Mid-Winter Virginia North Carolina Fishing Report

Outer Banks Marina Wanchese. North Carolina

By VBSF Staff | TH Spangler | Connie Barbour

Now that the super cold weather has broken anglers are finding there way back out on the water. The fridged icy water took a toll on some Chesapeake Bay stripers and our local speckled trout population. Hopefully not to many were stunned to death. The bay water is still way too cold for much fishing. At Cape Charles the water temperature is 39.0 F. Cape Henry it’s 39.6 F and at the buoy off Duck NC it’s 40.6 F

Anglers making the long offshore run to the canyons are finding lots of spiny dogfish waiting for them. Mixed in with the dogfish are a few golden tilefish and hake. They are being caught on jigs and fresh bait. The blueline tilefish season is closed right now. On a recent trip to the canyon Dr Ken Neill’s crew caught a rare beardfish. The headboats are finding some cunners, taugs and pollock on nearshore wrecks. The black sea bass season is closed. Black sea bass seasons are Feb 1-Feb 28, May 15-Sept 21, Oct 22-Dec 31.

Down on the Outer Banks of North Carolina surf anglers have found some slot size red drum on Frisco and Hatteras beaches. The first giant blue fin tunas have been showing up on commercial docks in Wanchese.  Carolina captains are also finding some yellow fin tuna.

Be cautious while running offshore. The endangered right whales are active off the Virginia North Carolina coast from November to April. You can read more: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/shipstrike/