Here we are, right at the beginning of the longest month of the year — by my standards, anyway. While technically it is actually the shortest as far as days go, the cold days of February seem to take much longer to get through, and as a fisherman, those cold days take forever. All is not lost however; as there are several things to do during the month that will help get you through. Some might be mundane, some might be fun and others may be downright exciting. The good news is that if you can make it through a few more weeks of cold weather, it won’t be long before the fishing will start drastically picking up. Those standards vary for each angler, and before you know it you will be complaining about how hot it is.
Water temperatures have reached the low 50s, but with the days getting slightly longer now, hopefully they will remain or start rebounding just a tad, although February can bring some nasty winter-type weather so we’ll just have to wait and see. Not much going on for the inshore fishing as not many are eager to venture out, even on the sunny days. There have been a few reports of stripers still being caught in the upper Cape Fear River, but muddy waters from the rains have hampered that fishing. Offshore, a few days the past couple of weeks have allowed those willing to venture out in chilly weather an opportunity and some reported having luck for king mackerel around Frying Pan Tower. Bottom fishing has been decent for black sea bass. Unfortunately, opportunities to venture offshore are limited by what Mother Nature decides to do and fishing miles from the beach during this time of year can be extremely dangerous so make sure you have a plan and are experienced at what you are doing.
Speaking of Frying Pan Tower, a lot of people don’t know they’ve installed live cameras that can be accessed free of charge to see what might be going on out there. The cameras can be found at www.explore.org At the top of the page is a link for live cams. Click on that and the Frying Pan cameras are labeled shark cam, which is deepwater; and barracuda cam, which is shallow water. You never know what might swim by on some of those cameras and watching them can provide some good opportunities to see some new species of fish.
For those not wanting to sit at the house all day, why not shop for a new boat? This weekend Feb. 5-8 is the 23rd Annual Raleigh Convention Boat Show held at the Raleigh Convention Center. Tickets to the event cost $9 for everyone over age 13 and $4 for ages 3-12. A large number of boats will be on display, both big and small, from jon boats to offshore center consoles and everything in between. Visit www.raleighconvention.com/boatshow for more information and a $2 off admission coupon. Even if you are not in the market for a boat, it is a good way to spend the day, or maybe even two.
