NEW 2008 update

Nope, not off the planet guys, just doing a lot stuff and have very much neglected the site. lots of things have changed for the charters though and I wanted to up-date all of you that check in. First, all is good with me.....never better infact! I have sold the 20' boat and have a very small and agile 14' alum john that I have outfitted to fish the grass flats there at the beach and backwaters. Charters will be a very personal one on one and will be fly fishing only....and most of it will be polling in very shallow water....or anchored in shallow water..but rest asssured that it's all A-game..not and entry level experence. So, get charged up and give me a call to hit the grass for tailing redfish....and maybe even a Shark if we are lucky.

Second, While this site will still be up and Running, I will begin posting all my reports on the Field and Stream sports's site....It's just a better site and posting pics is a lot easier and its interactive so you can ask questions or make comments and even add your pics and post too!!!  I will place a line to the site and then you can bookmark if you want.

Looking forward to hearing from a few of you!!!

Fred

http://www.fieldandstreamsports.com/fsstrophy/

8/28/06 report

The fishing cont to be pretty good here in New Bern area and further down the river. Starting from New Bern and working down river. There are still a few guys catching some of the big catfish above the paper plant using bream and mullet for bait on the bottom. Still some pretty big kittys I must say!!! Around New Bern, the small puppie drum and a few slot puppie drum have been caught from the bank from the NRRR trestle al the way to Goose Creek. You really just need to find where they are. Soft plastics, some topwater and fresh finger mullet are choice baits. Also, more and more times we are getting a mix of fish all in the same area. Some decent specks numbers are being had in the New Bern area along with the usual Stripers so a SLAM is a good possibility and will get better…..if the storm doesn’t mess it up!!! Further down from New Bern from Upper Broad to Minnisott on the Northern side of the river, the bite has been good but will get more consistent as we head to the cooler temps and shorter days. I think that the shorter days signal, at least to the fish, it’s getting time to move in the river and eat like crazy. Most of the better bites of late have been very early in the day or dusk. Typical fishing times for this time of the year. I’d try the points of all the creeks and just in the mouths or the creeks and along drop-offs. Now it seams the stumpage is holding more fish so I’ve been targeting the cover for fish.  More later in the week.

8/25/06

Bite was decent tonight with some nice sized Puppie Drum in the mix. We got one that was close to 25" and heavy. a few stripers in the mix too!! Lots of bait down river and lots of shrimp popping. No Specks today. Fish were caught on Old Bayside Shadlin in Pearl and Opening night with green tail using a 1/4" head twitched. Fishing most of the weekend so post later on. BTW the big drum are really making a good showing.

8/24/06

I'll make mine a short one now and a updat on friday night. The water in the river is a bit fresh with the rain this week. But a few friends have been fishing and done well inspite of it!! Pretty solid reports of stripers and trout and flounder and a few puppie drum mixed in. Soft plastics, spinner bait and topwaters. I like to use the popping corks to find the fish. A live shrimp is pure poisin on a hook now!! Old Byside shadlins in Gold flake and pearl on a 1/4oz head twiched off the bottom will get the job done.

Now for Brandon's report:

Neusefishers Report:

My report for this week isnt much different than last.  The stripers are still biting topwaters around New Bern, although I couldnt get one to bite Tuesday night.  I think it had more to do with us fishing just after the rain storm/front moved through.  I have talked to people who have been having luck on the trout, drum and flounder at all of the creek mouths and along shoreline structure on the Neuse.  There were even some reports of big slot sized drum being picked up very very close to New Bern.  My favorite keeper drum lure is the lilfishie, but when targeting bigger fish, its hard to be a spinner bait with a Gulp! grub replacing the standard skirt.  If you really want to catch a drum, try finding some shore line structure on the Neuse and soak some crabs.  The way I do it is to pot of the top shell of a LIVE crab AFTER cutting off all the claws and legs.  I then cut this topless crab core in half or quarters depending how big the crab is. I fish the crabs on a Carolina rig like used for flounder fishing with a 1 oz weight or less.   I hook a 5/0 circle sea hook (they have everything you need at Field and Stream Sports in New Bern) through the area where a leg joint meets the main body.  There should be a soft area there that will accept the hook with ease.  This time of year you have to check your bait about ever 10-15 minutes, but if there is a drum in the area, he will find it.  Im going Drumming this weekend so I should have a report for the big boys next week.  Everyone be safe and take a kid with you if you get the chance. 

8/22/06

The bite was on early in the morning. Stripers. Topwaters did it.

8/20/06

A quick report. There was a good Stripers bite the past week for topwater guys. I got my limit most times ont he river inthe mornig. Some of the best bites were later in the evening though. They are in the river from the car bridge to Upper Broad cr. Big Spooks and PopRs.

Check out the new page Coastal reports for the coast reports.

BTW, I have deleated a bunch of fishing reports fromt he site and archived them in a word Doc that I can mail to anybody that wants some history. More reports a bit later

8/18/06

Great reports of fishing this week here on the Neuse and the sounds and even Near shore too.  Starting Next month, I will have two reports pages. this one and one for the beach. I figured that since I'm fishng 50% of the time there I should include that detail too!First, there is a good amount of really good sized catfish up the Neuse above Cool springs. Most are being caught on Fresh Bream fished on the bottom of the river. Use some pretty stiff tackle for these brutes as a few of them have been very close to 50#s!!! The Temps have moderated a bit and the fishing has picked up a bit too. There have been a good amount of Stripers in the river and they have been taking topwaters and others. Best topwater? Spooks that look like mullets. Go by Field and stream sports to get the best colors. Thats where I get mine. From the artificial reef to the car and RR trestles the stripers have been chomping. Further down the river on the north side, the Puppie Drum had made a pretty good showing in the stumps and shore edges. Banks with 2ft of water against the cattails and grass are best. Add stumps and its better. Flounder mixed in too!

Pieces of hard crab, Beatle Spins with white trailers and soft plastics in White and charturce word real good with the crab being the choice bait. Old Bayside Shadlins worked very well on a 1/4oz head fished with a med retrieve and twitched up off the bottom. Top waters like stick baits work well and wont get hung up as frequently. There are a bunch of small to med trout just down from Broad Creek. That fishery will get better as the weeks get into late August and September. This is poised to be one of the best Trout seasons!!! Out in the sound the Old Drum fishing is getting on the verge of HOT!!!! Its very dependable now and will get better. Bait of choice of the old drum??? FRESH BAIT!!! Just make sure what ever you are using is as fresh as can be. The guys @ F&SS have some Sabki rods still and these make great bait getting tools not only for the drum fishng but jigging up bait to hit the livewell there at the beach.

Fellas, the October dates are filing and that makes me feel good!! I have a few other openings in late October and early November fishing here and at the beach. I actually have a good amount of openings in September and a few the last of this month, Call me to get on the books.

Now for Brandon's report!

Fishing this week around New Bern for Stripers has been excellent.  A lot of fish in the 18-21” range have been taken on the classic Zara Spook.  Find structure and you can usually find fish.  Find structure close to deep water and you will definitely find fish!  Down the river in the try creeks area (Broad, Goose, NW) have produced a lot of barely keeper flounder, drum and trout.  Off course Old Bayside plastics and Gulp! will get the job done.  Make sure to use the lightest jighead possible for the most action.  The big drum in the sound are starting to show in numbers.  We went 4 for 5 last night with one long cow that had to come close to 55lbs!  You can get all the tackle you need to tangle with these monsters at Field and Stream Sports in New Bern.  Fresh Fresh Fresh bait is the key to getting a bite in this fishery.  Jumping Mullet is my favorite, but most any fresh fish will work from menhaden to croakers to pin fish.   Things should only get better for the big un during the next month.  Until next time, tight lines.

8/9/06

August is hot!!! andthe fishing isn't bad either!! Some stripers in and around the car bridge and the RR trestle on the Neuse. Still some ultra-light action with the bream and small bass in the creeks and shorlines. My friend has been doing just fine on the large Catfish up the Neuse gettin a few in the 30# class but more int he teens and 20s class. Hey, these fish are old so release most of them and keep the teenagers and let the older ones live to pull another day!! The stripers are most active in the morning and afternoon. With the moon in a decline the afternoon bite should pick up a bit and peak again near the New moon. Same for the trout and others. There are a few places close to New Bern that have has a few Specks but outside of a few goodsized one, most are smaller fish. There ae a good number of small puppie drun just down from the Neuse river car bridge in the stumps. Best bait is the little beatle spinns and white or ch/green boddies. Further down past Goose the fish are a bit bigger with some slots mixed in and they will take most plastics ans some topwaters also. The better Specks are still in the sound and big river areas llke Point of marsh, Raccone and Turnigan Bay.. Try the points and cutbanks till you find them. There are some smallish Flounder inthe river but the better sized ones are down from Minnisott. Plastics and live finger mullet work great. I've had some great luck usng the Old Bayside Shadlin in the white and tip the tail in Spike-it for a little color. I hear the old Drum are starting to show up inthe river and sound and I guess there are still some Tarpon too. Check out the Guides page and go to thier links and site for more info on these two spicies and just what the action is now!!

Check out Field and Stream Sports for some good deals on Clothing and shoes with a back to school special going on now!!! You and the kids can LOOK SHARP in Carhart, Bimini Bay and others this fall!!Also check ot the guns and ammo and start thing about dove hunting and early season Bow hunting!!! They have some really nice Sabki Rods there and if you havent used one of these rods for getting fresh bait,,you are missing out on some fun!!!

