Big Catfish and Little Catfish - Dan River Virginia

Big Catfish Little Catfish

July 15th my wife and I decided to do a little Catfishing.    Truth be told I decided and she chose to come along.  Normally bait on this river is very hard to come by so I either bring my own frozen cutbait, buy goldfish, or get both.   This time for some dumb reason I decided to buy 5 tubs of night crawlers and see what I could catch with just them.   My wife was like you/we are only going to catch little cats with crawlers!!
I assured her that IF a big Catfish came up on a big glob of crawlers that it was game on!

First, we had to get the boat in the water.

  First stop produced this massive cat!    Now don't laugh it was cool catching this little guy who got a 7/0 hook in his mouth.

Was she right about we were ony going to catch little ones????????

That stop also produced a decent longnose gar that you will have to see in the Video.

We moved a few more times with not much luck.   Our final stop had me put out all  3 rods.
All of the sudden and the spinner is smoking! after an Intense battle I finally subdued the beast by sticking my hand in her mouth and hoisting her aboard.   My wife tried to net her numerous times and with her being a rookie on the net I was getting worried that that would cause me to lose this giant so that is why I lipped her.

 I have included my you tube channel video of this catch but I will confess that this cat fought way better than the video suggest.  I had to cut out a lot of the fight due to the reel just being in front of the camera and this massive cat splashed water on the lens so you couldn't see some of the fight due to it being blury .

Game On!!!!!

Also, If you read this blog or watch my You Tube Channel please subscribe to Both!    
Thanks for Subscribing!



July 15th
Dan River right on the North Carolina Virginia Border
Boat-  Seras Gamefisher 1232
Motor- Mercury 2.5
Outfits-   Shimano 6500 Baitrunner Loaded with 25 lb Shur strike line on a 7' Ugly stik Tiger rod,  Abu Garcia 6500c loaded with 30lb Big game on a 7' Ugly Stik and a 7000c Abu loaded with 40 lb Red Cajun on an American Spirit Night Stik
Hook would be 7/0 Gamagatsu J and Circle hooks
Bait- Night crawlers on a 3 way rig

#danriver

#catfishing

#catfish

My OLD TOWN 119 Modifications

My Old Town 119 Modifications

This is a  Video of my Modifications to my Old Town 119.  This is my favorite solo River boat by far and a good Lake canoe. If you have any questions please ask either here or on you tube.  Don't forget to subscribe to both!!!

Thanks Mack

#oldtown119canoe

#oldtown

#canoe

#oldtowncanoe

#riverfishing

#canoeing

Bass Slam Quest - My Quest for the Bass Slam featuring Bartrams, Coosa, Suwannee and Shoal bass

Bass Slam Quest  

The above Chart was evidently done before the Cahaba, and Warrior were declared seperate.

I have had a long desire to catch all of the Black Bass subspecies.  The species are Northern Largemouth, Florida Bass,  Smallmouth, Northern Spotted, Alabama bass, Suwanee, Guadalupe,  Shoal Bass, Choctaw  and the 7 Redeye species which are   The Coosa Redeye, The Bartram's, Chattahoochee,  Altamahaw, Warrior, Cahaba,  and Tallapoosa Bass .   

So far (Feb 2023) I have caught Northern Largemouth, Florida Largemouth, Smallmouth,  Northern Spotted, Alabama Spot, Suwannee, Shoal bass, Coosa and the Bartrams. 

This article will be updated peridiocally as I catch more or add to it. 

Bartram's Bass

 May 2017  I made a trip to South Carolina to get the Bartram's Bass off of this bucket list.   I would of been happy with any size and the first 2 I caught were only 5-6 inches and the next two were 11-12 inches.   I have included my You Tube video of this and just to let you know my wife caught the Biggest. OUCH! it may have been 13 inches but a 13 inch Bartram's is a good one.   It was a nice day on a wonderful river.   The redbreast has some of the strangest color markings I have seen with the red/yellow breast going all the way to the tail.   It was a wonderful trip.

