Lumber River panfishing

The bream are biting at Lumber River State Park

Located in North Carolina’s Coastal Plain, Lumber River State Park offers easy access to some hot bream fishing this month.

The Lumber River has numerous species of panfish, including bluegill, shellcracker, redbreast and warmouth. Anglers can catch a mixed bag of them with a variety of lures and live baits.

Live crickets, red worms, catalpa worms, and waxworms are all deadly when fished under a cork. Many anglers fish with these on long fiberglass poles like Bream Busters, and some still use old-fashioned cane poles. These poles allow anglers to reach out and place their baits precisely in holes around logs and other debris in the river. No. 6 hooks are perfectly-sized for these fish, but you’ll catch plenty of big ones with a No. 4 hook.

The inside bends of this river are especially productive places to find bream. These bends have some degree of slack water, giving panfish a break from the constant current, and allowing them a spot to ambush any insects or worms that come tumbling into the river.

Outside bends, though, can be equally as productive, especially when downed trees are other debris are on the surface. That debris breaks the current, and it’s also a great hiding place for crustaceans, insects and worms.

For anglers specifically targeting shellcrackers, they’ll find their share by ditching the cork, adding a nice-sized splitshot to their line, and dropping a worm to the bottom.

Kenneth Nutter likes using this method to stock up on shellcrackers, and has a few tips.

Don’t be stingy

“I have more success with either redworms or nightcrawlers, and the last thing you want to do is be stingy with them,” he said.

Nutter said he sees many anglers make the mistake of pinching off a small piece of a worm, and threading that onto a bream hook.

“I use a whole worm each time I bait my hook. I run the hook through once, then let the worm dangle and writhe about freely. You might think it would get chewed in half most times, and leave me with less bait, but more often than not, a big shellcracker inhales that whole worm and tries to move off with it,” he said.

Ultralight rods and reels are also great for catching these fish, especially for anglers using small lures.

“Beetle Spins, Mepps spinners, Rebel Wee Craws, and Crickhoppers are all great to cast into areas where a small creek is dumping water into the main river, or where two currents collide, or along the side of a downed log,” said Nutter. “These lures will catch every panfish in the river.”

The State Park offers two access points to the river, so anglers can float a canoe or kayak from one to the other, fishing along the way. Or they can put in and take out at the same spot and spend more time in that area.

Nutter suggests using 6-pound test line on small spinning reels and light to ultralight rods.