George Poveromo, who resides in Parkland, Fla., is a nationally-recognized sportfishing authority who serves as Editor-At Large for Salt Water Sportsman magazine, and the producer and host of his own television series on ESPN2: George Poveromo's World of Saltwater Fishing.
New Bern, a quaint, historical city in North Carolina, celebrates its 300th birthday in 2010 (it was founded in 1710). Situated at the confluence of the Neuse and Trent Rivers, it's a good piece inland from the coast, nearly an hour's drive. Therefore, "New Bern" and "Saltwater" are rarely used in the same conversation, except for those in the know.
Here, the Neuse and Trent Rivers are pretty much freshwater. However, beginning around mid-October and lasting through January, and once again in March and April, striped bass congregate and feed heavily within these systems, setting up a neat light-tackle, artificial lure fishery — for a saltwater game fish!
I first learned about this "secret" at one of our Salt Water Sportsman National Seminar Series we held in New Bern. Apparently, these stripers are estuarine fish and spend much of their lives here. After discovering that they often thrive right out front of the New Bern Riverfront Convention Center, where our seminar was being held on that cold January Saturday, some angler caught one off the seawall during the lunch break! I had to give it a try.
The good captain
Enter Captain Gary Dubiel, a knowledgeable and accomplished light-tackle guide who targets everything from sea trout to giant drum with his Spec Fever Guide Service. Gary was one of our faculty members that day, and several months later he and I shot an ESPN2 show on catching trophy drum. I wanted to get back here and give the New Bern fishery a try, so we again joined forces this past November. Equipped with a new Mako 18 Light Tackle Skiff, provided by Bass Pro Shops in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Gary and I set forth to fish the Trent and Neuse Rivers, from New Bern.
Cold, but doable
It was a blistering cold morning (at least for me) when we launched at the ramp. What I also noticed is that a lot of this water is protected, and fishable when the wind is really cranking. Between the lees of land points, bridges, small tributaries and shallows, you can get in your fishing somewhere. We began fishing along a stretch of the Trent River, using the trolling motor to ease into working birds, which were over feeding striped bass.
Initially, these fish were moving swiftly, and getting close enough for a good cast became challenging. Experience told Gary that rather than continue chasing the birds, we should just keep easing along and pitching our top water plugs toward the shore, and over the tops of troughs and drop offs. When the bass began feeding at the surface, and happened to be within casting range, we'd pitch at them.
Light is right
This is a light tackle fishery. We used Penn's brand new Conquer 4000 series spinning reels, paired with the Penn Torque Jigging Rods (spin versions, model: TJ2050S70). These seven-foot long composite rods are extremely light weight, but rated for lines between 20- and 50-pound test. The Conquer reels, incidentally, have spool lips featuring Eternal Alloy construction, which is much superior in strength and hardness to that of titanium alloy. This means the spool lip will be nearly impervious to dents and nicks, which can impede casting distances. The reels were spooled with 20-pound and 30-pound test Sufix Performance Braid.
Our lure of choice was the Rapala Skitter Walk, a walk-the-dog action topwater plug. We rigged the lure to a few feet of 30-pound test fluorocarbon leader. The leader, in turn, was joined to a short Bimini Twist (double line) in the braided fishing line with a Bristol Knot.
Dialing it in
Plugging the various points, shorelines, structures and troughs, Gary and I put our own "English" on the action of our plugs, to find which one brought strikes.
A fairly fast and tight side-to-side action seemed to elicit strikes, as well as followers. When a bass would rise behind the plug, but not strike it, Gary and I used different approaches to make them eat. I'd speed up the plug, to make it appear as if it was getting away, while Gary occasionally stopped reeling, and let the plug sit still. Both drew hits, and I'm not sure one tactic excelled over the other!
After plugging a stretch of shoreline and casting into breaking bass, we moved to a shallow, stump-ridden section of river. The tannic-stained water hindered visibility, forcing us to be extra careful as we navigated along with our trolling motor.
Unfair advantage
We had a Lowrance HDS 8 fishfinder equipped with StructureScan. This new option from Lowrance is a side-scanner that can show fish, bait and structure well off to the sides of the boat, at programmable distances. It's unique in that you can also see directly under the boat as well. You can set it up to see just off the right side of the boat, or just off the left side, or straight down, or have all the views appear simultaneously on the screen. You can also scroll back to an attractive piece of structure you've found, and save the coordinates.
We saw not only submerged trees off to the sides of the boat, but also schools of bait when we later fished around a bridge, along with a few submerged pilings and other debris scattered along the river floor. And the images with StructureScan appear in quality as photos from a digital camera. We were able to positively ID trees, timber, concrete pilings and other items, as they were in plain view
We scored a nice bass in the structure field, and then headed to fish some bridges and a new stretch of water. My favorite spot of the trip was a large artificial reef, not far from the New Bern Hilton, where we stayed.
There, we caught large school bass. Gary kept bumping us along this immense collection of tires and concrete debris, as we pitched top water plugs. Suddenly, we'd see birds move into a zone, and then bass busting bait. We'd ease within casting range, pitch out our lures, and hook up with some quality size bass. What an open water treat!
They're all here
In addition to the striped bass, we scored sea trout, a redfish, a couple flounder and — to my surprise — a pickerel and largemouth bass! Gary claims the area sees a good mix of both saltwater and freshwater fish, and he proved it on this trip.
Downtown New Bern offers lot of shops and great restaurants. During our stay we dined at The Chelsea (252-637-5469), Pia's of New Bern (252-636-0086, www.chefpias.com), Sea Glass Café (252-634-2327), Baker's Square (252-637-0304), and MJ's (252-635-6890, http://www.mjsrawbar.com/main/).
Now factor all this in with some great light tackle fishing just minutes from your hotel, and you have the ingredients for a neat saltwater fishing destination, and family-friendly locale!
For more on "George Poveromo's World of Saltwater Fishing," visit www.georgepoveromo.com.