Fishing News

Striped bass season on the Roanoke River is coming to an end.

With water temperatures in the peak spawning range of 68 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit and spawning striped bass observed multiple nights since last weekend, anglers hoping to reel in a striped bass from the Roanoke this year need to get on the river, sooner rather than later.

“Now that they’re on the spawning grounds and the water temperatures are optimal for spawning, stripers will likely to finish spawning, and start heading out,” said N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission biologist Kevin Dockendorf. He, along with fellow biologists Chad Thomas and Jeremy McCargo, sampled the river on Monday, collecting 1,256 striped bass, a few of them in the 30-to 35-pound range but most ranging anywhere from 13 inches to 24 inches.

A few of the female fish they collected had already spawned, a good indication that anglers will start noticing a significant tapering off of striped bass in the next couple of weeks.

While the fish are still at Weldon in decent numbers, the fishing itself has been hit and miss, particularly over the last couple of days, according to Bobby Colston, of Colston’s Tackle Box on Hwy. 48 south of Gaston.

By all accounts the fishing was good over the weekend and into Monday. Colston said on Monday he caught good numbers of striped bass on a flyrod using topwater bait and flukes. By Tuesday, however, the fishing had slowed down, at least for artificial bait fishermen. Colston said he caught only 12 fish and had to fish hard for them. Colston said that bait fishermen appeared to be catching more fish.

“It’s just hit and miss this time of year,” Colston said. “You’re liable to go down today, get on top of the fish and just kill them.”

Like last week, the majority of anglers are catching the smaller fish, although a few reports of big fish being caught have trickled in.

Hearing that anglers are catching numerous smaller fish doesn’t distress Dockendorf, who says that an abundance of smaller fish this year should lead to larger fish in upcoming years.

“No doubt, anglers caught a lot of small fish this year,” Dockendorf said. “These smaller fish represent two strong year classes of striped bass out there and they should contribute to the quality of striped bass fishing on the Roanoke for years to come.”

Please remember to use single barbless hooks or lures with a single barbless hook when fishing near Weldon to reduce hooking mortality on striped bass. 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.

Click here for additional information on striped bass fishing on the Roanoke River.