Outer Banks fishing report for early August

Fishing report for early August is good for numerous species

Anglers have been catching plenty of fish in the Outer Banks area throughout the first week of August. As expected during this time of year, some days are better than others, and some days have seen outstanding catches of multiple species. This fishing report comes from the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries through numerous interviews they conducted within the past week.

Offshore fishing report

Anglers fishing off the Hatteras area are having good success with sailfish, blue marlin, and white marlin. Dolphin have also made up a big portion of offshore catches, including fish that range from peanuts to citation-sized gaffers.

Mixed reports of wahoo are coming in, with anglers catching trophy-sized fish on some days, with slow reports on other days.

Bigeye, blackfin, and yellowfin tuna have made up a big part of the catch for anglers fishing out of Oregon Inlet. The dolphin bite has been strong here too. Tilefish are hitting fairly well on most days. Anglers are catching some black sea bass, triggerfish, and mackerel, but ribbonfish have been thick and unavoidable by anglers.

Inshore/Bays

Anglers are catching limits of speckled sea trout and redfish with relative ease. Bluefish have been hit-or-miss, with some days better than others. False albacore and Spanish mackerel have been biting somewhat regularly. The best bite has been between Hatteras and Oregon Inlet, with reports not quite as good north of Oregon Inlet.

Pier/shore

Sea mullet are biting strong along the beaches and piers. The king mackerel bite has been relatively consistent from the piers. Otherwise, beach fishing has been fairly slow, with some days giving up small numbers of Spanish mackerel, bluefish, croaker, puffer fish, and pompano. Surf anglers who have focused on pompano are having a little better success than most other anglers.