Annual Family Beach Trip

My family takes a week beach trip to a North Carolina beach every year.  This year we went to Topsail Island for a week of fun and sun.  I manage to take a few surf rods each year and I usually charter an inshore boat for a day of fishing with my brother and at least one other person.

I'd read online about some people catching pompano and whiting (sea mullet) from the surf around Topsail using sand fleas.  This year I surf fished here and there, mostly in the early morning and caught one pompano, one whiting, and ~8 small sharks.  My camera didn't make it out to the beach, so I snapped a few of both fish before I filleted them along with my little helper.

We made it out one day on an inshore charter targeting topwater redfish in the New River inlet near Sneads Ferry, NC.  I brought a 6'6" MH baitcaster setup, one of my bass rods, specifically for this type of fishing.  I also brought a Bomber high-pitch Walkie Talkie (looks like a large Zara Spook).  We had a tough time finding the reds and only managed to get one small school to strike our topwater lures.  I caught the first one on my own rod and lure, the guide hooked another and handed the rod to my brother.   Both fish were netted and those were the only redfish we saw all day.  Photo is just before they were filleted back at the beach house.

We continued to search for good water and were fishing a small cove next to a grass marsh.  I got a big strike on my Bomber, set the hook, and before you know it the drag was screaming!  This fish took a few good runs and also made multiple attempts to shake the large plug from it's gnarly teeth.  We netted the fish and it was a big inshore blue (est @ 10-12 lbs).

The fishing wasn't stellar this year, but I had a good time hanging with the family.

Topwater fishing for redfish at the coast was exciting.  Makes me want to go back and target them again, maybe from a canoe.

Striper, Largemouth, and Goats ... Oh My!

My friend Mack called me a last week and asked me to reserve the following Friday for a fishing trip.  I told him I could go, but I'd have to take a vacation day.  We spoke on Wednesday to discuss our options for a trip and Mack suggested a river I'd never fished before.  I was skeptical to say the least as I wanted to make the most of my vacation. 

After checking river data and weather, I agreed to Mack's suggested locale.  Mack brought along a friend (Mike) and we all met at the put in around 6:30 am to shuttle cars. 

We launched around 7:15 am and made a short paddle upstream to some riffles under the bridge.  Along the way, I landed my first fish of the day, a nice largemouth on a Super Spook.

Mike mentioned that he saw some schooling stripers in the pool above and we headed up to try and catch a few.  I'd never caught a striper until today and man was it a good time!  After an hour or so of steady action, we pulled anchor and headed downstream and continued our streak of stripers for another hour or so.  All in all, I caught about 20 stripers today, most in the 2-4 lb range.  I caught two around 5 lbs and all but one came on a "walk the dog" type topwater lure.  I lost two lures to big fish that never made it into the boat, but that's a small price to pay for a morning filled with hot topwater striper action.  Here are a few shots. 

We continued downstream in hopes of catching a few largemouth.  The water was relatively clear but deep and I tried a few different lures (soft swimbait, lizard, frog) before settling in on the buzzbait.  I ended up throwing the buzzer most of the day and caught about 20 largemouth in total.  Here are a few of the fish, including a chunky 4 lber, which was the biggest largemouth of the trip. That fish hit my buzzer within 5 ft of the canoe at ~2 pm near a rock in the middle of the river and within sight of our take out.

Lastly, while passing a large island in the river, we came across something I'd never seen on a float trip.  A goat was standing on the river bank of the island surveying our fishing skills.  There was plenty of other wildlife seen, mostly herons and muskrats, but we also saw an eagle, an osprey, geese, and comorants. 

  

Today was topwater heaven and Mack gets credit for making my vacation day one to remember.  He also took some nice photos.  Thanks man!

-Jeff

Inlaws and Smallies!

Made the long drive up to Frederick, MD to visit the inlaws this past weekend.  In return for doing all the driving, my lovely wife granted me two half-days of time alone with my trusty Old Town 119. 

I fished this area last fall and landed one my biggest smallmouth ever (see previous posts), so I was anxious to get out and do a little more exploring.  The river conditions were prime.  No rain in weeks as the rivers were calming down from spring torrents. 

