Roanoke River At Weldon Fishing Report (3/23/05)

WELDON, N.C. — Shad fishing on the Roanoke River at Weldon was slow but steady this past week. Things may change quickly, however, now that the weather is beginning to warm again and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decreased discharge today from 15,000 to 8,000 cubic feet of water per second.

To a man, everyone contacted for this week’s fishing report — Kevin Dockendorf, Kenneth Clark and Bobby Colston — agreed that lower water levels would make fishing easier, and possibly more productive, for shad anglers fishing from the bank or from boats.

The lower water levels will expose the large boulders in the rock-strewn rapids upriver from the Weldon boat ramp, making it possible for anglers to fish eddies where shad tend to congregate.

Hickory shad fishing is picking up throughout most of North Carolina’s coastal rivers

“With water temperatures coming up and the water dropping, you’ll be able to fish the rocks and there’s a potential to catch a lot of fish,” said Kevin Dockendorf, a fisheries biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. “It hasn’t happened yet, but this weekend might be a good time to try. You might be one of the first to get out there and catch a lot of fish.”

Dockendorf and assistant fisheries biologist Jeremy McCargo sampled the upper Roanoke on Monday this week, netting only 40 of the 200 fish needed to assess the river’s hickory shad. All shad were released safely back into the Roanoke after being measured, weighed and having scale samples removed.

“On Monday, the flows were at 15,100 cubic feet per second and all of the rocks were covered, Dockendorf said. “Often when the water is that high, the fish are along the shoreline among the fallen trees and the rocks along the river bank.”

Dockendorf said he observed some anglers reeling in shad from the mouth of the little river where it flows into the Roanoke about a half mile below the Weldon boat ramp, but the fishing was slow.

“I think the fish are there, but when there’s more water, you have to put more effort to find the fish and put more weight on to get your lures deep where the fish are,” Dockendorf said. “When the rocks are exposed after the water drops, there will be more places to fish.”

Kenneth Clark, a technician with the Commission’s Engineering Services Division, said he has seen some anglers catching shad from the river bank at the Weldon boat ramp, but no one has reported catching striped bass yet.

“There was a pretty good crowd at Weldon on Monday,” Clark said. “But today (Wednesday), there are only two or three cars parked at the boat ramp. The fish are here, but evidently folks don’t want to fish in the rain.”

Bobby Colston agreed. The owner of Colston’s Tackle Box on Highway 48 near Gaston fished the upper Roanoke on Tuesday with a friend. While Colston reported catching six shad in two hours of fishing, he said the high water spread out the shad and made the fishing more difficult.

Initially, Colston put in his boat upriver at the Roanoke Rapids boat ramp. After failing to catch a shad in that area and around the mouth of Chockoyotte Creek, Colston moved downriver towards Weldon where he found some cooperative shad.

“I was in sight of the railroad trestles at the Weldon ramp before I caught a shad,” Colston said. “The fish are up here, but the water is so high, they’re spread out and you can’t catch them one after another.”

When the water is high, Colston said the best way to catch shad is to fish as close to the bank as possible — particularly in eddies where trees, boulders and bank irregularities break the river current. In particular, Colston suggested fishing around the “big rock” below the Weldon boat ramp or around the railroad trestle above the boat ramp.

“Just anchor near shore and fish in eddies and cuts in the bank,” he said.

Good search lures for shad are number three silver or gold spoons, shad rigs with a spoon-and-shad dart combination, and two-inch curly tail jigs in white or chartreuse. Add split shot as needed to get your lures near the bottom when fishing.

“If they’re really dropping the current to 8,000 cubic feet per second this week, the fishing will pick right up,” Colston predicted. “Bank fisherman will have more places to fish from and fishermen in boats will have more places to fish. I think everyone will catch shad more regularly.”

Roanoke River At Weldon Fishing Report (3/23/05)

WELDON, N.C. — Shad fishing on the Roanoke River at Weldon was slow but steady this past week. Things may change quickly, however, now that the weather is beginning to warm again and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decreased discharge today from 15,000 to 8,000 cubic feet of water per second.

To a man, everyone contacted for this week’s fishing report — Kevin Dockendorf, Kenneth Clark and Bobby Colston — agreed that lower water levels would make fishing easier, and possibly more productive, for shad anglers fishing from the bank or from boats.

The lower water levels will expose the large boulders in the rock-strewn rapids upriver from the Weldon boat ramp, making it possible for anglers to fish eddies where shad tend to congregate.

Hickory shad fishing is picking up throughout most of North Carolina’s coastal rivers

“With water temperatures coming up and the water dropping, you’ll be able to fish the rocks and there’s a potential to catch a lot of fish,” said Kevin Dockendorf, a fisheries biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. “It hasn’t happened yet, but this weekend might be a good time to try. You might be one of the first to get out there and catch a lot of fish.”

Dockendorf and assistant fisheries biologist Jeremy McCargo sampled the upper Roanoke on Monday this week, netting only 40 of the 200 fish needed to assess the river’s hickory shad. All shad were released safely back into the Roanoke after being measured, weighed and having scale samples removed.

“On Monday, the flows were at 15,100 cubic feet per second and all of the rocks were covered, Dockendorf said. “Often when the water is that high, the fish are along the shoreline among the fallen trees and the rocks along the river bank.”

Dockendorf said he observed some anglers reeling in shad from the mouth of the little river where it flows into the Roanoke about a half mile below the Weldon boat ramp, but the fishing was slow.

“I think the fish are there, but when there’s more water, you have to put more effort to find the fish and put more weight on to get your lures deep where the fish are,” Dockendorf said. “When the rocks are exposed after the water drops, there will be more places to fish.”

Kenneth Clark, a technician with the Commission’s Engineering Services Division, said he has seen some anglers catching shad from the river bank at the Weldon boat ramp, but no one has reported catching striped bass yet.

“There was a pretty good crowd at Weldon on Monday,” Clark said. “But today (Wednesday), there are only two or three cars parked at the boat ramp. The fish are here, but evidently folks don’t want to fish in the rain.”

Bobby Colston agreed. The owner of Colston’s Tackle Box on Highway 48 near Gaston fished the upper Roanoke on Tuesday with a friend. While Colston reported catching six shad in two hours of fishing, he said the high water spread out the shad and made the fishing more difficult.

Initially, Colston put in his boat upriver at the Roanoke Rapids boat ramp. After failing to catch a shad in that area and around the mouth of Chockoyotte Creek, Colston moved downriver towards Weldon where he found some cooperative shad.

“I was in sight of the railroad trestles at the Weldon ramp before I caught a shad,” Colston said. “The fish are up here, but the water is so high, they’re spread out and you can’t catch them one after another.”

When the water is high, Colston said the best way to catch shad is to fish as close to the bank as possible — particularly in eddies where trees, boulders and bank irregularities break the river current. In particular, Colston suggested fishing around the “big rock” below the Weldon boat ramp or around the railroad trestle above the boat ramp.

“Just anchor near shore and fish in eddies and cuts in the bank,” he said.

Good search lures for shad are number three silver or gold spoons, shad rigs with a spoon-and-shad dart combination, and two-inch curly tail jigs in white or chartreuse. Add split shot as needed to get your lures near the bottom when fishing.

“If they’re really dropping the current to 8,000 cubic feet per second this week, the fishing will pick right up,” Colston predicted. “Bank fisherman will have more places to fish from and fishermen in boats will have more places to fish. I think everyone will catch shad more regularly.”