A Few Firsts

This past weekend I joined up with a group of kayak/canoe anglers from NCAngler.com for fishing, camping, and some fine campsite grub at W. Kerr Scott Reservior in Wilkesboro, NC. I used to camp with my family on Kerr Scott as a young teen and waterski. This recent trip took me back to my childhood as we stayed in the same campground. It was a nice time and we had awesome weather all weekend.

The fishing was decent, although no big fish were caught.

I fished sections of rivers I've never seen before, which I love to do. I also caught a few new species for me, including rainbow trout and rock bass.

Day 1 - Put in on the Upper Yadkin

Working the buzzer in the 119

One of several spotted bass, this one in the lake caught trolling cranks behind my canoe

One of several smallmouth, this one in the Yadkin, caught on a yellow curly tail jig

And a few firsts (the rainbow was caught on a t-rigged 4" yamamoto cut tail worm) ...


Lastly one of only a few sunfish caught, this one a beautiful redbreast caught in Yadkin tributary we floated

The Negotiator

My son turned 3 a few weeks ago. We had a negotiation going ... 3 deuces in the toilet in return for his first fishing trip with dad.

Last night was #3 (should have negotiated 3 in a row ), so I held up my end of the bargain and took him to a farm pond that I have access to. We dug up earthworms in the backyard this morning and headed out just before lunch to try our luck.

Unfortunately this area has plenty of poison ivy and fireant hills, and keeping your 3 yr old out those isn't easy ... but look at his first fish!




According to him, this monster almost pulled him in the water. I tend to agree as I had to assist or at least the rod was going in. There was only one other small bluegill caught (also by him) in the hour or so we spent, but I think I've got him hooked! I was teaching him about fish anatomy and let him handle the bluegill. We were so into it, that I forgot to take a photo of our other fish. No worries, I'm sure there are many more to come.

He's already asking about going in the canoe and I sense future negotiations .

3 Days and 7 Species

On Wednesday of last week, my wife informed me that she had decided to take the kids up to MD to visit her family. She was to leave Thursday and return Monday, so I couldn't go.  Instead I immediately started divising a plan to fish every waking hour possible during her absence .

Friday, I fished a Piedmont river with a collegue in his canoe. Bass weren't so interested and I only caught 3, including this guy, all on a buzzbait.  Water temp was 68 F.

Species 1 - Largemouth


Saturday, I fished another Piedmont flow, solo. I launched before sunrise in a chilly mid-40 F ambient.  Water temp was 55 F to start, 60 F to finish.  My hands were freezing as I paddled downriver to try and catch a few largemouth and jack. I was rewarded with ~4 bass and 3 additional species before lunch.  I then headed home to take out the dog.  Caught the crappie trolling various minnow plugs and cranks. Largemouth on plastics and swimbait. Jacks on spinnerbait.

Species 2 - Black Crappie


Species 3 - White Crappie


Species 4 - Chain Pickerel (Jack)


That evening, I headed to the lower Haw to attempt to catch my first white bass. I was almost skunked, but instead landed my 5th species, a first for me.

Species 5 - Gizzard Shad or Threadfin Shad ... not sure


Early the next morning, Mack and I headed west in search of a few smallies. We met up with 3 other NCAngler members for an all-day (9 hr) float. The fishing was tough and the catchin' was few and far between.  However, I landed two fish, species 6 and 7 for the weekend.  Smallie on a spinnerbait, Spotted bass on a weightless senko.  Water temp was 58 F to start, 62 F at finish.

Species 6 - Smallmouth Bass


Species 7 - Spotted Bass


No big fish and not big numbers, but I got my fill of seat time in the canoe and enjoyed a few of many of the beautiful rivers that NC has to offer.

More Green Grass

With our success early in the morning on our last float, I decided to go back to the same place last weekend for some more largemouth.

I launched around 7 am and started hot with a bass on my first cast! I followed that up with the biggest bass of the day, around 4 lbs.




I got the measuring board for Christmas from my family. I finally committed to using it and I measured every fish I caught that was ~12" or more.

I ended up with ~20 bass on a variety of lures. Spro BBZ-1 Shad swimbait was hot early, as well as a black buzzbait. I caught a few on t-rigged plastics (grub and trick worm) banging the bank. I also caught several trolling jointed floating rapalas, including a double.





Wrapped up around 2 pm and headed home. A great day for catching and weather. One of my favorite spots did not disappoint!

Grass Isn't Always Greener

With the vast number of locations available to fish from a canoe in the state of NC and so little time available for me to fish, I constantly second guess my location choice unless I have a stellar day.  I also spend gobs of time researching new places online that I think will be even better than my current favorite honey hole.