They also have some Old Bayside paridice poppers that are nearly industrutible (sp?) for the fall fishing coming up where I use these most. And check out the old Bayside Site. With fall edging nearer I'll try to post closer to the weekend rather than the aftermath of the weekends. This weekends weather is looking like a rough one but the NE winds..if you can get there will be a good wind for the drum in the sound! hard on the back though. Good luck

7/31/06

Beautiful weather this past weekend huh!!!For the weekeknd warriors it has been tuff for the last few weeks or seems like years!!! There are still some Stripers here in the river in the same places, same times too. Pretty pridictible most ofthe time. I guess what still baffels me is why some places have better luck than others on the same day..one of the mysteries of fising I guess.  Mr Joe Weeks did real good Sunday night on the stripers on topwaters!!  Fishing here on the river the past week is in the usally summer pattern..on or off. When we get a SW wind hard enough to move the water out of the river the fish seem to pull back to some unknown hiding place and sit tight till conditions return to normal. This can take a few days..this past weekend fell in the few days catigory. So the fishing was a bit off over the past weekeknd but was quite good during the week wih a lot of guys catching some decent numbers of trout and PDs and even some flounder. But the weekend proved tougher for most all that ventured out to find places to tuck in from the unreal SW that honked the whole weekend till last night..then dropped out and the neuse was greasy slick calm. For the weekend total tally 12 specks 8 Puppie drum and 1 flounder and 2 stripers. Not a fish int he keeper size...no a skunk in the boat over the weekend trips but it sure has been much better. Looking forward to some cooler temps and pre-fall fishing!!! Two other notes of intrest. I usally make a point of not posting of my personal charters, afterall this is a composite report of the Neuse fishing. But...I just have to mention in print of two things. First, one of the anglers yesterday caught a pompano up one of the feeder creeks near the mouth of Adams Creek..decent size too. A first for me to see!! Second, I had the JOY of haveing a very talented yound fella on for 9.5 hrs with his dad Saturday. Kaz Prewitt fished as hard as any grown up and while fishing was painfullly slow he never lost the excitment of the next cast. Awsome!!!!

Now for Brandon's report!

I didnt get the chance to be on the river this week, but reports still have plenty of stripers being taken around New Bern on topwaters.  A lot of topwater baits will catch stripers, but none like walk the dog baits.  Poppers will work, but are not as nearly effective in my opinion.  Flounder reports from around the tri creek area (Northwest, Broad and Goose Creeks) have been decent with several keepers taken.  Most flounder were caught on lilfishies and fin-s or oldbayside mud minnow typed baits.  The boys down at Field and Stream Sports in New Bern can put you on the best colors for here in the river.  GThe trout bite is still slow around the upper Neuse, but the smaller puppy drum have been easy to find on small artificials or live bait.  Tarpon and have shown in the river in numbers this past week, but getting them to bite, well thats a different story.  Should be long now before the big drum make their annual showing on the Neuse as well.  When they get here, I will let you know.  Until next week be safe a take a kid fishing. 

7/19/06

Just a few anouncments, then the reports. I'll start today including a river reports from Brandon Eatman (AKA the Neusefisher on NCW site) and start building a page for his reports and mine. Also, in August, I'll begin to branch out from the Neuse River and include reports of fishing @ the coast. As many know I regularly fish the beach area but since this is the neuse river report, I usally dont report on that...till now!! So look for these reports soon. I'll most likly deleate some stuff on the other tabs and add so begining in August click around the tabs and see what's new. For the time being, my reports will be in Green (as always) and Brandons' reports in blue. I hope ya'll enjoy both!!

The sound has been pretty good on Trout as long as you were on'em early and deeper water for them later. On days with the wind kicking up, marsh banks faching waves yeilded Puppie Drum on cut bait nicely with reports of nice sized slots. Trout are taking red backs M52s and soft plastics in green and olive. Reports of specks at the Lower Broad Creek mouth and Maw point area were heard.

Brandon's report for this week:

Fishing around New Bern has been awesome early and late for stripers over the last week.  Fishing around visible structure and hard depth changes have been the ticket.  Most fish have been taken on topwaters (big Zara Spooks, Spittin Images, and poppers).  Stop in to Field and Stream Sports on Neuse Blvd in New Bern and they will show you all the baits you need including my favorite Spook!  Down the river fishing has been a bit on the slow side for the most part.  There have been a good number of puppy drum and flounder caught, but it seems most of the specks have pushed out into the sound.  The flounder and drum we have caught recently have come on Gulp! Shrimp and LilFishies.  The specks that are still in the river are only biting very early and very late.  Once the sun gets up you can pretty much count them out.  There have been some unusual catches and spottings on the river including several black drum from the high rise bridge on down the river around visible structure.  They have been taken on artificials as well as cut crab.  Id like to thank Fred for the opportunity to post my reports here and hope some may benefit.  Until next time, "Be safe and Take a kid fishing!"

7/13/06

Well fishing over the week was pretty good for the most part with Flounder, Puppie Drum and Trout being taken from New Bern to the sound.  Starting in New Bern area, there is still a resident population of stripers that have grouped up and can be found roving the river from the car bridges to the RR trestles in the river. They may also be found in the open water and not just around structure chasing some of the bait that is moving into the river the past week. Look for this to take place in the morning or late late in the afternoon near sundown. Top waters and subsurface baits works best in this case. Spooks, and Old Bayside 4" Shadlins with a 5/0 offset bass worm hook will work nicely as a subsurface and top water offering. Choose colors accordingly but the lighter colors seem to be doing the best job here. There is a good amount of Bream in the shoreline of the river from the RR trestle of the Neuse back up to Pitchkettle and are a lot of fun and a great plan B when the wind and heat will keep ya from hitting the sounds! Gars, Gars ,Gars the river is full of them and will take the curls out of your line and are great fun. If you are reading this and really want to target them, Drop me a e-mail and Ill send some info on how to catch these. Its fun catching! Further down from New Bern , starting in Fairfield or NW creek, Beatle Spins with softplastcs on are catching a few Puppie Drum in the 12 to 15" and even a few flounder. There was a good amount of keeper sized flounder picked up and this should get a bit better as we move through the summer and into fall. Plastics and live bait are working for those. The Northern side of the river is holding more flounder than the southern side until you get down river past Minnisott. There are a few decent trout in the river but there is more in the sounds and bigger part of the river. The larger Puppie Drum are there in the sound!!!! Im finding a good number of these and the Beach areaall I can say is if you need a redfish to add to your species list, now is a great time to go and do it!!!! Trout are taking Old Bayside Shadlins and Mud minno in Pearl and I like to Spike-it a bit and Hi-light them a bit. If you are into the Tailing Redfish in the GrassI have the Guy to get you there. It requires a high skill level on Fly-fishing and not for the novice, drop me a line and Ill put you in contact with the Grass Guru and see some Tailing Redfish here in the East Coast of NC.!!

Im also starting to get stuff together for another Seminar to take place @ Field and Stream Sports here in New Bern. It will most likely cover Fall fishing here in the Neuse and @ the beach. If any of you reading this plan to attend I pose a question. Would a seminar on Friday evening be better than a Saturday morning??? Send your thought on that to me. AndField and Stream still has a few of the Sabiki Rods left. Check out their apparel and long guns too.  

7/6/06

 I will be running some very nice trips to the beach area soon. These trips will be very easy on the pocket book so give me a call to get a price. Also, If you are new to the area and have a boat and just want to have a guide for a day, give me a call for a rate quote.

7/5/06

This week has had some pretty good catching in the Neuse river from New Bern to the Sound waters. The southern side and the northern sides have done well on the Specks and Puppie Drum. The fish are hitting both hard plastics and Soft Plastics and live or cut bait. Cut bait of Pinfish is working well for the Puppie Drum and larger Trout but both have been taking artificial too. Start fishing on a good cut bank for both species and there are just a few Flounder there too. A better Flounder catch is just below New Bern on the North side of the river on the creeks off Northwest, Broad, and Goose. Scattered Small Specks and Puppie Drum in there too. A few 2lb Black Drum was taken on Soft Plastics over the weekend off the points. Ive pretty good luck still with the Old Bayside Plastics in the Mudminno Wt/Green paddle tail here in the river and further down river the Shadlin works better for me in assorted colors. I still use Spike-it and Lunker Sauce quite a bit. I even have a "kit" made up with Sauce and the spike-it colors and a few Q-tips to to doctor the soft plastics a bit. Works for me. To find this stuff, Field and Stream here in New Bern has all that. You may even find a few Old Bayside Plastics there too. Brandon has had a pretty good last few days on the water here in New Bern catching Stripers. He is fishing the usual places here in and around the New Bern area.

6/27/06

Boy we sure have had some rain here in Eastern NC. It will effect the fishing here at least in the short term regarding the specks and puppie drum and maybe the flounder where the saltier water was and will be displaces by a much more fresh water. It usally will push the bait back out for a while and this make the others fall back as well but doesent last to long regardless of the salinity of the water. But with the added current up stream of new Bern the catfishing should get better. Out in the sound the fishing has been mixed with some incredible days or catching and some funky off kilter days too. Good with the bad but no day of fishing is BAD!!!! Heck, I heard this week of a tarpon boated in the sound so things are going in the summer mode for sure. I'll be prospecting this weekend here inthe river and fishing @ the beach too. For anybody that wants to go nearshore for Kings,and whatever, give me a shout. I have some pretty sweet rates for that. I'll try to get some better info by weekend.

6/16/06

Quick Report:: Reported there are a bunch of Specks inthe sound and open Neuse River area with most boats finding good numbers of fish. Mirror lures and and soft plastics are working. Red Backs 52s and even a few top waters Pins minnow by Yozuri are effective . Eariler the better. Small Pinfish in the2" size are great live bait. just a FYI.

6/15/06

Sorry for the delay on reports just to busy forthe most part and not enuff days in the week!!

First off I was in the store yesterday (Field and Stream Sports in New Bern) and saw a really neet thing to have. They have about 12 Sabaki rod there in stock. Fro those of you that are not familure with these rods, their real ussage is catching bait with Sabaki rigs and when finished fishing, you just reel the entire rig inside the rod..no HOOKs flying about!!!Sweet package for catching bait offshore and nearshore. They have some reels tha will make a nice package. Stop by and add one of these to the boat. And they are a GREAT FATHERS  DAY present!! now to the report. A very strange water quality problem last week that caught me off guard on sunday. Just down river from New Bern the Oxigen level bottomed out. That happens from time to time inthe summer here and usally leads to fish kills here in the river. But, the thing that usally sets this up is flat calm winds really warm water temps over more than a few days. Wellthe water was close to 72 by my machine and not really calm either..at least not calm on the days leading up to Sunday. Arrivng with guest to Live Oak pt the crabs were swimming on topwater and crawing inthe grass on shore. A friend was scooping up the big ones to take home to eat and we didn't catch any fish or get a hit with the exception of snagging a Channel Cat in the back. I learned later that another friend fishied later in the day to pick up some fish but they were caught along and right tight to the shore. Albet getting some of the last oxigen as the waves splashed on the shoreline. I got home and checked the website and sure enough, the oxigen was flatlined. Then..on the 13th in as few as 3hurs the level bounced right up??? Crazy!!! In other news a good Striper topwater bite did take place in the upper Neuse river areas over the weekend and may still be there this weekend but with all the water coming down from way up there..This weekend may be the last for a while till things clear up a bit. The Bream are bedded up now and flyrods and popping bugs were the ticket for a good friend of mine over the weekend. Buddy is the MAN!! Till next time

6/5/06

Added new photos and more to follow next week!