Bartram's Bass from the Chauga River in South Carolina

I caught this one and several like it

My Wife of Course caught the biggest. 

Watch My Bartram's Video here

Shoal Bass

I caught My Shoalie ( Shoal bass ) in May of 2012.  this was a fun trip made with some good friends.

We camped on the Flint River near Thomaston Ga and I caught several Shoalies.   

You can view my blog post here on that camping trip and my Quest for a Shoal Bass here  

Blog Post on My Shoal Bass Trip

Coosa Bass  

April of 2022 I decided to try and get the Coosa bass off of my bucket list.

This Brought me to Rockmart Ga where I fished Eurhalee Creek ( A Tributary of the Etowah River) and while the fishing was tough I did manage 3 with 1 being a very nice one..  This is as big as they get.

Check out the Colors on this one
                                                       

See my Blog Post on the Coosa Adventure Quest https://mackinncblog.blogspot.com/2022/05/i-caught-my-1st-coosa-bass-aka-redeye.html

See my You Tube video on Catching the coosa Bass

Suwannee Bass

January of 2023 I decided to go after the Suwanne Bass.  The Sante Fe River near High Springs would be the area I was going to fish.   I camped at Ginnie Springs and fished upriver day 1 and down river day 2 .  I only caught 1 Suwannee Bass but thats all I needed.    This was and awesome trip.  

My First Suwannee

You can see my Suwannee bass video on You Tube here 

A Great Read of Redeye Bass Fishing - https://amzn.to/3KBdMXF

Thanks and stayed turned for more post on Spotted Bass and Smallmouth

#bassslam

#georgiabassslam

Big Carp Smackdown - Crabtree Lake

Went Carpin yesterday (4/09/2017)  after work from  4-7 pm with my wife Cindy. Caught 10~ carp and 4 or 5 channel cats in about 3 hours with most of the action coming in hours 2-3.   It was  Good day with a few big ones being landed. I had one really big run that I lost , the hook pulling out for some reason.   The outing started slow but once they started coming in it was on.  We Had 2 doubles on as well.

We were set up on a small point on a local lake using sweetcorn for bait. See below.   The carp in this lake really luv sweetcorn and I have only had 1 day there in the last year where i have not caught a carp.  Hopefully this trend will continue and  will have more post to do in the future on this spot.
  

Bait- Sweetcorn with secret packbait on weight.
Reels used- 2 shimano 3500 Baitrunners , 1 on 8' ugly stik and the other on 7 ft Ugly Stik Tiger-  Daiwa Millionaire II 5000M on Abu 7' rod
Line 16lb Momoi Hi Viz

Here are a few pictures.

Here is my you tube video of the outing





Thanks for looking.

#carpfishing

#carp

#fishing

White Bass Action 3/29/2017

3/29/2017

I made a quick trip after White bass to a Falls Lake Tributary before a meeting at work.  My plan was to walk a tributary of a local lake and throw 3 lures.  A Shallow Shad Rap 5 ( SSR5), a Rebel Tracdown and a Roadrunner.
I caught 1 on the SSR5 and then lost the 2 I had. OUCH! There went 14 bucks.
I then threw the roadrunner and caught 1.  Switched to the Rebel and I caught 3 or 4 on it.    Ended up with 5 or 6 in an hour .  Not great numbers but it was a good morning with fish caught.

Here is a video I posted on YouTube on this trip.  Subscribe to my YT channel and also follow this Blog.

Thanks, Mack

#fallslake

#whitebass 

First Shad of 2017

March 21st 2017
Location-  Roanoke River   Weldon, NC
Air Temps-  70's
Water Temp- 57
Lures- Tandem jigs

Tuesday March 21st Pete and I hit the Roanoke River in search of my first shad of the year.   The water is extremely low at   2250 cfm.     I caught aprox 25 Hickory Shad.  Most came on Pink headed Jigs with White bodies but I think 1 came on Chartreuse.   Some days they like a particular color and today it was White.   You should always carry White,  Chartreuse and Pink as you can never predict what color is hot. 

