[grampa]

Has anyone ever heard of catching stripers below the Milburnie dam on the Neuse River? I guess it would be bank fishing.
Don’t think you can get a boat in there.

 

[spidey]

I have heard stories of people catching them just never talk to anyone who actually has

 

[OptiMystic]

The stories I have read were just happy surprises while fishing for LMB. I wouldn't specifically target stripers there.

 

[Fishin Technician]

I've seen a few come out of there- With the water being way high this spring- there should be a few up that way. Same slot limit keeper size 2 a day 18-22 inches with 1 being allowed over 27 inches. I saw some guys get zapped for having 5 over the slot once there.

 

[hardydk1]

I pulled one out last year about a mile downstream of milburnie, and a buddy of mine caught one the night before. Then the water dropped and they disappeared.

 

[Drum Runner]

I would target Milburnie for striper at the proper time more so than some other stretches of the river. Just like the shad. They run into a dam. They'll mill around.

 

[hardydk1]

With the river being high, striper will continue up the Neuse. Obviously they can't make it past Milburnie, so it would be logical to assume that they would be below the dam waiting to spawn. I caught mine last year about 30 mins after it got dark. I was using a bream head on the bottom for flatheads. My buddy caught his the came way the night before. The night I caught mine, about 30 mins before dark fish started hitting the surface all over the river. I didn't realize that those were all stripers until I caught mine. I got pumped to go catch more, but the river dropped about 2 feet the next day because they stopped releasing water out of fall lake. As soon as the river dropped, the striper went back downstream. Now that I think about it, I bet if I had tried at Milburnie that next day instead of downstream, I likely would have found some striper that were still hanging around below the dam.

Let us know if you get in to any. I am heading to the beach this weekend for a wedding, so I will not be fishing in town this weekend. I will probably get out there next week, or possible even this week. If I get out on the river I will be fishing for flatheads, but I will probably throw some lures for stripers near sundown.

 

[FishinCary]

I will go try this afternoon and get back on how it goes.

 

[Tho Saykosy]

I've seen shad getting busted on top last week, but too far for me to cast to. That said, Milburnie Dam is 1/2mile from my house, I'm always there this time of year, every year, specifically targeting stripers. It's been a long while since I caught one there. But I know that they are there. Last year my buddies were catching them well after the season had closed on them. It was mid May, and they were having 10 fish days for a whole week, catch 'n' release of course. For myself though... I've donated many bucktails to the river chasing stripers since I've last caught a striper from there. Let's just say the river is winning... hahaha

 

[hardydk1]

I assume you are talking about Milburnie when you were saying your buddies were having "10 fish days", if so, that is awesome for Milburnie. Do you have much catching shad around that area? I have a gheenoe that I launch at Anderson Point, and I have been wanting to go after some American Shad while they are still around.

It is impossible to get up to Milburnie when the river is at it's normal level, but when they are releasing a lot of water from falls lake and the river height surges, it is possible to get from Anderson Point to Milburnie dam. One area that is typically impossible to get through is the little stretch under New Bern Ave. bridge. That area is too shallow to get through, but when the river is up, you can get right by.

I am looking forward to seeing if FishinCary has any luck out there. I haven't gotten my Gheenoe out much since I got it over Christmas, but it is the time of the year when I start fishing that section of the Neuse a whole lot. Hopefully I will get out there a good bit, but my dad also just got a new to him Carolina Skiff 178 DLV, which I have rigged up with +10 rod holders, new electronics, and a 80# thrust minn kota terrova with iPilot Link. I will be spending a lot of time fishing on the 178 DLV, but that can't be used in the Neuse, and fishing for flatheads is my favorite fishing, so I should still be getting out of the Neusel

 

[FishinCary]

Just arrived. First throw and I have about 2 dozen shad

 

[Tho Saykosy]

Just got off work.. I might have to go down there

 

[hardydk1]

Are they gizzards? There are typically a ton of those at the dam for a few months around this time of the year. Awesome catfish bait.

 

[FishinCary]

Threadfins. 3-6 inches. Nothing much going on here. Seen a guy throwing a shad rig.Gonna go play with the flatheads at another spot.