Striped Bass

Season in Outer Banks

Island Free Press: winter surf stripers in January and February used to be dependable but have not been for some time. Surf or Sound lists striped bass among spring and fall surf fish. Charted low: a chance, not a plan. Croatan Sound bridge fishing (spring, Carolina Sportsman) is sound water, not surf. (Our inference)

Season by region

Where to find them

A rare surf catch now; most Outer Banks stripers come from the Croatan Sound bridges in spring.

From the wash out past the bar; spring and fall blitzes on bunker, sand eels and small bait.

What to look for

Bunker schools being pushed, birds over sand eels or rainbait, rips and drop-offs where waves make turbulence, inlet current at night.

What to throw

Bucktail or jighead with a 4 to 5 in paddle tail1/2 to 1 oz, 4 to 5 in tail. Slow hops along the bottom: lift, drop, let it touch, repeat.

Soft-plastic eel or stickbait (Slug-Go, GT Eel style)Weightless, or 3/8 to 3/4 oz jighead oz, 9 to 13.5 in. Weightless on top when fish are active or at first light; weighted versions drifted through rips, twitched through boulders or dead-sticked near bottom.

Swimming minnow plug (Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow style)3/4 to 1 oz, 4 to 5 in. Steady medium retrieve with occasional twitches and pauses.

Pencil popper1 to 5 oz, Sized to the bait, from silversides to adult bunker. Slow and deliberate, speeding up when a fish shows interest; or hold the rod tip and bounce it hard while barely advancing the plug so it churns in place.

Bait

Live eels, Live bunker (menhaden), Live mackerel, Bunker or mackerel chunks, Cut squid, herring, crabs, Live spot (summer, North Shore). Fish-finder with a pyramid sinker and a long leader, with a float near the hook to keep the bait off the bottom away from crabs and skates. Use a circle hook with bait..

Leader

NY Sea Grant: light (6 to 12 lb) to medium (20 lb) line on a spinning rod; heavier surf outfits for big fish around rocks.

Common mistakes

• Leaving bait on the bottom for crabs and skates (NY Sea Grant floats it up)
• Using a J hook with bait instead of a circle hook
• Fishing mid-day flat calm when the fish feed after dark and at dawn

Landing

Let a wave carry it up the beach; release fish should stay in the water.

Handling

• Sharp dorsal spines
• Sharp gill cover edges

Keep released fish in the water, support the belly, and use a circle hook with bait. ASMFC estimates about 9 percent of released stripers die, so handle quickly.

Keep or release

North Carolina manages ocean and inland stripers separately and often closes seasons; check NCDMF before keeping one.

Recipes for striped bass

Typical: 30 to 40 in in ocean waters. Large: unknown. 125 lb fish recorded at Edenton, 1891.

Limits

FishOS has not checked the NC limits yet. Check the size, bag and season rules with the NC Division of Marine Fisheries before you keep a fish.

Sources

• Surf or Sound Realty: Hatteras Island surf fishing seasons (Angler knowledge)
• Carolina Sportsman: Outer Banks surf fishing report, trout, drum, mullet (Oceans East Bait and Tackle, Nags Head) (Angler knowledge)
• NC Division of Marine Fisheries species profile: striped bass (Official source)
• The Fisherman: Too Warm, Or Too Cold? Species' Preferred Temperature Ranges (Aguiar, 2023) (Angler knowledge)
• On The Water: Spring Fly Fishing for Striped Bass (Barrett, 2022) (Angler knowledge)
• US FWS species profile FWS/OBS-82/11.8: striped bass, Mid-Atlantic (Fay, Neves and Pardue, 1983), mirror copy (Official source)
• New York Sea Grant fish profile: Striped Bass (Cornell, 2001) (Official source)
• On The Water: Long Island and NYC Fishing Report, March 21, 2024 (Angler knowledge)

All the fish of Outer Banks