Neuse River Reds

Scott Hobbs, my old fishing and army buddy, and I set out on our fourth annual bull red drum trip to the Neuse River on Monday. We got a late start dodging rain showers and with a hand ful of finger mullet and pin fish, we abandoned the search for bait and set out for our "near" point three and a half miles across the river.



We fished in the rain well into dark, and Scott hooked up with a nice 42 inch bull red to start the trip. Out of bait, we called it around 10 pm. Tuesday morning brought more rain showers but lots of bait, and we hit Garbacon Shoal early. It was not long before we boated a beautifully spotted 49 inch bull red, followed by a 46 incher.





The reds turned off, so we crossed the river to drift the artificial reef for flounder and trout. We were suprised with a 32 inch red on 10 lb. test and a fun fight!



For the next four hours we plenty of short grey and speckled trout, and some blues, but nothing for the fillet knives, so we headed for our creek. Nothing there but some short flounder and rat reds, and we broke for chow.





The rain kept us in Tuesday night, and on Wednesday we hit Garbacon Shoal early with Steve P as a guest. We extended to Steve the courtesy of the first fish, but there are lots of critters with menhaden on their menu.



But the next one was a nice 46 inch red, followed by Scott with a 46 incher!







When we release these magnificant creatures, we always take the time to be sure they are revived before releasing them.



The reds turned off again, so we hit the reef and limited out on grey trout. The next morning we hit a nearby creek for a couple of hours before trailering the boat and clearing the rental. We hit a 14 inch speck on a plastic, and Scott began to hammer them on a top water. We used badonk-a-donks, she dogs, MR27's, and soft plastics to limit out by 930 am.







All of our annual trips for the bull reds has beed great, each with its own special memories. In four years we have boated over thirty bull reds. Still, each time I hear the reel buzzing and see the line running, I can feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up and my heart pound as I rush for the rod! What a fish!

Very nice. Great to see you document your trip and share all the tantalizing pictures.

Thanks for the great report, Bobby! Glad that you guys had a great time.

Great trip report, and great pictures. Looks like a helluva time.

thanks for the great report bobby! One of these days i really want to head out there with you and scott to hunt some of those big Reds! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

I am a rookie at writing these reports up, but Scott encourages me to write them for the FAAN, as he skillfully writes for other sites. Pictures add volumes of words, and are the proof of what fishermen want to see anyhow. My apologies to Scott for overlooking a photo of one of the fine fish he boated on this trip, a nice 42 inch red.



There is just not enough space here to capture all the significant events one experiences on a fishing trip; the distant rainshowers on the vast open water, the ospreys, the eagles, and the persistent blue heron that followed Scott's topwater all the way to the boat three times! Anyone who fishes knows a camera isn't handy when you need it!

bparker wrote:I am a rookie at writing these reports up, but Scott encourages me to write them for the FAAN, as he skillfully writes for other sites. Pictures add volumes of words, and are the proof of what fishermen want to see anyhow. My apologies to Scott for overlooking a photo of one of the fine fish he boated on this trip, a nice 42 inch red.



There is just not enough space here to capture all the significant events one experiences on a fishing trip; the distant rainshowers on the vast open water, the ospreys, the eagles, and the persistent blue heron that followed Scott's topwater all the way to the boat three times! Anyone who fishes knows a camera isn't handy when you need it!

Wow Bobby, What a trip you had. Those pictures pretty much tell the story.

Always a great trip with a great fishing buddy...

I had about forgotten about the heron chasing my lure. I casted towards a dock with a topwater plug, when I started working it back I saw this juvenile heron chasing my bait. All I could do was wind up like there was no tomorrow, but he still almost caught it. I tried several more times and the same thing, he would chase the bait, sure must have been hungry. I finally just casted another direction and he left us alone. Heck he would fly almost to the boat.