Pamlico – May 22, 2014
Brent Griffin, of Newport, NC, with a speckled trout he hooked in a creek off the Neuse River. The fat speck fell for a Mardi Gras-colored MR17 MirrOlure.
Gary, of Spec Fever Guide Service, reports that anglers are seeing some excellent action with slot puppy drum around Oriental. The fish are feeding around creekmouths and along the river shorelines, and anglers are hooking them on a variety of soft plastics, with D.O.A. Deadly Combo popping cork rigs particularly effective.
Speckled trout are also feeding along the river shorelines (with some healthy fish in the mix) and falling for soft plastics as well.
Upriver near New Bern, the striped bass bite has been hit or miss, with recent hard west winds lowering the water level and hampering the action. When the water levels are normal to high, there’s been outstanding topwater action around shoreline structure like stump fields in both the Neuse and Trent rivers. There’s also been some solid speckled trout action in the same areas when the wind is blowing anything but west.
Dave, of Knee Deep Custom Charters, reports that anglers are finding some excellent fishing in the lower Neuse River when the weather has cooperated lately.
Speckled trout, puppy drum, and flounder have all been in the area and biting, with most of the action along the river shorelines and the creeks off the lower river. The reds are holding on points and tight along the shorelines, with flounder in many of the same areas. The specks are feeding a bit further off the banks but may be holding close to deeper shorelines.
D.O.A. CAL series soft plastics are fooling all three of the inshore gamefish, and they’ve been effective on jigheads, weedless hooks, and under popping corks recently.
There’s been a good showing of bait in the Neuse, and anglers are already reporting a few encounters with citation-class red drum, so the action with the big reds may heat up in June.
itch, of FishIBX.com, reports that the topwater striped bass bite is excellent on the area rivers and will only get better as the weather warms up. Anglers casting jigs and flies can also get in on the fast action over the coming weeks while working lures along shorelines and around deeper structure in the area.
Penny Asby with a tagged striped bass, one of many she hooked on topwater plugs while fishing the Pamlico River with Capt. Mitchell Blake of FishIBX.com.22
Speckled trout action is slowing down in the creeks, but anglers should see the bite cranking up in the main rivers as the June 16 keeper season approaches.
Flounder are showing up in increasing numbers from the upriver creeks down to the sound, so anglers should be able to connect with some flatfish just about anywhere there’s some salt in the water in the upcoming weeks (and there should be an excellent class of flatfish in the area this year). Soft plastics and live baits will both fool the flatfish.
Red drum are moving upriver from the sound, and anglers should be able to find the reds feeding alongside the specks and flounder as spring fades into summer.
Richard, of Tar-Pam Guide Service, reports that there’s still some good striped bass fishing up the Roanoke River around Weldon, with anglers hooking solid numbers of fish while working soft plastics on jigheads.
Striped bass are also feeding in the Pamlico River downstream from Washington, where jigs and topwater plugs will get their attention.
The Pamlico River flounder bite is heating up as well, with big numbers taking an interest in soft plastics and live baits. Around 1/3 are keepers right now, and the ratio should get even better as the season wears on.
Isaiah, of East Side Bait and Tackle, reports that there’s been some solid action with flounder (many keepers), speckled trout (to 20”+), and puppy drum in the creeks downriver around Bath recently. Gulp and Z-Man soft baits are producing most of the action with all three.
The topwater striped bass bite around Washington should be getting heated up in the coming weeks, and anglers can connect with the fish while working surface lures around shoreline structure or the area bridges.