Here are a few Pictures

I spent approximately  4 hours on the water with 25~ caught.   This is not really a good number as on a good day in 4 hours you sometimes can catch double that but I am happy with 25~.

Here is a video I posted on You Tube on this trip.   Please subscribe to it and follow this blog if you haven't already.

Thanks for watching.     Mack and Pete 

#shadfishing

#shad

#fishing

#roanokeriver

#roanokerivershadfishing  

Good Crappie Trip

March 7, 2017

I went back out to one of my Fishing holes and fished for 45 mins for bass with no Hits. I only had 1 1/2 hrs so I devoted the last 45 minutes to Crappie fishing.  It was a good thing I brought a Crappie outfit as the Bass were not biting. I caught 10~ Crappie, 2 bream and 1 tiny bass in 45 mins.

I also recently purchased a Frabil E-Z Check "R" and several of these crappie would not even fit into it! That is a good problem to have.

It was a short trip but a good one.   All Crappie caught on a Roadrunner head with a Charlie Brewers Chartreuse grub with multi colored flakes in 2-5' of water .    Here are a few pics.

I also did a video on this which can be seen at  link below.  If you have not followed my blog please do and please subscribe to my you tube channel.   I know I sound like a hick but what you see is what you get.  I hopefully will be cranking out a lot more videos this spring.   I hope to have some nice carp, catfish, white bass, Bowfin and small stream fishing videos  online soon

Click this link for the Video   Crappie Video
 
Thanks, and don't forget to follow my blog and subscribe to my you tube channel.

Mack

#crappie

#crappiefishing

#howtocatchcrappie  

Slab Crappie were Hitting Today

The plan today(2/25/17) was to take one of my canoes out for some Crappie and Bass fishing with my wife but due to an employee not showing I had to go in and work, thus getting home around 430 or so ad too late to take the canoe out.
We decided to load up some gear and hit a spot I thought may be holding a few crappie. We fished for about 1.5 hours and the action was constant with only a handful being small. 90 percent of em were slabs and all were Black crappie.

We used 2 outfits for the Crappie. 1 rod had a 1/16 oz monks Chartreuse  head with a slider grub and the other had a small cork and spaced 2 ft apart was a 1/16 oz tube jig head with white Berkeley micro power tube.

It was a fun time with a few bream also caught and a couple of small but fat bass caught. We probably could have caught some nice bass and we even had a big bass attack the cork.

The fishing was so good I think I may could of Got Nat's Dad on his first Crappie...

 We could of had a nice fish fry but all were released to fight again.

My Wife with a nice Black Crappie caught on a Berkeley Power tube under a cork

Me with a couple

Here you can see the Slider grub that we used today.  This was one of the few small ones we caught

 2/26/17

Went Back today with Mark B. to my Crappie spot. I was afraid the  bite maybe gone since last nights freezing temps and I was right. We decided to make a move down the lake to another set of riprap and throw Rat l traps and spots on the Sunny side of the Riprap. In about an hour we each caught maybe 5 bass on the lipless cranks.  Mark used a 1/4 oz trap and I used a 1/2 ounce Cordell Spot.  Not a monster I am posting but heard from others it was a tough bite today so we were happy with 10~ Bass. We also got to see a nice sunset so it was an awesome day.

Thanks for looking.

Tags.  "North Carolina Crappie" "North Carolina Largemouth Bass"

Berry Hill Plantation - South Boston , Va

Berry Hill Resort

I thought  I would blog on something different this time.  I spent this past  weekend with my wife at Berry Hill Plantation Just outside of South Boston Virginia.  Now, I will not go into all of what they have to do there as google is your friend ,  but some of the pictures I post you probably will not find on the internet.

Berry Hill Mansion

There is a 100~ room Motel just to the right of the Mansion but the way it is landscaped and the hill off to the side you would never know it is there.

This is the old rock wall surrounding the Mansion.

