, along with good catches of sea mullet.  The north beaches of Hatteras Island have bluefish, sea mullet, blowtoads, and scattered puppy drum.  Much of the same from the south beach of Hatteras through Ocracoke and Core Banks, with some nice black drum, a few Spanish, flounder and pompano (another summer species) also being caught.  Further south, the Spanish are thick.  River fishing is good, with a critical mass of schoolie stripers on the upper Roanoke right now.  They will start thinning out soon if the water temperatures continue to rise quickly.

This week’s report is much the same as last week’s…with a few updates.  The first Spanish Mackerel of the year have started hitting along the southeast North Carolina coast – nothing hot and heavy, but this is just the beginning.  A surprising number of ocean-keeper stripers continue to be caught.  I even heard of a 15 pounder down at Fort Macon below Cape Lookout – this area rarely even gets stripers during the fall and winter, so seeing one in the spring is unusual.  Ocracoke has had a couple as has Hatteras Island and the beaches north of Oregon Inlet.  Coincidentally (or not), points further north (I track the New Jersey coastal fishing reports more than any other state besides North Carolina), there has been an excellent run of stripers along the coast there.  And big blues – lots of them – running 2-3 weeks ahead of typical schedule.  Oddly, North Carolina fishing seems to be running a week or two behind schedule, while New Jersey is running ahead.  Who the hell knows…

Striper fishing is starting to peak in the rivers, most notably the Roanoke.  A 52-pounder was measured by fisheries biologists last week.  Bluefin tuna (along with yellowfin) fishing continues to be excellent – again, late in the season for this fishing to still be firing off.  Inshore/inside (sound) fishing continues to pick up slowly.

North of Oregon Inlet, trout fishermen have been landing more puppy drum and a surprising number of stripers in the suds.  The trout might need another degree or three of temperature rise to start hitting better.  Some popular soundside locations – like the Little Bridge on the NC64 causeway in Manteo – are reporting trout, shad and a few stripers…a good sign that the sound waters are recovering from an inundation of fresh water from early spring rains.

The drum bite has been sporadic – Ocracoke is reporting a few big drum at night and Cape Point will have some when the wind is right (moderate-strong SW).  The big – and bad – news is that access to Ocracoke’s South Point has been closed due to a pair of American Oystercatchers – ironically, a bird species that is officially listed as “least concern” meaning it is not threatened in any way.  If I understand the Consent Decree (governing resource closures in Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreation Area until a permanent rule is adopted), the closure will be for at least two weeks and probably significantly longer.  So, don’t expect many more reports of big drum catches from Ocracoke this spring…or Spanish Mackerel catches either for that matter.

While shore fishing on the central and southern NC coast has been in a similar early spring, blowtoad-sea mullet mode, the boater bite for favorite inshore species is picking up, with excellent puppy drum reports from the inside, good flounder on nearshore ocean structure, and an improving bite of trout, especially in the Cape Fear area.  Bluefin tuna continue to bite well off the mid-north coast and bonito are hitting well further south.  This is usually a short window of action that is highly dependent on weather and ability to get off the beach to fish.  Shaping up as a good bonito season. They’ll occasionally be caught from shore, but it is far from a predictable fishery, as the fish are usually off the beach a couple miles. Lots of blues should be there with them, with Spanish Mackerel not far behind.

Looking like a pretty good weekend coming up, with an increasing SW wind forecast to peak Sunday night with the onset of a cold front late Monday or early Tuesday.  Look out for a good drum bite from Cape Point and Hatteras Inlet on the heels of that front.  Should have some good general fishing reports on milder winds earlier in the weekend as well.