Mack and I have been talking about fishing a stretch of piedmont river neither of us have fished previously.  Both of us have visited the put-in many times and done well there, but haven't floated very far downstream.  To float this area is very tough as access to and near the get-out is very difficult.  Of course, we're both thinking a remote stretch of river would be loaded with hungry fish that have never seen a lure. 

We'll today, Mack and I had a chance to test the grass on another pasture and although this spot showed promise, the fishing was nothing to write home about.  I caught 10 or so this morning (so did Mack), all but one caught within range of the put-in.  Don't take this post the wrong way, I had a blast today.  Those 10 fish made my day and I did enjoy the rest of the trip.  There's always something special about being on a secluded river and observing the wildlife.  Today we saw a bald eagle, river otters, and a heronry (a first for me).

So, after considerable anticipation and build-up getting to fish a section that we assume get's very little pressure, it turns out the best fishing was right in our own pasture.

 

Tri-Fecta

Basketball fever is in the air with conference tournaments on the horizon and the national championship just around the corner.  Although I didn't get to watch much basketball this weekend, I did hit my own 3-pointer.

It's been an unusually warm winter and my friend Todd and I were in search of some active winter bass in one of many eastern NC mill ponds.  Turns out, I found a few other species as well.  I started by trolling a few shallow running suspending jerk baits.  One was a Rapala x-rap, and the other a Bomber Long-A. 

A short distance from the launch, I stopped paddling to throw a lipless crank bait toward a point.  I left the trolling lures in the water behind me and when I started to paddle again, the Bomber immediately got hit.  It was a small bass, but a fish none-the-less. 

I got setup again and paddled 20 ft or so and the Bomber got hit again after a pause, just like before.  This time it was a catfish!  Not sure if it's a channel cat or a bullhead, but I was surpised a small cat attempt to eat the 6" plug.

With two fish landed, I thought I may be onto something.  I started throwing the bomber in the general area with a slow retrieve and short pauses.  My next fish was an even bigger surprise.  This small crappie went after the bomber as well.  That made three species all on the same lure within the first 30 min of fishing.  I rarely have days like that!

I caught one other small bass in this area and we moved on.  I only caught one other bass on this trip on a lipless crank.  My friend Todd caught the best fish of the day just after lunch on a majestic minnow using his new rod and reel.  He just bought his first baistcaster and got the hang of it pretty quick. 

No bigguns today, but we had absolutely beautiful weather and a nice paddle. 

Jacky New Year!

Jacky, as in Jackass, is one of the many nicknames so gracefully and lovingly given to me by my wife.  I take it all in stride.  I've been called much worse and I'll gladly take any nickname which allows me to escape some of the home duties and go fishing on a regular basis.  So, this one is dedicated to Lauren.

The weather was beautiful today, very unusual for January.  Also, I couldn't wait to get out and use some of the new gear I received for christmas (again, thanks Lauren!). Unfortunately, none of my usual fishin buds could make it. I struggled with where to go, and settled on one of favorite rivers.

Apparently I made the right choice on where to fish. I put in on this small piedmont flow around noon and water temp was a chilly 46 F. Air temp was in the 60s with partly cloudy conditions. I wasn't expecting much considering the water temp.  I decided to troll a rattletrap and just paddle for a while.

I started out trolling one 1/4 oz cordell spot Black/Green/White color. Within ~20 minutes, I thought I was snagged on the bottom as my reel was zinging. I grabbed the rod, and it pulled back. I soon realized it was a monster chain pickerel (a.k.a. Jack or Jackfish), by far my personal best. I didn't have any of my "stuff" out to land this fish and fumbled around to get my grips and pliers out. I finally got it to the boat and hoisted this beast in for measurements. 4.25 lbs and 26.25" long, just barely meeting the "Trophy Fish" minimum in the fishing regs. What a way to start off the new year, and this was just the beginning!

I continued trolling, now with two cordell spots (one 1/4 oz and one 1/2 oz) and landed a few small largemouth on the larger lure. I parked in a few spots and threw the rattletrap and landed a couple more bass, 4 in total, biggest pictured below. Lost one a little bigger at the boat. 

On my way back to the launch I trolled one of the cordell spots and a rapala rattletrap in baby bass color. I landed one nice crappie, which made its way into the cooler. I ran into a few other kayak anglers crappie fishing and they were on a hot hole. They encouraged me to anchor up and cast jigs. I ablidged and proceeded to land several nice crappie on a chartruese / pink head curly tail jig. The guys handed me a few more crappie they were catching and I filled my little cooler with 8 10-12" crappie. I thanked them for the fish and advice, and continued on my way.

About half-way back to the launch, the trolled rapala got nailed and it was another big pickerel. This one was ~3 lbs and 22.25". Check the belly on this one.

I threw the jig here and there looking for a few more crappie, but that was it. I wrapped it up around 5 pm and headed home. Great day and I hope a sign of things to come in 2012.