Fishing in the Lower Roanoke this past week was a new picture compared to the previous week.

The lower Roanoke River striped bass decided to show face again. This has been the best fishing this month by far with some larger fish hooking up on the lines. The surface water temperature in the current registered 65 degrees according to my finder and the water was on a slow fall the later part of the week which created a perfect pattern. People fishing live bait and cut bait still reported a slow bite but the artificial lures were a different story for me.

What I did notice, however, was that the fish were in small schools and scattered which, in my opinion, makes casting the more effective way to fish.

Largemouth Bass have also been working the baitfish over with the stripers so look for running bait and the correct presentation will land a mixed bag of fun fishing.

We've also landed several southern flounder in the river which is a little outside the norm for this area  and I've talked to several people in passing that have reported the bream are starting to turn on, as well.

In all: fishing's good, weather's good, nature's good, life's good, and it's a good day to be on the Roanoke.