Fishing News

Both striped bass abundance and angler effort are increasing at Weldon. Many anglers are catching fish, but the majority of striped bass are too small to keep. Striped bass are in the Roanoke River in good numbers, with most of the striped bass harvested ranging in size from 18 to 20 inches. Anglers also caught and released many striped bass that were just under the size limit as well as a few in the protective slot limit (22 to 27 inches).

Kevin Dockendorf, Jeremy McCargo and Chad Thomas, fisheries biologists with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, were on the river sampling Monday and collected 823 striped bass, the majority of fish collected ranged from 14 to 19 inches. More important, they collected 18 striped bass that were larger than 40 inches. Two of those fish were 47 and 48 inches in length and nearly topping 50 pounds!

With water temperatures at 62 degrees Fahrenheit, Dockendorf says it’s usually a little early to see those bigger fish at Weldon – they tend to show up sometime in early May in good numbers to spawn.

“We usually see a few large stripers early in the season,” Dockendorf said. “However, we continue to see an abundance of large striped bass on the spawning grounds each year as the size structure of the Roanoke River spawning stock of striped bass continues to expand.”

During the creel survey on April 19, Dockendorf observed many anglers at the Weldon boat ramp with limits of striped bass. Many anglers said they caught numerous fish, although many were not big enough to keep. But, most anglers who put in the effort harvested their limit of two striped bass per angler per day. During the upcoming weekend, anglers should continue to have decent catches of striped bass as water temperatures may continue to warm over the next few days.

Bobby Colston, owner of Colston's Tackle Box on Highway 48 south of Gaston, said he caught 35 to 40 fish right below the “big rock” down from Weldon yesterday. He fished bucktails and flukes and saw plenty of other fishermen on the river dragging live minnows. Most of them were catching fish as well so it appears the striped bass are biting a variety of baits and lures.

Colston said four or five of his fish were keeper size, speculating that the smaller fish are faster at getting to the bait than the larger fish.

While anglers may have to wade through a bunch of smaller ones to get to the larger sized fish, they need to keep trying, the bigger fish are bound to bite sooner or later.

For those who don’t want to wait around for striped bass to start biting, they can head down to Hamilton where the white perch fishing has been very lively on the Roanoke River over the last few days.

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.