A few of the first bluefin tuna of 2020 have been taken offshore and surf fishermen are getting results in Hatteras as winter marches on along the Outer Banks.

Chloe Givens of Oceans East Bait and Tackle in Nags Head confirmed Thursday that Buxton is the place to be to go wet a line in the surf.

“Buxton’s been the better bite,” she said and noted stripers are being caught around bridges.

The tackle shop’s online fishing report included a terrific photo of Kyle Shipp laying down next to a massive bluefin in the cockpit of the Short Rigger.

The vessel, a 57 foot Bobby Sullivan Custom Carolina Sportfisherman, is running out of Pirate’s Cove.

Givens also reported a mixed bag of catches on the Pinwheel of Wicked Tuna Outer Banks fame.

“They had an eighty-pound bigeye, a ninety-inch bluefin and a swordfish,” she said.

The tackle store staff has also heard rumors of yellowfin and blackfin catches out of Hatteras, but they had not confirmed the reports yet.

Sea Breeze mate George Cecil was home tying sea witches for next season Thursday morning when he confirmed bluefin fishing was slowly warming up.

“The bluefin are trickling in . . . should be coming on in the next two or three weeks, I think,” he said.

These giants run anywhere from 7.5 to 11-foot long from head to the tip of the tail and weigh 300 hundred to 1,000 pounds.

Cecil said they’ve got charters on Feb. 21-22 and the first three weeks of March booked with a returning crew from Japan.

Sushi anyone?

If you have some fishing news and/or photos, please send them to obxfishnews@gmail.com.

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