Fishing News

Fishing is part luck, part skill and all patience. This week’s fishing report from the Roanoke River stresses the patience part. Striped bass are in the upper river at Weldon, just not in huge numbers – or sizes – just yet.

Kevin Dockendorf, a fisheries biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, said they collected 140 striped bass during their weekly sampling on Monday. The majority of fish ranged in size from 14 to 18 inches, with a few larger ones running about 40 inches and weighing between 33 and 35 pounds.

Change is on the way, however. Temperatures over the next few days are expected to hit in the upper-70s to lower-80s, which should warm the water from the current 56 degrees Fahrenheit. Striped bass begin to show up in larger numbers and sizes when water temperatures reach 62 degrees and their abundance usually peaks when water temperatures are between 66 and 69 degrees.

Although the peak of spawning may be a few weeks away, there are striped bass to be caught at Weldon. Some anglers have done relatively well in a half a day of fishing.

“If you’re not catching them, try other tactics or move to a different spot,” Dockendorf suggested. “Anglers usually find stripers near small creeks or “guts” flowing into the river or deep holes downstream from a shallow section.”

Drifting downstream while jigging bucktails is also a productive way to find striped bass. Stripers may move around during the day (or week) depending on water temperatures and river flows.”

Anglers fishing near and below the power lines down to Halifax were reporting better catches than those fishing from the bank at the boat ramp. Anglers were also catching a few hickory shad as well as white perch on artificial lures.

“I was in a good spot.” That’s Bobby Colston, of Colston’s Tackle Box on Highway 48 south of Gaston, who put in at the Weldon ramp and fly-fished his way from the “Little River” towards the “Big Rock” on Tuesday. He caught 75 hickory shad on a silver spoon and pink and white grub with a pink head. He then started throwing a white fluke with a chartreuse tail and a chartreuse bucktail, catching 25 smallish stripers that ranged between 14 and 16 inches long.

Not a bad day on the river.

Down river towards Williamston, Ricky Mobley of the Roanoke Sportsman, said the fishing has really picked up since last Saturday and has been holding fairly steady. Boardwalk anglers are catching fish in decent number – mostly stripers with an occasional white perch here and there.

On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being excellent, Mobley said he’d rate the fishing at least four or five. “Everybody’s catching fish now.”

Striped Bass Season and Regulation Information

The entire Roanoke River Management Area is open to striped bass harvest from March 1 through April 30.
The Roanoke River Management Area includes the Roanoke River and tributaries from Roanoke Rapids Lake Dam downstream to Albemarle Sound, including the Cashie, Middle and Eastmost rivers.

The daily creel limit within the Roanoke River Management Area is two striped bass per person. The minimum length limit is 18 inches, and no striped bass between 22 and 27 inches may be possessed at any time. Only one striped bass larger than 27 inches can be included in the daily creel limit.

The Commission also encourages striped bass anglers to use small, non-offset circle hooks, preferably ones with the least amount of distance between the hook point and shank.

Studies show that striped bass caught on small, barbless circle hooks are usually hooked in the jaw, which means they have a much greater chance of survival after being released than fish hooked in the throat or gut.
Keep in mind that whether you use circle hooks or regular "J" hooks, regulations only permit the use of a single barbless hook in Roanoke River upstream of the U.S. Highway 258 bridge each year from April 1 through June 30.