The month of March begins next week, then the official arrival of spring just over three weeks away, and anglers can’t wait for each benchmark to occur. While we occasionally see some winter-like weather during the month of March, the arrival is a sure sign that things in the fishing world will pick up rather quickly. Water temperatures have crept back into the lower 50s but are sure to fluctuate a few degrees on either side of 50 until a permanent warming trend starts. Once again, the weekend isn’t looking fishable for the offshore boaters and may be marginal with those fishing inshore as well, mainly due to the winds. The past week, however, did supply just enough of a break in the weather that some fishing and catching was done by a few who still refuse to give up their tackle during the winter off-season.
A handful of boats managed to get off the beach a few miles and reportedly those that did had some good success with the black bass in the 10-20 mile range. While seas were reported as “a little sporty,” it didn’t prevent those who were prepared and had been cooped up the past few weeks from trying their luck. Those fishing in the 10-mile range found plenty of black bass but had to work through them to get enough for dinner. Those who fished a little further off the beach also found plenty of small fish but also found the larger fish were more numerous. Due to sea conditions and the narrow window of opportunity, it doesn’t appear that any made it much past the 20-mile mark. This weekend doesn’t look very favorable for that to occur either, as gale warnings look to be posted for both the offshore waters and those closer to the beach, if in fact they’re not already in place as of press time.
As far as the inshore fishing, there were not very many reports from over the weekend, something that’s not uncommon during this time of year. But those fishing did report a little action coming from the bays in the lower Cape Fear River as well as the upper Cape Fear River producing some decent action from striped bass. First, the lower bays did harbor a few reports of anglers finding some speckled trout and sporadic red drum, but before you load up and head out, know that the anglers who did find fish had to work for them for hours just to have a little action to brag about. Of course if your idea of fun doesn’t have to include catching fish, then by all means, there is opportunity.
Elsewhere, those anglers who continue to find striped bass along the riverfront and locations north of there during this time of year have reported they’ve had some very good fishing the past week continuing into early this week. The fish were reported to be on the smaller side but were also schooled up in areas and provided for some excitement. Bucktails and paddletail baits both worked as did swimming minnow replicas. Remember, the fishery for striped bass in this area is only catch and release.