Pretty much of the week there was some fish to be found in and around New Bern but the weekends weather really changes the fishes patterns..at least for a few day anyway. Last week, there was some good stripers fishing in and around new bern's bridges and tressles and along some of the stumpy shorlines. Most of them weren unler the size limit but fun anyway. The late and early topwater bite should peak this week with the full moon ont he 11th. Early morn bith will inprove the closer the New moon gets. The speckles trout are still rather small with in 8 miles of new bern but further in the big part of the river the specks  are a bit better with a good share of them in the 14 to16 inch class and a few really nice ones. And if you get the chance to release a fat female ready to spawn..do that and feel good about helping to make more trout!! The fish are hitting little fishies. Old bayside Shadlins,Fin-s and of course mirror lires and Pins minnows. The usal colors are working for this time of year too. The Shrimp will show up soon and that will add some hot action to that fishery. I have begun to run charters at the beach for near shore fishing and have some good rates and have a good number of weekend now open. Give me a call if you are interested.

5/30/06

Low water int he river on Saturday made a bit of tuff conditions but Sunday was pretty nice!! both days there was some fish cught in the river. From stripers to bream, to specks the river is doing well. There were a few trout caught up close to New Bern and a few Puppie drums as well. but backing up a bit the catfish are still int he upper areas abouve Cowpen and then I've caught them further don too. There was some bait in the river all the way to Glenburnie. Little water is moving to keep the salt back. The bream are in full swing now and great catches of them on little fly poppers and crickets. Trash fishing is good too with lots of places with GARS!! Further down river the specks were thicker in the Neuse from upper Broad and down to all the creeks. Old Bayside Shadlins ona 1/4oz head still getting the job done on all the fish. Colors that worked were olive and white and I just SPIKE the tail orange or pink or..green. Gotta love that stuff. I also per-soak in Lunker sauce. You can find all this stuff @ Field and Stream sports in New Bern. Popping corks are starting to work better now and there should be a few shrimp at the beach. I may run there this week to bring a few back here to use. The bigger Trout are in the sound areas now. I have some days still open for the summer but it is a early morning thing.

anglers have to be onthe water really early. Till next time

5/24/06

This weekend had both good weather and bad weather to fish in. Saturday saw some pretty stiff wind and made for rough conditions to fish in. There was a fair amount of Speckled Trout on saturday and sunday from Goose creek to Adams creek...most likly in all the creeks. Old Bayside Shadlins in pearl, green flake and olive on 1/4 oz jig heads did well and I just spiked the tail with a little orange SPIKE-IT and had the plastics soaking in Lunker Sauce in Shrimp Flavor. Capt. Gary Dubiel told me the puppie drum was picking up from orential and outwards. Some flounder mixed in as well. He's listed onthe links page so check Gary's page and site out. Closer to New Bern the small stripers are still biting in the early morning and late in all the usall places like the car bridges and RR trestles and further up past Hatteras Yachts. I spoke to a fellow who had done well on the bream last week too on the Bridgton side. Crikets did it well. Holy moley the Cow nose Stringrays were as thick as I have seen'em inthe river. Easy to snag if you want to have a Neuse River Donkey pull some line through the guides. Just bend the barbs down for easy extraction of the jig head. We landed one that was over 45#s!!

FISH ON!!!  

5/15/06

Woke up last Monday night to a Kidney stone!! So just having passed it this Sunday, I didn't get on the water. Here's what others did!! There is a lot of small specks in the river and creeks here in eastern NC now. By fall these should be in the 15 to 18 inch class ans that should be great fall fishing...barring no canes to mess it up! They are taking soft plastics and stick baits pretty good. With all the small Specks in the river you may have to find them then move from them to find some better sized fish. The smaller ones will not hang with the bigger trout. There have beeen a few Puppie drum up here close to New Bern so the river is poised to have a great run of these guys. From Duck Creek to all the way down river the puppie drum have made a good showing last week. Closer to New Bern the topwater bit on Stripers did pretty good..still lots of 16 to 19" fish by what I've heard and seen in pics. Both my nephs went last week and did well on Stripers and Specks here in the Neuse. The Creeks on the south side of the river have had some fish show up in the mouths so you can just leave New Bern and cris-cross and should do well!! Later weekly reports as I get'em

5/10/06

Having been out of town for the last week, sorry for the late reports of local fishing. Here goes. No report of catfishing to any real degree but I sure there are some there. Bream and Shellcracker are beginning to pick up and the good bite should be just int he next few weeks. Lots of fun on the ultra lights and small spinners and hard baits. Good places to begin looking for the bream is the bases of the trees along the river that have deeper water at the bases. It's a good place to find a few bass too. For the Speckled  trout, I've heard af a few being caught in Broad and Goose and even as far down a hancock too. Dawson and orential should hold some also. There may be a few Puppie Drum in the mix. A couple were caught here in New Bern @ the car bridge last week while fishing for the stripers around the piles. Soft plastics and a few topwaters were working. Lilfishes are good. Old Bayside Shadlins in Silver and white work well and so do the   fin-s's. Hopefull a better detaild report onec I get back tothe river...this weekend. Have a good time fishing.

5/10/06 

Weldon May1 through May 7

Weldons striper bite was a bit off from past years. After talking to others, it seems like a combination of factors played into the fishery this year. Things like low water, rapid warming of the low water, cold fronts and rising water levels took roles to make the first week of the closed season there in Weldon a tuff nut to crack for some anglers while others that fished had some pretty good numbers of catches. I got there on Sunday, the last day of the keeper season and the parking lot had thinned out quite a bit by 4:00pm. I didnt stick around but till 6:30pm and traffic out of the ramps was steady but not extremely crazy. On Monday, I hit the river with good friend Kary Via and we released 7 or 8 fish by 8:00am and the bite pretty much died for the fly rod. That afternoon, at least for me the bite was still off but for the guys with bait, the bite was pretty good. In fact a few really big fish were released the fell for live lined herrings. Tuesday morning @ 5:30am, I hit the river again and caught 2 fish on fly and took pictures and just relaxed. That afternoon the fish really got busy and the bite on flys and bait was pretty good. And no surprise, the live lined herrings that a few anglers had jigged up paid off big.  Wed was a repeat of Tuesday but the bite was a bit better on bait than fly. But what did change-up were the topwater strikes. And some spawning activity! Thursday morning the topwater strikes were getting a bit better but died pretty soon after the sun and boat traffic increased. Then it was pretty dead for artificial with some flurries of activity patched in. In between the morning and afternoon.Shad, shiners or a live herring worked to keep the fish biting. But the afternoon saw the beginnings of a good spawn and topwater action too. Each day got better as the week progressed. The weekend was pretty good, a solid topwater bite in both the morning and late evening.  About 100 stripers were released from the boat for the week. The largest was a nice 8 plus pounder that really hit a topwater plug on Sunday morning. I was incredible to watch the stripers spawning!!! And just as incredible to see the stripers fall for a live lined herring!! It will be interesting to see if the same results can happen next year without the herrings.

4/24/06

Sorry for the delay on posting. been on vacation. The stripers are still in the river near and around New Bern. With some int he keeper size still being caught up the river and a few on Topwaters but more and more on plastics and traps. Still catching a few on the silver Shadlins from Old Bayside/ Lindy on 1/4oz heads worked off the bottom. There were a few Puppy drum caught off the 17 car bridge last week too. With the salinity getting pretty high for that area of the river, you can start fishing from Duck Creek down river in the stumpage and points just of the creeks. Brandon (aka Neusefisher) did pretty well with the specks over ths past weekend with lots of smaller fish but a few were decent but all wre lots of fun!! He did most of his catching further down river about 14miles from new Bern. Closer to home the Catfish are still being caught up past Spring garden on cut bait and live perch. over half inthe 10lb and above class. Gars!!!!!lot of gars!! The Trout have been hit and miss but when you find them they are thick and holed up in a bunch. Start fishing near the mouths of the creeks and even in the open shores of the river. And piers and sea walls in decent water should hold some fish now. There are a few reports of Flounder but I havent caught one yet but It's time for them to show up around Dawson and minnisott areas.

Field and Stream Sports here in New Bern have a real good selection of Gulps products and They will be in Short supply as the season progresses. Production of some Gulp will be short of the demand. Stop by now and Stock up on the best ones now! Also check out the Old Bayside plastics, they really work! There may be a few of the Oldbayside popping corks there too. While your there check out the apperal too. F&SS has a very nice selection of fishing shirts to keep you styling on and off the water!!  Till next time.

4/7/06

The past week has seen a bite with the stripers a bit off and dropping in the New Bern area. Reports of a few more decent ones caught up river from pine tree creek and above on bottom bait and using perch for bait. Pretty solid action on the Catfish fishing on the bottom with the Shad. Speaking of the Shad, I had a good friend tell me he and his friend caught them good up the creeks near a swamp...must be spawing and won't be here to much longer. Down river the Speckled trout were caught in good numbers but still on the smaller side with the exception of some of the creeks further down past Dawson have some larger ones. Soft plastics are taking'em as well as some being taken Sub-surface in Yozuri's and 7m's and a very few on topwater but were geting there!! Wind is kicking up this weeekend out of the SW and looks like it will again suck a bit of water out of the creeks and rivers. Sothe fish will re-orentate to the deeper water inthe creeks. That will force you to fish out in the wind. Last weekend, same thing. But last weekend I use a Drift Control drift sock and guldarn if that thing aint the best!!! First time for me using one and when I deployed it the boat almost stopped with a 20mph pushing the boat. Then I used the trolling motor to keep the boat in position and fished!! Simple and easy..no kidding!!!

