The Winter Striper bite has been off to a really great start this month. Fly and light tackle anglers have experienced some phenomenal action on one of our region’s coolest winter fisheries. We have had fairly consistent mild temperatures this season making for some really pretty days on the water. One of the enjoyable parts of fishing the coastal rivers in the winter is the amount of wildlife that you get to see while chasing these Striped Bass- otters, beavers, eagles, and even black bears are not uncommon sights this time of year.
I have open days through February to target these fish with fly and light tackle- shoot me an email or give me a call for more information.
A word on fly tackle:
This past week we have been having a lot of fun targeting these large schools of fish with the fly rod. Over the years I have begun to figure out the right set up to get down to these fish without having to throw a 9 or 10 weight rod. I have two main set-ups that have worked really well for us this winter- for fishing in the 15’-25’ range we have been using 8 weight fly rods with Scientific Anglers SONAR Titan Sink 3/Sink 5/Sink 7 line, this line gets down with minimal wait time and stepping down to an 8 weight makes even the smaller fish a lot of fun. When we have found fish in water less than 15’ we have been utilizing 7 weight fly rods with Scientific Anglers SONAR Titan INT/Sink 2/Sink 3 line, this line is slightly heavier than an intermediate line and has allowed us to use lighter flies to make casting all day easier. Using the correct gear is imperative to being successful when winter striper fishing with a fly rod, and these new style sinking lines from SA are leaps and bounds more effective than anything I have used in the past.
Shad Season:
We are only a few weeks away from the beginning of our spring American & Hickory Shad migration. This is eastern North Carolina’s most unique fishery, and one of my favorites on the planet. I will be running trips from March 1st through the first week of April this year. My calendar is almost filled up for the year so don’t wait on booking a 2023 season Shad trip!
More Info on Shad Trips Here: https://anycreek.com/tarriverco/listings/clczabs80000hnr0houds3rxh