Evening star., 1962-04-08
AREAS DOWN BUT NOT OUT
First Channel Bass Open Hotteros Season
BY CHARLES COVELL
outdoor Editor of The star


36h pounds, respectively, in
HatteraS Inlet. They were fish
ing with cut mullet from Capt.
Edgar Styron'S charter boat,
Twins II.
Prior TO that. some striped
bass or rockfish had been
caught trolling in Croatan
Sound. but the channel bass
: arrival signaled the first real
saltwater fishing and started
a rush Of surf casters toward
the beaches. They were eager
to be the first to take a red
drum from the surf.
Questions Unanswered
Their success and the sue
cess this spring and summer
Of other anglers along all the
beaches smashed by the Ash
Wednesday storm will help to
answer a lot of questions about
its effect on marine life.
Will it hurt the fishing? DR..
Lionel Walford, director of the
Sandy Hook Marine Laboratory,
thinks not: that the fish took
to deep water and rode it out.
True, as regards offshore spe-
cies. but how about the clam,
oyster, mussel and worm beds
on which many fishes feed?
Certainly some must have been
Silted over or destroyed.
How, also. about the breed
ing grounds for the already
scarce croakerS and sea trout
at the mouth of Chesapeake
Bay? Although larval hard
head or croakers Matched in
the winter should have been
safe far up the bay, many
questions still are unanswered
about their drift.
Anglers Face Long Trip
Surf casters bound for Hat
teraS can get there but they
have a long, roundabout jour-
ney. Bridges across Currituck
Sound to Kitty Hawk, from
Manns Harbor to Manteo and
from Manteo to Whalebone on
Bodie Island were unchanged,
roads have been repaired so
that they are at least pasSable
and the ferries are operating.
But just north of the Bux-
ton woods on Cape Hatteras, a
new inlet was formed. 1t is 500
to 600 feet wide and 8 to IL feet
deep. State highway emergency
crews, working from both
shores, are putting in pilings
for a temporary. bridge.
The bridge is considered tenn
porary because, like the inlet
. that was cut across the Pea
Island Wildlife Refuge by a
storm in 1898. this one is ex-
pected to close by itself.
Target date for completion
is May 10 but if there are no
Interruptions, highway officials
think the bridge may be ready
as early as April 20.
Ferry Operates From Avon
When the storm hit, residents
of Frisco, Buxton and HatteraS
were isolated. Then ferry serv.
ice was established between
Avon, north of the new inlet,
and Hatteras Village.
Oregon Inlet ferries operate
on an hourly basis from 5 am.
until 6 pm. From Avon, the
ferry leaves for its two-and-a-
half-hour run at 9 and 10 am.
and 4 and S pm. The trips
from Hatteras Village are
scheduled at 6 and 7 am. and
/ and 2 pm.
The service to Engelhard
still is operating, the ferry
from Hatteras leaving at 8 am.
and from Engelhard at 2 pm.
From Hatteras, ferries also
are operating to Ocracoke on
a two-hour basis, starting from
Hatteras at $50 am. and con-
tinuing until $3.50 pm. De-
partures from Ocracoke start
at $50 pm. and continue un-
til 4::30 pm.
You also can take a ferry
from Ocracoke to Atlantic and
highways south. 1t leaves Ocra-
coke at 8 am. and Atlantic
at 2 pm. Tolls on this were
suspended for the duration of
the emergency. All other ferry
service is free.
Ready for Season
Whatever the spirit that
moves shore people to come
back time and again and re-
build the storm-wrecked ruins
of homes and business places,
it is there and the whole Outer
Banks says it will be ready
: for the new season.
The villages from Cape Point
to Hatteras Village, protected
by the elbow of Cape Hatteras,
escaped lightly except for flood
ing. The charter fleet of 10
boats at Hatteras is ready for
the channel bass now, firt
bluefish in late April and blue
marlin and other offShore Spe-
cies in Ma.
Up at Oregon Inlet, the
famous fishing center is a