The striped bass: a sought-after game fish every place it exists. Nowhere are they more prevalent than along the East Coast. The two major striper populations are found in the Chesapeake Bay and the Hudson River. But did you know that the third-largest spawning stock of stripers come from the Albemarle Sound/ Roanoke River area of North Carolina? That’s right, North Carolina has an incredible number of these great fish. Even more incredible, they are concentrated in a small area and are very accessible to fishermen. At no time is this more true than during their annual spring migration up the Roanoke River to their spawning grounds upstream of Roanoke Rapids. The water is deep and swift and the river can be dangerous. The first time you go you should have someone show you around. Beware, the river is not a wade fishery. The banks are steep and muddy. The water is deep. The only way to really cover this water safely is in a boat. Most of the locals use Jon boats (with some folks opting for jet drives), which will more than suffice to get you just about anywhere on the river. However, with a little caution and experience, any boat normally used for inshore or freshwater fishing will get the job done.
Rigging and flies
Since the Roanoke River is so deep, your fly will need to be down on the bottom in order to draw strikes. This requires some specialized rigging. Normally, I use a shooting head system with a head made of 24 feet of Cortland LC-13. I rig my lead core heads with a braided monofilament running line on an 8 weight rod. The use of Teeny and Depth Charge lines will force you to use 10 weight rods at times. When the water is very swift and high, a head of 600 (or more) grains must be used when using these types of lines. Personally I don’t see the need for 10 weight rods to catch striped bass on the river. I find that with 24 feet of LC-13 and a running line of 30 pound braided monofilament, I can get to the bottom better and faster than any other combination. (If you are going to be fishing with a guide there is no reason to go out and outfit yourself with a leadcore shooting head. The good guides here will have this equipment for you to use.) To attach the head to the running line you can use loops. Since I am only using shooting heads for leadcore fishing I have attached them to the running line with nailknots. I had some problems with loops pulling apart and switched. I haven’t lost any heads since switching to the nail knot. Some anglers use a full sink line, and this can be effective as well. It is a matter of preference, but in my experience the lead core heads get down to the bottom much quicker than anything else. When your fly gets down (use the count down method), you then need to strip your line in hard jerks. Not fast, but hard; and not long strips, but about six inches or so. This will make the fly jump, and the jumping is what triggers the strike. Think of it as jigging. Strikes on jigs come after a hard jump and a fall. The strikes will occur the same way here. The fly needs to move hard, not cover too much ground, and then fall. This is when you‘ll get bit.
Effective flies run the full gamut of traditional striped bass patterns. I like to use a Deceiver type of fly. I tie it very simply with no saddle hackle in the tail, just gold or silver flashabou, the more the better. The old guides’ saying, ‘If it ain’t chartreuse, it ain’t no use,’ has some application as well. However I also use purple and blue with much success. The main thing you want to consider when tying your flies, is the composition of the bottom of the river bed. It looks like a forest lying on its side down there. Many anglers’ first fly- fishing trips to the river consist of breaking off and tying knots all day long. It doesn’t take very long to realize that having to tie two or three dozen flies for every fishing trip is not economical. A lot of my flies for use on the Roanoke River now have wire weed guards. Sometimes you will actually feel the weed guard slide off a submerged tree or limb. Then you know that if the guard wasn’t there, the fly would be gone. I use them mainly when the water is up in the trees along the bank, and the depth in the center is greater than 20 feet. At this time I find that casting up into the trees is the only way to get flies into the strike zone. When the water is lower and the depth in the middle is less than 20 feet, I prefer to drift in the main channel. The majority of the fish are right in the middle of the river. I like to keep the bow of my boat pointed into the current using a trolling motor, and have my clients cast perpendicular to the flow. This presents the flies across the current and allows both anglers to cast forehanded. When fishing this way I like to tie my flies on bent wire hooks rather than on stainless steel. You can often pull flies loose from obstructions when they are on lighter wire hooks.