An old Rock building.  This was one of the Slave Quarters. This is way back behind the Mansion on the trail to the Dan River

The trail that goes from the House to the river  then  meets up with The Tobacco Heritage Trail . You can walk from the Mansion or ride a bike but warning! It is uphill all the way back to the Mansion.   The Tobacco Heritage trail is only partially complete and part of it dead ends just up the river from Berry Hill.

This view is from the end of the Tobacco Heritage Trail looking east and the picnic  table seen in the 2nd picture down is in sight in this picture.

 This view is looking west (upstream) ,  the end of the Tobacco Heritage Trail is in the picture.

 

  This view is looking upstream

Look at the tree I walked up on! This Tree is Between the Trail and the river within sight of the dead end.  This is the biggest tree I have seen in a looooooooog time. What is so amazing is that  this tree stays the same diameter to at least 70 feet up.   It is either a Red or Black oak but I can't tell for sure without seeing a leaf from it.

Oh, If you happen upon this tree and have some insight as to what kind of Oak it is please post a comment. 

A view of one of the Fields behind Berry Hill . The Dan River is maybe 200 yards behind where I stood to take this picture.

Here is a map I made from Google earth and it shows the Mansion, Slave quarters, and the Big Tree

Oh, and don't forget to visit Darby's Tavern while you are there. 
Thanks for Looking Mack

Tags  "Berry Hill Plantation"
"Berry Hill Resort"  "Dan River"
"Tobacco Heritage Trail"

#berryhillplantation

#berryhillresort

My First Carp of the Year

First Carp of 2017

Tuesday February 7th, 2017

Time:  10am-2pm
Air Temp- 70 degrees
Water Temp- 54 degrees
Outfits-

2 Shimano 3500 Baitrunners , 1 on an 8' Ugly Stik

The other on a 7' Ugly Tiger Rod.  Line was 16 Momoi Hi-vis

on one and 15 lb Big Game on the other.

Carp Rig-

This is my "normal" Carp Rig which is a 1 oz sinker, swivel, and just a few inches of 30lb Fluorocarbon attached to a Gamakasu hook.  The packbait on the sinker is Oatmeal(Brown Sugar and Maple) mixed with cream corn to which Vanilla flavoring has been added to.   Then I put 4-5 pieces of whole kernel corn on a #1 Gamakatsu Octopus hook.

Its has been a long while since I have caught a carp(October?)  and though now is Shad and Striper season I needed to stay close to home today so I made a decision to hit up my favorite Carp spot and try for a few. Now, I luv  to Carp fish but in previous years it was a summer thing when more glamorous species where either hard to catch or I was just tired of catching them.  If I was succesfull today it would be the earliest I have caught one.

I set up at 10am and after a few minutes I catch a 2~ Channel Cat.   Not a bad start but I wanted something bigger.   30 minutes later and I get a big hit.   I can tell this is probably a 15 plus pounder and after a few minutes the hook pulls out!!   30 minutes later and I catch another 2 plus lb channel cat.    Back to waiting and a short while later I get another big run.  Good fight, strong fish and as I get it near the hook pulls out again!!  What! am I cursed today?   I cast out again and another short wait and another good run.   I  battle this strong fish for 5 minutes and get in my first Carp of the year.
Now, this one wasn't as big as the first two runs but a very nice fish.  I have  a video of the landing that I will try to post soon.    

Thanks for looking, Mack

#carpfishing

#carp

Hickory Shad at Weldon were on Fire Today - 3/22/16

Weldon NC Shad Fishing

****see videos at the bottom**** 

Had the day off and my son was also on Spring break so I asked him did he want to go catch some shad. He said "sure". WOW!  He  is 19 and his priorities are school, girls, friends, girls, and did I say girls? and not necessarily in that order. So I was surprised and happy he chose to go shad fishing.

