Newspapers / The Shore Line (Pine … / May 1, 2011, edition 1 / Page 7
Part of The Shore Line (Pine Knoll Shores, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Fishing By Richard C. Seale To many of us, the fish that migrate from the ocean into our sounds and estuaries are very anonymous. However, they really are anadromous, meaning that they can live in both salt and fresh waters. This is a pretty remarkable adaptation. Here in North Carolina, five species fit the defini tion of being anadromous. The most valuable, both to commercial and recreational fishermen, is the striped bass, known to most locals as a rockfish. In late winter, large specimens migrate south from northern waters. Unfortunately, most years, these ocean wan derers seem to get no farther than Cape Lookout. The roe- and milt-laden females and males, respectively, deposit their eggs in our sounds and rivers. Some nice sized rockfish are caught near structures during the cold winter months far up the Pamlico, Pungo and Roanoke Rivers. In April and May, a major run of spawning rock fish surge up the Albe marle Sound and Roanoke River. The launching sites along the Roanoke River are jammed with fishermen launching boats. Due to past over fishing, this is now both a success story and a carefully managed fishery with slot fish size limits and total poundage land ing limits for commercial and recreational fisheries. Smaller rockfish can be caught up in the estuaries almost all year long. They grow up in these rich feed ing grounds until they are large enough to survive in the ocean. They then migrate into the ocean and head north where surfcasters from Cape Cod to Maryland love to fish for them. The major food source for rockfish used to be river herring, also an anadromous fish. People here liked to catch the river herring as well. It was deep fried Tom Tempel with fly rod caught American Shad on the Roanoke River. very crisp, after which most of the fish could be eaten, bones and all. There is some dispute whether com mercial overfishing or the return of huge numbers of striped bass decimated the river herring stx)ck. In any event, generally speaking, the river herring fishery is a no-harvest fishery at this point. I miss my spring celebration at the Cypress Grill in Jamesville and my homemade pickled herring in sour cream or herring roe along with fried eggs. By the way, herring can only be caught in drift:, gill or dip nets. Dip netting them in the Lake Mattamuskeet outfall canal was great fun in years past. Two other species that come in from, the ocean to spawn in our estuaries are shad, the American and the Hickory. These are aggressive fish and can be caught on small jigs and flies. Shad are in both the Roanoke River and Pamlico/Tar River drainages. Other than their roe, most folks do not consider shad worth eat ing because they are boney. These fish are much larger than the herring, so they do not fry up as well as do the herring. Shad show up prior to the stripers in the Roanoke River, so fishing for them is great sport with out the crowds that come when the stripers show up. Tom Tempel had a great fly fishing trip in late March on the Roanoke. (See photo showing Tom with a nice shad caught on a 4 weight fly rod.) He said his fish ing crew each landed over 50 fish, all of which they released. Now that is a great day of sport fishing. llie last anadromous fish is the American eel. This fish is really unusual. It does not come into the estuar ies to spawn. In fact, it only spawns in the Sargasso Sea in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. A roe or milt (Continued on page 8) GRAIMITE ,& IVI ^ Created by Nature/Enhanc&dBy Artihan 203 Boardwalk Dr., Emerald Isle' Phone:252-354-7774 Fax:252-354-8884 “Behind the Water Slide in Emerald Isle. ” 1 The design process can be overwhelming. From form and function to paint colors, lighting, fabrics, furnishings and accessories; we work with you to make this enjoyable and achieve the look you desire at a price you can afford. A H HAMFTON HOUSE INTEIUORS LLC Pam Phillips Owner / Designer E-mail us at hamptonhouse41@aol.com Custom Residential Interior Design Call to schedule an appointment: 252-240-9808 m
The Shore Line (Pine Knoll Shores, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 1, 2011, edition 1
7
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75