Rockfish (Striped Bass ) Capital of the World! The Roanoke River at Weldon, NC

Rockfish capital of the World.  The Roanoke River at Weldon, NC

That's what they call the Roanoke River around Weldon this time of year. Its a  love hate relationship.

You love it because you can usually go and catch all you want , and you hate it because of the crowds and the knukleheads on the water.

My first introduction to The Roanoke was in the eighties when my Brother -in -law Jerry invited me on a trip to the Roanoke for some Rockfish. Locals do not call these fish stripers. They are Rockfish or "Rock" for short , not Stripers.

Now I couldn't turn down this trip as though I am a little biased,  Jerry was known around the Roanoke as the  best rockfish guide around(now retired). He was guiding Supreme Court Justices on this river before today's guides probably had even caught a fish.  Jerry was a member of Halifax Fish Camp, a private ramp aprox 10 miles below Weldon and where Jerry taught me most of what I know about catching Rock in rivers which is a tiny fraction of what he knows.

Jerry's two main techniques were to drift with a big splitshot about a foot above a hook, and to anchor and fish a 3 way rig.  The bait of choice was a shad that he would catch at the Fifth Street ramp where he would throw his net right up against the dam or the Thelma ramp where he would run up to Gaston dam and net them.

Though I have fished it countless times since then with him or my good Friend Kurt I now only fish it occasionally for Rockfish as I cant stand the traffic there.  I fish the Roanoke more for Shad , Catfish, and Bass after the crowds are gone.
Since I have only canoes I have developed a system for my Scanoe which works quite well there. I don't have to wait in line at the ramp as I can unload and load my Scanoe into the cove above the ramp. I cant use shad so I use a cooler with big bass minnows and these do well, though not as good as shad.

The "Big Bubbles" works very well and yesterday I had no minnows that died out of 5 dozen. I also have an aerator that runs off of 12 volts and shoots jets of water into the cooler but this setup works well for  under 6 dozen.
I have also refined my technique a little bit and my go to rig for drifting and anchored is a "baitwalker" with a leader 1/2 the strength of the main line. This way I have never lost a Baitwalker.  Here is a Baitwalker.

If you look closely there is something white on the hook at the minnows lips. This "something" is a piece of floating white trick worm that i put on there. This keeps the minnow from getting off the hook as now Regulations say you cannot have a barb on your hook this time of year and if you don't do something like this you will lose a lot of bait.

On April 23, 2011 my son and I headed to Weldon for some Rockfish. Water was at 12000 cfm's and water temp was 64 degrees.  On the water at 3 and off at 9pm.  My outfit would be a Abu garcia 6500 with a power handle loaded with 30 lb line and 15 lb leader on a white ugly stik. My sons' outfit would be a Shimano 3500 baitrunner loaded with 17 lb line and using a 12 lb leader on a black ugly stik. Our back up rod and reel would be a Daiwa Millionaire on an ugly stik lite rod.
Here is a video of my son and I headed downriver from the ramp.

Upon reaching my first section to drift we got to speak with 2 guys from Rocky Mount  drifting with us and they had caught 18 since 6 am this morning. Not a good sign. No fish were caught and we saw none caught until aprx 5:30 when it seemed like someone turned the switch to on.  Here is the first of the day.

My first of the day, a keeper. Gona be good with cole slaw!

another keeper

Another one of my sons many.

A short video of him catching the above fish.

And last a video of the trip back up river.....

No monsters caught today and only a few keepers as most were 17-18 inches just below legal size. I only kept 1 as several were just over legal size and I was afraid they may shrink a little so I released them instead of paying a 500 dollar fine. Warning: The wardens will check you as you leave as they write alot of tickets during the striper run at weldon.

A big thanks to Jerry for teaching me a little of what you know about the Roanoke.  I have also used some of Jerry's techniques on the Neuse where they work for Rock and catfish. After leaving we went by the outlaws....oops, I meant in-laws and had some good country ham......Thanks me-maw..........Mack

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