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Outer Banks Angling: Red, brown, and green

Without a doubt some of the best moneymakers in the Outer Banks fishing world are red drum, cobia, and mahi-- and they are all currently here and biting. ....Read More



Jones continues to question endangered status for Atlantic sturgeon

U.S.  Rep. Walter Jones, R.-N.C., continues to push back against the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) ongoing effort to protect Atlantic sturgeon as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. 

In February of 2012, NMFS decided to create a Carolina “distinct population segment” of Atlantic sturgeon and to list that segment as endangered.  ....Read More


24 boats compete for prize money in Hatteras Village Offshore Open

Twenty-four boats competed for $86,400 in prize money in the 19th annual Hatteras Village Offshore Open last week. The tournament is the first event in the Governor’s Cup billfishing series.

First place in the billfish division and $39,886.25 in prize money went to Stream Weaver for one blue marlin and two white marlin releases.  ....Read More

UPDATE: Gamefish bill is alive and well in the legislature

Through the chaos of changeover day in the state legislature, the proposed gamefish bill continues to sit quietly in a committee, still legislatively viable and apparently not forgotten.

“It’s definitely not dead,” said Deans Eatman, a staff member in the office of Rep. Michael Wray, a Northampton Democrat who is one of the bill’s primary sponsors. ....Read More

UPDATE: Watermen plan a show in force in Raleigh to oppose gamefish bill

Watermen in North Carolina plan a show of force in Raleigh on Monday, when members of the public have been invited to give feedback on a proposed gamefish bill that would make specked trout, red drum, and estuarine striped bass no longer available to consumers and commercial fishermen.

“Folks are very concerned about this legislation,” said David Hilton, president of the Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Association. “All the leaders in the community are definitely calling all the fishermen to go.”  ....Read More

Political terrain is rougher in new version of the gamefish bill

Commercial fishermen for the fourth time are fighting against passage of a gamefish bill that is winding its way through the North Carolina General Assembly, but this time the political terrain is rougher and the legislation is an entangled mix of actions.

The bill, HB 983, proposes to remove red drum, speckled trout, and estuarine striped bass from commercial fishing and make them solely recreational catches, a measure strongly opposed on the coast.  The same bill, however, also provides funds for dredging and fisheries observers, measures strongly favored on the coast. It would also compensate watermen for losses.  And it raises fees on recreational saltwater fishing licenses as a funding mechanism. ....Read more

Outer Banks Angling: The wheels on the bus go round and round

In the movie “Ground Hog Day,” Bill Murray plays a weather forecaster who goes to   Punxsutawney, Pa., to cover the prediction by the furry groundhog, Phil. Unfortunately for Bill Murray, he becomes trapped living the same day over and over again.

It would seem that the Outer Banks and most of the Eastern Seaboard have found themselves in the same twilight-zone like scenario. This spring has by far been one of the most unfavorable weather-wise in the recent past.

The northeast winds seem to just go round and round and barely let up. For every couple of days of the preferred spring, southerly winds, we get numerous days of hard northerly winds.  ....Read More

Anglers battle relentless wind in Ocracoke Surf Fishing Tournament….WITH SLIDE SHOW

After battling strong winds over two days, the Raleigh Saltwater Sport Fishing Club won the 30th annual Ocracoke Island Invitational Surf Fishing Tournament. One of the team members, John Bryant, also caught the largest fish with a 32 ¾-inch bluefish.

The Raleigh group had 56 points, nudging out second place winners, Team Advanced Fishing of Rodanthe, which had 51 points. The Delaware Mobile Surf Fishermen of Dagsboro, Del., were third with 40 points.

The OISFT is an invitation-only event where 70 teams of fishing men and women compete in four sessions over two days.  This year’s fishing days were Thursday and Friday, May 2 and 3.   ....Read More

Boats are back to using the main channel in Hatteras Inlet

Commercial fishing, charter, and private boats are back to using Rollinson Channel to safely navigate between the harbor in Hatteras village and Hatteras Inlet.

Since January, many boats were using an alternate channel that goes farther west into the sound to bypass the heavily shoaled Rollinson Channel, also known as the ferry channel or main channel.   ....Read More


Jones continues efforts to block catch-shares funding

U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., is continuing his effort to block funding for approval of new fisheries catch-shares programs in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. 

On Tuesday, April 16, Jones and a bipartisan group of 24 of his House colleagues sent a letter to the House Appropriations Committee asking them to eliminate funding for new catch-shares programs in the fiscal year 2014 appropriations bill for the Department of Commerce.  The committee is expected to take up the bill later this spring.  ....Read more





Outer Banks Angling:  Fishing is heating up

Hard northwest winds, rain, and clouds made most outside activities difficult over spring break. Swimming, kayaking, kiteboarding, windsurfing and such were almost a “no go” for two weeks.

