Several variations in bait presentation will work but one of the most enjoyable, especially when fishing with kids, is to rig with a cork, two splitshots and a circle hook. With the abundance of live bait around here, cast-netting finger mullet, menhaden or shrimp generally requires only a few tosses. Hook the bait, toss it toward the shoreline point and let the bobber drift with the current. Another method that can be even more productive at times is fresh cut mullet, either rigged on a Carolina rig or a jighead.
Though fly rodders intent on sight fishing won’t find expansive flats like those in Florida, South Carolina and other venues, they are certainly not out of luck. There are enough shallow sand flats along shorelines that have pieces of eroded stumps and logs, creating a great place for feeding drum. Reds will often cruise right around the stumps in shallow water.
Pamlico Sound - Fishing Through the Seasons
W hen you arrive at the village of Oriental and first gaze across the wide expanse of the Neuse, you might wonder if you can locate any gamefish in this vast estuary. In reality it is not difficult at all. There are numerous areas of shoreline not only in the river and sound but also in countless creeks. Tall trees protect the shorelines from the wind. There is no rise and fall of water with tides to worry about and most importantly, redfish are widely distributed.
On average, autumn redfish will run 2 to 10 pounds with a fish into the middle teens being caught every day. The reds are schooled, moving and feeding prior to their migration toward the ocean. September, October and early November are peak months for experiencing this kind of fishing day near Oriental. In addition to red drum, spotted seatrout, weakfish, flounder and even striped bass can be taken from the same area on the same baits every fall. Just down the road, near Harkers Island, hundreds of false albacore fishermen race up and down the coast for a shot at a little tunny. The albies can be expected to show along the beaches of Cape Lookout National Seashore, and will take small baitfish flies and small tins and flashy jigs. Most of the fall gray trout (weakfish) catches occur around New Bern, Oriental, Swan Harbor and Mann’s Harbor, and anglers can expect to bag schoolie stripers, specks and flounder in those same locales.
Fall is not the only time to catch reds here, however. Late spring and summer have good fishing as well. In fact, breeding red drum move into the Oriental in summer, and anglers may encounter fish to over 40 pounds, with the occasional 50- to 60-pound brute. Late afternoon and night fishing is best for these “old drum,” around the numerous shoals and reefs throughout Pamlico Sound and the Pamlico and Neuse rivers. Cape Hatteras beaches host classic surf fishing for big reds, and good redfishing and speck fishing centers on the flats inside of Nags Head, Ocracoke and Hatteras inlets. Bluefish, flounder and weakfish round out the cast on the beaches and at the piers.
A supporting cast of cobia and tarpon round out the summer bite. Cobia can be spotted and cast to around buoys, pilings and along tide lines. Our tarpon fishery is being developed, and Oriental even hosts an annual tarpon tournament. The mouths of the Neuse and Pamlico rivers are the places to find the biggest schools of 60- to 150-pounders, and local anglers normally anchor up ahead of traveling fish and chum them into biting a fresh cut bait.
By winter, all thoughts turn to stripers, locally called “rockfish.” The stripers make a trek from the northeast, and North Carolina’s Outer Banks is a top spot for an encounter. Surf and pier anglers score with live bait, cutbait and artificials. Fly fishers cast big flies, and trollers drag diving plugs around the white water around inlet shoals. Smaller, hungry 5- to 15-pound stripers enter Pamlico, Albemarle and Currituck sounds, and fine rock fishing is a wintertime staple in the Pamlico and the Neuse, and nearby Pungo River. The last several winters have produced excellent striper catches in general, particularly for anglers fishing afternoons with bucktails, crankbaits and plugs around structure and bridges of the Neuse River.
