NC Rivers and Sounds

[unclaxfan]

Wondering if anyone on the forum ever fishes in Weldon or Washington NC during the striper spawning run in the spring? Weldon is supposed to be the "Rockfish Capital of the World", can anyone attest to this? Also looking to fish the Tar River/Pamlico Sound and Lower Roanoke River/Albermarle Sound during the spring and summer. Just bought a kayak so I finally can break free from bank fishing! Any tips would be appreciated, this is entirely uncharted territory for me

[drag4striper]

I have fished Weldon a couple of times, but it was 10-15 years ago.
My first trip, there were four of us on the boat and we all landed at least 50 stripers each with an occasional catfish and bowfin thrown in. To my surprise I even saw a guy next
to me catch a flounder on my second trip. Most stripers were in the 18"-24" range (males).
With the amount of boat traffic on the river and the current at times I would not recommend using a kayak, but that's just me.
Also it's barbles hooks only. And you had better have all your safety equipment, license and creel right, because there will be wildlife popo waiting to check everyone as they leave.
Usually you can Google Weldon fishing reports when the shad and striper run starts for a heads up when things get hot and heavy.

[unclaxfan]

Thanks for the tips, especially about the barbless hooks (never had to use those before) I try to be a responsible sportsman so I like to keep within creel limits, but its good to know they patrol frequently so I'll be extra diligent about checking lengths. 50 fish per fisherman is incredible, hopefully its just as productive a fishery as it was back then! As for the larger boats and current, I'll throw caution to the wind for a chance at a 50 fish day! Thanks for the pointers, I'll keep my wits about me when I head over there

[kneedeep]

The only reason you had a 50 fish day, is that you didn't bring enough bait.....go May 1, with 144 Threadfins, thatll get you sore fingers for a week.

[Red Bear]

i had a girlfriend that lived in Weldon once about 19 years ago, what a crappy ugly ghetto little town that was. Meanwhile, next door to Weldon is the booming town of Roanoke Rapids. I lived about half hour away from there. I never actually went fishing there though in the river, have fished in Gaston though, a couple years ago my brother in law hooked a striper in Gaston, he got it to the surface and saw it, then it dove back down and snapped his 25lb test line. All over town though are businesses with striper replicas placed out front.