We had some great fishing today at the PCS discharge.  We caught fish pretty much every cast on live bait.  This is an excellent option for many striper enthusiasts along the Pamlico River, especially in the hot summer months, as the groundwater which is being discharged through the pipes is much much cooler than the surrounding river water.  While these fish are almost always there, anglers must use extreme care when catching and releasing them.  These fish are fragile in the summer and can easily be killed just from the simple act of catch and release.  We used every available means of taking precautions with these fish.  Those included catching them quickly, not taking too many photos, using appropriately sized circle hooks, and releasing them quickly.  All of our fish except for 1 swam away healthy.  The one fish just didn’t revive and floated away belly up.  My point is that we killed a nice striper and did everything in our power not to stress the fish out.  I’ve seen too many people fishing this spot with improper equipment, hooks, etc. not taking the proper precautions to ensure a healthy release.  There are too many people fishing that area and the fish are getting a whole lot of pressure.  If most people aren’t being careful, then there is probably a whole bunch of catch and release mortality occuring there every summer.  These are some of our breeders for the Tar-Pamlico striper stock, so next time you head over there to enjoy some action, think carefully about how you are going to handle and release the fish you catch.

Mel and his crew had a great time there yesterday!  We did get a couple of quick shots in between the action.  We also caught tons of small flounder and puppy drum on live mud minnows………just no keepers unfortunately!