Breakdown of the season
The fishing emphasis is around the town of Weldon. The stripers show up here around the last week of April, give or take a week, and provide steady action until the first week of June. In the early part of the run, the live bait guys will give fly anglers fits because they hook up so often and make it look so easy. Those using flies will have to work a little harder. The chief benefit of being on the river at this time is having it mostly to yourself. When the word gets out the boats will fill the river on weekends. As the season progresses fly fishers will hook up as often as shad dunkers. It actually becomes more efficient to use artificials and flies. Not having to replace a bait every time a fish is caught, gets the hook back in the water more quickly after releasing a fish. This can get interesting. At times we have attempted to keep a running tally of the fish caught. We usually lose track around 140. The peak time usually occurs from the end of April to June. The whole month of May it’s possible to hook more stripers in a day of fishing than most people have caught in their lives. To minimize stress to the fish in this all release fishery, only single hooks may be used and they must be barbless.
In May and June something amazing happens. What locals call rockfish "fights" occur when a writhing mass of males push around a single female and try to be the one who is closest to her when she releases her eggs. A streamer or popper cast into one of these fights will often result in a smash that will shake your teeth. The majority of the fights occur at dusk and into the night. The daytime fishing during this period is quite slow and waiting until four or five in the afternoon is often prudent. Then when the fish start fighting, the waiting will have been worth it. It is spectacular!
How to find them and dangers on the river
Anchoring is definitely not recommended on the river. The preponderance of underwater wood makes an anchor a disposable item here. Most people who fish the Roanoke and like to anchor will use old transmissions and engine blocks. Look for underwater obstructions along the shoreline, cuts in the river bank or incoming creeks when you are drifting. These areas allow the fish a chance to get out of the main current and wait for a meal to get swept down to them. Try to see the river as a deep, giant trout stream. This will give you a good perspective. When the water level is way up (30 feet of depth in the center) look for areas under water which weren’t submerged before. That will usually put you on spots that have about 15 to 20 feet of depth and are out of the main flow.
How to get there and launching your boat
Roanoke Rapids is easily accessible. It’s located right off I-95 at exit 173 just south of the North Carolina / Virginia border. There are numerous hotels and motels located at the intersection of I-95 and US highway 158. The launch ramp is located just east of there in the town of Weldon. Just take 158 to its junction with US 301 and turn left. The ramp is right there on the right- hand side. Be careful at the ramp: The water is extremely shallow and at times of low water the current rushes right by the end of the ramp and large rocks loom just under the surface.Because of the huge fluctuations in water levels, there are no docks. Boats need to be launched and driven off trailers while the driver goes and parks the vehicle. Then the boat operator will pick up the vehicle driver on the river bank.
Capt Gordon Churchill is a full time flyfishing guide specializing in the spring striper run on the Roanoke River. You can check his website out at www.Flyfish-NC.com. For up to date fishing reports and even more information you can email him at captgordon@flyfish-nc.com
Roanoke River Three Step Streamer
This is a Deceiver style fly that is quick and easy to tie and catches fish besides. You don't feel so bad when you bust one off because it only takes about a minute or so to tie. I have also experimented with circle hooks on Roanoke stripers. While the circle hooks hold well and I never felt I missed strikes or lost fish due to the hook, I no longer use them for stripers on the Roanoke. The stripers eject the hook so quickly out their gills that the hook becomes embedded in the gillrakers. With a normal barbless hook it is an easy matter to cut the line and back the fly out through the gill opening. With a circle hook however the design of the hook makes the fly get hung up in the gills and it is extremely difficult at times to remove it. Anglers using flies for striped bass tied on circle hooks in other areas may have different experiences.
While there are no dedicated flyshops in the Roanoke River area there is The Tackle Box. Owned by Bobby Coslton. It is located in Gaston, which is a town just north of Roanoke Rapids. He will have emergency supplies for you in the way of tying materials and LC-13, if you didn’t bring your own. His number is 252-537-6485. Lodging in the area is easily accomodated. There is every chain motel imaginable in Roanoke Rapids, just off of I-95. There are two boat ramps on the river near the interstate. The main ramp that has deep water all the time is in the town of Weldon just east of Roanoke Rapids near the intersection of US highways 158 and 301. The other ramp which I do not recommend for first timers or when the water is lower, is in Gaston off of state highway 48.