Heavy rains curtail Roanoke fishing, next week looks good

Following heavy rainfall the week of March 18-24, fishing at the upper Roanoke River remains active but can be risky for unwitting boaters.

Boat and bank anglers, fishing at Weldon to the Edwards Ferry boat ramps, are catching mostly hickory shad with some American (white) shad in the mix and a few scattered striped bass.

“Flows have increased dramatically from what they have been since the striper season opened,” said N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission striped-bass expert Jeremy McCargo in an agency news release. “Higher water flows can certainly influence fishing on the river.”

Striper season opened March 1, 2012, and closes April 30, 2012. Minimum keeper size for Roanoke River striped bass is 18 inches but no rockfish in a slot of 22-27 inches may be kept at any time and only one longer than 27 inches can be kept in a two-fish daily creel.

Best shad lures include shad darts, shad dart-and-spoon combinations, and 1/32-ounce crappie jigs with curly tails (usually white, pink, chartreuse or combinations of those colors). Top striper lures include white or yellow butterbean bucktails, Rebels, cut shad on bottom rigs, live minnows on Carolina rigs or Clouser flies on sinking line hopped across the bottom by fly anglers.

Within the inland waters of the Roanoke River and its tributaries, only one American (white) shad can be included in the daily limit of 10 shad per angler. Inland waters on the mainstem of the Roanoke River are  upstream of the US Highway 258 Bridge near Scotland Neck.

“The majority of the stripers are still in the lower river near Plymouth and Williamson,” McCargo said.

From April 1–June 30 at the Roanoke’s inland waters upstream of the U.S. 258 Bridge, only a single barbless hook or lure with a single barbless hook (or hook with barb bent down) may be used.

The March 29 river depth at Roanoke Rapids was 8.36 feet (March 22’s depth was 3.9 feet) and the discharge (current flow) rate was 20,400 cubic feet per second. The average current flow in the Roanoke is 10,400 cfs, but the March 22 flow was only 3500 cfs, so there’s been a large jump in the river depth and current rate.

The flow is measured at the Roanoke Rapids Dam outflow pipes upstream from Weldon.

The record flow, 35,300 fps, for the Roanoke River occurred during 1998.

“Boating anglers should remember that with water levels being so high, the river can be particularly treacherous because of dislodged limbs, logs and in some cases trees from up-river locations.” McCargo said. Anglers should watch for floating hazards and wear PFDs at all times.

Legend has it migratory striped bass reach Weldon when dogwood petals “are as large as a squirrel’s ear.” With no additional downpours the next few days, the river flow should subside and fishing should be safer for boating anglers by April 5.