Pamlico/Neuse River – April 2024
Donald, of Custom Marine Fabrication, reports that red drum are still starting to work their way into the rivers. Anglers should be on the lookout for the arrival of bait schools in the main river, as this is usually the biggest tell that the red drum bite is about to fire off.
Speckled trout action has been a little slow as these fish start to transition out of their winter creeks and move towards and into the main river. The fluctuations in weather will have the trout a bit confused and moving a bunch until conditions start to stabilize.
Brad, of Gunny B Outdoors, reports that a warm weather front got the speckled trout on the move, just for another early spring front to move through and shut it down. This pattern can be typical for this time of year, and anglers will do best moving around to find where the schools are settled for the day. If the area gets a run of warmer water, look closer to creek mouths and even out into the river. After a cold front, look back up the creeks and/or in a nearby hole.
Red drum have started making a decent push into the river as they move in from the ocean. Anglers will do well focusing on points, structure, and flats on the river shorelines. The 3” and 4” paddle tails have been great search baits, and anglers throwing twitch baits for trout are also getting strikes from the redfish.
Striped bass will be mixed in around structure.
Darin Wise, of Havelock, caught and released this speckled trout in the Neuse River using a Z-Man soft plastic.
Dave, of Pamlico Pirate Charters, reports that speckled trout action has been centered around the New Bern area, but lately the action has been firing up downriver as well. These trout are staging up more toward the middle and mouths of creeks. Suspending lures such as Paul Browns or MirrOlure MR-17s are still best, with the top tactic continuing to be fish slowly with long pauses upon retrieve.
Striped bass are being caught around New Bern, and they’re staged up around stump structure in the main river and inside creeks.
A few puppy and slot-sized reds have shown up in the same areas.
Kent, of East Side Bait and Tackle, reports that speckled trout will spend the next few weeks transitioning between the deeper holes and nearby flats. Baits with a quicker action than the wintertime MirrOlure game will start to see more success. This can vary anywhere from popping corks and lightly weighted soft plastics to topwater plugs.
Red drum will start to mix in in better numbers as they continue to push into the area from the beach.
The spring shad bite was going really strong right up until that last rain swelled the Tar River.
Striped bass fishing has been good upriver. Anglers are using heavier weighted jig heads (1/2-1 oz.) rigged with soft plastics to target these schools staged up against ledges or along turns in the river. White or chartreuse has been the preferred color pattern.
Mitchell, of FishIBX, reports that shad are being targeted up the Tar and Neuse rivers with light weight setups and small grubs.
Striped bass have mostly held on ledges off the shorelines, and they’re striking at soft plastic swimbaits.
The lower river areas are seeing trout on the move from their wintering holes. Soft plastics rigged on lighter jig heads have worked to entice strikes from these fish as they move more toward the creek mouths in anticipation of leaving the creeks in the coming weeks.
Hugh, of Pungo Charters, reports that speckled trout have started to move out of the backs of creeks and towards the main river. Anglers targeting trout over the next month should be able to consistently scout out the schools with topwater plugs, as warmer water temperatures have the trout more active. If the area falls back into a cooler weather pattern, anglers can stay on the trout by utilizing the same MirrOlures and similar hard suspending baits they used all winter long.
Anglers can also expect to see some red drum mixed in the action as they move in from the sounds.
Jenna Thigpen, of Kinston, reeled in this 6 lb. trout from the Neuse River near New Bern using a soft plastic. She was fishing with Capt. D. Ashley King of Keep Castin’ Charters.
Grey, of Hyde Guides, reports that striped bass action really started to fire off. Anglers finally found the bigger groups of fish as they worked through their spring migration patterns. The key has been to target the more open water areas, fishing stump fields and creek mouths. Most of the catches have been those schoolie-sized fish, but a good number of 6-15 pounders are in the mix. Typical of the spring striper bite, the soft plastic baits have been producing best. Z-Man paddle tails or jerk baits are having a lot of success. For anglers that prefer to fish hard baits, the Rapala X-Rap will entice strikes as well.
Speckled trout are still being found, with a quality size to the ones caught. Over the next few weeks, anglers may find this bite a little more difficult as the swings in the weather will have the trout moving all over the place.
Zach, of UFO Fishing Charters, reports that speckled trout action remains strong, with a really good quality of fish around. They’ve started to move out of the backs of creeks, and the changing of water temperature has anglers finding them all throughout the water column. Twitch baits work well, with soft plastics (and even topwaters) starting to get looks. In the coming weeks, start focusing efforts around the creek mouths as these fish start to push into the river.
Red drum are beginning to show up, and they’re hanging in the same creek locations as the trout.
Some striped bass are also mixed in the action. These fish are staged up around creek structures that also hold the larger trout.
