My 2010 Shad season In Review.

I had high expectations for the 2010 Shad season. If everything went like it did the last 2 years it was going to be a great season. The first spot I went to was on March the 11th . I shall not name this place as I don't want it hammered. Water temp was 56 degrees, a very good temp for shad., but no shad were to be found. Caught 1 bass on a ratltrap.

On the 16th I found myself at my unnamed river and I did not catch any shad. I caught 2 bass on a ratltrap. I then left and headed over to Wilson to Wiggins Mill Dam on Contentnea creek. I have fished this creek for years but it has always been down near the Neuse for cats and bream or up higher for bass and bream. What a pretty place, even though you are right in town it is a very nice spot. Kinda like pier fishing as sometimes you are right beside someone. Usually I like to fish places where no one else is but this is fun fishing and a joy to talk fishing with the other fishermen. The water temp was 53 degrees and the shad fishing was slow .I bass fished with 1 rod every now and then and was rewarded with a 2 lb bass. I then caught 1 crappie and then was rewarded with my first shad of the year, a nice 3 lb white shad.





Only a few fish caught today but it was a good time on great creek.

On Sunday March the 19, I took my good friend Steve(See Yadkin River Slam) to catch his first American shad. We stopped by my secret spot first and again there were no shad there. We then headed to Wiggins Mill. The water temp was a nice 53 degrees. Steve caught 1 very nice 4 lb shad on a pink headed jig.

The action was pretty slow here so we decided to leave and go to the Tar. Before we left Wilson Steve and I stopped by Bills Barbecue for some world famous BBQ sandwiches. WOW!!!!..that was worth the trip!

We then headed to the Tar at the Sewage discharge pipe which I had not fished in a few years. A few shad being caught there. Steve hooked 1 big monster of a White shad.. It finally pulled off. Bummer!. I told Steve that the surest place to catch shad was the Roanoke river at Weldon. A cant miss place in March. Boy, was I wrong. The Roanoke this year has been high and muddy and was a toasty 49 degrees. 4 degrees colder than Contentnea. We caught zilch at the Roanoke.

On April the 2nd we returned my secret spot. Again no shad. But I did manage 3 bass on a ratltrap and 1 crappie on a jig. Man this year has been tough on my good spot. We then left and went to Wiggins mill. The water temp at Wiggins was 61 degrees. More shad being caught today but still not what I would call good. I caught 2 shad on pink headed jigs and lost 2 , one which was a bigun. Fellow fishermen at Wiggins were pulling in some monster crappie and I do mean some nice ones. I said the heck with shad fishing and started trying to catch a big ole crappie. I caught 1 but it was a baby compared to the others being caught. I then started flinging bucktails into the fast water below the dam, hoping to catch a maverick striper. I was rewarded with a 2 lb bullhead! I was then rewarded by Steve with a return trip to Bills BBQ.














So, this year was a bust on catching shad.However it was a good year fishing new places . Next year I will be back at Wiggins and the Roanoke. Part of this years problems were it started off warm then got cold then warm again . Plus, the Roanoke was hampered by high muddy water. I just  love shad fishing in North Carolina
Mack

Stone Mountain trip July 09

I Had shoulder surgery in August of 2009 so I made a lot of trips in late July and early August as I knew I would be out of commission for a while. This is one of those trips. Mainly a hiking and exploring trip but we did fit some trout fishing in. Here are a few pics.

This is atop Stone Mtn. My son with one of his best Friends, Miles.


This is a windswept pine atop Stone Mtn. probably a Table Mtn pine.

This is the top side of Stone Mtn. Falls . Sandy creek is the creeks name. Stone Mtn creek is actually on the other side of the mountain.

And, a view from the bottom.

A nice little water fall on Sandy creek.

We didn't catch a lot of trout today. Probably just 6 or 7 rainbows but is was a very good day to be out on the water. One rock bass caught which was a surprise. All fish caught on rooster tails and blue fox spinners. This is a nice little rainbow that my son caught.

A nice little waterfall on Garden creek.

A great day to be in the woods and on the water. Mack

#stonemountain

#troutfishing

Haw river trip with my son. May 2010

Took my son on a float trip to my favorite river. The Haw of course. We fished it during the heat of the day from 1-5 so fishing was OK at best but we had a good time. 6 bass caught in all, and all on buzzbaits.
Here is my son in his canoe.

Here he is trying to show off by standing up and fishing.

Here I am with an avg Haw river bass.

Here is Mack N. with a Haw River bass that crushed a buzzer!

And here is a water snake that he took a picture of.

A great few hours on my favorite river with my favorite fishing partner. We caught all of the bass on buzzers in slack water. Lots of minnows everywhere in the water which suggest that there was a good spawn this year and ample food in the river. We saw some geese and a few ducks. I cant wait to hit it at daylight one day. Mack

A young man, a scanoe and one Bad@$$ River. May 2010

My son wanted to go catch some fish on one of his last days during track out from school. I said where do you want to go?. He replied that he wanted to go to the neuse since that's the only place we catch fish. Ouch!..

So the Neuse River it was. we started the day with this little guy

A nice little yellow bellied slider


We then saw the biggest snapping turtle that I have ever seen but i could not get the camera out in time.

We then started catching bream, some up to 12 ozs but no big bull bream. All bream today caught on crickets aprox 1.5 ft under bobbers.

here's the avg bream we caught today


After bream fishing we then started out trying for some cats. We had some good hits but hooked only 2. Mine was a nice 7 lb blue that my son netted. This blue was caught on a flat that has been productive for me in the past. The bait was cut bream on a 4/0 hook. The reel is a 6500 Ambassadeur loaded with 30 lb line stuck on a white uglystik rod. This blue actually jumped out of the water when i set the hook. I have never seen a cat do that before!


Here is my son getting ready to crosseye a cat or a bait stealing gar!



Right at dark we left the flat and went to a "hole" which also has produced for me in the past. I told my son that we had to leave by 9:30 as we had a 2.5 hr ride home and I had to be at work early the next day. Right about when we were getting ready to leave, he popped up off his seat and set the hook and the fight was on! I did not even see the rod go down. After a short but awesome battle which almost ended up with my son in the river , he got this 22 lb flattie canoe side and I returned the favor by netting his fish. This was his PB flattie by 1 lb . (his biggest cat to date is a 30lb blue). This fish was caught on a live bream on a Carolina rig anchored by a 2 oz weight. The reel is a shimano 6500 bait runner with 25 lb test golden stren. This rig is easier for a 13 year old to cast than a baitcaster, and has plenty of power matched with a 7 ft tiger rod.


It was a great day on the water. Lots of owls heard and 1 bald eagle seen. We also saw 1 muskrat and 1 beaver . We usually see a few fox squirrels in one spot but they did not show their selves today. Mack