I set out in the evening on my first adventure on the Potomac near Tuscarora, MD.  I paddled my buns off against the current to get up to some promising looking shoals amidst the islands.  Within an hour or so, I landed my first smallie on on a chartruese strike king minibuzz.  I also threw a t-rigged purple Yum grub, which was a very hot lure for me last summer on one of the best smallie rivers in NC.  Landed the bigger one below on that Yum grub.

Keep going upstream, parked on a nice shoal, and threw the buzzer in a slow pool behind the rocks.  On the 3rd cast, I got a big strike by this guy below and landed him on my light action spinning rod.  Good fight with peeling drag.  This would be my best fish of the weekend.  Turns out I hooked him in the back, but he seemed to be no worse for wear.  Well worth the paddling.

I managed to get back to the launch just before sundown and loaded up.

My second outing took me back to the launch of my float last Fall just after daybreak on the Monocacy river, a Potomac tributary.  My plan was to paddle upstream a mile or so and explore.  I started in a nice shoal with rocks and pools.  This area gets plenty of pressure from waders with excellent access and I only managed one small bass here.

I paddled upstream and continued to get strikes on my buzzbait.  Landed a few small ones.  I also caught bass on my t-rigged grub, 4" lizard, and rapala J-9

The most interesting event of the entire weekend was a determined owl that made 6 attempts to swoop down and snatch my buzzbait from the surface.  I've never seen anything like this before.  This guy was hungry and no grown man in a canoe was going to scare him off a potential meal.  If only I had a camera mount!

 I didn't hook anything except smallies, which is a little rare considering I often catch sunfish with my mini buzzbait and rebel cranks.  In fact, the only other species I saw were carp and catfish on the surface.  Overall, the fish weren't huge, but I had a blast catching smallmouth in the Potomac basin and plan to fish it again when I'm back up in the area. 

Virginia Free Fishing Days

Got a tip on one of my forums that no license is required to fish in Virginia the first weekend in June.  I've been wanting to fish a few smallmouth rivers in central/eastern Virigina for a year or so.  So, with the incentive of a free license and a quick call to and old friend (Frank) in Richmond, we had a float trip planned.

I was introduced to smallmouth fishing by sitting in the middle of Frank's canoe on a cooler with my dad and Frank paddling me down the James river.  I've floated the James many times with Frank, but we've never fished anywhere else. 

I convinced him to meet me on a small flow south of Richmond just after daybreak.  When we arrived it was pouring rain as a large thunderstorm was moving through the area.  We were concerned this would be wet trip.

Water was in the mid-70s and running very clear. 

We headed upstream of the put-in to explore a little.  I started by throwing my trusty chartreuse strike king minibuzz in search of smallmouth.  As we made it to a nice pool, I got a strike near the bank on wood.  I tossed the buzzer back into the area and landed the first fish of the day, a largemouth!  I know there are largemouth in this river, but was surprised to find one here.

Shortly after, I landed my first and only smallie of 2011 on the same buzzbait.  Nothing to write home about.

Scenery was great and Frank was having a good time exploring.

As we made our way downstream, the river continued with a pattern of shallow sandy/rocky pools and very shallow shoals.  We weren't getting any strikes on our typical smallmouth lures and the fish seemed extremely spooky, so we went oldschool with some nightcrawlers and bobbers.  We landed a few creek chubs, one of the hardest fighting fish pound for pound, as well as bream and yellow perch.

Frank and I both landed a few nice bream.

It was nice catching up with Frank and we actually had great overcast or partly cloudy weather the entire day. 

Not sure if I'd go back to this river again, but I always welcome a float with Frank. If I do go back to this river, it'll probably be further downstream where we can find a few largemouth along with the occassional smallie. 

Hope my smallmouth fishing improves this year.  Next up, the Potomac basin.

1st ... and 2nd Chain Pickerel

I had a great float and a long day on the river with my friend Mack.  I had a blast.

Ambient: 78 F, Sunny Skies
Water: 62-68 F, slightly stained (2-4 ft visibility)

I caught my first ever chain pickerel (a.k.a. freshwater "jack") on a rebel minnow.  I landed it on my light action spinning rod.  The fish pulled drag a few times before I managed to grab it behind the head.  Man, those are slimy little buggers!  I got my grips locked in and Mack was able to snap a photo. 

