My Best Fishin' Bud

I've taken my 3 yr old son bank fishing twice since he turned 3 back in April. The "bait" for this trip was for him to demonstrate limited fear of water and swimming ability with a life jacket on. He passed that test a few weeks ago at the neighbor's pool so it was time to give it a go in the canoe.

After tossing down some cinnamon rolls this morning we were off. First, a quick stop for some petrol for the beast. Then we hit the highway and headed south ... it was a little chilly this morning.  The shot from the highway with his big grin is my favorite of this trip.



Pushed off around 10 am and little man did very well staying put in his seat and not standing up. Worms under a bobber near a few laydowns did the trick for him. Here are a few of the bluegill we caught.






I caught a few crappie on a bettlespin and then hooked up with my best fish of the day on the same bettlespin on the UL. Great fight! This is Holden's signature photography (finger blur)



Next I caught a small bullhead on that same bettlespin.


After some lunch, Holden was satisfied taking photos and playing with his paddle, so papa got out the baitcaster and I landed a few more bass. I got him to hold one of the bigger fish and release it. He said "it bit my finger".




One last stop at the crappie hole and it was time to call it quits. We tried to find a few crayfish in the rocky shallows, but had no luck. Great day with my son out on a beautiful Piedmont river.

Trusty Goat

Last year we ran into this goat, or maybe it's his brother, but none-the-less I was surprised to see it. How do goats get on islands in the middle of the river? Got me!

Now, as far as the fishing, it wasn't the best day I've had. However, Dave and I had a great float. He caught a few small bass on flies that he tied as well as his first striper!  I got a small striper and several good largemouth.











Great times on the water with an old friend. Look forward to fishing with you again Dave!

Monster Catch-Up Post

I've been fishing ... a lot! Here are a few highlights over late June and most of July to catch up.

We'll start with a visit to a small Piedmont flow east of Durham in search of a Roanoke bass with my bud Mack.




No Roanokes caught, just a few small largemouth and a "mountain" of sunfish, mostly on Mack's mini spook. Next up a quick after work trip to a favorite local flow in search of a few big largemouth. With only a few hours in an unfamilar section, I didn't catch many, but caught one on a new swimjig with a big hammer swimbait trailer.




I then caught a mixed bag at another (different) small Piedmont flow and kept a few crappie for the fam.







My bud Jeff and I got out on yet another (different) Piedmont flow with low/clear/hot conditions. We caught a few fish on spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. Jeff caught both of these right under my nose!





After a week at the beach with the family and no fishing, Steve invited me to a Piedmont creek I'd never fished for some bass and crappie action. We landed a few good bass and no crappie. Very interesting place and hope to try it again!





Headed back to that favorite small Piedmont flow and caught another mixed bag with a nice mess of crappie for the freezer/fryer including my personal best crappie.





Fhewww! Are we there yet??? Next up a small Piedmont flow east of Charlotte that I've never fished, but have been eyeballin' on the internet for years. A rather big disappointment with very shallow and sandy bottom mixed with rocks. I caught many sunnies and a few small bass, like this guy.




Last on this post was an attempt on the same river as Jeff and I fished earlier in this post, but this time the rain of the prior day was rushing through the section we selected about the time we dropped off the car at the takeout. Unfortunately, I didn't step back and punt, and instead launched into a muddy, high mess. I caught the only two fish of the day, including this guy on a Zoom frog back in a small feeder creek.




Well, that takes me up to last weekend where a good friend from my childhood drove up for some floating, fishing, and fun on one of the most fertile and scenic rivers in the Piedmont.

Father's Day Special

My son has been talking up the fishing lately, so we decided to head back to the pond on Father's Day to see if he could top his first trip. First order of business was to dig up some worms in the backyard.

Upon arriving, we started slow in a sunny spot with no immediate action. He quickly became antsy and was asking what I brought for food . We quickly moved to another area and he started getting nibbles on the worms right away. After a few misses, he hooked up with this nice bluegill.


He followed that up with this shellcracker. It took some talking to get him to stick his thumb in it's mouth, but he did it! After a quick photo and release, he was already talking about heading home. I encouraged him to try a shady spot around the corner as our last stop and he oblidged.


Shortly after I landed this small bass and got him to hold it for a photo.


By now (~40 min in) he had totally lost interest and was digging through my tackle box asking about all the lures. I unexpectly hooked this nice bass on a bettlespin and tried to get him to reel it in. It proved to be too much for him to handle on my light spinning reel. So he played photographer instead.


