WELDON — A 95-to-5 ratio of male striped bass to female striped bass. For anglers, it’s a ratio that promises good fishing in terms of numbers, but slim pickings in terms of landing a trophy striper.

Nonetheless, those are the numbers that striped bass anglers are dealing with this week on the Roanoke River at Weldon, according to Chad Thomas, coastal region fisheries research coordinator for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. Thomas conducted on Monday electrofishing sampling on the upper stretches of the Roanoke.

Check current river conditions at Roanoke Rapids

Check current river conditions at Williamston

“As the temperatures warm, we anticipate the ratios will change,” Thomas said. “It never favors females, but at some point in the season, it will approach 50 percent. But it’s still early. The cool spring delayed the spawning activity this year. We are seeing a good number of fish up here as a result of the increased flow.”

Thomas said that he found most of these male striped bass ranging from 18 to 22 inches, with the exception of a 36-incher that the Wildlife Commission had captured, tagged and released last year.

Catch rates of striped bass were lower than what Thomas said he expected to see in two or three weeks.

“We worked several stations where we didn’t find any striped bass,” Thomas said. “That’s proof positive that the fish still aren’t here in great numbers yet.”

In addition to capturing striped bass while sampling fish, Thomas said he encountered hickory and American shad.

“The striped bass are here, but they appear to be spread out,” Thomas said. “It’s kind of a transition now with the hickory shad going back down river and the American shad and striped bass migrating up river.”

Thomas said that he observed anglers fishing from the power lines below the Weldon boat ramp to an area that locals called “the gap,” a narrow section of the river about one-half mile down river from I-95 bridge.

Mostly male striped bass are being caught this week from the Roanoke River near Weldon, but the fishing has still been very productive.

Bobby Colston, owner of Colston’s Tackle Box on near Gaston, said “the gap” was one of the better places to fish for striped bass this week.

“My son fished Saturday afternoon in ‘the gap’ using Sassy Shads and he caught 28 stripers between 17 and 28 inches,” Colston said. “He fished only with artificials to catch those fish.”

Colston said that some anglers are fishing large minnows and cut bait to reel in stripers. In addition, blueback herring have appeared in the upper stretches of the Roanoke near the Highway 48 bridge.

“The striped bass are stacked near the I-95 bridge and down river from there,” Colston said. “People are catching blueback herring on Sabiki rigs by the 48 bridge, and then going back down river to fish for stripers. If you know the river well, you can ride down, but the best way is to go is to drive down to Weldon and put in there because around the 95 bridge it’s real shallow and there are some big rocks.”

Colston suggested that fly rodders use Clousers or Half-and-Halfs on sinking line. Cast up river and let the fly sink to the bottom before stripping in the fly. Use Clousers in chartreuse and white or solid white or solid chartreuse. A red-and-white Clouser can be a good change of pace, Colston said.

For anglers using spinning or baitcasting gear, Colston said that chartreuse bucktails, Sassy Shads in pearl with a black back, and Flukes in albino shad or blue glimmer are producing well. Silver Stingsilvers are enticing strikes from stripers too, Colston said.

“I haven’t heard of any spawning activity yet, but as soon as the water warms up a little, you’ll be able to catch fish on topwater baits,” Colston said. “I really think the striper fishing is starting to peak right now. The next three weeks are going to be the prime times to fish.”

Check out the Guide to "Fishing for Striped Bass on the Roanoke River" for other information.
 

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