Field and Stream Sports here in New Bern has a good selection of socks. Check these things out!!! and If you really need more info onthe socks, drop me an e-mial and I'll give you a bit more info. Cool tool!!! Cool bait?? I just got a new shipment of Old Bayside Squids. They are look great and in the best colors that I use here on the Neuse and near coastal. I messed around yesterday with different sponge matterial and found a way to cut a plug of sponge that will fit up inthe squid's hollow cavity. Now I'm soaking the sponge in Lunker sauce and inserting them. See where I'm going with this don't ya!! I'll let you knw how that works!! Tight lines! Oh and check out the Friends page with two new pages of Pics with the best of 2005. you may be in one!

4/1/06

With near calm winds today in the Neuse River and with the high water, we headed out to Pamlico sound to fish for Bonefish and Blue marlin using soft plastics and a few Shad darts. The bite was full on when we arrived!!! But as soon as it was hot, it died all to fast and we left the shallows to look for a better bite in the 50 fathom line just west of Swan Island. We stopped to fish a good looking weed line and found some some Yellowfin Tuna holding just below the boat. With so may fish free jumping, we got out the flyrods and imedietly hooked into a 100 plus lb Bluefin!!!! A real treat to land him on the IFGA rated 2# tippit. It may have been a record but we released him. If you've read this far, I hope you realize it's April Fools day!!! Now for the real report!!

Today the wind Blew..hard..really hard and the water in the river must have dropped by 18" by mid afternooon. But ya know, I watched Capt. Gary Dubiel catch Speckled Trout on the Flyrod!! GET-ER-DONE GARY!!!!!. Now back up acouple of days. There were some real fish caught with the conditions really nice llike they were and I think the nest few days will also be great! Up above Hatteras Yachts and just off Glenburnie the striper bite was pretty good. And..the first few were caught on topwters also. We had well over 20 hits Thurs afternoon and hooked 5 and landed 3 but I had rather catch em like that any day!!! There were  afew Trout caught too in the creeks down from New Bern..say starting 10miles down. Dawson has some small ones(trout) but no real puppie drum in the creeks as yet. Did hear of a good number of Puppie Drum in the creeks off the sound though so maybe they will move in soon.The shad bit may be all but over with only a few caught on Saturday..but the water was really low..low. low .low. We really need some rain!!! There were still some of the biggest Pogeys in the river I've ever seen for this time of year in areas not usally seen in either. Tight line and catch ya later.

3/28/06

The weekends fishing went like this. Most all fish bit till about 11:00am and from all reports from others that fished..the bite died...for the rest of the weekend too for the most part. The shad are still there bases ont he guys drifting nets with a bunch of Buck shad and a lettle less Roe shad. The weather should moderate this week and the bite should retun on the shad. The water temps dropped quite a bit last week. Stripers were caught last week in a good amount...till the front moved in Saturday. I marked some of the best amounts of fish Saturday but they had lock jaw. Still the upper parts of the river from the NR tressel to the areas down from Hatteras yachts produced more fish. There were a few at the car bridge but scatered and picky eaters. Down fromt he bridge, the trout were thin until you got past beards and the creeks off Dawson and down are holding more numbers of fish but lots of small guys in the 11.5 to 13" with a few good 15 to 17" fish to keep it interesting. Mirror lures and soft plastics are working. Colors depend on where your fishing. I'll add the little thing I wrote on colors at the bottomn of this post for the new comers to read. No real numbers of Puppy Drum as yet. I spoke to Jeff Cronk last week and he told me the Puppy Drum are moving tothe inlets and that may mean they are going to begin to visit our areas soon. We'll keep it posted. Fising this week so I'll post updates as they occur. Catch ya later.

Here's the color tips,

3/20/06

Boy, I got scunked trout fishing Saturday!! A hard day to swallow...it happens! So did anybody else catch trout over the weekend? Well...yes a few were caught but not in the areas that I had fished so...the fish were a bit further down from New Bern than I fished. Backing up a bit to New Bern, the Stripers were still keeping anglers happy with some of the fish pushing over 5lbs while most were in the 16 to 19 inches size. My friend Capt Gary Dubiel (he's got a link off the guides page) did well in the stripers for both days this weekend. A few others were still doing well on the Hickory Shad as well at the catfish. The last mentioned fish were being sought in the areas above New Bern and Pitchkettle. Reported that there were a few more Buck shad than Roe this weekend.

I still have a few 1/2 days left to fill on the Roanoke in May for the stripers on the Fly and light tackle. The weekends are now booked and mid-week is filling. Maybe I'll get a few 1/2days to FUN fish!!!! Sweet!! The other day I got a set of 4 Avocet Mitchell spinning reels to take the place of the shiminos stradics that wre in the shop being serviced and guess what...These little reels really work nice!! I may just keep'em. Stop by Field and Stream Sports to check out the entire line of Avocet/Mitchell reels. For freshwater to brackish fishing, these reels should be great and the price??? less that 30.00. Also, check out the turkey hunting supplies, F&SS has most all you can ever use!! Catch ya later!!

3/17/06

It's looking a little cooler for the weekend but afternoon temps should still make for an enjoyable trip on the river. Starting up near Pitchkettle, the shad are near fever pitch and spawing should be nearing or ongoing now and next week. There have been a few reported near 100 fish days!! Water is near record low levels for this time of year and the flow is very slow. Still grubs and spoons are working consistantly. Just find some water that is moving and has a break in the current and the shad have been stacking in these areas. Might be a tree inthe water causing the break. Some really big catfish are showing up too. I got e-mailed on a better than 50lber caught by David R. here in the river this week, Congrats David!! There are a lot of good sized Stripers working up past New Bern and may be Staging to Spawn also. Soft plastics in White and Bucktails are working anlong with a topwater bite when it presents itself!! Closer to New Bern the tressle is still holding a few Stripers as is the AR and the Car Bridge. These might be the smaller ones though. Just down from New Bern the Trout have begun to show up in pretty good numbers just in and around the Mouths of the creeks and even in the main parts of the river shore line. Most all creeks are holding some fish. Soft plastics are taking as are a few dedicated top water fishermen taking some fish in that manner. These seem to be a bit smaller sized fish but good numbers of them.

Catch ya later

3/13/06

With the really nice weather this past weekend, you would expect the fishing to have been great....and it was!!! The shad are pretty much on fire in the area of Pitch Kettle and above but with the low water the fish are int he main river more so than int he low grounds. reports of more than 50 fish a bot were the normal for the guys fishing the area this past weekend. It should last a few more weeks at this pace so don't let it get by you.  IT'S FUN FISHING!!!! Capt. Gary or Speckfever Charters had a great day on the Neuse yesterday and did some pretty good catching of the Stripers above New Bern. They seem to be moving a bit so just keep looking till you get on'em. White plastics and Bucktails will work and Topwaters also . Still a few around the Train tressle on the Neuse and just off the channels ledges. A few were up the upper Broad creek on Saturday caught by a few looking for trout. Trout are starting to show up in better numbers in the Creeks off the Neuse close to new Bern and a few were taken on Topwaters but most were on Soft plastics. It getting ready to break out here in the Neuse and near coastal to. Weldon is almost fully bookedand the other guides are almost booked up solid in this may be one of the better Striper Runs. The near shore fishing will be really good hopefully and with a warm spring forcast (long range that is) NC is poised for a really great spring fishing season. It's spring Turkey season soon and the Staff @ Field and Stream Sports herein new Bern have worked hard to have all the gear needed to get you hunting on NC's most challenging game bird. Stop by and see the guys that can help. While your there, check out the one of the best lure selections for Bass in New Bern. Catch ya later.

3/9/06

Fishing is heating up here in the river with some solid reports of Striper and Shad in the Neuse. And, a few reports os Trout near the mouth of some of the creeks just off the Neuse. This warm spell should get it moving in a large way. Even so large Catfish were caught this week. We could use some rain as long as the rain is not like last years torential monsoon! Water is really low up river so fishing for the shad may be a bit better in the main part of the river. The best places will get full fast so please use manners and try to keep your paintence as others may try to move closer to whre the shad are concentrated. Field and Stream Sports has live bait and all your needs for the shad and most other baits you'll need for fish the Neuse. They still had a few of the shad combos at a bargin!! Turkey Hunters...F&SS has what ever you need to rigg up for Spring Gobbler season, stop by and speak to the guys that can really talk turkey. I can't believe I typed that!

Trips in Weldon Are booking up! get on the book today!

3/6/06

March fising is getting started in a big way here in eastern Nc. With the warm temps expected for this week, the speckled trout should start to move a bit and bite better. I'd start looking closer to the mouths of the creeks and find some bait moving and stay with the bait. good bait forage to look for are mullet and anything small and swimming! Good choices for baits are topwater stick baits such as Yozuri pins minnow in Ch back floaters or suspending, 7m mirror lures in red back. Fish them twitching, pause twitch...pause. Old Bayside Shadlins in silver with a charturce back. how do you get the back charturce?? Spike-it on a Q-tip!  You can make a good presentation withthe shadlins using the Old Bayside Heavy hooks. Closer tothe Bridges and structure of New Bern the Rock are still there with the smaller ones further out off the reefs and the larger ones further up the neuse river with some of the better places to begin from the RR tressle up past Hatteras and the gut. Still some fish up past those places. They are taking artificals and cut bait now. The Shad are more consistant now with better days on the way for sure. Darts and Spoons are taking them along with the lead heads and small curly tail grubs in White and yellow. I'll be doing some trips there this week and post on the outcome.

We had a real good time with the seminar this past weekend @ Field and Stream sports here in New Bern! They had food, drinks and The DMF patrol stopped by to answer some questions also. It was a great group turnout!! Brandon impressed me with his knowledge of Largmouth Bass and all the trimmings!! He also is very knowledgeable on Shad and many other species here in the river. Pleasure to be there with him!! Thanks again Brandon'""!

Stop by Field and Stream Sports soo. They have a few Shad combos left that after the mail in rebate, the combo is well under 30.00 and its a nice one too!! The Guys there really put on a great show. With Turkey season just around the corner, F&SS has most anything you need or want to get rigged up for Turkey season. The Staff there can really talk Turkey!!

And, Let's get you on the books for the weldon trips in May!!!   It's well worth it and one of few places that are truly every thing you hear about!!  Get a buddy and split the charter, get two buddies and 3way it!! I promise, you will not be disapointed with the fishing there!!! May 6th and 7th is currently open and on the weekend. First come, first served!!

