While the secret has been kept fairly well for a few years, the information of consistently good catches of kings and numerous other species of fish has leaked, and quite a few fishermen are learning about a huge artificial reef just east of the Cape Fear Sea Buoy off Southport, N.C.
The Wilmington Offshore Fisheries Enhancement Structure (WOFES) is the largest artificial reef off the North Carolina Coast and one of the largest in the entire United States. While it is located only a few miles from the Cape Fear River Inlet and the Cape Fear Sea Buoy, until recently only a small handful of fishermen were aware of the presence of this mammoth artificial reef.
Even some of the fishermen who know of the existence and location of the WOFES have never sampled the variety of fish that inhabit this rather unique spot. The fish don’t mind; they just move about on the huge L-shaped structure that always provides a lee from swells and a breakwater from the current. This structure is so large that some of the smaller fish have homes away from home on the same reef.
The WOFES began attracting fish even while it was being constructed, which is a good thing, as only roughly half of the original design has been filled with rubble. It became known to a number of fishermen during a U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament several years ago, where it was home to a hot bite. Being close enough to several other well-known king mackerel spots in the area, radio conversations were overheard, and the growing number of boats was noticed. Almost all the large kings caught the second day of that tournament came from the WOFES.
I heard some of the radio conversations that day and knew what anglers were talking about, even though they were trying to disguise the conversations. I would have loved to have heard some of the cell phone calls from people who got there, saw how good the bite was and tried to pass the information on to their friends. I can only imagine they were excited and sounded something like this: “The bite is hot at 33 degrees 47.33 minutes north latitude and 78 degrees 1.33 minutes west longitude, and there are some big fish. No, I don’t know what it’s called. There’s nothing on the chart, but you need to get here right now!”
Several Southport charter captains call it one of the best places out the Cape Fear River to catch gray trout. Captain Butch Foster said during the fall and early winter, jigging a Haw River Tackle Stingsilver or speck rig along the WOFES will usually result in filled limits of black sea bass, large gray trout and even an occasional flounder. As the WOFES becomes better known, other area guides and knowledgeable fishermen are also confessing to success in the area.
Redfish, flounder, whiting, spadefish, Spanish mackerel, cobia, tarpon and king mackerel are being caught at the WOFES during different times of the year. The reef is very large, and sometimes it takes a while to locate a school of fish, but generally the catches have been good and the crowds small. Those lips that had been zipped shut for years are finally extolling the good habitat and fishery of this unique reef. Thankfully, this is an area that can accommodate a crowd.
WOFES details
While the WOFES is an artificial reef, it is not a part of the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries artificial-reef program and, therefore, doesn’t have either a buoy or an AR number. It is finally appearing on most nautical charts of the area, but, even after being around since 1994, it is still more of a mystery than anything. The charts show the permitted area, but only part of it has received material.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed the WOFES project. With this unique idea, the Corps seized an opportunity and turned huge quantities of naturally occurring ocean rock, which needed to be removed from the Cape Fear River Channel, from a channel-blocking liability to a very creative marine-habitat enhancement.
The rock that comprises the WOFES was at the bottom of the Cape Fear River Inlet Channel and was preventing the North Carolina State Ports Authority at Wilmington from servicing larger ships. Larger ships were the increasing trend in ocean transport, and the channel had to be made deeper.
The rock strata at the bottom of the Cape Fear River Channel created a duplex problem. First, it had to be removed; second, it had to be put somewhere that was out of the way and not disturbing anything.
The story of the problems with the depth of the Cape Fear River Channel is a long one. It started when ships began increasing in size approximately 45 years ago. However, the solutions to both problems were rather creative and have been touted as a model for similar situations along the U.S. coastline.
The first project to deepen the Wilmington Harbor Ocean Bar Channel (WHOBC) was authorized in 1962. This project was to deepen the channel from 35 feet to 40 feet. However, even this initial project was not possible due to rock obstructions.
The depth constraints of the Cape Fear River Channel prevented the Wilmington Port from servicing larger ships, and their numbers were growing. For a while, the river pilots and port worked around the problem, using the average high tide of 5 feet to get larger and deeper ships up the river to the port. Eventually, the ships became so large that this would not always work, and the Corps had to find a way to correct the problem.
In researching and planning the WHOBC project, numerous environmental concerns were addressed, and two major environmental bonuses were implemented.
The initial plan was to remove the rock obstructions by extensive blasting, but it was not implemented. It was replaced with a plan that emphasized using a dredge, with replaceable cutter heads of hardened steel that could cut through rock.
