Never mind that it’s winter – the bite goes on along the Carolina coast, and on Hatteras Island particularly, many anglers attest that the fall fishing has never been better.
The top spots are Oregon Inlet just north of Rodanthe, Cape Point in Buxton, and Hatteras Inlet. But no matter what stretch of beach, inshore or offshore, many fishermen are heading home happy, with their coolers full.Speckled trout up to 7 pounds are hitting exceptionally well at varying locations all along the beach, like near the jetties in Buxton, and scattered puppy drum are being caught in the surf near Avon. Large sharks at Cape Point just south of the lighthouse have been caught all week, and anglers have been reeling in puppy drum at Hatteras Inlet. Offshore trolling is producing scores of large yellowfin tuna all along Hatteras Island, particularly off of Oregon Inlet.
But one of the biggest stories in recent history has been the solid run of stripers that has taken the Outer Banks by storm. Last week, striped bass starting showing up along the northern beaches and at Oregon Inlet, where fishermen along the Bonner Bridge catwalk, which spans only a portion of the bridge, have had lots of success reeling them in. In fact, striped bass up to 50 pounds are still being caught from the bridge off of live eels. Fishing reports coming from Hatteras Island have boasted that more stripers have been caught already this fall than the two previous winters combined.
The island may be a little quiet this time of year, but with so much activity in the water, for avid fishermen there’s no better time to be casting a line on Hatteras Island.