Striped bass season opens on the Roanoke River today!

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will open the entire Roanoke River Management Area to striped bass harvest from March 1 through April 30, unless closed or extended through proclamation. The Roanoke River Management Area includes the Roanoke River and tributaries from Roanoke Rapids Lake Dam downstream to Albemarle Sound, including the Cashie, Middle and Eastmost rivers.

The daily creel limit within the Roanoke River Management Area is two striped bass per angler. The minimum length limit is 18 inches, and no striped bass between 22 and 27 inches can be possessed at any time. Only one striped bass larger than 27 inches can be included in the daily creel limit.

Anglers are required to use a single barbless hook or a lure with a single barbless hook when fishing in the upper Roanoke River from April 1 through June 30. The upper Roanoke River is defined as the main river channel and all tributaries, upstream from the U.S. Highway 258 Bridge near Scotland Neck to Roanoke Rapids Lake Dam.

Additionally, anglers cannot possess river herring (blueback herring and alewife) greater than six inches, regardless of origin, while fishing in or boating on the Roanoke River downstream of Roanoke Rapids Dam, its tributaries and the Albemarle Sound.

From early March until the end of May, the Commission will post online weekly fisheries reports from the Roanoke River and also the Tar, Neuse and Cape Fear rivers. These sampling updates will be supplemented with information on striped bass fishing and boating access areas on the Commission’s fishing page.