Soak baits on the bottom or sight-fish for cruisers; either way, you’ll have a shot at a big red drum
The boat was in the water at the public ramp in Oriental its engine warming up, as Gary Dubiel and Dave Stewart, both fishing guides, scurried about, readying their gear for a morning of fishing for the Neuse River’s giant red drum.
Traditionally, anglers have been compelled to navigate the lower Neuse River after dark to try and catch the adult red drum that enter the river from the Pamlico Sound to spawn during the summer.
For fishermen who don’t know the water and its hazards well, the ride can mean a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel and throttle. Sandbars, pound nets and net stakes, waves and a shortage of navigation lights all add up to a risky voyage whether the boat is launched at dusk with the intent return in the darkness or launched in darkness with the returning trip at dawn. For safety’s sake, some anglers fish all night.
Dubiel was a member of the dark patrol until something clicked.
“We were fishing for the adult red drum at night and heading out at dusk,” Dubiel said. “Then we began going out at 5 p.m., then 4, then 3. By going progressively earlier, we found out the fishing is just as good all day long.”
Dubiel catches the fish two different ways; the first is the traditional way — anchoring and soaking chunks of cut fish on the bottom. The second is sight-fishing.
“When you are bait-fishing, you want a little ripple on the water,” he said. “But when you are sight-fishing, you need calm conditions so you can see the baitfish and the red drum working the baitfish schools.”
Dubiel made a short run in center console, stopping in a cove just south of Oriental, within easy view of shoreline homes and the NC 55 bridge.
“We fish the same drop-offs we fish at night,” he said. “Reds run along the edges of the shoals like they are following a shoreline. A drop-off is like a highway to them.”
The drop-off was so subtle that anglers unfamiliar with the area might have missed it. Dubiel’s depth-finder showed of 12 feet of water on the shoal and 14 on the deeper side.
“A good drop-off might be from 8 to 10 feet, 10 to 12 feet or 12 to 14 feet,” he said. “We look for baitfish at the surface and on the depth-finder and fish the same places where we’ve recently caught red drum.”
Once at anchor, Stewart cut several large mullet into steaks, slicing them across the backbone. He and Dubiel began putting them on circle-hook rigs with the hook point entering the meat and going out through the skin. They also tossed a few chunks in the water.
“Fresh mullet is great bait for red drum, and we cut up one or two to get some scent started in the water,” Stewart said. “Once you get the baits in the water, the bait-stealers start chewing on them, like an automatic chum grinder. Mullet stays on the hook for a long time, but you have to keep checking the hooks. You can see the croakers and crabs eating when the rod tip is bouncing. If it stops bouncing, you are out of bait.”
Lured by the scent trail, the first fish struck within 15 minutes. The line drew taut, and the reel’s warning clicker sounded off. Dubiel picked up the rod, and the fish ran off 100 yards of line before he got him stopped. Then, Dubiel began pumping the rod, lowering it while he reeled in line, then easing it back up to tire the fish.
“You want to get the fish to the boat as quickly as possible,” he said, “but you don’t want to risk breaking the line. The longer the fight, the harder it is on the fish, especially when the water is hot.”
A few minutes later, Stewart netted the 42-inch fish, and Dubiel released it.
A slight breeze rippled the water, making the conditions perfect. Stewart said he likes fishing during a northeast wind, although it makes the water the roughest.
“I like fishing shallow …,” he said. “The wind moves the fish into shallow water and makes them easier to catch.”
Stewart and Dubiel caught another handful of big drum, then headed across the river, where Dubiel put his trolling motor in the water. He picked up a rod rigged with a popping-float rig, and Stewart did the same.
“When it comes to catching big red drum, this has to be the most exciting way to fish,” Stewart said. “To find the fish, first you have to find the bait.”
Dubiel motored along, watching seabirds dive down to the water. Below them, a school of menhaden was swimming, their tails skittering across the top of the water.
“You don’t want to approach to closer than 100 yards at more than an idle,” he said. “Get upwind or use the trolling motor to close the distance. The menhaden schools swim for long distances, and I follow the along in the boat, keeping them just within casting distance by using the trolling motor.
“You don’t want to get so close that you spook the baitfish or the red drum. Look for slicks made by feeding fish combined with any kind of structure — shoals, drops, oyster beds. You are also looking for mullet or menhaden and not glass minnows, which are too small to attract big red drum.”
“Sometimes you can see a school of ‘torpedoes,’ which is what waking red drum look like,” Stewart said. “If it’s calm enough, you can see them in six feet of water. But you can also pop them up with a float rig in water 14 to 16 feet deep.”
The popping-float rig is a hard foam float threaded on a wire harness with a plastic bead on either side of the float. The line is tied to the top of the harness. When the line is pulled, the beads strike the float and the sound attracts fish. A jig with a soft plastic trailer is tied beneath the float. When the line is pulled, the lure rises, and when the line goes slack, it falls.
“You want the lure to fall slowly, so it looks like a shrimp or injured baitfish,” Stewart said. “You can also cast a topwater lure, such as a Rapala Skitter Walk.”
Dubiel said another sight-fishing trick is casting a jig with a soft plastic trailer, especially effective on windy days.
“Sometimes you can reach a visible fish easier with a jig,” he said. “You can also jig it along the same drop-offs where you fish with bait, using it to locate schools of red drum you can’t see on the surface but you know are down there. If you see a slick forming below or behind a school of menhaden, the big drum are down there, crushing them.
Stewart cast his popping-float rig to a big boil at the edge of the menhaden school. No sooner had the sinking lure taken the slack out of the line, the float disappeared. He set the hook and the rod bent as fish began taking line against the drag. In a few minutes, Dubiel was netting a 38-inch red drum.
“I love it when a plan comes together,” Dubiel said. “It doesn’t always work out this way, because it’s an opportunity thing. Keep looking for the signs while you are fishing for puppy drum or other fish, and keep a rod rigged for sight casting to big drum. Then, when opportunity knocks, you will be ready to open the door.”
DESTINATION INFORMATION
HOW TO GET THERE/WHEN TO GO — Oriental is a traditional jumping-off spot for fishermen targeting the big drum that enter the Neuse River in June and stay until September, with Julyu and August being prime months. From Raleigh, take US 264 to Washington, turn south on US 17 and go five miles to Chocowinity. Take NC 33 south to Grantsboro, and NC 55 to Oriental. The public ramp is on Midyette Street at the foot of the bridge and turn left. The boat ramp is 300 feet along Midyette Street at the foot of the bridge.
TACKLE/TECHNIQUES — Cut mullet into steaks and fish them on a 4/0 circle hook with the barb flattened or removed, with a 6-inch leader and a 3-ounce egg sinker clipped in place near the barrel swivel. Popping-float rigs with D.O.A. jigs and soft-plastic D.O.A shrimp or soft-plastic Flukes also work, with white being the best colors. For tackle, use 7- to 71/2-foot spinning outfits with 650- to 850- series reels and 25-pound mono line or 30- to 60-pound braid line. For topwater, spool up with 30-pound braid.
FISHING INFO/GUIDES — Capt. Gary Dubiel, Speck Fever Guide Service, 252-249-1520; Capt. Dave Stewart, Knee Deep Custom Charters/Minnesott Beach Bait & Tackle, 252-249-1786. See also Guides and Charters in Classifieds.
ACCOMMODATIONS — Oriental Marina Inn, 103 Wall St., Oriental, 28571, 252-249-1818.
MAPS — Capt. Segull’s Nautical Charts, 888-473-4855, www.captainsegullcharts.com; Sealake Fishing Guides, 1-800-411-0185, http://www.thegoodspots.com/.
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