Pamlico – August 18, 2016
Gary, of Spec Fever Guide Service, reports that the old drum have moved into the lower Neuse River where they are being caught on large soft plastics underneath popping corks. There aren’t large numbers of fish in the area just yet, but with the large amount of bait in the river and the recent full moon it won’t be long until the bite is at full force.
Slot-sized reds are also feeding throughout the lower Neuse River where they are being caught alongside flounder, specks, and striped bass. Most of the reds are being found patrolling grass banks looking for an easy meal. The other species are a few feet off the bank, so anglers should fish all the way back to the boat to avoid missing a chance at hooking into a quality fish.
The best striped bass bite has been in the New Bern area where anglers are hooking them on topwater plugs early and late in the day. During the heat of the day, soft plastics rigged weedless, DOA shrimp, and subsurface flies have been providing steady action. The majority of the stripers have been around stump beds, docks, and other structure that holds large amounts of bait.
Tim Gower with a 26” red drum caught on a Gulp shrimp in 2’ of water on the Neuse River. He was fishing with Capt. Chris Kimrey of Mount Maker Charters.
Richard, of Tar-Pam Guide Service, reports that anglers are finding large numbers of speckled trout in the Pamlico River. Most days of trout fishing are producing at least a limit of keeper specs, as there’s been a really good class of fishing being caught recently.
A few large flounder are mixed in with the specs, but the majority of the flounder are undersized throwbacks. Soft plastics on jigheads like a white or chartreuse Z-Man MinnowZ will fool both the flounder and specks.
Small black drum, redfish, and striped bass are also feeding in the lower Pamlico River. Artificial shrimp and other soft plastics on jigheads under a popping cork are fooling good numbers of all three species. Deep river pockets and deep shorelines where the water is a few degrees cooler are holding most of the fish, but anglers may also find small schools of redfish patrolling grass banks.
Sam Marner, of Chattanooga, TN, with a redfish caught while fishing with Capt. Dave Stewart of Knee Deep Custom Charters.
Dave, of Knee Deep Custom Charters, reports that the old drum action has started slow, but there are a few fish around for anglers persistent enough to work for them. The DOA AH Swim Bait and popping cork combo has been producing excellent results for anglers during the day. The key to success is staying quiet inside of the boat, but making plenty of noise with the popping cork in order to draw in the big reds that can be hard to fool.
The striped bass bite in the Neuse River is still very consistent for anglers working baits near shoreline structure like stump beds, grass banks, and docks. Trout and slot-sized red drum are mixed in with the stripers, and all three will take interest in topwater plugs like the Storm Chug Bug and Arashi Top Walker in the morning and evening and the DOA Deadly Combo throughout the day.
Chris White, of Newport, with a 45” red drum caught on a DOA Airhead while kayak fishing in the Neuse River.
Mitchell Blake, of FishIBX, reports that anglers are finding good numbers of old drum in the lower Pamlico River around Swanquarter and the mouth of the Pungo River. The big reds are being caught on both artificials and cut bait, but it seems that artificials are currently putting more fish in the boat.
Large Rat-L-Traps fished deep are catching big reds in the bottom of the water column, and large soft plastics fished under popping corks are drawing in reds from the upper portion of the water column.
Richie, of Eastside Bait & Tackle, reports that anglers are catching large numbers of big drum on cut bait near the mouth of the Pungo River and in deep bays near Swanquarter. Speckled trout, flounder, and small reds are also feeding around Swanquarter, and they all can be caught on a variety of artificial lures on jigheads.
