Trout Stocking Indian Camp Pond 120722 #shorts NCWRC

120722

Indian Camp Pond

Marston, NC

The NCWRC stocked ~1200 Trout in less than a minute.

Video on My Youtube channel coming up soon where we catch and eat some of these fish 3 days later.   See Mack's Extreme River Fishing on YT

Best Spots for Trout @ Indian Camp Pond

#ncwrc

#troutstocking

Odom Boating Access Area - New Boat Ramp open on the Roanoke River

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New Boat ramp open on the Roanoke River - Odom Boating Access Area

Feburary 2022 the NCWRC opened a new much needed ramp on the Roanoke River.   This ramp will help alleviate some of the crowds at the Weldon NC boating access during the Spring Shad and Striper runs. 

The address for the ramp is 1017 Striper Ln Jackson, NC  which is just outside of Jackson NC and is 10 miles below Halifax NC(no public ramp there) and 17 miles below Weldon NC.

The coordinates of the ramp are  36.324494, -77.440062

The  Ramp has 42 spots for vehicles with trailers with aprox 1/2 in the lower paved lot and 1/2 in the upper gravel lot. 

The Lower lot also has 4 spots for single vehicles and 2 Handicapped spots for single vehicles.  This lower lot also has 1 Handicapped spot for a vehiclle with trailer.  

The upper lot has half the spots for vehicles with trailers also has 4 spots for single vehicles. 

This is an aerial shot of the Ramp and parking area(2 pictures below).  The main parking area is paved and the upper parking area is gravel.   This was taken during contruction as the lines are not painted on the lower lot.

**April 2 2023  these aeriel pictures are from Bing Maps and when taken they  had not painted the lines on the bottom lot or put in the parking places on the upper gravel lot when they were taken.   Google Maps as of today still shows woods there where the ramp it so they are way behind Bing.   

I will update these aerial photos as soon as either Bing updates or google maps does.   

***Note you can click on the pictures to make them Bigger*****

****When google maps updates the satelite view I will post an up to date aerial of the lots**** 

A nice view of the ramp which has 2 lanes. 

Some views of the lower Parking lot

Single vehicle spots

More single vehicle spots

View heading out or up to the upper gravel lot

The Upper Gravel lot

which has 2 single vehicle spots on each end

Here are some views of the Roanoke River 

The main fish that are sought after here are Hickory Shad, American Shad, and Striped Bass during their annual spring spawning runs.

Blue Catfish can be targeted here year round.

Other fish found here are Largemouth Bass, Alabama Bass,  Bowfin, Longnose gar,  Channel cats,  a few flatheads(not common) ,  Chain Pickerel, and your usual panfish, Crappie, bream etc. 

Check out a video I have of Striper fishing the Roanoke

Thanks for reading.  Mack

#Jacksonnc

#roanokeriver

#striperfishing

Stocking "my" Pond with Bass 

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Not really my pond as it is a neighborhood pond (water retention pond) behind my hose but back in the 90's and early into the 2000's I used to catch some really nice Bass in here.   Then one day aprox 10-15 years ago A water main busted a block up from this pond.   The stench of Chlorine was BAD.  I called the city and the NCWRC and they told me nothing would happen to the fish.   I responded with fish can't handle Chlorine which fell on death ears.    Then most of the fish floated to the top.   The NCWRC then came out and honestly I don't know if it was ever restocked but I could go down there several years later and catch some nice Bream and Shellcracker but Bass were non existant.       

So, a couple years ago I put in a few (2-3 ) bass and last year I put in 5 or 6.   This year I have put in 5 in 2 days. I catch these in a very small creek near here which is in another Blog post and bring them the short distance to the pond.    see blog   Creek Post

I plan to put a few more in this year and maybe just maybe try to fish it next year and see what I catch.

2 from the creek 

Thanks for reading and stay tuned next spring for a fishing trip here.  Mack

#bassfishing

#pondstocking

#fishing

Canoeing Juniper Springs Run in an Old Town 119 Canoe

Canoeing Juniper Run 

February of 2021  I made a trip to Florida to Canoe a spring fed creek that I have wanted to Canoe for YEARS.   I first read about this Creek in The Book  FABULOUS FOLBOT HOLIDAYS years ago.   This creek is listed in the top 25 of  River/creeks to canoe in the United States.  

Here is the book(still available on ebay and other sources) and the page where the article On Juniper Run and Alexander Springs are noted. 

This book though old is a must read for awesome Canoe trips.  

So,  I finally  made it down there and the parks shuttle service is closed because of Covid.  I then put my Old Town 119 Canoe in at the take out at Juniper Wayside on Hwy 19  and paddled up .  I caught Bass, redbreast sunfish, Spotted sunfish and the creek was loaded with mullet!   I also had an encounter with an 8' plus Gator that you can see in the video.   I paddled a few miles up well past Sweetwater Springs(private) and then floated back down.  This day was a very fun float/paddle  and one I will never forget.   

