Pamlico – July 24, 2014
Ray Dubiel, of Carnegie, PA, with an upper-slot red drum that bit a D.O.A. soft plastic bait in the lower Neuse River near Oriental while he was fishing with his son, Capt. Gary Dubiel of Spec Fever Guide Service.
Isaiah, of East Side Bait and Tackle, reports that anglers are starting to see some solid flounder and speckled trout action around Swan Quarter and Englehard, with some reports coming in from Fishing Creek and the Pungo as well. Gulp and Z-Man soft baits are fooling both.
Tarpon and citation-class red drum have shown up along the inner banks, and anglers are seeing a few between Willow and Pamlico points and around the Pungo Reef. The action has been a bit better to the south around the mouth of the Neuse. Large cut and dead baits on the bottom will fool both big fish, and anglers are also chasing the large reds with soft plastic baits under popping corks.
Mitch, of FishIBX.com, reports that anglers are still seeing some decent speckled trout and flounder action along NC’s Inner Banks, but the prime focus has shifted to bigger game—tarpon and citation-class red drum.
Cora Ogden, of Wake Forest, NC, with a striped bass that she hooked on a topwater plug in the Neuse River near New Bern. She was fishing with her husband and Capt. Ashley King of Keep Castin’ Charters.
The tarpon have been scattered in the Pamlico River and western sound and aren’t in a large concentration yet, but there’s plenty of bait around and more fish should be moving into the area in the wake of this month’s full moon. Large dead and cut baits fished on the bottom are the way to hook up with the “silver kings.”
The big reds have also been a bit tough to pattern due to all the NE wind last week, but anglers are releasing a few and that bite should improve as well in the coming days. The big reds will bite large cut baits along with swimbaits and other outsized artificials.
Gary, of Spec Fever Guide Service, reports that there’s still plenty of puppy drum, speckled trout, and flounder feeding along the shorelines of the lower Neuse River. Anglers are hooking a few specks and reds on topwater plugs, but most of the action has been on D.O.A. Shrimp and CAL soft plastics fished on jigheads and beneath popping corks.
The strong winds lately have made finding the big “old” drum a bit tough, but anglers are releasing a few and the bite will only get better in the coming days and weeks.
Anglers are seeing some excellent topwater striped bass action around the stump fields and other shoreline structure near New Bern, particularly during the NE blows. The surface bite’s been best in the early morning and late evening hours. Working D.O.A. shrimp down in the water column is producing action with the stripers when the topwater bite slows.
Dave, of Knee Deep Custom Charters, reports that anglers are connecting with solid numbers of slot-sized puppy drum and speckled trout while fishing the shorelines of the lower Neuse River and in the nearby creeks and bays. Most of the fish are falling for D.O.A. soft plastics under popping corks and on jigheads. Live mud minnows are also producing results, particularly when the fish are reluctant to bite the artificials.
There’s still some solid striped bass action in the upper Neuse near New Bern, with big numbers of fish falling for topwater plugs like Storm Chug Bugs along the shorelines in the area. Soft plastics like D.O.A. Airheads on weedless hooks are tempting the stripers to bite as well.
