Pamlico November 14, 2013
Capt. Mitchell Blake, of FishIBX.com. with a striped bass he hooked on a custom rig in the Pamlico River.
Dave, of Knee Deep Custom Charters, reports that falling water temperatures have fish hungry in the lower Neuse River right now. Speckled trout are around in abundance, but anglers may have to do some searching before they find a hungry pocket of fish. Most are feeding along the river shorelines, but they’ll be moving into the tributary creeks as the water gets cooler.
Suspending hard lures like Rapala Twitchin’ Raps and soft baits like D.O.A. CALs on jigheads or weedless hooks are the best bets for the specks right now.
Striped bass are staging along the bridges and around shoreline structure like stump fields near New Bern. Casting topwater lures along the shorelines and around the bridges is producing plenty of action with the stripers early and late in the day. Storm Chug Bugs and D.O.A. Airheads have been the most effective surface offerings lately. When the sun’s high, jigging soft plastics like D.O.A. CAL lures around ledges, bridge pilings, and other structure is the way to target the stripers.
Both the trout and striped bass action should hold up throughout the winter months, but the fish will be moving about with weather changes and spawning activity. As long as there’s no hard freeze, anglers can expect this to be a stellar winter season along the Neuse.
Mitch, of FishIBX.com, reports that there are still large balls of bait in the lower Pamlico River, and anglers are finding some phenomenal striped bass action in the area. As long as the bait sticks around, the wild bite should continue.
Fred Thranhardt with a striped bass that bit a Storm Chug Bug topwater plug near New Bern while he was fishing with Capt. Dave Stewart of Knee Deep Custom Charters.
The stripers are feeding from 1’ of water along the shorelines on out to the deepest channels of the river, and anglers can target them in the shallows or depths depending on what the current and weather are doing.
Topwater plugs are the way to go early in the day, especially in shallower areas, and soft plastic swimbaits or grub/leadhead combinations will tempt bites from the deeper fish and during the middle of the day.
Richard, of Tar-Pam Guide Service, reports that there’s been some excellent trout fishing in the lower Pamlico River lately (some undersized fish but keepers in the mix). Slot-sized puppy drum are feeding in shallow water in the same areas, and both fish have been more than willing to bite MR17 MirrOlures in recent days.
Isaiah, of East Side Bait and Tackle, reports that anglers have seen the speckled trout bite get even better over the past few weeks, and they’re hooking big numbers in the Pungo River and around Belhaven. Topwater plugs and MR17 MirrOlures have been the top trout tempters of late, and they are also fooling some puppy drum in the same areas.
Striped bass are feeding around the bridges and other structure near Washin
gton, and they’ve also been providing consistent action for local anglers lately. Topwater plugs like Heddon Super Spooks and subsurface lures like Smithwick Rattlin’ Rogues are both fooling the stripers.