We made our way around the river and I landed a few small bass skipping a weightless frog under the overhanging trees.  I was retrieving it along the surface and got some exciting strikes within feet of the bank.  Frog was the hot lure for a few hours.

Later we explored a small but very scenic creek.  This creek was very tight (too tight for two boats), so Mack continued up while I headed back to the main river.  Mack claimed to have caught a monster redbreast way up the creek.  Maybe I'll see a photo of this beast :).  I caught a few of my own.  The sunfish were very active today.

We entered the last section of our float and I was throwing the small buzzbait pictured above.  I got a viscous strike near a large exposed rock.  I called out to Mack as I threw my buzzbait back into the same area and got a second big strike, but no hook-up.  Third cast and strike was the charm.  This time it was on my baitcaster and this fiesty jack pulled drag twice and continued to trash the entire time it was in the boat.  Mack played photographer again.  Thanks man!

If you want to catch a chain pickerel, I know a place :) 

A "Sunny" Day

This particular post could have gone in a completely different direction if the hawg I hooked on this most recent float had made its way into the boat.  Instead I was left wanting another chance to land that monster river pig.  A classic case of "the one that got away".  At least I had a witness :)

My father, brother, and I used to waterski Belews Creek in the summer when I was a young.  I vividly recall getting home from school in August or early September and racing to the basement to prep the boat for an evening at the lake.  My dad would arrive at 3:15 pm, back up to the garage, we would hook up the trailer while he changed clothes, and we were on the lake by 4:00 pm!

One of my favorite things to do on these ski outings was to beach the boat in one of our favorite coves for a break and whip out the trusty zebco 33.  I'd wade the shoreline throwing little curly tail grubs or bettlespins and land fish after fish.  Call them what you like: redbreast, green sunfish, bream, sunny, longear sunfish, readear sunfish, warmouth, etc.  I'm not up to snuff with all the particular species of these colorful sunfish, but I had a ball catching them as a kid. 

My brother and I hadn't done any freshwater fishing in over a year.  We met up around 2 pm at one of my favorite rivers about halfway between Charlotte and Raleigh.  I'd never floated this particular section, but I was anxious to explore and see if we could find a few bass. 

Ambient:  Sunny skies, ~78 F

Water:  74 F, 3-4 ft visibility

I know this medium sized piedmont flow holds a lot of bass, but they all managed to avoid us during this trip.  Although we caught zero bass, there was definitely no shortage of active and aggresive sunnies.  My brother landed a sunfish on the first or second cast with one of my older rods and small spinnerbait.  Throughout our float we probably landed 15-20 each on about every lure we threw (Rapalas, spinnerbaits, buzzbait, Torpedo, Spook, bettlespin, crankbait, Roostertail ... pretty much everything except t-rigged plastics)

Weather was incredible, scenery was excellent, company and conversation was great, and the fishing wasn't terrible.  Bro managed to lose my favorite little spinnerbait, but made up for it with a nice chicken dinner after we finished up.  Hope to meet up with him again this year and actually catch a bass!

Morning Glass

As I continue to explore the many many places in NC to fish out my canoe, there's one I discovered this year that keeps calling me back.  Thankfully it's one of the closest to my house @ ~45 min.  During this trip I explored a section of this river a little more and I found some great water.

It had rained the previous day and I was worried this flow would be a little stained.  However, much to my surprise, the water was clearer than when I fished it in March. 

After a long carry due to wet/muddy conditions near the river, I put in just after sun-up. 

Ambient - low 60s, occasional light misty rain, very little wind :-)
Water - 3-4 ft visibility, no temp measurement

Started working my way down river in my Guide 119 with my new bending branches slice glass 280 paddle (http://tiny.cc/sktav), which is soooooo much better than anything I'd used previously.  I didn't catch anything until I made it to a shallow flat with flooded timber.  Caught a few small largemouth on a white buzzbait in this area and one on the bank on the way back to the put in.

Paddled ~4 miles or so round trip and my shoulders felt it for the next few days.  However, this was one of my more relaxing trips and well worth the effort.