2/27/06

Well some shad have shown up the past week here int he river@ spring garden and above to pitchkettle and still further. Low water has most of the fish in the main creek cause there is not much water in the lowgrounds. Spoons and darts are working equally well and a few of the Cape Lookout Fly Fishers flung flies for a fun fishing day! In the neuse further down the Trout bit a bit on Saturday depending on where you did fish. Broad and Beard gave up just a few trout. The nice weather this upcoming week should help jump start the area for the spring. There is a good bunch of fish that have wintered in the creeks and the apperance of bait and moderate water temps should get things going inthe right direction. Still a few stripers hanging around the bridges and train tresstles but the nicer ones are a little bit further up the river.

My Buddy Capt. Mike McDonald fishing out of Georgetown SC has a real nice boat for sale. 2005 sea fox Bay with Merc 150 opti and rigged to fish right now. You can call him @ (843) 520-6339. He's asking 23,000 for the entire rig. Nice! Hope to see a few of you guys this Weekend @ field and Stream Sports here in New Bern for the spring inland seminar. It will start @ 10:00am

2/20/06

While I havent fished myself in the last month, seems a few guys have caught a few fish here in the county. Still a few Speckled Trout in the creeks and a few stripers still hanging in the bridge piles and the usally places. Sems like more of the larger stripers have moved up the river in hopes of finding a few of the Herring that move in this time of year. And there are a few of the stripers being caught on cut fish. Just in time a few to the hickory Shad have been caught this weekend but it's still a little early but the fishing should only get better in the next few weeks. Keeping with the seasonal runs of fish here in the Neuse river, Myself and Brandon Eatman are going to give a seminar on Shad, Speckled Trout and Largemouth Bass on March the 4th at Field and stream Sports hee in New Bern. It will be geared twards the Novice fishers who would like a bit of insite to getting out there and catching a few fish. Field and Stream Sports is your spring turkey head quarters and also has a bunch of Shad darts and spoons. Stop by and say hello to the friendly staff there.. We hope to see you Saturday March the 4 and we'll begin to seminar close to 10:00 am. See you then!!

2/6/06

Fishing was a bit slow....ok it was almost stopped!! With the wind...sheeech did it blow!!! roller coaster temp, winds that are sucking the water out, The fish must think it's time to reach around and kiss their lower parts goodby. I spend some time this time of the year....oka to much time this time of the year going through the tackle bag and removing stuff that went bad or will go bad. Found some old fishbites that had gotten pretty smelly and my friend had left his empty Gulp bag in my storage on the boat (That stunk) so there are things to do!!! Making a new addition tothe hull with an aft deck casting platform. and of course getting ready for the Shat here in the river and the Weldon and the river trout and the......list goes on! The fishing is really poised to be sensational this year!!

2/2/05

Just a quick note, Field and Stream Sports has a BIG selection of MOJO lures and Chesepeake Bay lures also for the big stripers. And Turkey hunters, F&SS has a big selection of all the stuff you need to get your Gobbler..well get you rigged out to get your Gobbler anyway!!! From Guns to calls, they have it all! And F&SS is a perfect place to get a gift card for the sportsman in your family. Stop by and visit the staff.

1/30/05

The fishing in the river was pretty exciting depending on where you fished this past weekend. Of course some places were much hotter than others and each yeilded different fish. From upriver above New Bern, Spriper,Bass and catfish. Below new bern there were quite a few Specks put tothe boatside. My friend Buddy Rogers flat put a whoppiing on the speckled trout this weekend with his flyrod!!! with over 30 on Saturday and an oncore on Sunday morn with much larger fish but not as many. WAY TO GO BUDDY!!

I'm getting ready for the spring and spring looks like it's coming early. Rain is forcast for the better part of the week ans warm temps may get the water moving and the Hickory shad just may kick in before the usalle time.  I'm currently booking for the Shad and Spring Trout and puppie Drum now here on the Neuse and I'll be taking a week to boon on the Roanoke for the Stripers in the release season. I current;y have a lot of open weekends and they fill up the fastest when the season approaches so if you think a trip is in the making, give me a call or drop a line soon.

1/25/06

Wow, what a roller coaster ride the water inthe river has had lately!!! today with winds out of the NW@ over 20, it should really move out again. Water temp are really mild for this time of year and the Shad run may begin much sooner and there are some reports of Hickory shad near or at Pitch Kettle the guys have been catching inthe drift nets. Although I havent heard of one, I'll bet someone has caught the first one on hook and line. I may start fishing for them sooner if the run begins sooner than it historicaly does. The stripers in the river are still around the bridges around New Bern but...its the time of year that they make a move up river to look for some herring and shad.

Field & Stream Sports in New Bern is selling Live EELS so stop by a gt a few to take fishing for the Stripers. They also have some pretty good selection on Shad fishing supplies. Get yours before the rush so you have the best selection.

1/23/06

Sorry, no report, I've been doing some much needed catch-up around the house. A few Hickory Shad in the nets I hear. Must have their winter Jammies on!

1/10/06

After a breif spell of chill, the weather has moderated to milder temps (for winter time) for what looks like a week or longer. Just a few observations. This may lead the trout to start looking for food if the water temps reach the upper 40s near 50 range as their metobolic rate increases. Upside, a better trout bite may take place and for longer. Downside, There is just not that much forage fish up the creeks this time of year and may cause the fish to move either in shallow water or leave the safty of the creeks in search of forage fish. If this were to happen,a real cold blast could take these fish by suprise and result in a kill. Doomsday preaching??? It's just a observation is all. lets hope the senerio is a no go. On with the report.

Close to new bern a few fish (stripers) were caught but it was scattered for sure. I think the front put a real damper on the fishes taking lures or live bait. And a few trout wre taken up Broad, goose creeks but like the stripers, it was scattered. Not to much to tell as yet. But most ofthe trout were in the smaller sizes.  Till later in the week, tight lines!

Keep an eye open for fishing seminars coming to the area of New Bern in the Next month. More info on that next week.

1/05/06

Well the nice temps we've had of recent days are going to be absent for what looks like a few days as this weekends temps are forcast to be in the upper 40s with lows in the20s and 30s overnight. Light NW to W winds look to prevail though so it could be a fishable weekend, just cool out there on the water. The westerlies may move some of the water in the Neuse and let up a bit of current on a outgoing direction. If it's strong enuff, it should help get the small stripers to orentate off the piles of the bridges and not scatter so much. No current lets them scatter and its hard to find 'em. Look for the trout to move to the warmest side of the creeks by mid-day on these cold days to warm up a bit. Fish slow. There wre a few trout caught yesterday in some of the creeks. Broad,and the creeks on down had a few. Where are all the nice stripers???. Hey, if you gt into those little guys, try to use jigs and mash the barbs down for easier release. Live baiting?? use a circle hook. Lets help to keep the small fish going strong!!

1/03/06

First report of the year!!! After whailing onthe little stripers for over a week the bite went south yesterday. It should return, I think the SE wind yesterday did'em in. as forthe trout, Most of the creeks just down from New Bern have been having mixed luck on get some trout to the boats. It's cold folks!! The water that is and the trout bite will cont to be erattic (sp) with temps in the mid 40s. There have been some pretty good hauls of trout and the trout at times are citations sized mixed with smaller ones too. Guys, they are on the bottom so if losing a few baits will turn you off, you may go fishless. And please return a few of the bigger ones, take a few pics and return the fish and keep the smaller ones to eat. The big ones are your brood makers this summer. We as rec fishermen are the first to ask a ban on netting only to do a lot of damage our selves. Creeks like Upper Broad,Goose and even Beards and Dawson are still having some fish on certin good days. Up adams creek and off to some of the other creeks, the deeper holes still have a few trout and even a few puppie drum. Look for the puppie drum on the mud flats warming. You might get lucky. Still my favorite so far is the Old Bayside Shadlin in White. It's slim profile lets it drop faster to stay in contac with your line when fishing deep water and some of the water I've been fishing is over 30 ft deep for the stripers here in New Bern.

This Saturday in the New Bern Convention Center is the Saltwater Sportsman Seminar Series Hosted by George Povoromo!!! Some of eastern NCs guides will be there in a open forum  that should help answer any and most of the questions you wish to ask themnothing held back!!!  Check all the programs and guides there!!! This is one of the biggest fishing shows to come to our area!! Check it out at   www.nationalseminarseries.com

12/30/05

Here is a belated report for the Speckrigg its been busy for sure, and thats a good thing!!! Running back in time a bit. The trout were hitting pretty good until the cold spell, then it warmed up and they turned up a bit but with the water still in the lower 40s, the bit will remain  hit and miss for the remaining winter with spurts of grand catching. If you can catch two or three days of sunny, mild days the bite will most likely happen on the 2^nd day and into the 3^rd. Most of the trout have come from the northern creeks of the Neuse. Upper Broad, Goose and Beards have all yielded some fish. Dawson is usually fished pretty hard but some fish were taken there too. Some of the deeper holes on the southern creeks may yield a few trout too. The upside of fishing for the trout now is that you stand a good chance to catch a nice fish. With more of the bigger ones wintering up the creeks your odds are pretty good at getting a citation sized one in the winterif you hit it right. Soft plastics in White are good to start with. Work them slow and switch up the pace if no interest as I have been fishing slow and sped up the pace only to have hits. Mirror lures in TTseries work pretty good. Old Bayside Shadlins in white have really been working for me as late. 

Starting this past Tuesday until this afternoon over 65 stripers have come to the side of the Speckrigg boat!! Its pretty hot!! I had on Tuesday one of the better fly anglers in NC on the bow and Chuck L ended up with 8 Stripers and 3 Large Mouth Bass on Fly!! On Thursday the bite was on a bit better and Ended the day with close to 23 fish and one went over 22". Way to go Brandon!!! Today we found the mother load!!! Conditions were snotty a bit but each drift on the fish yielded and the fish were stacked and the depth finder was marking lots of them too. We ended up with over 35 fish today!!! All released. And the hot bait????? OldBayside Shadlins!!! White on a Old Bayside 1/4oz jig head.  Where did we catchem???? We pulled a lot of the Car bridges and a few up Duck Creek. I had guys trolling all around me and they were picking up a few but jigging was the ticket and most of the fish were only a foot or two off the bottom so you needed to finesse your bait.  Get out there and get ya some!!!

