To the south, the Neuse, Trent and Cape Fear rivers are mainstays for fishermen in the eastern third of the state, and they probably rank in just about that order.

The Neuse drains much of east-central North Carolina, and the bass-fishing heart of the area is its confluence with the Trent at New Bern. The bass population in the Neuse is largely driven by weather-related events, such as big storms or dry spells that can change the salinity of the brackish water to either fill it with bass or flush them out of specific areas.

The Neuse is generally considered to be fishable and good from Kinston downstream to New Bern and in feeder creeks along its way to the Pamlico Sound. There is plenty of structure to fish, in terms of tupelo and cypress trees up the river, but from New Bern down, the river banks are a maze of boat docks and piers that might give up a largemouth bass on one cast and a flounder on the next.

The Trent is much smaller but is filled with hydrilla, which changes the face of the fishery a great deal. Keying on grassbeds is the ticket.

The Cape Fear and Northeast Cape Fear are fishable for bass from Wilmington upstream, although fishermen's passage is blocked by a handful of old dams along the way.