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