Fishing  >  Learn/Resources  >  Fisheries Reports  >  Coastal Rivers Fisheries Reports  >  041114_TR

BASIC INFO:

River sampled:

Tar River

 

Fisheries Biologists conducting sampling:

Kirk Rundle, Bill Collart, Chris Braddy (DMF)

 

Date of sample:

4/10/2014       

 

Area(s) of river sampled, and water temps:

From dam at Battle Park to the Route 64 bridge just above “little falls”

 

Water temperature was 14 C, approximately 58 F

 

Boat ramp(s) used to access river:

Battle Park

 

Species (spp) information:

·         Spp. captured:

American Shad and Striped Bass

 

·         Numbers by spp:

50 American Shad, 1 Striped Bass

 

·         Size range by spp:

American Shad ~ 15-22”; Striped Bass 23”

 

·         Max size for spp:

American Shad – Female ~ 3 pounds; Striped Bass ~ 4 pounds

 

·         Sex ratio by spp:

American Shad ~ 50 % females; Striped Bass was a male

 

·         Were the fish tagged?

Yes, ~ 10 American Shad were tagged by DMF as part of a telemetry study to track their movement patterns.

 

 

ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS:

River level and other water quality observations (turbity, etc.):

 

At time of sampling, the Tar River was considerably high and very turbid.  With considerable rain last Monday, the river was rising in the Rocky Mount and Tarboro area. 

 

Weather conditions on sampling date?

 

Warm and sunny.

 

Your observations of other people fishing on the river:

 

There were no anglers observed fishing during our sampling, as conditions were rather tough for fishing with the high water.

 

Comments to anglers about your sampling results, and fishing-related conclusions that can be drawn from your data:

 

After the river drops a bit, anglers targeting Hickory Shad should try fishing in the vicinity of Swift Creek, while anglers targeting American or “white” Shad should try fishing in the vicinity of Battle Park or near the Hwy 97 canoe access area.  We did sample one Striped Bass and observed a couple more striped bass while sampling shad. 

 

 

CREEL SURVEY UPDATE: March 30 to April 6

 

Upper Region (Rocky Mount to Greenville)

Fishing Activity: Water level was still relatively high but beginning to fall. Fishing was slow –about one hickory shad per hour. Battle Park was closed during the week due to high water. At the Highway 97 pipe, (canoe access) many American shad were spotted swimming, but they were slow to take the bait. No stripers were observed, but a couple of keepers were reported at Old Sparta.

 

Lower Region (Greenville to Washington)

Fishing Activity: The nice weather had most folks out recreational boating. Striper catches were slow with only a few landed. However, the speckled trout bite was pretty heavy from Goose Creek downstream. A few anglers reported speckled trout weighing up to 4 pounds, and successful anglers reported a lot of speckled trout releases.

 

 

  Back to Coastal Rivers Fisheries Reports

Chris Braddy with DMF holds a Tar River American Shad, while Bill Collart checks water temperature near the Battle Park boat ramp in Rocky Mount.