But that didn't necessarily hinder the fishing. Actually, it was fairly decent.  ....Read more


Outer Banks Angling: Spring ahead

The clocks have been moved forward an hour and we are just days away from the official start of spring. The ground hog told us we would get nice weather soon, but actually we have had the worst weather of the winter season since that prediction. And that has not helped usher in the spring fishing season. ....Read more



Owners of Hatteras-based boat win another round in long legal battle over Big Rock winnings

After several defeats in lower courts, the state Supreme Court has handed the charter boat Citation another opportunity to land more than $1 million in winnings it has so far been denied from the 2010 Big Rock Tournament.

On the first day of that year’s June tournament, the Hatteras-based vessel had hooked an 883-pound marlin, the largest in the history of the contest. But days later, the boat was disqualified after organizers learned that its mate lacked an active $15 recreational saltwater fishing license until two hours after the marlin was caught. 

A ruling from the Supreme Court of North Carolina last month reversed a state Court of Appeals decision that had favored the tournament board’s disqualification of the Citation’s prize money: $912,825 in the Blue Marlin Division and $318,750 in the Fabulous Fishermen’s Level.  ....Read more



Outer Banks Angler: Cold-stunned 

After some really mild early winter weather, the temperatures have plummeted, threatening many inshore fish, such as puppy drum and speckled trout, which might get trapped in shallow water that turns cold suddenly and not make it out to the warmer ocean. ....Read more




Outer Banks Angling: Earning your stripes

December is here and most of the inshore fishing will fall off as water and air temperatures drop.

The speckled trout fishing will generally pick up and puppy drum fishing can be good.
However, most people have come to look at December as the beginning of striped bass season. These fish are also known as rockfish, rock, or stripers.   ....Read more






55th annual Cape Hatteras Anglers Club tournament was ‘a logistical nightmare’

A long time ago, some guy that history remembers as “Murphy” came up with this law that most of us remember as going something like this: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

Last week, Nov. 7 -10, the 55th annual Cape Hatteras Anglers Club surf-fishing tournament—the largest tournament of its kind in the world—did its part to prove Mr. Murphy right. ....Read more
NCBBA red-drum tournament is cut short by weather

The annual North Carolina Beach Buggy Association annual Red Drum Tournament ran head on into Hurricane Sandy as the storm passed by the Outer Banks on the weekend of Oct. 27-28.

The tournament began on schedule on Thursday, Oct. 25, with 222 anglers competing for more than $10,000 in cash and prizes.  A total of 16 red drum were measured during the three-day tournament, of which the five over 40 inches were qualifying for a state citation.   ....Read more
Outer Banks Angling:  Tournaments and foul weather

At times I swear it seems that fishing tournaments are synonymous with foul weather.

For five years my friend, Tommy Wheeler, and I hosted a surf-fishing tournament for striped bass on Hatteras Island. It seemed that almost every year the weather would get nasty just prior to and during the tournament.

We see it over and over during offshore boat tournaments -- stories of boats punching through a fierce and furious inlet to go look for the big money.

And, no, I don't think the tournaments are cursed, nor do I think that it is given that the tournaments will bring foul weather. But it sure feels that way sometimes.   ....Read more
Hatteras Charter Fishing:  The Pioneer Years

Before there were paved roads, before there were bridges, even before there was electricity on Hatteras there was charter fishing. And men named Vernon Willis, Nelson Stowe, Luther Burrus and Ernal Foster took anglers to the Gulf Stream without benefit of radio, Loran, or sonar.

These men were the pioneers and the business they began has evolved into the economic backbone of Hatteras village, rivaling and perhaps surpassing commercial fishing in its importance.   ....Read more
The Albatross Fleet turns 75 with a celebration…WITH SLIDE SHOW

As folks were beginning to gather at the docks in Hatteras village Saturday afternoon for the Albatross Fleet’s 75th anniversary party, an uninvited guest blew in from across the Pamlico Sound. It was a really impressive Hatteras squall with buckets of great big rain drops that brought visibility down to about nothing, strong winds, and thunder and lightning.

However, the islanders and guests at the party were not deterred but carried on as they always do in foul weather.  They waited out the squall in their vehicles or delayed their arrival, but they came anyway. The festivities got under way after about an hour’s delay under a big tent in the parking lot next to the Albatross docks.   ....Read more

The very best guide to charter fishing on the islands….WITH SLIDE SHOW

If you’ve never been fishing off Hatteras or Ocracoke, it’s definitely worth looking into.  The variety of trips, boats, captains, and species of fish available is quite impressive, and there are options that can accommodate almost any budget or interest.

That said, with so many options available, choosing the right charter can be a daunting task, especially for first-timers. To make it a little bit easier, The Island Free Press has compiled a guide to Hatteras and Ocracoke charter fishing.  With answers to frequently asked questions, information on everything from choosing a boat to cleaning your fish, advice on making your trip more enjoyable, and pictures to rouse your inner angler, this guide is designed help get you off the docks and on the water.  ....Read more