Northern District: Dare, Hyde, Currituck and Beaufort Counties

Contact: Brian Melott

For the 2011 fishing year, all owners/operators of vessels recreationally fishing for and/or retaining regulated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) (Atlantic tunas, sharks, swordfish and billfish) in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, must obtain an Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Angling permit. This permit has replaced the Atlantic tunas Angling category permit. In North Carolina, additional HMS harvest reporting requirements are also in place. To obtain a permit go to: http://www.hmspermits.gov.

Report a tagged fish

Please Note: Anglers sometimes confuse small king mackerel with Spanish mackerel. King mackerel and spanish mackerel have different size and catch limits. Make SURE you properly identify the mackerel you are catching. (Tips here)

A recreational Recreational Fishing License went into effect Jan. 1, 2007 for all of the state's coastal and ocean waters.

Click here for the latest seasons, size and bag limits.

For the week of Sept. 25

Ocean: Offshore fishing continued to be good with dolphin dominating the catches, along with some yellow and blackfin tuna. Atlantic bonito, little tunny, skipjack tuna and wahoo were caught, as well. Anglers targeting billfish continued to have good results with sailfish and both blue and white marlin. King mackerel were reported by anglers fishing 8 to 10 miles offshore when returning from Gulf Stream trips. Near shore anglers were limited somewhat by rough seas, but managed to catch some bluefish and a few Spanish mackerel. Spotted seatrout, red drum and flounder were observed in catches throughout the report period.

Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Flounder catches fell off compared to last week’s catches. Anglers targeting spotted seatrout had nice catches in the early morning hours and then again at dusk in the Roanoke Sound near Little Bridge and underneath the Washington Baum Bridge. Anglers fishing out of Swan Quarter and Rose Bay caught moderate amounts of red drum and southern flounder on a consistent basis.

Piers/Beaches: Pier anglers caught croakers, along with lots of spot, pigfish, pinfish, kingfish and silver perch. Anglers at the right place and right time enjoyed good catches of 1- to 2-pound bluefish.



Southern District Pender, New Hanover and Brunswick Counties

Contact: Dennis Trowell

For the 2011 fishing year, all owners/operators of vessels recreationally fishing for and/or retaining regulated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) (Atlantic tunas, sharks, swordfish and billfish) in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, must obtain an Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Angling permit. This permit has replaced the Atlantic tunas Angling category permit. In North Carolina, additional HMS harvest reporting requirements are also in place. To obtain a permit go to: http://www.hmspermits.gov.

Report a tagged fish

Please Note: Anglers sometimes confuse small king mackerel with Spanish mackerel. King mackerel and spanish mackerel have different size and catch limits. Make SURE you properly identify the mackerel you are catching. (Tips here)

A recreational Recreational Fishing License went into effect Jan. 1, 2007 for all of the state's coastal and ocean waters.

Click here for the latest seasons, size and bag limits.

For the week ending Sept. 25

Ocean: Catches consisted of large wahoo, lots of sailfish and dolphin. Anglers bottom fishing in the 40- to 45-mile range caught large red and scamp groupers, along with a wide variety of other reef fish. Gag grouper were biting in the 10- to 15-mile range along with some black sea bass and amberjacks. Artificial reefs and ledges in the 3- to 5-mile range produced good flounder catches, along with some large Spanish mackerel and some large red drum. A few king mackerel were caught at Yaupon Reef.

Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Anglers targeting red drum had good luck with lots of slot-size fish in the creeks, bays and rivers. Large red drum were caught around the inlets. Masonboro and Little River inlets were the hot spots.

Piers/Shore: Anglers caught spot, small pompano and some sea mullets. Lots of bluefish and some large Spanish mackerel were caught by anglers using mullet or menhaden for bait. There was a tarpon and a king mackerel caught off piers at Oak Island.


Central District Pamlico, Craven, Carteret and Onslow Counties

Contact: Kim Worrell

For the 2011 fishing year, all owners/operators of vessels recreationally fishing for and/or retaining regulated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) (Atlantic tunas, sharks, swordfish and billfish) in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, must obtain an Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Angling permit. This permit has replaced the Atlantic tunas Angling category permit. In North Carolina, additional HMS harvest reporting requirements are also in place. To obtain a permit go to: http://www.hmspermits.gov..

Report a tagged fish

Please Note: Anglers sometimes confuse small king mackerel with Spanish mackerel. King mackerel and Spanish mackerel have different size and catch limits. Be SURE to properly identify the mackerel you are catching. (Tips here)

A recreational Recreational Fishing License went into effect Jan. 1, 2007 for all of the state's coastal and ocean waters.

Click here for the latest seasons, size and bag limits.

For the week ending Sept. 25

Ocean: Anglers landed large numbers of wahoo, (some weighing more than 50 pounds) as well as some dolphin and amberjack. Bottom fishing produced large numbers of sizable gray triggerfish, and a mix of gag and red grouper, white grunts, vermilion snapper, black sea bass, scup and some flounder. Anglers continued to catch Spanish mackerel and bluefish in good numbers in waters inside of 10 miles from shore. Near shore bottom fishing anglers reported catching kingfish (sea mullet), black sea bass, flounder, scup and some Atlantic sharpnose sharks.

Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Anglers reported large Spanish mackerel from Beaufort Inlet and east of Shackleford Banks. They also caught flounder around the N.C. Port Terminal, bridges and off the jetty at Fort Macon. Spot continued to move in through the inlets.

Piers/Shore: The piers saw some good Spanish mackerel and Florida pompano action. Spot were still being caught in good numbers off the piers, on shore, around the turning basin at the N.C. Port Terminal, at the Swansboro Bridge and in the White Oak River.



N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries • 3441 Arendell Street • Morehead City, NC 28557 • (252) 726-7021 or 1-800-682-2632