southest stripers

[bluefish1928thing]

where is the southmost palce ocean- ruin stripers go? based on the nc fishing news and resouirces there is a fishery along cape lookout shoals.

[bhorsley]

they only show up at Cape Lookout in force when the winters are very cold. LASt year i belive they did not show. They barely showed at Oregon Inlet due to warm weather.

[Reaux]

Originally Posted by bhorsley

they only show up at Cape Lookout in force when the winters are very cold. LASt year i belive they did not show. They barely showed at Oregon Inlet due to warm weather.

Evidently when conditions are right the striper fishing on the north side of the shoals is very nice indeed. I was down there recently, first week in November, and got a first hand look at the shoals - very, very wild. Water explodes seemingly at random for eleven miles or so out - makes Wasque shoals look like a placid duck pond.

At any rate, search as the title to this post suggests. If you do you should find an interesting SWS article and others such as this one:

"Striper migrations to our area are controlled by the migration of Menhaden to the south. The Stripers will not migrate to our area in great numbers until cold weather forces the bait schools south from the Chesapeake Bay and Oregon Inlet area. When bait gets scarce up north, the Stripers move south to our area, where there is a more abundant food source.

In the early season (December), the Stripers will generally be found in deeper water from the Dead Tree Hole to the west and east side of the shoal, and up Core Banks. When it gets cold, Stripers will get up on top of the Cape Lookout shoal as the bait schools migrating across. Shallow water makes it much easier for the stripers to catch their prey.


The peak Striper action is usually in late December through January. Stripers have eyes that were designed for low light conditions. Therefore, Stripers fishing is generally better early and late in the day most of the time. Stripers use the ambient light in the sky and moonlight to locate food at night. However, Stripers can and will take advantage of any feeding opportunity regardless of the time of day. . . . "

Reaux

[saltydawg]

They showed at Cape Lookout and along Shackleford Banks last year for a short period during the first real cold Nor'easter around the first of the year. They were big fish, but the surge didn't last and the bulk of the fish ended up only going as far south as Jersey.