Prospecting in the Neuse

Structure is rare, so find some and cash in on this river’s best fishing.

George Beckwith had barely closed the bail on his spinning reel when his rod tip bounced, not the solid thump of a redfish or flounder, but the peck of one of many bait thieves in the lower Neuse River. In just a few seconds, the peck came back again in the rat-a-tat-tat style of a pinfish.

Beckwith didn’t relax, knowing that if the chunk of cut mullet lasted long enough, a puppy drum or flounder would come investigate what the smaller fish was biting and shaking.

“Don’t try to set the hook on the little taps,” Beckwith said. “When it’s a drum, it will be a solid thump, and a flounder will be a much lighter bite that just seems to get heavier. On the lighter bite, give it a few seconds to get the bait in its mouth before setting the hook.”Click here to read more on Prospecting in the Neuse