Next Saturday in the New Bern Convention Center is the Saltwater Sportsman Seminar Series Hosted by George Povoromo!!! Some of eastern NCs guides will be there in a open forum  that should help answer any and most of the questions you wish to ask themnothing held back!!!  Check all the programs and guides there!!! This is one of the biggest fishing shows to come to our area!! Check it out at   www.nationalseminarseries.com

Stop by Field and Stream Sports for some great deals!!!!! They even have some of the hard to find Old Baysides I use Guiding!!  These guys really do it right!!! From long arms to fishing and clothing, F&SPs is my connection and I hope it will be yours!! It will be once you stop by!

Check out the new Guides Page too. Some of the Guides also have fishing reports!!!

Good fishing and  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

12/15/05

Merry Christmas to all!!!! Hey last week the fishing was so-so depending where you were and what time you were there!! There were some decent sized stripers taken off the AR reef and a lot of smaller ones still around the structures. It did depend on just when you were there. I was at the beach fishing and did ok on the specks. Here in the river the specks were in the creeks off the river but up the creeks just off the deeper holes no dougbt waiting to hit those holes when the temps fall. Fallen they have!! This week the temps have fallen on average of 5 degs and now we have water in the 40s and that will slow the specks down a bit. But....a warm spell and sunny weather will get those specks to run for the mud bottoms in a bit of shallow water to warm a bit so....if you know of a muddy shoal close to a deep hole, thats a great place to start fishing. Live bait is pretty effective now. And what ever your fishing, slow it down!!!! Mirror lures are more than effective this time of year and I personal like the 52s in red back. You have got to really count down for the depth and you have to know the depth to do that. Best case is fish the bait no more than 3 ft off the bottom and closer is better. Your going to lose a few baits in the process. Soft plastics are fine but if the wind allows, switch to as light a jig head as possible. the action will be less aggressive and the fall slower, remember the water is cold and the fish are too and move slow. Stripers don't care about the temps!! Rattle traps have had better luck so far. Some Eel fishermen out there but I suspect the traps are working just as good. Lots of small stripers. There were a few puppie drum caught here int he river over the weekend but were mostly under the slot. There were caught fishing for the Trout. Action has shifted a bit back tothe Northern side of the rivers creeks. The southern side creeks are not as deep on the whole but there are some deeper spots in Slocum,Hancock, Tucker if you do your homework and yeild fish this time of year. I'm making trips to the beach on the weekends for the Big Boy Stripers and the trout.

I was in Field and Stream Sports last night and was amazed at all the stuff this store has inside!!! If you have a sportsman...er sportsperson on your christmas list, you need to visit. From main items to stocking stuffers, F&SS has what you need, want, wish for!!! If they don't have it, most likly they can get it. ANew addition to the staff is Scott Overly. Scott brings the F&SS over 8 years of exp in retail sporting goods and is an avid fisherman and hunter. Scott invites all his family and friends and past customers to stop by and say hello!!

Bloody coolers to all

12/08/05

Afew Stripers close to New Bern. More smaller ones @ the car bridge but a few in the 20" class too. A few Small trout up Broad and Goose just down from New Bern and both fish were caught in all the creeks on the south side of the river. Rattle traps, topwaters, and plastics were working on the stripers and Mirror lures and soft plastics on the trout. The Old Bayside Shadlin in a few of the normal colors on 1/4oz jig heads is what I used. The weather looks snotty for Friday but Saturday looks sweet so get out therer and go looking.

12/05/05

Way to busy last week , so here goes with the report. Here on the Neuse, the stripers were a little bit more coopreative for what ever reason. Guess its just time for the guys to start to herd up a bit and the schooling action has begun. They are still taking some topwaters when the oppertunity presents itself. And...They will surly take a good sized minnow in a heart beat! The usall places for the stripers here close to home in New Bern. Bridges and Tresstles and channel dropoffs and some of the stumpages close by. Rattle traps in 1/2 oz and even some of the bigger fly patterns are taking fish. Gars!!! If you thought they were thick this summer, you anint seen nothing yet! All the holes have huge piles of Gars!!! So if you pull up to some deep water and are marking some good blips ont he scope just off the bottom...most likly some Gars, but they will take anything stinky!!

 I had Capt Rick Patterson e-mailed me to ask if a rumur of large trout were taken in the area just close to New Bern, I couldn't substanuate it though I hope it was true!! The trout are starting to take to their wintering places and the creeks off the Neuse are beginning to give it up in small ways but that should change with all the really cold temps we are now seeing. Some of the better baits will be Mirror Lures and other stick baits. And in the soft plastics, minnows in the thinner profiles will work better to some degree better than shad profiles..or at least that is what has historicly worked better for me anyway. Some times you just don't know till you throw. Old Bayside Shadlins in the closeing night and spiked orange are a pretty good color and so is the green ones. It's not to cold yet so the trout will still come up to hit a bait but the ones last week were close to the bottom in about 7' of water.

Field and Stream Sports here in New Bern has a pretty good selection of anything a outdoorsman will need for the holidays. Stop by and pick up a gift certifacate for your outdoorsman. With new shipments of apperal and tackle coming in everyday, there's always something new to ponder over. And unlike the box stores (Wally Works) F&SS can order what ever they dont have for you. Tell'em Capt. Fred sent ya!!

11/22/05

The past weekend was from one extrem to the other for me. Saturday was a bust in the morning and Sunday was a great day!!1 What a difference a day makes is all I can say. So... Beginnning @ NB and going down stream so to speak. There were a few Stripers near the Tresstle and up from hatteras and the pump out of Wheyhouser (SP?) but a few more were found up the Trent river and glad to find 'em there too. been awhile. Heard of one that went over the 31" mark. Still a few in the main river and a few smaller ones off Broad and goose and the south shore across from fairfield harbor. A few scattered trout in Broad and a few Puppie drum in the stumps off Goose. Some action is starting to show up on the creeks on the south end of the river and a few decent reports from Slocum and hancock. Small trout though. Still some decent Puppie Drum in and around Orential and the creeks close by. A few guys are still doing really well with the Trout in the sund and the thing that really is great is top waters are the prevailing best way to get'em!! Mirror lures 7Ms in Electric chicken and red backs are the better colors but that can change anyday. But...that's whats hot now so better stop and grab a couple of'em. Old Bayside shadlins are still working @ the beacha nd the mudminnow is prefered here. The old Bayside Shrimp fished on a 5/0 offset bass hook with a small splitshot crimped to the bend will get you the desired action not unlike a d.o.a. White in that is working this time of year. With disapearing bait in the creeks, let that be a good thing to look for. find bait and you will be in a good place to find fish. This time of year it pays to stay with the bait and if you don't catch fish, come back later to try the same spot again. They just might be turned on by then. Good fish to ya'll!!

BTW, Field and Stream Sports has a great selection of new clothes and acc. in the store. Stop by and get all your Christmas Shopping done in one store!!! They still have a great selection of lures and they just got a shipment of Rod and Reel combos in.

11/17/05

Well, found the small Stripers again..here in the river close to Greensprings, but with the weather front today and tomorrow they most likly will move again. Fly fishing worked and so did topwaters on the small 14 to16"ers. A few of the bigger Stripers from Hatteras Yachs to the car Bridges. No work on the Trent with the exception of the Car Bridge but it's time for me to beging prospecting up the trent for those guys. Trout are still being picked up in Broad, Goose and beyond with a good amount of them also showing in the creeks on the south side of the river too. There are a pretty good amount of the Puppie Drum in the same areas as the trout but the better fishing for them has been out near the mouth of the river from South river to Point of marsh. Best colors of late: In plastics white/green tail, green Ice, Opening Night/orangetail. Of course Old Bayside Shadlyns and Mudminnows were my choices and guess what, its starting to be others in this areas choice too. Their catching on!!! Yozuri Penns Minnow and 52/7m Mirror lures are taking a toll in the fish as well. AND...You can get all these baits and Gulps @ Field and Stream Sports here in New Bern!! Check out their apparel and foot wear!

Now for a beach report: The #s of trout this year is just lke last year...just crazy amounts of fish!! Most of my trips in the last two weeks result in over 90 fish in a 4 hour tide run! They are small but what a lot of fun and they take flys just as well. I'm fishing the marshes so no waves,boat traffic to deal with and the trips are real fun. Also, if numbers arent what you want but size is, got those too. Near shore the Albacore are getting easier to get on and soo the stripers will arrive. It's time to book and I have a great selection of Striper trips avilible. I can also set up for large groups in Multible boats too!! Get the boss to take the guys fishing for a christmas present!!! It's hot fishing Now!!

11/08/05

Nearly the years end and it looks like a good ending to a great fishing year!! With the warm weather of late, the bite has been somwhat hit and miss here in the river and creeks for the troout and stripers. With better catches of decent sized trout further east then west, the neuse seems poised for a great fall/winter session and when the water cools...it should be on fire!!! As far a the stripers, they have been caught from the hatteras area to Weyerhouser pump-out and the NR Train Tresstle on the up river side. And a few good ones still at the NR car Bridge. Some better baits were the Bucktails and trailers. As for the puppie Drum...They have shifted locations and I havent been able  to pin em down..I'm sure they are still here in the river, just havent found them. Trout heve been on the small side in the upper neuse but that will change as the ones further out in the sound are quite large indeed and will migrate in to winter up. As far as the little ones, they are hitting just about every plastic and small stick baits. Good colors have been the gold and opening night colors. Old Bayside Shadlins have been pretty good fished on a 1/4oz head. I spike the tails for a little color. I'v begun to use Lunker Sauce. It's good stuff and I'll leave it at that!!!!! I spent two days fishing at the coast last week and the trout is going off big time!!!!! Over 50 one day and just shy of 100 trout in a 4 hour tide change on Saturday. Not big ones but enuff keeper sizes to make any limits. Albacore are showing in pretty good numbers and the Blufish are in the 2 to 4lb size and take all manner of tackle and are a lot of fun if you like to feela tug on the line and hear a drag scream!!!! I'm fishing more there than the river. Have fun fishing and drop an e-mail if you have any questions. Keep your lines in the water if you want to catch fish!!!!!!

