Winter Striped Bass season is here!
Our annual Striped Bass migration begins with schools of hungry Striper moving into the lower ends of the Tar & Roanoke River systems to feed and prepare for their long spawning run in the spring. Despite the cold temperatures, these fish are still actively, and aggressively feeding. Depending on the situation, both fly and light tackle presentation methods can be successfully employeed to catch these fish. We'll be targeting these fish on the lower rivers from now through February. This is a great time to break the winter cabin fever and get a head start on the spring migration.
We have been seeing fish start to move into the lower ends of the Tar and Roanoke over the past few weeks, as well as having success targeting these fish in the open water in the Albemarle and Pamlico Sound. Some fish in the sound have begun to move up shallow providing some really great opportunities to target them on the fly. When the striper fishing gets slow we have been having a bunch of fun targeting large Gar with sinking lines in the river. It's a great way to sharpen you skills with the sinking line and pull on some big fish at the same time.
I have a few open days coming up: 01/01, 01/03, 01/05, 01/09, 01/12, 01/13
Spring is right around the corner and I am looking forward to our busiest time of year around here. As usual, we will start with our Shad trips the first week of March and run them until the first week of April when we will transition to primarily targeting our migratory Striped Bass. Prime dates for Striper season will be April 15 - May 10 in Weldon, NC. Folks have already started setting their dates for 2023, it's a good idea to secure your date as soon as you can as these dates book up very quickly as we get closer to the season. If you are looking at doing a multi-boat I would highly recommend reaching out soon to assure we can accommodate your entire group.
This spring we will be working with the Orvis-Raleigh store on some fun (and free) in person events and seminars. In years past these events have been a great way to draw attention to our unique local resource, enjoy the community of other anglers, and learn more about these special spring fisheries.
I'm looking forward to another productive winter and spring season with both our new and returning guests.
See y'all on the water,
Capt. Will