Pamlico – March 23, 2017
Richie, of East Side Bait and Tackle, reports the bite has been slow, with both the cold and wind slowing the bite. There are, however, still a few scattered trout and rockfish in the area.
Those looking for trout are finding success with MirrOLures, specifically the MR17 series, and anglers are landing trout of various sizes.
The rockfish can be found in the deeper holes up in the river. Jigging soft plastics should connect with 14” fish, with some 18-22” fish mixed in.
Joseph Andrews and Matt Davenport, of Trenton, with a pair of stripers caught in the Trent River on Deep Diving X-Raps. They were fishing with Capt. D. Ashley King of Keep Castin’ Charters out of New Bern.
Gary, of Spec Fever Guide Service, reports that the fishing has been really good for the speckled trout in creeks off the lower river near Oriental. Soft plastics, alone or under a popping cork, are working well for the fish.
Striped bass fishing is strong in the upper creeks near New Bern and above New Bern in the Neuse River. Lead head soft plastic combos are working on the fish, as well as topwater for a select few.
Shad fishing in the Neuse above New Bern has been great, and anglers should target them with shad rigs. They are also very responsive to small shad flies for those itching to get out their fly rods.
Curtis Pelt, of Rocky Mount, with a limit of speckled trout caught on the Pungo River. The fish bit MR17s.
Mitchell, of FishIBX, reports that the Neuse River has had a phenomenal shad season. Anglers are seeing hickory shad, white shad, and even a few herring.
The striper bite is good in the Neuse as well, with some anglers even seeing some topwater action with the fish. There should be a few more weeks of action left in the Neuse River, and then the Roanoke should pick up. Striper are already biting there, with fish up to 22” reported. However, the bite is all dependent on the weather and current conditions.
Todd Hardy, of Kinston, with a 6.36 lb. speckled trout landed while fishing with Capt. Dave Stewart of Knee Deep Custom Charters.
James, of Neuse River Adventures, reports that there has been some good striper action in the area. Swim baits are working well on the fish, and anglers should try to match their lures with the sizes of baits naturally occurring in the area. The average fish landed was 18-19”, but some bigger fish up to 26” are mixed in.
Trout in the area are favoring artificials this time of year, and again, anglers should focus on matching bait sizes. Popping corks with suspended curly tail grubs or swim baits should work on these seasonal feeders, too.
Dave, of Knee Deep Custom Charters, reports that the warm weather had trout moving all over the creeks and eating well, with high numbers of citation fish over 7 lbs. reported. However, the cold has pushed them back off a bit. Anglers will need to move around and fish baits very slowly to connect with the trout. Once spring gets into a full swing, the trout will start easing out towards the mouth of the creeks.
There has been a good number of white perch around, and when the water was high, there was a good bite of puppy drum (which is hopefully a good sign for the fish this spring).
The rockfish bite has been off and on, and the majority have been upriver for their spawn. There have been a few exceptional fish caught, but once the wind eases and water stabilizes, conditions will better themselves for anglers wanting to target the fish.
