I have been enjoying a few days off during the holiday so I can spend it with my wife and boys while they are out of school. Once they go back on Jan, 3, I’ll be back on it. I’ll be shifting my focus mainly to the winter striper fishing on the lower Roanoke but will still be checking on our reds when the conditions are favorable. Although the trout bite has been pretty good this year I have done less trout fishing than I ever have in the fall, mainly because of the crowds.
For the sight fishing, we typically need warmer days (so the fish will bite better), clear sunny skies, and low winds. During periods of high pressure, we get plenty of those days in the winter. That being said, we still have some remarkable catches on low-light days. On the trip below, we caught about 40 fish. Some are smaller pups in the 12-18″ range, and some are a year older in the 21-25″ range. It’s certainly nice to see another crop of young fish in our system.
The fishing is about the same as it was before the holidays with all 3 options still on the table (sight fishing reds in the Pamlico, speckled trout in the creeks off the Pamlico and Pungo, striper fishing the Western Albemarle/lower Roanoke River). The difference is that the water temperature has dropped quite a bit down into the mid 40’s with these cold nights we’ve had. So based on the current temps, we are in more a true winter pattern. The long term forecast shows cold temps for the next 10 days or so. This means that the speckled trout and redfish bite will be tougher with the colder temps, but the striper bite will be getting going in full force. I’m headed up there this week to check things out and will let you know what we find. I have scattered openings from mid-January on.
Here are a couple of photos from our last sightfishing trip before the New Year where we caught lots of fish on a grey, overcast day:
