Fishing Report October 12
It has been a wet fall so far here in Eastern North Carolina. The rivers haven't been too happy with all this rain, but when we have been able to get on the water we have has some great success. Our Largemouth Bass are in one of their most active times of the year as the temperatures begin to drop and they try to put on some weight for the winter. The forecast for the next few weeks looks a lot drier and will hopefully allow some of our rivers to get back into shape for some great fall fishing.
The Tar River has been fishing extremely well when the water has been low enough to fish. Right now it is primarily a baitfish game; wiggle minnows, crease flies, and mini game changers have been our go-to flies. White, tan, and chartreuse have been the primary colors we have been fishing, but anything seems to work right now. During some of our high sun days when we have seen the fish get a little warier, we've thrown the bug with success. Blue, Olive, and black Boogle Bugs in size 4 have coaxed some fish up to the surface. The real key to finding and catching fish has been being in the right section when the water is dropping. We have had a lot of fun getting into some water we normally don't get to fish on the Tar this time of year. We are expecting the fishing to remain steady well through November. Even with this crazy water year we still have a lot of fishable water around. Whether it's getting into a remote tributary above the fall line or heading out East to the black water, we have an escape from the blown-out rivers.
As we are approaching the home stretch of our 2020 Largemouth Bass season we are looking forward to what is to come. Starting in January (through February) we will be offering fly and spin trips on the Lower Roanoke river to target pre-spawn Striped Bass. This is a great place to experience our Striped Bass migration without all the spring crowds. Shad are not far behind and we will start running trips targeting early American and Hickory Shad in February. Our spring calendars are already starting to fill up (especially for group & multiday trips) so go ahead and get your spring Shad or Striper trip on the books.