The Corps of Engineers really dropped the ball on us this season by dropping the river flows so low that the stripers left the party a little early. We normally see the fish hang around until late May or even early June. This year, they thinned out a little earlier than expected. Dominion Power has definitely made some great steps to manage the flow regime in the Roanoke River to support fish spawning; however, I still feel like they have a long way to go. So what if a few wealthy homeowners on Kerr and Gaston have to deal with slightly more fluctuating water levels? Let’s hold some water back and let it go when the fish need it the most. It’s not too surprising from a bunch of government bureaucrats presently operating on the attitude of “protecting” the environment and promoting ecosystem restoration have a long history of “f$%ing” up our water resources by ditching and draining hundreds of thousands of acres of forested wetlands in the eastern part of the state, supporting and permitting questionably necessary dams along some of our major rivers that support anadromous fish populations such as striped bass, American and Hickory Shad, and river herring, and often resisting proposals to remove present day obsolete dams that still block fish migrations and downstream sediment flow. The Corps of Engineers is not your friend.
With my rant aside, we have turned our attention to the Pamlico River fishery. I’ll be out this week looking for a few “early” giant drum……popping corks and topwater baits in hand. I will let you know how that turns out.
Capt. Tom ran a full day trip for us today. He’s doing an outstanding job. Dan, Brett, and Brett’s 3 sons had an excellent day, catching 30-35 stripers, with the largest hitting the 33″ mark. WOW! Here are the pictures to prove his success and their good time:
