Northern Beaches March 27, 2014
Kevin Eller and a 96″, 308 lb. dressed weight bluefin tuna that attacked a skirted ballyhoo off Oregon Inlet while he was trolling with Capt. Lee Collins on the “Strike ‘Em” out of Oregon Inlet Fishing Center.
Betty, of TW’s Tackle, reports that anglers are still seeing puppy drum action along the beachfront to the south, with the best bets recently around Cape Point and ramp 49. Both bottom rigs baited with shrimp and soft plastics pinned to jigheads will fool the pups.
Further to the north, surf and pier anglers are primarily connecting with dogfish.
Offshore, boats are still seeing action with bluefin tuna (some to 500+ lbs.) while trolling ballyhoo and artificials and while working topwater poppers and vertical jigs around fish feeding on the surface or visible on the sounder. Some bigeye, blackfin, and yellowfin tuna are around and falling for trolled baits as well. A few mako sharks and a citation wahoo were also caught off Oregon Inlet this week to add some variety to the offshore scene.
Denise, of Oregon Inlet Fishing Center, reports that anglers are still connecting with bluefin tuna (ranging from sub-100 lb. school fish to 500+ lb. giants) while fishing offshore. Trolling ballyhoo paired with large skirted lures and working vertical jigs and topwater poppers around fish visible on the depthfinder or surface is fooling the majority of the big tuna. Several bigeye tuna and a handful of yellowfins have also hit the docks over the past week, most biting trolled ballyhoo.
Betty Wright, of TW’s Tackle, with a puppy drum she hooked on cut shrimp near Oregon Inlet while fishing with her daughter and son-in-law.
Rob, of Strike ‘Em Sportfishing, reports that anglers are connecting with bluefin tuna while fishing offshore of Oregon Inlet and most are the true giants (250-700+ lbs.). They have been feeding on schools of large, chopper bluefish on the surface and responding to a variety of fishing techniques. Standard trolling rigs pairing ballyhoo with skirted lures are fooling most of the fish, but soft plastic squids dangling from green stick gear have been more effective on some recent days.
Anglers are also connecting with the huge tuna on spinning and lighter conventional tackle while working vertical jigs around fish marks on the sounder or casting topwater poppers around bluefins crashing bluefish and other baits on the surface.
Mike, of Jennette’s Pier, reports that dogfish have made up the majority of the action from the pier in recent weeks. They’re taking a variety of baits on bottom rigs.
The water is 42 degrees and will need to climb towards the 50’s to add some more variety to the catch.
