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BASIC INFO:

River sampled:

Tar River

 

Fisheries Biologists conducting sampling:

Kirk Rundle and Bill Collart

 

Date of sample:

4/16/2014      

 

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

From Swift Creek downstream to Fishing Creek

 

Water temperature was 15 C, approximately 60 F

 

Boat ramp(s) used to access river:

WRC Bell’s Bridge boat ramp

 

Species (spp) information:

·         Spp. captured:

   American Shad and Striped Bass

 

·         Numbers by spp:

          12 American Shad, 15 Striped Bass

 

·         Size range by spp:

          American Shad ~ 16-22”; Striped Bass ~ 19-25”

 

·         Max size for spp:


    American Shad – Female ~ 3 pounds; Striped Bass – Male ~ 7 pounds

 

·         Sex ratio by spp:

          Americans ~ 50 % females; Striped Bass – All males

 

·         Were the fish tagged?

          Yes, the striped bass were tagged with yellow Division of Marine Fisheries anchor tags

 

ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS:

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

 

At time of sampling, Tar River was considerably high and very turbid.  With considerable rain on Tuesday the river is still rising in the Rocky Mount and Tarboro area.  It should be back to moderate levels in the Rocky Mount area by Saturday or Sunday.

 

Weather conditions on sampling date? Cold 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 American or “white” shad should try fishing in the vicinity of Battle Park or near the Hwy. 97 canoe access area, yet should be able to find fish downstream to Tarboro.  We sampled relatively few striped bass due to difficult sampling conditions, yet the striped bass fishing should be picking up between Rocky Mount and Tarboro, particularly as the river drops to more suitable levels.

 

Creel Survey Observations: Week of April 7 to April 14

 

Upper Region (Rocky Mount to Greenville)

 

Fishing Activity: Water level was still relatively high but beginning to fall. Fishing was slow, and only a few shad (hickory or American) were observed. No stripers were observed but a couple of keepers were anecdotally reported from the Tarboro area.

 

Lower Region (Greenville to Washington)

 

Fishing Activity: The nice weather had most folks out recreational boating. Striper catches slowed up a bit in this region. There were a lot of reports of undersized striped bass.  The real surprise came from anglers catching spotted seatrout. In the coastal creeks anglers reported catching dozens of fish on every outing. The spotted seatrout season is closed until June 15, but fish up to 25 inches were reported.

 

 

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Fisheries Biologist Kirk Rundle holds a striped bass sampled from the Tar River on April 16, 2014.