By John Reese
The Elizabeth River and Currituck Sound are starting to come back to life. John Ermalinski and I fished one warm mid-week evening (Wednesday,17th or Thursday, 18th) and caught a few perch. All were females and loaded with roe. Some were in the 11” range and John caught one just over 12”.
Warren Reese, John E, and I went out on Saturday, the 20th and caught a few more but the perch had not yet turned on and we couldn’t find the drum even though Warren had caught a 12” one evening.
Charlie Adams, Mark Stephens, John Ermalinski, and I fished the Elizabeth on Saturday, April 27th. It was cold and windy. We fished from Turkey Island to the Gilmerton. The fish were scarce, but we did manage to put 18 perch in the box. No drum or stripers were caught.
Wednesday, May 1st, John Ermalinski, Gary Bryan, and I went to Knotts Island and fished the Currituck Sound from Gary’s boat. Gary has a 20’ Carolina Skiff with Live View and Side Scan. Over a five-hour period, we caught 4 flounder, 2 red drum, 4 perch, and numerous catfish. We used gulp, shrimp on beetle spins, and nightcrawlers. It was slow and many of the holes we normally fish were non-productive.
We have reports the black drum and flounder bite have been excellent on the Eastern Shore.
The water temperature has been 61/65 degrees on all the trips listed above.
Happy Fishing,
John Reese