The second change involved an inventive plan of using the rocky material (mostly Castle Hayne Limestone) for constructing a reef-like fishery-enhancement site. This was the plan that created the WOFES.
The WOFES plan, developed by a team of innovative engineers headed by Phil Payonk of the Wilmington District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office, called for moving the excavated rock a short distance from the channel and using it to build an artificial reef, but with naturally occurring materials. Their forethought immediately redirected large quantities of naturally occurring ocean rock from becoming a major liability to becoming a significant fishery enhancement.
“The engineers and developers of the WOFES project consulted with every user group they could identify regarding potential impacts on the area and the user groups,” Payonk said.
The user groups included commercial fishermen, shrimpers, recreational fishermen and shipping interests. As the user concerns were addressed and satisfied, the WOFES project began to build momentum. It also gathered widespread support from state and federal agencies and environmental groups.
“There is no doubt the public involvement shaped and improved the WOFES project, as well as aided in its environmental approval,” Payonk added.
As is the case with any sizeable project, especially of a marine nature, cost was a major concern. Potential contractors were asked to submit two bids. One was for the project, using random deposits in the current Wilmington Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site (ODMDS), and the other to transport and position the materials on the WOFES site, which was several miles away.
To the amazement of Payonk and the WOFES planning team, the additional cost of constructing the WOFES was only $14,000 more than disposing of the dredged materials in the ODMDS. The total cost of the WOFES project added less than three-tenths of 1 percent to the overall project cost.
Payonk and team didn’t have to look far to find a sponsoring partner for the small extra cost of the WOFES project. The North Carolina State Ports Authority and the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources eagerly joined with the Corps to support the project.
Construction began
Dredging of the channel and construction of the WOFES began in October 1994. This round of dredging and the initial phase of the WOFES project ended in 1997 with just over half the permitted area covered.
At that time, the ongoing plan was for rock removed during future dredging projects to supply materials to complete the WOFES. However, due to improvements in ocean seismology and a surprising discovery, this part of the plan may be in jeopardy.
Several years after the first phase of the WOFES ended, there was a call to deepen the channel several more feet. New sonar technologies allowed for a seismic survey of the ocean bottom at the Cape Fear River Inlet. During this survey, the engineers discovered the rock strata comprising the bottom of the Cape Fear River Channel ended just a little east of the location of the existing channel.
The engineers found the channel could be relocated to the softer bottom quicker and with less expense than it could be deepened through the rock. A new plan was developed, and the Cape Fear River Inlet Channel was moved.
As this project did not involve dredging through rock, there was no more rock to add to the WOFES. Future maintenance dredging is no longer expected to encounter significant amounts of rock. The WOFES may be as large as it will ever become, but make no mistake, it is already huge.
The Cape Fear River Channel was relocated to the east and passes within a mile of the WOFES. This 50-foot-deep channel is just west of the WOFES and just east of the ODMDS. The Cape Fear Sea Buoy is now located approximately 1 1/2 miles east of its former position. Some charts have been updated to show the new location of this channel, but many continue to show its former position.
Many area fishermen are enthusiastic about the new channel and its proximity to the WOFES. Of course, they like having the deeper channel for safer navigation, but most also feel the increased water flow will add to the good fishing that has already been developing around WOFES.
A multidisciplinary team was formed to determine the final shape and location of the WOFES. Members of this team ranged from commercial and recreational fishermen who use the proposed area, to the U.S. Army Engineer Coastal Research and Development Center and Environmental Laboratory in Vicksburg, Miss.
The plan they developed had several unique and diverse features. The main purpose of the WOFES was to provide marine habitat and attract fish. Other requirements included that it must be stable in the ocean-wave environment; have adequate navigational clearances; not impact nearby commercial fishing and shrimping grounds; have no impact on sensitive marine resources in the area; and construction costs had to be minimized.
The WOFES met these requirements with ease. The largest concern was vulnerability to a hurricane strike, but the WOFES has already survived four direct hits and several glancing blows by hurricanes.
Size and placement
The bottom depth around the WOFES ranges from 40 to 45 feet. While initially planned as a roughly U-shaped structure with three distinct legs, the dredging project was completed before enough rock was obtained for completion. The resulting structure has an L shape. The “A” leg, which runs northeast/southwest, is more than 90 percent complete, and the “B” leg, which runs northwest/southeast, is approximately 65 percent complete. No rock was placed on the “C” leg.
