Fishing report

By Steve Roush
Published in Sports on April 22, 2007 2:01 AM

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Northern District: Dare, Hyde, Currituck and Beaufort Counties

Ocean: Offshore success has been moderate -- good most of the time, with bluefin, blackfin, yellowfin, and bigeye tuna being caught, along with some dolphin and wahoo. Midrange fishing near the wrecks continues to produce a nice variety, including gray triggerfish, black seabass, blueline tilefish, snowy grouper, and amberjack. Nearshore success is marginally improved with the arrival of 2- 3-pound bluefish and a few spotted seatrout.

Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Fishing activity levels are low in these areas, most likely due to poor fishing trends. Striped bass have been targeted, but few have been caught. Red drum have been caught with increased regularity around the Oregon Inlet bridge, along with a few spotted seatrout and weakfish at the same location.

Piers/Shore: Pier and shore anglers have been fishing the same waters with similar results. Bluefish in the 2-3 pound range have been the most prevalent species caught, with a few red drum, croaker, puffers, and kingfish mixed in. Skates and dogfish sharks remain plentiful.

General Overview: Fishing opportunities have increased due to more favorable weather conditions. Ocean temperature in the surf (Kill Devil Hills) remains in the mid 50s. Fishing continues to improve.

Central District: Pamlico, Craven, Carteret and Onslow Counties

Ocean: Charterboats are having a great time catching kings, yellowfin and some blackfin tuna along with wahoo and dolphin. Headboats are doing great with large seabass catches, grouper, snapper and gray triggers.

Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Boats in Beaufort Inlet were catching blues -- one had 36 aboard.

Piers/Shore: If you like bluefish, come to Carteret County. An angler came off the Radio Island Beach with a stringer of 10 or more blues -- all weighing a pound or more. An angler reported a 19.5-inch striper and a 17-inch catfish at Union Park dock in New Bern. The cold weather has returned and fishing has slowed down again.

Southern District: Pender, New Hanover and Brunswick Counties

Ocean: Strong winds have really hampered fishing of late. When boats have been able to make the run to the stream, the results have been good. Angles had caught lots of big wahoo, dolphin, and scattered catches of tuna. King mackerel are biting well around Frying Pan Tower. Red, scamp, and gag groupers are biting well in the 35 to 45 mile range along with an assortment of other reef fish. There are some pretty sea bass along with some nice flounders on reefs in the 10 to 15 mile range. There were several reports of bluefin tuna just offshore of the liberty ship last week, but to my knowledge none were landed.

Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Inshore things are a little slow. Again, the weather we have been having over the last couple weeks has not helped the fishing. There are some trout biting in area creeks and jetties, and some drum around the docks, oyster beds, and shallow flats. The most consistent inshore fishing this time of year is fishing for sea mullets around the mouth of the river using fresh shrimp as bait.

Piers/Shore: Piers are reporting blues, sea mullets, and some black drum. There were some big blues, (8 to 10 pound range) reported in the surf around Fort Fisher, along with a few sea mullets.

-- Courtesy North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries