Although many Tar Heel anglers believe the Roanoke River is the state’s top spring spot for catching striped bass, the best venue actually may be up and down the Pamlico River on either side of Little Washington — but particularly to the east toward Albemarle Sound.
“I think we disproved the myth about stripers hitting topwater (lures) only on cloudy days,” said Richard Andrews (Tar-Pam Guide Service, 252-945-9715, www.tarpamguide.com).
Last Sunday Andrews and two clients landed 50 stripers while casting topwater lures near Washington — during a completely sunny day.
“We’ve been having double-digit days, and stripers are hitting topwater lures in shallow water,” he said.
Best spots are flats with stump fields. Some of these fish have been 28 inches in length, nearly 9 pounds.
“It just doesn’t have to be overcast for them to hit topwater lures,” Andrews said. “But if you pick a day with a chance of rain and cloudy, you can fish all day throwin’ topwater baits.”
Top lures are Storm Chug Bugs and Zara Spooks.
“The Chug Bugs work better if there’s a little chop on the water,” Andrews said. “I don’t think the stripers can see the Spooks too good when there’s much wave action.”
Water level and wind direction are the main concerns.
“You want to make sure the water in the river is at a reasonable level, medium to medium-high,” Andrews said. “You can catch stripers in as little as 1 1/2 feet of water, but you want the river to be medium to high.
“When the water’s up, the stripers go on the banks to feed, but when the wind tide blows it out, they go deeper and are harder to catch.”
Minimum keeper sizes for stripers west of the Norfolk & Southern Railway Bridge in Little Washington are 18 inches, but no stripers between 22-27 inches long may be retained and only one longer than 27 inches may be kept in a two-fish daily creel. East of the N&S RR bridge and at Pamlico Sound, anglers may keep three fish daily, but they must be at least 18 inches in length.
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