With water temperatures dropping this month (along with ice and snow) across most of North Carolina, fishing success usually falls as well — except in one place.
“We are catching lots of stripers, some speckled trout and some nice puppy drum in the Trent and Neuse rivers near New Bern,” Oriental guide Gary Dubiel said.
While water temps in the 40s usually turn off fish bites like a slammed refrigerator door light, cooler temps don’t do anything except ramp up stripers.
“Amazingly, I had water temperatures of 40 to 41 degrees Dec. 22, and we caught one nice speck (spotted seatrout), a puppy (red) drum and dozens of stripers from 26 to 28 inches long,” said Dubiel (Spec Fever Guide Service, 252.249.1520 or 252.514.3484, www.specfever.com). “And I had a crew of inexperienced anglers with me.”
Most of the striped bass were in water from 6 to 8 feet deep “on the break” off shallow flats, but sometimes ranged out to 18 to 20 feet of water, Dubiel said.
“Where I find them all depends on the baitfish, which are a mixture of primarily menhaden and small hickory shad,” he said. “Interestingly enough, I got into some yellow perch the day before (Dec. 21); then we went back the next day and the stripers were in there.
“So I guess you can say stripers like eating yellow perch as well.”
Dubiel said his favorite lure is a 3-inch DOA shad-tail soft plastic lure threaded onto a 1/4-ounce leadhead jig.
“It’s a bait you can work slowly, and that’s what you have to do when the water is cold,” he said. “You have to slow down your retrieve. But if you can find the fish, they’ll definitely give you a good time.”
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