We idled out of the harbor in Oriental, North Carolina onto the Neuse River. The river looks more like a bay at first glance, being around three to four miles wide at Oriental, and this morning the surface was glass-calm. My friend and fellow guide Brian was quiet, but far from calm. This was his first trip to the Pamlico Sound estuary, and his face showed that look of anticipation.

“What are we going after first?” Brian asked.

“We’ll sight fish for reds this morning,” I replied. “I think we’ll start out at a spot where they have been mixed in with specks and grays as of late.”

Red drum, or as we call them here in eastern North Carolina, puppy drum, specks (speckled seatrout) and gray trout (weakfish) are common targets in this vast estuary. With over 2,000 miles of shoreline and 2 million surface acres of water in Pamlico Sound, narrowing the search for redfish might seem quite difficult, almost as difficult as locating that Russian sub. But armed with the right knowledge and a little time, any angler can connect with some world-class redfishing in one of the most beautiful and remote areas on the Eastern Seaboard.

If You Go Most residents of Oriental, North Carolina would be less than surprised to know you have not heard of their sleepy little town. Oriental sits on the northern shore of the Neuse River, fourteen miles upstream of Pamlico Sound. Known as the Sailing Capital of North Carolina, Oriental has as many sailboats moored at its docks as it has inhabitants. This hamlet has a melting pot of personalities, restaurants with excellent cuisine, motels and bed and breakfasts, and, of course, a tiki bar. There are bike and kayak rentals, dogs napping in the streets, a public boat ramp in town, but not a traffic light within 12 miles. With all this to offer and countless miles of shoreline, sport fishing remains in its infancy. There are no fancy billboards announcing how wonderful the fishing is, and the fact that you’ll need to drive 10 miles to buy bait and tackle makes it essential to pack all fishing gear that you’ll need. However, the local Rotary sponsors an annual tarpon tournament which is going on 10 years old. Two of the area’s guides have captured national attention. Renowned angler Bob Clouser not only comes here to fish but hosts an annual fly school and trip. Oriental has everything the visiting angler needs, most importantly fish and plenty of places to chase them. It won’t be long before the rest of the world discovers it, but its saving grace will always be the wide expanse of water and an abundance and variety of gamefish. To help plan your trip to Oriental visit: www.oriental-nc.com, www.visitoriental.com, www.towndock.net, or www.orientalharbor.com. Accommodations: Inn at Oriental (252) 249-1078; www.innatoriental.com River Neuse Motel (252) 249-1404 Cartwright House B&B (252) 249-1337 Fishing Guides: Capt. George Beckwith (252) 249-3101; www.pamlicoguide.com Capt. Gary Dubiel (252) 249-1520; www.specfever.com Capt. Derek Jordan (252) 249-0579

I jumped up on plane after we cleared the marina seawall and headed straight across the Neuse River. After traveling four miles, I settled down a short piece from a small tributary and eased to the mouth under trolling motor power.

I handed Brian a fly rod rigged with a Clouser Minnow. “Cast to the shoreline and bring it out with an erratic retrieve,” I explained. I grabbed my spinning rod and began tossing a soft-plastic minnow on a lead head toward the shoreline. Brian cast to the edge of the marsh and worked the fly as I instructed. He was using a clear, intermediate line, which would be the best choice since we were fishing where the water dropped from 18 inches to four feet. In fact, an Intermediate is my top choice for “search” fishing. It’s best to reserve the floaters for pure sight fishing in the shallowest places.

“Man these fish are fast!” Brian exclaimed after missing a strike.

“Seatrout have great eyesight and don’t push through the bait when they strike.” I explained. “You get little warning that they are about to bite.” And their bite can be soft, too, so it took five or six hits before Brian connected. It wasn’t a giant, but it was a speckled trout around 14 inches long. Brian and I landed several more school-size specks and a gray trout before we spotted a big disturbance about 75 yards in front of us.

“That’s gotta be redfish!” I said. I closed the gap with the trolling motor, then raised it, hopped up on the polling platform, and poled us within 45 feet of a huge school of reds. Brian grabbed his 8-weight outfit and got a fly in front of the push of fish. His line came tight, but then went slack. But he didn’t panic.

“It’s cool man...just drop it right back in there.” One back cast, and Brian shot it right on the mark. And bang! He was back in business. The red made a hard right and headed for the open river. Brian cleared the fly line off the deck and quickly backing ran through the guides. Brian beamed as he fought, landed and released the 6-pounder, his first red on fly.

“Ready?”

He looked up at me just smiling, and then realized I was eyeballing the next target. He looked where I pointed, then scrambled to set up for another cast. I poled the boat back toward a tailing fish. The school had broken up, and the fish milled about in small pods, some tailing and some pushing wakes in less than a foot of water. Brian dropped his fly softly within inches of a redfish and twitched it once, twice, and four fish raced for it, and the fight was on again!