Neuse river NC 2/4/20:

[AndyS]

Took the 30 minute drive over to the Neuse river tailrace from Falls lake near Raleigh. Temps. yesterday were in the 70's and in the mid 60's this morning with slight overcast. Place looked fishy and had read some decent reports from this spot so gave it a shot. Water clarity wasn't great, had a heavy stain to it. Fished my black jig for a few hours and moved around a bit, nothing. Wondering if I should have switched to lighter colors. No one was fishing until I saw a fly guy setting up as I was getting ready to leave, he had a white streamer tied on. Even on the gin clear South Holston the guide recommended using lighter colors other than black. Anyway it seems the majority of the lakes around here are shallow and have clay/sand bottoms which makes the water grey. The discharge water had the strangest "lake" smell and there were also quite a few dead crappies, sucked through the discharge, I dunno. I'll definitely hit this spot again with Rapalas and shad darts ! Just down river a bit is a nice canoe launch area.
Closest trout river to me is the Smith in Virginia, about a 2 hr. drive.