The Flat and Eno rivers form the Neuse River, which runs downstream from Falls of the Neuse Dam between Raleigh and Wake Forest until it empties into the Pamlico Sound 10 miles downstream from Oriental.
The Neuse stays within fairly narrow banks and maintains a steady flow until it reaches New Bern. Just above New Bern, the Neuse begins to widen and the flow slows, even though it is joined by the Trent River. By the time the Neuse reaches Oriental, it is several miles wide.
The Neuse is a freshwater river downstream roughly to New Bern, where it becomes brackish. An abundance of rain will increase its freshwater contact, and it will become salty during periods of drought. The salinity is always high in the area around Oriental and downriver to Pamlico Sound. Tributary creeks become brackish quickly, and some require a freshwater fishing license upstream from just inside their mouths.
The Neuse River is not tidal; water movement is influenced by wind direction and intensity. A northeast wind will push water into the river and cause the water level to rise, while a southwest wind sucks the water out and causes the water level to drop.
The Neuse has faced a variety of issues in the past twenty years. In addition to the physical damage caused by hurricane-related flooding, some environmental and health issues have been observed, including fish kills related to the flooding, plus stormwater runoff and waste-water discharge.
Through it all, the fishing remains surprisingly good. The nature of the lower Neuse has changed somewhat, and many fishermen attribute that to the continued surges of saltwater up the river during the hurricanes over the past 20 years. Grass beds are missing or relocated, and many areas that used to be well on the freshwater side of brackish are now on the saltwater side of that blend. In the waters around New Bern and in the creeks off the Neuse River between there and Pamlico Sound, bass, stripers, speckled trout, flounder and puppy drum might be caught from the same spot on successive casts.
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