Join Captain Lenny for an OBX fall or winter striper fishing trip.
Anyone who fishes around eastern North Carolina knows that the Albemarle Sound from Manns Harbor to the mouth of the Roanoke River is a prime place to fish for Striped bass (rockfish) in the fall and winter months. A huge population of these fish can be found here at this time and they are hungry!
The reason these fish are here is twofold. Some are growing up while others are only here to lay eggs and leave. Some of the inland rivers that empty into the sound are used for spawning by Striped bass and several species of shad and herring. They are considered to be anadromous fishes. In other words, fish that are born in fresh water rivers grow up in the brackish water sounds and spend most of their lives in the saltwater ocean returning annually to breed in the same waters that the hatched from. This cycle repeats itself as the newly laid eggs hatch and the young use the sound as an estuarine nursery while the adults return to life in the ocean. With optimum weather conditions, the process is repeated year after year.
In the case of Striped bass, the young fish live and grow in the sounds for two to three years. At this stage of life, they average in size from 20 to 25 inches. The similarly sized fish then school up and venture out through Oregon Inlet to start the next generation of ocean run fish. In recent years, the oldest fish in this population was determined to be 23 years old. Fifteen- to 20-year-old fish can easily weigh 50 to 60 pounds. Healthy mature specimens of this size are routinely encountered by wildlife officers using electroshock methods for egg and data collection. These largest fish are very seldom caught by anglers for many different reasons. A strong desire to repopulate drives these fish and hunger is sometimes overridden by the urge to breed. Another huge reason is that the number of smaller competing fish can make it impossible to get the chance to introduce baits to the big girls.
The second reason is what makes this area a fabulous fishery. There is always a catchable population of school-sized fish year round with bigger ones funneling in and staging at river mouths during late winter/early spring. The season opens in October when there is a large amount of fish in the sounds between the Oregon Inlet and Manns Harbor bridges. These fish respond to casting, trolling, and live baits. The bridges provides many good structures and makes places to find good numbers of fish. As the water near the ocean cools down, the fish start to congregate closer to the mouths of the rivers found 30 to 50 miles inland and spend the winter there. This is where we fish for them from December through March. At this time of year, we use casting, bait fishing, and handheld light-tackle trolling to catch fish.
We expect to find and catch fish on every trip and usually do. If you like to eat fish, these fish make excellent table fare. The size limit is 18 inches measured from the tip of the snout to the farthest point of the compressed tail and the bag limit is two fish per angler per day.
Contact me if you are interested in setting up an OBX fall or winter striper fishing charter.