A little finger blur and a chopped head, but overall not bad for a 3 yr old. We're very thankful to have a great place to fish. Stopped for a treat on the way home. Proud papa on father's day.

Weekend Fishing Extravaganza

I've been fishing a few times since my last post, but nothing all that exciting. However, my weekend was exceptionally productive and I had to post up.

Early in the week, my wife informed me that she was heading north with the kids to visit her mom. Well, I quickly made plans to fish Saturday and Sunday. But before the fishing extravaganza was to start, I got to play golf Friday afternoon east of Raleigh. I just so happens that there was a canoe out that way I was itching to buy. So, after my round of golf the canoe was mine and my fishing weekend was starting early the next morning.

Day 1

My day started at 4 am as I rolled out of bed to walk the dog and pack my lunch. I met Todd and his son at 4:30 to hit the road. We met Mack at the get-out around 6 am to load his boat and head to the put-in. After a quick stop at Hardee's for a delicious biscuit, we put in just before 7 am.

I started off with a few small largemouth on a buzzbait , a few on a spinnerbait, and one bass on a weightless fluke that was missing half a lip. I was also using a spook and got hit by several striper, but couldn't get hooked up. 

We stopped for lunch on a nice pebble beach about halfway down. Afterwards the fishing picked up a little. I started catching largemouth in most pools behind rapids and on the occasional laydown. Todd's son and I had a little competition going and I think I had the upper hand for most of the day. Also, we chased a family of 3 bald eagles downstream most of the afternoon.




Approaching the last big rapid prior to the get out, Todd and I decided to take a small channel off the main river. After the biggest rapid in this ~50' wide channel, I tossed my spinnerbait into the pool and landed a nice striper. After repositioning the canoe, I managed to hook up with another striper. Both fish fought very hard and were ~20".




After our last rapid, Todd's son caught two stiper standing on the rocks and he swears his was bigger than mine, you be the judge. Check that smile!

Day 2 - AM

I had to get out and try my new canoe (more on that later). None of my fishin' buds could go Sunday morning, so I went solo with my cooler, looking to take home a few fish for the family. Boy was I in for a great day!

Rolled out of bed again around 4 am and launched before sunup. I started off throwing a swimbait and a buzzbait. I lost a few good largemouth on both lures before landing my first fish, this nice jack. I then lost another largemouth on the buzzer and decided to switch it up and go subsurface. I tied on a white/yellow Booyah spinnerbait and caught my biggest bass (~5 lbs) on the first cast. I followed that up with several nice bass all on the spinnerbait.

 





After an hour or so, the bass bite started to wain and I decided to try for a few crappie. I started throwing a yellow curly tail on a 1/4 oz Luck "E" Strike Gamakatsu jig head. After a few casts, I got hit with a decent crappie that ultimately landed in the cooler. I proceeded to land 8-10 crappie in a row on back-to-back casts in the same hole. I stayed in this spot for 30 min or so and landed 20-25 crappie on the yellow curly tail and a small rebel minnow. I had my cooler stuffed by 8 am and shortly after called it quits to head home. After a quick stop to gloat to my friend Jeff and show off my catch and new boat, I was back home by 10:30 to clean my fish before lunch.

Day 2 - PM

I made contact with Steve, who recent bought his own Old Town 119. He's been hounding me to fish a particular section of a small river northwest of Raleigh. After completing my honey-dos for the weekend, I met Steve at 4:30 pm to launch our canoes. We had no idea this area would be so productive. I caught a few warmouth within 20 min on the same yellow curly tail / jig head with a small bettlespin attached. These warmouth were very vibrant in color and highly variable. I've only recently caught my first warmouth, so this was very interesting.

Steve had been told that small buzzbaits were a good choice on this river, so I tied on a black 1/4 oz strike king minibuzz. Shortly after, I landed a nice largemouth in ~6" of water off a laydown with the buzzer. Steve and I were both very surprised to see this size fish in this tiny river, much less to catch one in such close proximity to our boats. A little later, I landed another nice largemouth on the bettlespin on another laydown within 15 ft of the boat.




Steve and I finished the evening with a few crappie, more largemouth, and Steve's first Roanoke bass. Overall, we had a great time and really enjoyed our time exploring this river.




This weekend was more than I expected. The weather was great, the fishing was awesome, and all it lacked was more sleep. I was sore and exhausted Monday morning and wasn't all that excited about heading into the office. Small price to pay for getting to enjoy the outdoors and time with good friends. 'Til next time!

-Jeff