Pamlico – May 29, 2014
Matt Godwin, of Beaufort, with a speckled trout that bit a topwater plug in the lower Neuse River while he was fishing with Capt. Gary Dubiel of Spec Fever Guide Service.
Dave, of Knee Deep Custom Charters, reports that anglers are seeing some superb speckled trout, puppy drum, and flounder action in the lower Neuse River right now. The fish are feeding along grassy shorelines and around structure, and while they may be scattered, anglers are finding plenty of bites and some large fish while covering water in the area (trout to 24”+ and upper-slot and larger drum). Some of the first big drum of the season have been hooked by anglers working soft plastics and popping cork rigs along the river shorelines, so anglers should be prepared for an encounter with a 40”+ fish while chasing the specks and puppies.
All three fish are falling for D.O.A. soft plastics, with the Airheads attracting plenty of attention from the drum and shrimp and CAL-series bait fooling the flounder and specks.
Gary, of Spec Fever Guide Service, reports that anglers are finding plenty of action with speckled trout and puppy drum in the creeks and along the shorelines of the lower Neuse River. Topwater plugs and D.O.A. CAL series soft plastic baits are fooling the majority of both fish, and anglers can look forward to some excellent trout action by the time the season opens on June 16.
There’s also still some good striped bass fishing around New Bern, where anglers are tempting the fish to bite topwater plugs in the morning and evening hours. The surface action has been best around shoreline structure like stump fields. Anglers are hooking more stripers during the midday hours while targeting deeper ledges and bridge pilings with soft plastic/jighead combos.
Sharon Dowdy with a 42″ red drum that bit a D.O.A. Deadly Combo rig while she was fishing for speckled trout and puppy drum in the lower Neuse River with Capt. Dave Stewart of Knee Deep Custom Charters.
With large amounts of bait in the Neuse, it won’t be long until anglers see the citation-class “old” red drum show up and hot light-tackle action with popping corks for the giant fish.
Mitch, of FishIBX.com, reports that anglers are still catching big numbers of striped bass on the Roanoke River. Topwater plugs, soft plastics on jigheads, sinking and surface flies, and a variety of other baits and lures are fooling the stripers, with double hookups not uncommon on tandem topwater and soft plastic rigs.
There’s also still an excellent striper bite on the Pamlico River around Washington, where anglers are seeing some larger fish as well. Topwater plugs have been very effective on the Pamlico, too, and soft plastics and swimbaits on Alabama-style rigs are also attracting plenty of attention.
There have also been some excellent signs of speckled trout (both good numbers and big fish) in the Pamlico River for the keeper season opening June 16. Anglers can find the specks feeding in the creeks and along the river shorelines, and then tempt them to bite soft plastics, topwater plugs, and other lures.
Isaiah, of East Side Bait and Tackle, reports that most local anglers have been chasing cobia and dolphin at the beaches lately, so reports are a bit slim locally.
The flounder bite downriver around Bath is still going strong, with lots of fish and decent numbers of keepers. Most are falling for Gulp and Z-Man soft baits. A few puppy drum and speckled trout are mixed in, but both have been inconsistent lately.
It’s time for the topwater striped bass bite around Washington to kick off, but not many people have been fishing the area. Targeting shorelines and structure like bridge pilings and islands is the way to go for anglers looking for the stripers, and subsurface lures will fool them as well as topwater plugs.
