Even though the barbeques of summer have switched to fall oyster roasts, the geese are flying south, and the stores are selling out of blaze orange vests, doesn’t mean all the fish are gone. The fishing grounds are still producing as we prepare to put October 2011 in the books.
The canyons provided some amazing catches this week. A few boats fished the Washington Canyon on overnight trips this past weekend and came home with Swords. Mike Avery and crew set up on the north wall and boated 3 of 5 Yellowfin right off the bat. A few hours before daylight another tuna rod goes off and to their pleasant surprise surfaces a 188 pound Broadbill. ‘Oblivion’ also fished the same grounds and went one for four on Swords. Their fish would scale out at 130 pounds. Dave Trax and crew also picked up two Yellowfin around 40 pounds.
The Norfolk Canyon was a hotbed for deep-droppers fishing on the Rudee Angler’s overnighter. The charters would be blessed with Grouper, Bluelines, Golden Tiles, Swords, and Sharks. There were 15 citations recorded for Blueline Tilefish. The fish ranged from 12 to 20 pounds. There was a 69 pound Golden Tilefish caught that would have outweighed the current IGFA world record by five and a half pounds, but it was caught on an electric reel. Jason Rayfield released a 40” Swordfish, while Aaron Rogers of Va Beach caught and released an 87 inch Hammerhead. Anthony Criscenti of Fairfax battled and scored a release on an 80 inch Tiger Shark…’A What?’(JAWS reference) The Rudee Angler will be doing more of these overnight trips. Just call the Virginia Beach Fishing center for details and dates.
Now that Route 12 is open on the Outer Banks, anglers are splitting their time between Oregon Inlet and Hatteras. Both launching points are reporting decent catches of Blackfin with the occasional Yellowfin. Pirates Cove Marina posted reports as recent as Wednesday of citation Blackfin hitting the docks along with Yellowfin to 35 pounds. Hatteras Harbor Marina has been tallying great numbers of Wahoo. Boats are returning with fish to 60 pounds. George Doumar of Falls Church weighed in a 57 pounder, while 10 year old River Jones scaled a 60 pound Hoo. Depending on the day, some boats have also been catching some ‘hoister’ Mahi.
Don’t let the cool temperatures fool you. There’s still a lot of fishing to be done this fall! Until next time, get out there and …
Catch ‘em Up!
Make Everyday a Blue Marlin Day!










