FORECAST BY: Capt. Richard Andrews
Tar-Pam Guide Service
Call: (252) 945-9715
www.tarpamguide.com
Most sportsman think of February as an “off” month with very limited options for fishing. Nothing could be further from the truth. Stripers, shad, and speckled trout will all be in abundance during the late winter for Inner Banks anglers.
For me, this is not a slow time of year. I stay busy exploring the vast floodplain of the Three Sister’s area (Roanoke, Middle/Eastmost, and Cashie Rivers collectively) in search of the sometimes not so elusive triple-digit light tackle day. We fish the Three Sisters because that is where you might have the best possible chance at some really high numbers of fish. Fishing is fishing, and of course, we have to take the slow days with the good ones, but a slow day in this neck of the woods can be a relative designation considering the vast numbers of striped bass that congregate in the lower rivers and the western Albemarle Sound during the winter months.
We primarily fish soft plastic shad tails on 3/8- to 1/2-ounce jig heads. My preferred brand is the Z-Man MinnowZ, JerkZ, or StreakZ. This year, I have been using more soft plastic jerk baits than in the past, where we’ve primarily utilized paddle tail style baits. Sometimes the fish prefer the bait slowly swimmed
instead of jigged, so the paddle tail is the best choice. Other times, the fish are a bit more active and feeding more aggressively, so we switch to jerk baits, which have a more erratic action and up-and-down motion when properly worked. Casting and jigging these shad tails on deeper ledges and breaks formed by the meandering channels of the rivers is the most common method targeting the fish in the river. Some people prefer to troll instead of cast, and that works, too. We just find that casting is more interactive for our charter clients.
When the fish are on the move, the western part of the Albemarle Sound can produce some consistent fishing around structure such as stump fields. Trolling stick baits such as Smithwick Rattling Rogues and Yozuri floating shallow diving crankbaits can be productive around deeper stump fields. Using the wind to push the boat through an area with structure while casting is also productive. Casting around stumps can be tricky. Without going weedless, anglers run the risk of getting hung up excessively, so a weighted weedless hook with a swimbait is a deadly combo in the stumps. Later in the season when water temps warm up in March, topwater baits are very effective when fishing in the stumps.
If you like striper fishing, then the Three Sisters and western Albemarle Sound during the winter months is a must-see. If you are unfamiliar with area, I encourage you to book a charter with us to give it a try. In addition to excellent striper fishing, the annual spring migration of American and Hickory shad begins in February. Shad fishing is one of the most exciting light-tackle fisheries in Eastern North Carolina. Many of my charter customers are unfamiliar with shad fishing, so I just tell them to trust me and you’ll see what it’s all about. They are always surprised at how fun it can be. Anglers don’t have to be experts or have a whole closet full of expensive tackle; they just need a little motivation and appreciation ibx/pamlico/pungo of one of America’s most historic fisheries. Shad fishing is a tradition that extends well beyond the rivers of North Carolina’s Coastal Plain and eastern Piedmont. Some of the first American shad fishermen were soldiers in George Washington’s Continental Army. During the spring of 1778 while camped at Valley Forge on the banks of the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania, a miracle of spring occurred, which saved the lives of thousands of soldiers on the brink of starvation: the shad run.
In the homes of countless anglers across North Carolina, the shad run is synonymous with the beginning of the fishing season. The shad run can begin a week or two earlier in the some rivers, such as the Neuse and Tar, than in others, such as the Roanoke. The variance in the migration can mainly be attributed to differences in water temperatures that trigger the spring spawning run.
Two species of shad can be found in North Carolina’s rivers from mid-February to late March or early April, the hickory shad and the American or “white” shad. The easiest way to tell the difference is by pinching their upper and lower jaws together and noticing the way the lower jaw connects or lines up with the upper jaw. On the hickory shad, the tip of the lower jaw will extend just beyond the tip of the upper jaw. On the American shad, the tip of the lower jaw is even with the tip of the upper jaw. Just like striped bass, these fish are anadromous, meaning that they migrate from salt water to spawn in fresh water.
As an inshore fishing guide based out of Washington and having been born in Tarboro, I cannot resist the temptation to venture up in the rivers on those cool February days in search of some potentially incredible catch numbers. When the shad schools are really passing through in large numbers and when we are in the right spot, one angler can easily catch over 200 fish in a day. While 200+ fish days do not occur every day, they can be quite common if you are in the right place at the right time. I fish ultra-light to light action spinning tackle spooled with 6 pound mono and a homemade rig that I call the “triple rig”. While many anglers fish a single jig or spoon or the traditional premade shad rig consisting of a jig/spoon combo, I fish a three hook rig with two jigs and a spoon at the end. If you can tie a traditional multi-hook bottom rig, then you can tie the triple rig. The two jigs are 1/8-ounce jig heads with two-inch curly tails and the spoon is just the plain old two-inch shad spoon. My favorite color combo consists of two pink jig heads with white curly tails and a pink/white painted spoon in the back. Other color combos are effective as well. The two key advantages to the triple rig are its additional weight, which gets it down in the current, and three hooks, giving you the opportunity to catch 3 fish in one cast and an increased chance of catching a double.
In addition to catching wintering stripers in the lower Roanoke and following the spring migration of shad up the Tar, Neuse, and Roanoke Rivers, anglers can consistently target speckled trout in February in the Pamlico River and its tributaries. Most typically, the fish are still up the creeks or in the backs of the bays where they have wintered; however, if we are lucky enough to get some decent periods of warm, stable weather where the water temp starts to climb just a little, the speckled trout can really fire off into a feeding frenzy and start their transition into spring a little early. Some of our best fishing in the Pamlico River last year was in midlate February in the upper reaches and tributaries of the Pamlico River near Washington. Hard baits such as the Mirrolure MR-17 or the Rapala X-Rap are good choices. Soft plastics such as the Z-Man MinnowZ fished under a 1/8 ounce jig head can also be a deadly choice. After experimenting with many different types/styles/brands or jig heads over the years and seen the advantages and disadvantages to each, I have finally found my favorite brand: Mission Fishin’ Jig Heads. I’ve even caught specs under a popping cork with a soft plastic underneath such as a Z-Man scented ShrimpZ or JerkZ in good numbers in February. Find baitfish concentrations and moving water and you will find the speckled trout in February. It sounds simple but that’s about
the gist of it.