Pamlico – November 13, 2014
Don Staff Sgt. Blake Guyer with a pair of speckled trout they hooked on suspending hard baits in the Neuse River near Oriental while fishing with Capt. Dave Stewart of Knee Deep Custom Charters.
Gary, of Spec Fever Guide Service, reports that anglers are seeing some solid striped bass fishing in the Neuse River near New Bern lately, along with an occasional speckled trout or red drum. Casting topwater plugs around shoreline structure like stump fields is producing much of the action. When the fish don’t want to bite on top, working D.O.A. Airhead soft baits on jigheads near ledges and other deeper structure is producing plenty of action with the stripers.
Fishing small soft plastics upriver of New Bern has produced plenty of panfish action with crappie, perch, and sunfish.
Downriver, anglers are finding a good speckled trout bite along the river shorelines and in the creeks nearer to the sound. A few stripers, red drum, and flounder are mixed in, and all are falling for D.O.A. soft plastics.
Dave, of Knee Deep Custom Charters, reports that anglers are starting to see the area’s speckled trout bunch up around creek mouths as the temperatures fall. The fish should continue to aggregate and move up the creeks as the mercury dips further, and anglers can target them with D.O.A. soft plastics or suspending hard baits like MirrOlures and Rapalas. The water tends to clear up as it gets colder as well, so making long casts and approaching fish stealthily will lead to putting more in the boat.
Striped bass action around New Bern is going strong, and anglers are hooking solid numbers while casting topwater plugs around shoreline structure and working soft plastics on jigehads around bridge pilings and drop-offs.
Mitch, of FishIBX.com, reports that anglers are catching big numbers of striped bass in the Neuse and Pamlico rivers at present (and some big fish as well). They’re biting topwater plugs, diving crankbaits, and a wide variety of soft plastic lures pinned to jigheads and multi-lure umbrella rigs.
Isaiah, of East Side Bait and Tackle, reports that the striped bass bite has taken off in the Pamlico River, with the best action a bit upriver from Washington recently. Anglers are hooking many of the fish while trolling, and Rattlin’ Rogues and Rat-L-Traps have been the go-to lures lately. Anglers are also reporting a better bite in the mornings than in the afternoons of late.
Speckled trout are feeding around Belhaven and in Pungo Creek, where anglers have put together some impressive catches lately. MirrOlure MR17’s in Mardi Gras and Electric Chicken colors have been the best bets for the specks of late.
The puppy drum action has slowed substantially, but anglers are still finding a few along the shorelines in the sound.
