The striped bass fishing season in the Roanoke River has been suspended in what state wildlife officials say is a necessary move because the population has not improved despite previous harvest reductions.
The striped bass hook-and-line harvest season in the Roanoke River Management Area, which runs March 1 to April 30, includes the river, its tributaries from Roanoke Rapids Dam to the Albemarle Sound, and the Cashie, Middle and Eastmost rivers.
Supporter Spotlight
Reductions have been made in the Roanoke River’s striped bass harvest over the past three years, but the “population has shown little improvement,” according to a North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission release.
“In 2024, NCWRC biologists observed a continuance of the declining trend in abundance of striped bass during the spawning grounds survey,” the release states. “Low abundance and the impacts of high mortality have resulted in poor spawning success over the past seven years, even when Roanoke River conditions were considered optimal for spawning.”
The agency is working with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries to address the declines of striped bass stock in the Roanoke River and the Albemarle Sound.
Striped bass caught in inland and joint waters of the Roanoke River Management Area must be immediately returned to the waters where taken.
Striped bass in the river upstream of U.S. Highway 258 bridge near Scotland Neck in Halifax County may be fished using only a single barbless circle hook with the use of live or natural bait or a single barbless hook, either no barb or the barb is bent downward, with the use of tackle between April 1 to June 30.
Supporter Spotlight
Ben Ricks, the commission’s coastal region fishery supervisor said the striped bass population reductions in the Roanoke River are concerning.
“We are working to understand the mechanisms that have led to the decline in the striped bass populations in the Roanoke River and Albemarle Sound,” Ricks said in a release. “We will also continue to stock striped bass this year in the lower Roanoke River and Albemarle Sound in cooperation with the DMF. We will assess stocking efficacy as striped bass return to the spawning grounds over the next three-to-five years.”
Wildlife officials will assess the next striped bass harvest season before the March 1, 2026 opening. Additional information is available on commission’s striped bass species web page.