We didn't leave town until 2 so I only had 2 choices. The Tar near Rocky Mount or Weldon. I chose Weldon. I looked at usgs.gov and they had the flow listed at 10,500 cfm. I then looked at Dominion Powers release schedule and it was supposed to stay at that for at least 2 more days. We got there the water was muddy!  Crap!  I like mud for Bass fishing but not Shad fishing. I actually thought about heading south to the Tar but something told me to stay. We were fishing by 3:45 and the first Shad came to hand on the first or second cast. We caught too many to count. We fished 5 or so spots and all produced fish. when the action slowed on one spot we drifted down 50 yds or so, anchored and the action repeated.

We Never Left Sight of the Ramp.  When  action slowed we moved up or down no farther than a long cast and the action picked right back up.

All hits came on White 2 inch Berkely Powerbait grubs on a 1/8 oz Pink Jig head. It was a great few hours on the water with my son.

You can see how I tie the above rig at -

We finished the day off by stopping at Ralph's BBQ where one of my sister in laws works at,  so we got to see her and eat some great food.

An awesome ending to a great day of fishing.

Thanks, Mack

#Roanokeriver

#shadfishing

#weldon

My 2016 Fox Squirrel Season #foxsquirrel

Hello Guys,   I Fox Squirrel Hunted 3 or 4 times this Season.   The First was with my Dog Pete.
Now, Pete and I had a blast and we saw 2 that day but they both went into holes and eluded us.
They are a lot smarter than most people think, maybe they get a bad wrap from the tame ones on golf courses but these ones we hunt are ELUSIVE.

The next time I went was November the 28th.   This time I took a friend of a friend who had never seen a Fox Squirrel and wanted to kill one and mark it off his bucket list. Lee is his name and it was a wonderful day hunting with a very nice hunter. We met up at 11:00 am and made the 1hr drive south to my  Fox Squirrel hot spot.  You could immediately tell that Lee was an expert hunter  and the pressure was on for me to put Lee on one.  

My plan was to go to good spots and sit at each one for ~30 minutes and if no action to move and repeat. On the first move I spotted a big Black saddleback one ahead of us but he gave us the slip.
This move and repeat process continued until 3pm  when I told Lee That we were in my # 2 spot and we should sit here till dark.  Lee sat up against one big pine and I another approximately 70 yards from him.  There wasn't much happening until 5 pm when I heard something running between Lee and I . I looked that way and a big Silver one climbed a small oak. I  Rushed the tree and Lee was getting there as well. The squirrel then jumped to a big pine and both lee and I had him spotted.  I told Lee that the honor was his and His trusty Winchester 37 in 410 put the hammer on that squirrel.    An awesome ending to a great afternoon in the woods.

Here is the picture of Lee's Fox Squirrel -

Lee then presented me with a Turkey Wingbone call that he made himself from a turkey he killed !!
Wow! what a special present.  Thanks Lee, I hope we can do this again next year.

Fast Forward to 12/12/2016 and I was after one for me.   Somehow I was daydreaming or just not paying attention and I missed my turn to where I hunt.    I went over a little hill and I see what I think is a dead Fox Squirrel on the side of US 1. I have to turn around anyway and as I pull up to it I can see that it is a Fox Squirrel.
 Crap,  I sometimes shoot them but it is a shame when one gets run over.   What a nice example of a Saddleback color phase.  I put the squirrel just off the road in the woods so it could return to the earth.

Now, I was headed in the right direction.   I arrived at my spot and since my time was limited today I chose to make the sit till dark in the same place that Lee and I hunted  a few weeks ago.  I sat down and was about to nod off and in 5 minutes and I hear something in the tree 5 yards in front of me.  I look up and there is this big beautiful Black one coming down the tree not 5 yards from me.   The squirrel gets to the bottom and knows I am something but doesn't know what.   Anyway, I got a video of it which I added the going in and out of the woods.  I ain't  the best movie maker  but watch that sucker check me out from the bottom of the tree.

Here is the video ----

 and a picture,  shot with a 20 gauge Savage S x S using # 6 shot at 25 yards

Though I only got to Fox Squirrel Hunt 3 or 4 times it was a fun season and one I will remember.
Thanks, Mack

#foxsquirrel

#squirrelhunting