10/31/05

Weekend wrap up! Well the NRBWO tournament was a great sucess for the NRF with over 850.00 raised to help them look after the river!! The wind however did not coopperate. Saturday was a pretty windy day to say the least and it got a bit worse as the day wore on wipping the Neuse to over 2ft waves as you rounded the bend @ minnisott!! Whew!!!! Fishing just before the weekend was pretty good in all the usall spots in the river and using stick baits and soft plastics had proven good at putting some quaility fish to the boat sides. Not what happened for the most past on Saturday though. There were some good quality Specks weighed in though but not in the quantity of just a few days before the Tournament. Congrats to Lou and Paul for their second win!!! Those guys really put a creel together that weighed in @ over 15lbs and took the big Trout and Puppy Drum. I think Brandon posted on NCW the results. Yours truly only caught one fish!!! it was 2.38lb speck...now if I had only gotten about 5 of those...... But, what a difference a day makes. Sunday afternoon was a pretty as it gets here on the Neuse River!!! And just as pretty as it was the fish were back to feeding also. Topwaters got some attention but the suspending Yozuri got the nod for getting the hits!! We hooked about 4 nice trout and a small striper. New moon on the 2nd and the bite should be great in the morning for all the fish and a pretty good bite should prevail for a few days after the 2nd also. There was a good amout of bait at the AR Reef but no takers but...they (stipers) should show up is the bait stays there!. More on the fishing later in the week but the fishing @ the beach is just shifting into high gear!!! Should be interesting!!

10/27/05

Intermediate report: Still lots of small trout in the river. Soft plastics and 7ms and 52m are working. Striper Bite was good in the evening and should be pretty good in the morning too. Stripers at Hatteras Yachts, NR Train Tresstle, and just off the car bridges of New Bern and of couorse further down the river. Trout from Goose to.....all creeks down river, no fooling, it's pretty good fishing now!!! Puppie Drum are hit and miss but schooled up and when ya find one there will be a good bunch of em. I just got word from the guys at Field and Stream Sports that a big shipment of Mirror-Lures came in and they have to move em. So they are dropping the price to 5.00 on the 52 series and maybe a few others!! Not unless your on the L&S prostaff will ya find them any cheaper. These aint the off colors, these are the ones that catch fish!! Oh and the guys did get a order in of Bloodworm Fish-Bites in yesterday. I used them and boy do they really put a Spot tothe Boat when nothing else will! The Tournament will be Saturday and a good Creel will most likly win!! Good fishing!!

10/25/05

Trout fishing can't get much better than it has been the last two weeks herer in the Neuse!!! Many of the trout are small but there have been a few really good sized ones too!! The baits and sizes of the baits have changed on a day to day basis so.....carry a few more than you usally do. Soft plastics in white and green tail and fire orange worked (of course Old Bayside put'em to the boat this past weekend!!!) as did some ofthe 38s MLures in Red Back, Chartuce Green back and belly. Took a few on Topwaters. Bigger reds were caught up close to New Bern and some decent Stripers but lots of the small ones too. Starting in November, I shift gears and head to the coast for charters for LT fishing for trout,Albacore, and ending with the Stripers. I'll begin to add that to the report for the next three months. I still have some openings inthe week for December and a half day here and there in Novenber's weekends. The new Boat has really worked out nice! Stop by field and stream to check out the selection on lures and fall tackle. With cooler temps on the way, check out the great selection of Carhart apparell and some fine Boots by Georgia Boot Co.

10/20/05

Fishing over the weekend was not to bad here on the river and this weekend looks even better despite the rain forcast. Therre were some stripers along the RR trestle on the Neuse and around the better local spots around New Bern. The Car Bridge just hasnt been giving up the bigger fish there but that may always change in a day or two. The Trout that we got into over the weekend were pretty good sized with some in the upper 3lb size. Still lots of smaller ones though. Old Bayside in the opening and closing nnight and the Charturce colors in the Shadlin and the Mud-Minno fished on 1/4oz heads took their share and the # 52 ML in red back did pretty well. Pins Minnow in Chartruce did well with all the Glass minnows in the river. Looked like most of the bait is moving down river getting for the fall migration to the ocean. The Creeks had had a pretty good showing of the Puppie Drum and some of the Guides in the Morehead area are putting their clients on Puppie Drum in the Grass!!! There is still a lot of Bream being caught up river around Cowpen and above since the water has dropped and cont. to drop. Here in the river the salt % is on the increase but is still a bit off from normal levels. With the moon coming off the full, best guess is the afternoon bite will get better and the early bite will taper a bit till the moon is mostly gone. Our tournament will take place very close to the New Moon. That makes for a great bite early and mid day too. There is a lot of fish in the river and this year should be a great weigh in! Hope to see some of the guys that check this report out every week coming out to visit or fish!! As always, E-mail your questions and I'll do my best to answer. Take care and get out there and fish!!

10/11/05

Well did it rain or what??? Got nearly 10" at my house over the period from Thursday to Sunday afternoon. Well went out to look at the water sunday and the fishing was pretty good, which suprised even me!! But... the fish had really moved and orentated themselves tothe mouths of the creeks and were out in the main river. But by all reports the bite was on!!!! Still mostly smaller trout but a few were good sized. Puppie Drum were int he mix but the larger ones had moved and I havent a clue where. And still a few Stripers. Gars!!!! The Neuse river Backwater Open Fishing Tournament is close at hand and I hope that the weather is great for that. We have some really Good prizes in addition tothe cash. If the turn out this year is close to what we think it will be, Next year may see us make it an Invatational tournament so secure your place in next years tournament by fishing this year!!! Later in the week I'll post some tips on trout fishing for the novice anglers. So check back later in the week. Stay dry and catch some fish.

Oh and by the way, Field and Stream Sports has a good selection of GULPs and Old Baysides and stick baits for the Trout and Drum. And get your Fish Bites while your there too. Check out ALL the great stuff there. With a Great selection of Guns, Ammo and all your clothing needs for the outdoors and just relaxing. From Columbia, Carhart, Georgia Boot and other Name Brands, Field and Stream Sports in New Bern can get ya covered. Hey, give a gift card for that hard to shop for sportsman in your family.

10/5/05

The past weekend was pretty good buy most measures of how many fish were caught. Good numbers of Striper,Specks and puppie Drum and a scattering of Flounder in the keeper sizes too! Seemsed like all the creeks had some action but a few had better than some. Hancook did well!! There are a lot of small specks but the puppie Drum are better sized in the slot size range. Stripers were mixed with a few small ones and over 18"ers. Topwaters did well as did Live Bait. Soft plastics are always a good choice. Old Bayside in Mud minno and the Shad-lin in Opening night wtih fire tails and white with pink tail and chartruce. Some under the popping cork, suckers in every school to help locate a few fish.  Topwater baits..Stick baits over the bigger ones. Pins and Rouges and a few in the 7ms plus the 52ms.

With the tourney in a few weeks, seems like a few guys are pre-fishing!! I have charters this weekend and next but I'm holding the 29th open for the tournament!!!!!  Still GARS!!!!!!! GOSH whaat a mess of GARS!!

9/26/05

Well, fishing this weekend was a little spotty here around New Bern, but a few anglers did well. The small stripers were still @ the area of the Bridges (Again, I stress to use single hooks and mash the barb down for the little guys and have some fun onthe ultra lights.) Lots of bait pushed all the way up the Trent river on Sunday and waaayyyy up the neuse to Hatteras Yachts....hint, fish will follow the bait. The water is still salty for the most part and the winds ahve been either NE or light SW and that hasn't mooved the Salt water to much in the last week. With a good oxigen mix, the quality of the water should be a major factor in just how good the fall will be. It looks promising sofar though. Reports from down river have a lot of small specks coming into the sounds and will move to the creeks mouths. Most of the small trout will be with small trout. So if your catching small trout, Try making a good long cast away from them to see if a few bigger trout will be lurking just off the pack. The puppydrum are still in the river from Duck to Dawson and all inbetween, both on the North and south sides of the river. It's amazing what a few live shrimp will tell you! Popping corks this time of the year are a great prospecting tool and a brave trout is dumb trout and ther is one in every school. Gar!!!!!!!! Dang the gar are as thick as......well they are thick let me tell ya. Fun none the less!!!

Field and Stream Sports has a lot of the Fish Bites in stock as of last friday when I was there. Guys..this stuff works and If you cet a pk and cut it into small strips, it last a while and draws strikes when things are a little slow. The Blood worm strips I hear are really a great sub for the real thing. Get yours before they run out again. Oh check out their clothing lines, Carhart, Bimini Bay,Columbia and a great selection of footwear. One store that has a good selection of a lot of stuff..Only @ Field and Stream Sports here in New Bern. See you guys onthe water!!

9/20/05

Well the river didn't really take as bad a beating as I thought it might have and by Sunday the fishing had come back almost as good as pre-storm. The salt is still in place as well as the bait. with no real SW winds inthe forcast, it should stay. Bad for the yard grass...good for the fishing/!!! The large Drum Have kicked it up a notch according to Capt. Gary Dubiel of Speck Fever Guide Service with a good bite in the day or night. Give Gary a call if your looking for the giants. Here in the River, Things are looking up!! Sunday, quite a few Specks from creeks on the north side of the river and throw in a few decent Reds and a scattered Striper and you had a pretty good day!! The bite was better tipping the jig heads with shrimp though. Topwater action should be better in the evenings when the cooler temps prevail. This weekend should be a good one to hit the river. Field and stream has a real nice selection of soft plastics and stick baits for all your striper, trout and red needs. As always with me, I use Old Bayside Soft Plastics. Their Shadlin and Shrimp have fooled a lot of different fish this year.If your fishing in the fresher streches of the river, carry a doz of large minnows and see how fast they disapear. Redfish love'em as well as the stripers and Trout. Get yours @ F&SS. It's been a pretty good year so far for the service, I hope the fall will be too!! See you on the water!!

9/15/05

More of just a "what to expect report" from the effects of the Cane we've just had come through the area. There was some good salt water here before the storm and the N/E wind really drove it way up the river. Will it remain???In the surrounding areas and in the Neuse Basin, there wasn't to much rain and the ground was really dry so a lot of the rain soaked in before running off to the creeks. Unless the wind switches tothe S/W, the water should remain to some degree salty or at least normal to the extent of this time of the year. If it turnes to the S/W, the level in the river will drop and pull the swamp water out into the river and change the water to really fresh and a water that has no or low oxigen...not goood. So the best thing now is for the wind to stay in the N/E or North for a few more days. As far as fishing?????? Based on what I've written in my diary (you guys are keeping one I hope) it was at least three days before I caught fish after any storm system moved through. After Izzy came through, it was a two week time frame before I found fish where I had been catching them before the storm. Conditions on the river: New Berns water is a little muddy, the Trent is too but not as much. The main river is milky tan on the south side of the river untill past Cherry Brance due to allthe clay banks and the rough conditions. The middle of the river looks decent though but I don't know if the fish are there inthe middle. The north side of the river should be muddy(I haven't seen that side yet) but it should start to Clean up in a few days. Goose, Broad, Beards, Dawson might not be bad places to start off on. Adams and some of the little creeks off of it might be better places as long as they are not the main drains for farms (like Back Creek is). It is worth extra caution traveling on the river lots of debri in the water. be safe!!

