Stripers Everywhere: Thick As Fleas On Dog

[Captblock]

Striped Bass A Good Catch On The Outer Banks ; N.C. Fishing Center Filled With Activity

Winter striped-bass fishing has been robust on the Outer Banks since before Christmas. On Friday, it went through the roof.

"I've never seen so many in my life," said Billy McCaskill, owner of Whalebone Tackle in Nags Head since 1977. "They're everywhere. I would say yesterday and today, it's the best it's ever been. Some of these people, they don't usually catch anything, and they're catching them."

"They're all over the place," agreed Currituck angler Nathaniel Kinnaird.

Once the word got out, the fishermen didn't waste any time. By Friday morning, vehicles spilled onto both sides of N.C. 12 at Oregon Inlet Fishing Center. Trucks and trailers were in every possible spot in the parking lot.

At the fishing center, stories abounded about seeing wall-to- wall fish for miles, about catching two, three stripers at a time.

"They're thick - thick as flies," said Eugene Jordan, who drove down from Burlington, N.C., on Thursday to get in on the action. "It just seems like the numbers are increasing. And it's been a madhouse with all these people."

While waiting near a boat ramp at the fishing center in his skiff, Jordan was surrounded by other fishermen coming in from a day of fishing, their holds or coolers brimming with stripers and maybe a few bluefish. Bobbing boats were backed up by the dozen, waiting for a turn on the ramp.

Judy Williams, the fishing center's manager, said that it was the busiest Jan. 2 in memory, better than some July 4 weekends she has seen. First thing in the morning, vehicles trailing boats were backed up, she said, for 3? miles toward Nags Head. When she arrived at work at 7:30 a.m., there were two state Highway Patrol officers directing traffic into the fishing center - another first for a winter weekend.

Williams said 200 boats, most recreational, were launched at the ramp Friday, and at least 50 were turned away because there was no room to park. She also said that 20 boats were booked for half-day charter trips today - unheard of in January.

Williams said that the fishing center usually closes from mid- December through March. But this year, they'll stay open as long as the fishing is good.

"I've never seen anything like this," she said. "It's been excellent, just excellent, striper fishing."

Hundreds who didn't go out in boats took their gear to the beach to surf fish. Many drove onto the beach at dawn or dusk, when the stripers are known to follow bait fish to shore to feed.

Anglers fishing in the Atlantic are permitted to keep two fish per person per day, with a minimum size of 28 inches. A striper that size weighs about 15 pounds. But some anglers recently have been catching them as big as 48 inches and 50 pounds.

In recent years, fishing for striper, or rockfish, a once- threatened fishery, has become a late fall and early winter rite for avid anglers, who flock to the Outer Banks from all over the East Coast. Striped-bass fishing has been an increasingly booming business since the species rebounded in the 1990s after years of decline.

Doug Mumford, a marine biologist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries, said striper fishing has been good for the past three years. This year, he said, may prove to be even better.

"They've had a real good year from all the reports I've heard," he said.

Bluefish, once a favorite Outer Banks catch, seem to have moved farther offshore than is readily available to most recreational fishermen, Mumford said. A few have been caught lately, apparently because they're following the menhaden and the stripers closer inshore.

A blitz - when the voracious bluefish would come in large numbers to the beach chasing bait fish - has not happened on the Outer Banks in a number of years, he said. That does not mean their numbers are depleted or that they won't blitz again.

"Bluefish are highly migratory," Mumford said. "It's not uncommon to have slow years on certain species."

But fishermen seem content - thrilled, really - with the plentiful striper catch. It's been worth putting up with the unusual crowds for a good day of fishing, Kinnaird said.

"It doesn't normally get like this," he said, nodding to the bustling activity at the boat ramp. "But if somebody says 'Stripers!', this happens."

[captainbadfinger]

Who`s driving,you or me?

[eelball]

hmm. I'm ready.

[NIGHTSTRIKES]

Yep, Road Trip !

[hipkvw]

Dosnt sound like fun to me. Ill wait till its bad and then go Badfinger...whats up??? Road Trip next week???

[captainbadfinger]

Hip,I am really thinking about it

[PROFINITY]

Fuel the Bassbarn jet...

[The Rod Bender]

I'm leavin sunday morn. if the damn w@#$ ever stops!

[striper13]

Skip, I know your watching, and I can be easily influenced for a couple days...You make the call ....striper13

[hipkvw]

Originally posted by The Rod Bender:
I'm leavin sunday morn. if the damn w@#$ ever stops!

Thats what my concern has been.

[striper2278]

Who's in? And how many boats are we taking down?

[Bob ECT]

My Dad said the scene at the OI fishing center is insane on the weekends. Plan to spend an hour or two to get in and out of the water if the weather is good.

[striper2278]

Originally posted by Bob ECT:
My Dad said the scene at the OI fishing center is insane on the weekends. Plan to spend an hour or two to get in and out of the water if the weather is good.

Foreget the weekends!

[Steve Milewski]

Haven't posted here in a while, but I was down there last weekend from Friday through Sunday and that Virginia Pilot article speaks the truth.

My buddy and I fished off VA Beach on Friday and Sunday, easily limiting out on nice bass each day. The bird activity on Sunday was just phenomenal. All fish were between 32 and 39 inches, and we must have released 15 fish each in that range once we caught our limit. Surface poppers and Storm Wildeye Shads did the trick during the surface action. Otherwise we trolled Stretch Manns, Mojo rigs, and bunker spoons.

When I woke up on Saturday and saw that news article, I ran down to OI (my buddy had to work). The backup at the OI Fishing Center's boat ramps was no joke. I've never seen anything like it in my life - not in the states that I've fished heavily (NJ, FL, MD, RI, VA, or MASS). According to the locals, Friday was the best day - the bass were in the wash and breakers on the South Point at Oregon Inlet and worked their way south down Pea Island, supposedly all the way to Rodanthe. Lots of fish caught in the 30 pound range. Saturday afternoon/evening was a little slower, at least for me, but I managed 3 nice fish in the mid-30" range on the North Point before I headed back to VA Beach to get some rest for the Sunday morning trip in the boat.

The bass are down there BIG TIME, guys. Im willing to bet there were over 200 beach buggies on the North Point on Saturday afternoon, maybe more. If you can plan a trip around good weather and favorable winds, you can have a good shot at some big bass. The weather gods just smiled on us last weekend, with SW winds and daytime temps in the mid-70s. I hope to do it again in a few weeks, wife permitting.

[Steve Milewski]

As further proof, check out the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center's website, specifically the fishing reports and pictures from 12/31/03 to 1/8/04. Looks like a 58 pounder was caught by one of the charter boats on Wednesday (yesterday).

http://www.oregon-inlet.com

But right now, if you have a boat, I would head to VA Beach. I think the action is just as good, and it's a shorter run from NJ/PA. You can put out either at Lynnhaven or Rudee Inlet, and be catching fish within 3 nm from the beach. And for any of you guys in the military, there are tons of bases to stay in the VA Beach/Norfolk area where you can safely keep a boat overnight while sleeping Space A at the Quarters for a cheap price.

Of course at OI you have the best of both worlds, from surf and boat. And now that the Holidays have passed, those OI Fishing Center boat ramp backups should be less of a problem during the week.