For the week ending November 28th

NORTHERN

Ocean: Offshore catches remained good with blackfin tuna making up the bulk of the catches. Wahoo, dolphin, yellowfin and bluefin tuna were also caught in lesser amounts. Anglers bottom fishing out of Ocracoke and Hatteras did manage to catch a few blueline tilefish, vermillion snapper, and black seabass. Billfish catches seemed to be ending. Midrange success rates made an increase with limits of king mackerel caught at least half of the time; most fish were caught in a very narrow range around 7 to 9 miles offshore from Oregon Inlet northward to the Virginia line. Red drum and striped bass were also caught in these waters with increased regularity. Near-shore boaters were finally able to access spotted seatrout up to a mile from shore, with some weighing up to 3 pounds. Bluefish, kingfish, red drum, and striped bass were also caught on a few occasions.

Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Striped bass have been the primary target of anglers with moderate to good results on most outings. Anglers caught most of them in the Bowsertown, Manns Harbor and Columbia areas. Spotted seatrout catches were consistent on the Melvin Daniels (Little Bridge) in the early morning hours, but dropped off sharply afterwards. Anglers fishing in the Rose Bay, Swan Quarter and Engelhard areas report catching some of the largest kingfish (sea mullet) in recent memory, along with moderate amounts of spotted seatrout mixed in.

Piers/Shore: These anglers had similar results to that of the near-shore boaters and activity levels were very high on all beaches due to calm seas and high volume catches

CENTRAL

Ocean: The king mackerel were biting on the east side of Cape Lookout, with a couple of 40 pound and bigger fish reported. The Gulf Stream produced large wahoo, blackfin tuna and an occasional small dolphin. Bottom fishing offshore produced a lot of triggerfish, black sea bass and porgies. Closer to shore the bite consisted of northern puffers, sea mullet, speckled and gray trout and red drum.

Inlets/Sounds/Bays: The speckled trout bite was excellent. Some anglers reported catching up to 50 fish per person. The Haystacks, the inlets and the jetty at the cape produced the most and largest fish. Gulp baits seemed to be catching the greatest number of fish, however green grubs and MirrOLures also provided a good amount of hookups. Red drum were hanging around the jetty as well. They were caught on live bait or copper colored Gulp baits. Gray trout were also in the mix, although in much fewer numbers than the speckled trout. They were caught with live shrimp.

Piers/Shore: Many of the piers had closed for the season or will be closing this week. Pier anglers saw a large number of northern puffers, black drum, red drum, speckled trout, sea mullet and bluefish. Most fish were caught on two-hook bottom rigs using shrimp or squid. The shore fishing continued to be strong and produced lots of northern puffers, bluefish, trout and red drum.

SOUTHERN

Ocean: Offshore, fishing was great for wahoo and sailfish. Most wahoo were in the 40- to 45-pound range, but fish up to 90 pounds were brought back to the docks. Closer to shore, good king mackerel and bottom fishing for grouper, sea bass, and triggerfish took place in the 90 to 100 foot depth range. Near-shore reefs produced gray trout and some decent flounder catches.

Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Inshore, the trout fishing continued to be good. Most of the fish were caught in or around the inlets. Live shrimp enticed lots of fish, but fishermen using artificial baits, such as MirrOlures, DOA shrimp and soft plastic jigs caught their fair share as well. Many undersized fish were reported, but there were some really nice fish caught as well. One example of this was a trout tournament out of Ocean Isle where the winning three fish aggregate weight was more than 23 pounds. Red drum were also biting well. The bays and creeks behind Bald Head Island was a great place to target them.

Piers/Shore: Most area piers had closed for the season. A few stay open year around and others allow limited access to season pass holders. Pier fishing produced lots of puffers, some sea mullets and bluefish. Some keeper flounder and trout were caught on area piers, but there were a lot of throw backs, as well, for both species. Surf anglers caught much the same with sea mullet and trout being the main fish targeted in the surf right now.