Added on Tuesday, October 1, 2024  Fish Poster

Tidelines – October 2024

The big red drum bite in the Neuse River has seen some productive days this year, but the fishery has also had its share of challenging days thanks to Debby in August and then the “surprise” storm that hit in mid-September. Following that mid-September rainfall, the mentality had not only shifted from popping corks to bait fishing, but it had also shifted from expectations of numerous fish to hoping for one or two fish.

And that was the mentality on the boat when Capt. Dave Hegel, of Pamlico Pirate Fishing Charters out of Oriental, and I headed out a day or two after the September full moon. We were hoping to find a citation red drum in spite of the challenging conditions: an influx of freshwater pushing bait down, drastically lowered the salinity levels, and scattered fish.

I was still waking up slowly at Southern Sky Lodge, these newly renovated accommodations that cater to outdoors enthusiasts and are located just two minutes from the boat ramp or The Bean, when I got a text from Dave saying that he already had plenty of pogies in the livewell and we could meet anytime.

Since the September storm, the commercial guys were having trouble catching mullet, so Dave wasn’t able to pick up his bait of choice for big red drum fishing. While big red drum will gladly eat a fresh cut pogie (or a live one), the pogies don’t have the same integrity when it comes to staying on the hook. 

Dave and I pulled out of Oriental, and while most years he would come out and turn right and target areas between Oriental and New Bern, the bite in general had been more in the big, open water, so our first stop was at the start of the Pamlico Sound where he had caught fish the previous week. We didn’t see any bait on the surface, but Dave marked some on his electronics, and we anchored with 6’ of water on our port side and 18’ on the starboard.

Six lines went out, a mix of live and cut pogies. Dave doesn’t like to use a chum bag, as he is regularly moving from spot to spot, but he repeatedly chunked up 3-4 pogies to try and get something excited.

No bluefish. No surface bait. No birds. More importantly, though, no red drum, so off we went to the next stop.

The second stop was a slough along a grass line located close to Adams Creek with deeper water on one side of the “ditch” and a shoal on the other. He had caught fish here, too, in the days before the recent storm. We saw our first small school of bait working down a grass line and a few birds being more curious than active, but still nothing pulled at a single bait. 

No bluefish. A little surface bait. A few birds. Still no red drum, so off we went to the next stop.

For our third stop, we covered some miles by trying a location up the Neuse from Oriental, a spot off the mouth of Beards Creek with 7-10’ of water. Dave had seen several big red drum here, as well as big schools of bait and bluefish, only days before our trip. 

One bluefish (and two rays). A little more surface bait. Several birds being active over small schools of bluefish. More importantly, though, still no red drum.

When we pulled up to our last stop, the Oriental Reef, Dave knew he wanted to focus on a specific corner of the reef, an area that his side scan indicated lots of structure known to be made up of concrete domes and debris. The hard bottom and structure is great habitat for holding spawning big red drum.

Six baits went out, and Dave began to chunk up pogies for chum. We sat idle long enough for all of the baits to get perhaps two checks, and then our bite happened on the starboard side, a line he had just re-baited and cast back out into the spread less than a minute before.

One big run was followed by another big run, and before I could start getting line back, Dave had all of the other lines in the boat. 

Our fish finally broke the surface about 25 yards out, confirming that we were in fact tight to a big red drum, and a few minutes later the fish went grudgingly into the waiting landing net.

As these are world class fish, Dave and I celebrated accordingly. We fist-bumped during measurements, hollered out during photos, and were still fist-bumping and hollering out as our fish swam away. 

The current mentality of double-digit fish being expected is, I think, an unfair expectation, especially this year. If pulling one of these behemoths into the boat and seeing firsthand how impressive a 40+” red drum with huge shoulders is doesn’t bring you enough satisfaction without six to eight additional fish, then I don’t think you’re doing it right.

Capt. Dave Hegel, of Pamlico Pirate Fishing Charters, did what everyone wants in a guide. He had good gear and fresh bait on a comfortable boat (a 2025 Parker 23 SE, the new upscale version with a liner and not stick built), had implemented a plan to move from deep to shallow and from drop-offs to hard bottom, had worked hard all day checking and changing out baits and creating chum, and had kept the mood onboard light through stories of local folklore and common interests/experiences (for example, we discovered that we had both been at ECU in the late 80s).

In addition, he had found our target species with a little less than 30 minutes to go before I had to be at the dock to make it to Wilmington in time to see my middle son play high school soccer.

If you’d like to have the same customer experience, whether you join Dave for big red drum (he theorizes that these fish will be around through mid-October), or hop on board even later in the season when he will be chasing trout, slot red drum, and stripers, then start by giving him a call at (252) 670-3499, or visit him online at www.pamlicopiratefishingcharters.com.

If there’s any downtime on the boat, you could ask him about his experiences at ECU in the late 80s. You might get stories of Widespread Panic playing at a fraternity house, Halloween riots, and Long Island iced teas at the Elbow Room. 

I wouldn’t push too hard for details, though. What happened in Greenville in the late 80s, should stay in Greenville in the late 80s.