Neuse River Wade

Fishing remains good on the Neuse River in Raleigh.  Things are becoming consistent for summer fishing.  Fish are where you would expect them shade, deep spots with current breaks, pools below riffles, under every hanging sycamore tree in the river.  Dry fly fishing and nymphs are producing well.  I fished with my neighbor Luke Primm for his first trip wading in the river.  He did well fishing a Green size 14 Humpy and caught the best fish of the day a nice largemouth bass.  Luke's patience was a successful approach as we had to work our way through a busy Saturday of kayakers and tube floaters.  There are lots of small schools of baitfish in the middle of the river behind the riffles.  Once in a while you can hear a splashy rise from a largemouth picking one off it might be a good bet to throw a flashy #4 or 6 streamer in these areas from time to time.  Redbreasted and Bluegill sunfish are still the most numerous species caught in the river right now and we are targeting them.  Some catfish, chub, crappie, are around closer to the dam.  White bass fishing has cooled down considerably but you still may find some in the faster and deeper water flyfishing with white nymphs or streamers with marabou and spin fishing with small white jigs.  Although the flow out of Falls Lake is low right now, we had heavy rain last Wednesday night which made the river below Highway 401 high.  Keep in mind when looking to wade the Neuse River that the tributaries after the first few miles may rise the river to make wading difficult further downstream.  Hope you are enjoying the weather and fishing.  Cheers!

Fly Tackle: 3 or 4 weight fly rods, 9 ft tapered leader to 5x tippet
Dry flies: Elk Hair Caddis, Humpies 14- 16, 
Terrestrials: Hoppers, Ants, Beetles, Crickets 8- 14
Nymphs: Beadhead caddis, Prince, Zug Bug, Estaz Stone flies 12- 16
Streamers: Muddler Minnow, Wooly Bugger in black, peacock or white Size 6- 12

Spin Tackle: Ultralight rod and reel rigged with 4 to 6 lb test line.
Berkly Power Bait Pre Rigged Atomic Tubes in white, green and pearl.
Gulp Cricket
Johnson Beetle Spin
Roadrunners
colored Jigheads with a curly or split tail twister 

Fish Species(I have caught): redbreast sunfish, bluegill, green sunfish, largemouth bass, white bass, white perch, crappie, yellow perch, chub, catfish, Redear Sunfish.

Conditions: USGS Water data says the Neuse was flowing 116 cfs today at the spillway in Wakefield. It was a nice, sunny, warm day and 84 degrees.  The water is low and ideal for wet wading.  Sunscreen and or sun protective clothing was necessary such as UPF clothing and a UV Buff. 

Wildlife: Great Blue Heron, Red Shouldered Hawk, Partying Tubers with a floating cooler and floating stereo(wow), River Cooter turtle, ants are out and about, lots of Dragon Flies and Damsel Flies by the river.