9/8/05

Well a lot has been going on from my end..late report as a result of tht. Just before the Hard NE wind of last week, there was a good catch of stripers in the Neuse and as the NE built in the better Redfish action started. And a few Stripers too!! There was a few good sized Specks from Broad to Dawson but more of the specks were in the small size, barely legel. Still a few good sized flounder up the creeks and loads of bait. With the nicer temps over the weekend and this week, the water temps should begin to drop a bit and the bite should improve a bit also. The salt content is pretty high for New Bern so I wouldn't rule out a good move up the river by the Specks and flounder. The live shrimp are in good enough numbers to bring them down fromt he beach to fish inthe river. Still using the Old Bayside Shadlins to catch most of the fish and closing night and chartruce wre the colors. A Paridice Popper will give some good service. More later in the week.

8/30/05

Just a quick report today and more later in the week. Still lots ofthose little stripers just off New Bern, I have been catching them even when the Gulls aint helping much. Fly, spin, it doesent matter cause they are hungry!! Big Eye flys and Beatle spin work really good, mash down those barbs and try to realese them without even touching them if possible. They are just over 12" now and with some good handling some of them will make it to 15 to 16 by fall. I guess the bigger story is the arrival in really good numbers is the Big Redfish out in the river. Good numbers this week and last week. The specks are feeling the heat and hiding?? But there were some cought out in the big part of the river and sound all the way to Ceder Island. The puppy Drum were caught in UUpper Broad Saturday on that NE wind. they were over the slot and some were caught out in Clubfoot too. Scattered catches in all points of the river including NW creek, Beards,Hancock, and Dawson. There are a few up the ICW too. If you get the live shrimp, you'll catch!! Almost a garuntee. Hope that you guys get a chance to fish this week!!

8/23/05

Well, the small stripers are still in New Bern but if you target these little guys, try to get them back in the water and if possible just un-hook em while they are still in the water. Hot water and stripers can lead to killing a bunch of fish is not handled right. Same for the larger ones. A few puppy drum in the creeks down from New Bern but the hot water has even these guys looking for better temps. Lets hope for a good cool blow to freshen the waters!! Still some nice trout out in the sound, early bite though with a few taken all day. Live bait and Old Bayside Plastics work pretty good for us. The Old Drum were hit and miss over the weekend with better hits over by Cedar and the channel. It will get better as the schools off Oakracoke will soon be here. It seems like every thing else this year, the drum are late in the usall places we catch em. Closer to New Bern, A reported few catfish in the 8lb class were caught this weekend above Cowpen. Still a good bite on Bream but they are holding in the deeper waters. Crickets is the ticket!

8/17/05

Interm report: Old drum trips have yeilded some fish to the guides and anglers fishing out in the sound. Some have been caught inthe river (Neuse) but seems like reports of better action has come from the sound. Some sight casting for the big boys too. More fish reported out deep in the sound so they will be moving in to our waters, most likly by weeks end. Good luck to all fishermen.

8/15 05

Had some trips for the old drun over the weekend and all went well on those. Nice catches of puppydrum, flounder and a few decent trout from the guides out in the sound. Artifical and live bait produced really nice! As the moon gets in the full stage on Friday, best bite will be this afternoon and tuesday afternoon for the stripers and puppydrum in the river. Fish late!! My friend Brandon has done well as late on the stripers early in the morn fishing for stripers up in the New Bern area so they are still around. Though no small ones anymore???I wonder where those guys wandered too??? Some small flounder moving up the river and if the rain holds off should make Bern by early sept. There are a few good sized one being picked up in nets in Upper Broad. Heard from a friend who parks his boat off Great Island that there were a few puppydrum camped out there but I havent validated that claim personaly, maybe one of you will and let me know.

This weekend there is a outdoor show @ the Covention center here in New Bern. Field and Stream Sports will be there so stop by and say hello to a great sells staff of outdoor products. What ever your hobbie, be it hunting, fishing, they have a great selection to chose from and can order what you need. Great clothing too and a Georgia Boot dealer to boot (no pun intended)!!

And one more Favor, If there are any of you out there that plan to fish the NRBWO Striper, Trout, Puppydrum tournament this year will you please just drop am E-mail to me. Thanks much! Reports later in the week.

8/9/05

Yeah, Yeah, I know I'm late with a report!! Some very decent catches of Specks and flounder from out in the sound the past weekend from fishing around the southern end of the Pamlico sound. Nothern really blazing but most that stuck to fishing known good areas finished up the day with a good mess of fish. Saw one speck over 5lbs. There seems to be a lot of bait out in the sound too. I have fished for the old drum over the last few days and havent had a run as yet, I hope soon though. I have totaly new offshore rigs for the drum,Kings,. They really look good and Field and Stream Sports really hooked me up. Can't say enough good things about a store that really goes the extra distance to get you off and fishing. Thanks Guys!!There are some Old drum being caught. Most of the mixed bag of fish were caught on live bait with a few on topwaters. Capt Gary Dubiel tells me the flyfishing for the Slot sized PDs is really great now. He's seeing a lot of them in shallow water. In the river close to new bern. Reports are a few keeper flounder and small PDs in the 10" lenth....next years 18"ers. With the water so warm, I havent fish up river in the last two weeks. Some fishermen are still catching some Rock. Bream have moved from the shallow water to deeper...crickets is the ticket! And just a fyi on the Fish-Bites stuff. It really works guys!! I've been tipping my soft plastics with a thin strip...say about 1/4" wide X1" long. Last quite a while and gets some attention from the fish. You can find most(Blood worm usally sells as fast as it arrives) flavors and colors from Field and Stream Sports in New Bern.They also sell Old Baysides in the best styles and colors that I use on my charters. Try a bag soon! Off the rest of the week to fish and I'll post when I get the chance.

8/04/05

Interm Report,

Seems like a few guys are picking up a few Croakers from the river down close to Orential and also in Bayriver. Capt. Sinclair of Alliance reported that some Black Drum were caught inthe Bay river area too some reported in the 2 lb class. A few flounder were picked up in Upper Broad that were keepers and down twards slocum a few small redfish. I reported earlier of a boat ramp and here are the detail and directions to it. The ramp is on Tucker Creek and tucker creek joins Slocum close to the mouth of that creek. To get there, leaving New Bern via 70. Take the carolina pines exit (about 6miles from the last trafic light onThurman rd exit) Turn right at the cross rd just off 70 and turn left just before you get to the Husky mower shop. This rd is paved. Go close to a mile and look for a sng that states boat ramp. Right turn down a gravel rd that has a fiels on the rt and a Gov fence on left. Follow rd and signs to the ramp. I have seen some large trailers parked there so some bigger boats than mine use it. Fee is 3.00$ It's called Pauls place. This puts you close to Beards, Hancock, Minnisott, clubfoot and when the wind is SW, shelter from the bad chop.

Fishing for Old Drum this weekend, check on Tuesday for report.

8/02/05

August already? the year is just flying by. Not to much doing this past weekend, the watr was on it's way to being fresh, then sunday's deluge...going to take a little while to straighten that out. The little stripers have moved with only a few this past wekend. There wre just a few bream caught up river and with the water going higher, look for those fish to be up in the trees in the lowground. Still Crikets will help locate'em. Some small flounder in the river but larger ones in the sound off the points. Look for a good cut bank. Pinfish are great baits for not only the Flounder but the Redfish too. Out in the sound the Old Bayside soft plastice in the opening night and the green Shadlins seemed to work well. I've been spiking mine orange on the tails. And fish with the popping corks has picked up and will just get more productive as the fall approaches. Old Bayside has a new popper with the Titianium wire that wont kink. Last for ever. Still a few Specks in the sound too. The Old Drum are starting to file in and will no dought get better fishing for them. I'm fishing this week and the weekend for'em and will post results.

Not the Neuse, but hey the near shore is still good out there and the flounder are picking up nicly off the ARs and some of the good bottom just off shore. If nothing happens, I think I'll take a fun day and fish out there.

7/25/05

Well this weekend was a pretty eventful one for me and a crew! We ventured offshore in the New Boat and found Dolphin, Black Bass, and some small Sharks that bit OldBayside Soft plastics. Great fun on light tackle!! But thats a different area and this is the Neuse river Report huh?

Not to many reports of the big Catfish coming in from way up river??? Last year was a hot time and this year is really off compared. With the near bathtub water the bream have moved to a little deeper water.  Pretty normal thing, just fish the shady areas that have some deep water near. There are still some of the small Stripers in the area of the car bridges. Pretty intense if you get into them and loads of fun, but please, when having some fun at the little guys expense, get them back in the water ASAP and mash those barbs down and just use single hook jigs if possible. The Flounder are still small but should be getting a bit bigger and they are further down river. Good bait is finger mullet ora piece of cut pinfish will work good and it is good bait for the small puppy drum too. Lots of guys looking for the Tarpon up river but I havent heard or seen any a few weeks. I know the guides in the Sound are seeing them with some hookups. A friend e-mailed me some pics of him and his party catching some nice Old Drum last week while fishing with Capt. George of Down East Guide Service.  Pretty fish!!! And in Plain Daylight no less!  Its really getting hot on the water and the water is getting really warm so expect the bite for the specks to be early and late. Still some decent catches of specks coming in but it is a little off from two weeks ago. A good time for the live shrimp and a popping cork!  Im off for the sound in search ofFish!!! Drum trips begin in Mid-August through mid-September. Most of the Guides are booked up on the best dates and Im filling in the preferred days too.  Late September through October trips for the Specks here in the river and Im doing trips in the inshore areas at the beach for what ever. The new boat has opened all doors and seems to do anything but float in 13" water.  I need 14" now, small price to pay!!