Pamlico/Neuse – August 29, 2019
Donald, of Custom Marine Fabrication, reports that speckled trout fishing has been good in the lower Neuse, with soft plastics and live baits under slip corks producing numbers of legal-sized fish. Puppy drum are holding along the banks and being hooked with the same methods.
A few flounder are being caught on ledges and deeper grass banks with soft plastics fished on 1/4 oz. jig heads and Carolina-rigged live mullet.
Citation-class red drum are downriver and into the sound, with anglers catching fish both while soaking cut baits and fishing large popping cork setups.
Structure along the shoreline has produced a few striped bass for anglers fishing plugs.
Allison Brown, of Sneads Ferry, NC, with a bull red drum that fell for Carolina-rigged live bait while fishing the Pamlico Sound.
Gary, of Spec Fever Guide Service, reports that trophy red drum fishing is in full swing on the Neuse River. Citation-class fish (up to 42”) are hitting large soft plastics under popping cork setups. Anglers are having the most success when targeting the edges of shoals holding bait pods.
Bluefish and a few spanish mackerel are feeding on the same bait schools from the lower Neuse out into the sounds.
Speckled trout fishing has been spectacular all season, and targeting the ledges along shorelines and deeper grass banks has been key in locating the fish. Smaller popping cork setups have been the most productive rigs.
Puppy drum are holding along the banks and hitting the same soft plastics (or Carolina-rigged live baits), and a few legal-sized flounder are mixed in the daily counts when working the shorelines with soft plastics on jig heads.
James, of Neuse River Adventures, reports that puppy drum are holding on the ledges and flats along the shoreline. They’re hitting Carolina-rigged live baits and soft plastics on jig heads.
Keeper flounder are in the same areas, and both baits and artificials are producing some strikes.
Speckled trout are holding on the deeper grass banks and areas near creek mouths. Keeping soft plastics higher in the water column with popping cork rigs has been extremely successful while searching for the schools of trout.
Striped bass are being caught near structured areas along the shoreline with soft plastics and hard suspending lures.
Further down river, citation-class red drum are starting to be landed using large soft plastics fished under popping corks.
Cody Fogleman (age 11) with a 48″ citation redfish caught and released in the Pamlico Sound near Swan Quarter, NC. He was fishing with his dad, several friends, and Capt. Abel Harmon.
Jennings, of North State Guide Service, reports that old drum season has begun and anglers are catching fish both while bait fishing and throwing popping corks. Bait anglers have been the most successful when fishing fresh cut mullet on Lupton rigs, with evening hours really producing good numbers of bites. Anglers in the morning hours have been targeting shoals and ledges holding bait with large popping corks and D.O.A. soft plastics.
Speckled trout fishing is going strong, with the early morning bite producing a majority of the fish that are mostly holding in deeper holes.
Keeper flounder are on the shorelines. They’re hitting D.O.A. soft plastics on jig heads and Carolina-rigged live baits.
Sheepshead and black drum are being caught on Carolina-rigged baits around hard structure.
Stephen, of Neuse River Bait and Tackle, reports that “old” drum fishing has been good around shoals and ledges in the lower Neuse and Bay rivers. Anglers soaking fresh cut mullet on hand-tied Lupton rigs have been finding large fish (up to 50”) at night. Anglers looking for action with artificial baits have been casting Blabbermouth popping corks with larger Z-Man PaddlerZ soft plastics around bait schools.
Slot-sized red drum are being caught closer to the river banks with smaller soft plastics under popping corks.
Speckled trout fishing has been strong around creek mouths and points in the river. Anglers have had good success with the Four Horseman popping corks with soft plastic paddle tails and shrimp-imitation baits.
Sheepshead are being caught around pilings closer to the sound by using live fiddler crabs on Carolina rigs and First Flight swing jigs.
A few good-sized flounder are mixed in, with most fish coming off Carolina-rigged live mud minnows.
Richie, of East Side Bait and Tackle, reports that striped bass fishing has been fairly slow, but anglers are still landing a few fish with plugs around structured areas.
The speckled trout action has been good downriver, especially when anglers target deeper shorelines with Gulp soft plastics under popping cork rigs.
Puppy drum are on these same shoreline banks, and they’re hitting soft plastics and Carolina-rigged live bait.
Flounder in the area have been mostly caught with live bait.
A few citation-class drum have been released around the mouth of the river, and both large popping cork setups and cut baits have been producing.
Mitchell, of FishIBX, reports that trout fishing is hot in the Pamlico River. Soft plastics and shrimp-imitations fished under popping corks have been producing a majority of the bites. Keeping an eye on depth and looking for ledges and deeper holes has been key for anglers targeting the smaller schools.
A few bluefish will be holding in these same holes, and they are not picky about what bait gets put in the area.
Smaller puppy drum are hitting soft plastics fished on jig heads.
Some striped bass are being caught around structure with topwater plugs and Rat-L-Traps.
Citation red drum are traveling along the shoals in the lower river and sound area. Anglers have been successful in targeting these trophy fish with Yee Ha soft plastics fished under large popping corks.