The rock material that makes up the WOFES ranges from roughly the size of a basketball, down to the size of a golf ball. This diversity of size is important in several ways. Most important to the fish and fishermen is that it makes for a wide range of habitat, with different-sized cracks and crevasses. Also important to the engineers is the varying sizes created an inherent stability in the structure. The rock used on the WOFES is limestone, which is naturally porous. It resembles the marl rock that is occasionally used on secondary roads and driveways.
The WOFES was designed and constructed with its legs at a 90-degree angle. Regardless of swell and current direction, there will always be protected areas for the smaller fish. For navigational clearance, the WOFES was designed to extend off the bottom as high as possible while remaining a minimum of 25 feet below mean low water.
The slope of the sides of the WOFES is gradual and averages about 1 foot of vertical rise for every 15 to 20 feet of horizontal width. This slope is not significant for land, but creates an excellent combination of stability and habitat for an oceanic structure of this kind.
Obviously, the greatest height of the WOFES is located through the center lines of the legs. The bulk of the rock is located within 300 feet of each side of the centerline. However, there is an apron of rock material that extends to 500 feet or more to each side of the centerline. This creates an enhanced width of roughly 1,000 feet, with the center 600 feet holding the most significant elevation changes.
The “A” leg is the longest. It has a footprint of approximately 1 nautical mile, and there is significant height for approximately 5,000 feet. The southwest end of this leg is at approximately 33 degrees 47.75 minutes north latitude and 78 degrees 2.2 minutes west longitude. It extends generally northeast from there to a farthest point of approximately 33 degrees 47.21 minutes north latitude and 78 degrees 1.39 minutes west longitude.
The “B” leg was under construction when the dredging ended and has not been completed. It currently runs for approximately 2,000 feet. The northwest end of leg “B” is at approximately 33 degrees 47.5 minutes north latitude and 78 degrees 1.5 minutes west longitude. It extends generally to the southeast until it intersects with leg “A” at approximately 33 degrees 47.33 minutes north latitude and 78 degrees 1.33 minutes west longitude.
The coordinates given above must be noted as approximate locations due to the sheer size and footprint of the structure. It is very difficult for most fishermen to comprehend just how large this structure is and how much ocean bottom it covers. A random diagonal cross section of the elevation changes of either leg will cover a minimum of 600 feet and may exceed 1,000 feet.
The tremendous size of this reef is best understood with examples most people can comprehend. Using the minimum width of 600 feet and a maximum width of 1,000 feet, the legs are as wide as two football fields (end to end) at their narrowest point and are just over three football fields (end to end) wide for most of their length. The “A” leg covers an area that is roughly equal to 100 football fields while the smaller “B” leg covers roughly 40 football fields.
Another reference point for the tremendous size of the WOFES is the amount of material it contains. There are approximately 1 million cubic yards of limestone rock fragments and another half a million cubic yards of sand, silt, clay and shell fragments. Large dump trucks, which are common in highway construction, have a capacity of 12 cubic yards. With this capacity, there are 125,000 dump-truck loads deposited on the WOFES.
In the past few years, the WOFES has begun to appear on most nautical charts of the Cape Fear area. Unfortunately, it is shown as it was permitted and not as it currently is. The WOFES has been surveyed and will appear on the next update of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) charts for southeastern North Carolina. It is also shown on the newer Navionics and C-MapNT electronic chart cards. Its actual shape is more of an upside-down L than the U noted on the charts.
Pay attention as you are trying to locate the WOFES. The slope is gradual, and you may find yourself partially up the slope before realizing the water is getting shallower. If you already have baits out, you may find yourself saving the location of strikes and then trying to figure out where you were. It’s happened before, but more and more fishermen are finding out about the WOFES and the good fishing there.
A bathymetric anomaly
Somewhere in the numerous pages of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ documents I found while researching the Wilmington Offshore Fisheries Enhancement Structure, someone referred to it as a bathymetric anomaly. After reading that, the term “artificial reef” no longer adequately describes the WOFES. Yes, it is man-made, but it is constructed with natural oceanic materials that were only moved a few miles.
Bathymetric anomaly, which is scientific wording for a rise, ledge or other irregularity in the ocean floor, works for me in describing the WOFES. This is a unique project, and it deserves a description that sets it apart from other man-made reefs.
But, all fishermen really need to know is the WOFES is a huge underwater structure located just a few miles off the beach out of the Cape Fear River Inlet and that it has become a focal point of one of the most productive kingfishing areas along the kingfish-rich North Carolina coast.