Check out my YouTube Video of my float/canoe trip  of Juniper Run. 

#juniperspringsrun

#junipersprngs

#Juniperwayside

old town 119

    Quest for the Bartram's Bass

My first quest for one of the redeye species would be the Bartram's Bass found in the Savannaha Drainage and also in the upper Saluda(probably stocked) drainage near Ware Shoals. 

The best place for me to catch a Bartrams would be  the Chatooga river, The Chauga River or The South Fork of the Broad River.
I chose the Chauga River for my first attempt at them.

This video is from 4 years ago but is  on my quest for the first of the seven Redeye Bass subspecies.  

 Now this fish(Bartrams) is found in North Carolina but where it is found in NC is Very very hard to reach in the Gorges State Park.  The Closest and easiest place for me to get one would be on the Chauga River in South Carolina.   

I gave my wife an ultralite rod and a green beetle spin to catch bream , Bartram's etc on and she showed me up with it catching the biggest one.   I got most of mine of the F7 Rapala. 

Here are some pictures of the Bartram's Bass my wife and I caught. I caught several Like this one.

And of course my Wife caught the biggest....uggh. 

Here is My YouTube video of the Bartram's bass and then the range map. 

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

Thanks for watching and reading. Mack

#bartramsbass

#coosabass

#redeyebass

#bassfishing

2 White Bass Adventures from this Spring 2022

White Bass Adventures 

This spring I made 2 trips for White Bass and I had 2 really good evenings on the water. 

The first Video is fishing a Tributary to Falls Lake and the second is fishing the Haw River where it feeds into Jordan lake.    Enjoy the videos and make sure you subscribe.   

Get your White Bass Lures here

Rapala Shad Rap 5   - https://amzn.to/3SdD6Vu

Rebel Tracdown -    https://www.amazon.com/Rebel-Tracdown-Minnow-Fishing-Lure/dp/B003CULULS?crid=4SBBTFIMD2Y1&keywords=rebel%2Btrackdown&qid=1676950151&sprefix=rebel%2Btrackdown%2Caps%2C93&sr=8-2&th=1&psc=1&linkCode=sl1&tag=mack1-20&linkId=d5e9dbeccaaedd56ed8fab0c02f4e02c&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

Thanks for watching.  Mack

#whitebass

#whitebassfishing

I Caught my 1st Coosa Bass !!! AKA Redeye Bass

My First Coosa Bass AKA Redeye Bass !!!

041122 Polk County Georgia

***see video at the bottom***

I will admit that I have somewhat of an Obsession with oddball fish.   Roanoke Bass, Shoal bass etc.  One of my goals or "bucket list" things I would like to accomplish is to catch the Bass Slam.   Now there are several variations of this as Georgia has its own Bass Slam but mine would be to catch all the subspecies of Bass.    Now, I know that I will probably never accomplish this because of time, money, family,work  etc but it is something to strive for. 

Here is what I have caught so far .

Northern largemouth-  Easy for me they are all over here

Florida largemouth- Fairy easy, I go to Florida some and there are a few lakes north of me with them.

Smallmouthbass- Easy for me, I just have to go North or west 1 hr plus of where I live.

Alabama Spotted Bass-  fairly easy for me as they are in a few rivers near me. 

Kentucky Spotted Bass -  Easy for me as they are in the Cape Fear drainage just south of me. 

Shoal bass-  Fairly hard as it is a 6 plus hour ride min for me to get to them

Bartrams bass-  Moderate as I can get to them in just under 4 hours.

Now there are 7 variations/subspecies of the "Redeye bass" and I hope to get all of them as well.

Right now I have caught 2 of them,  the Bartrams and the Redeye

There is a a least one Blog post here on all the above sub species.  look on the side bar of my main page to see the subtitles. 

The last subspecies that I have caught is the Coosa Bass found in the Coosa/Etowah Drainage in Alabama and Georgia, This is/was a 7hr ride for me.   April the 11th 2022 I made it happen and here is the video and some pictures.

I caught 3 on this day but my goal was to catch 1 so I succeeded. 

Here is the area I fished 

My first Coosa Bass

My second one which had better colors.

Then My third Coosa Bass which by all accounts is a true Monster for the species. 

You can see how fat she is 

A cool little  dam on Euharlee Creek

These Coosa Bass will hit anything a Largemouth/Smallmouth will hit but it is best to downsize for them as they are rarely over 12 inches.  I spoke to well known Bioligist that has studied them and every one of the seven subspecies of Redeye they have found over 13-14 inches is a Hybid and not a pure fish.  I had my best luck using the F7 Rapala Original Floating Minnow. 

Get the Rapala F7 Minnow here - https://amzn.to/3iy7oED

Be sure to watch my Youtube Adventure catching some Coosa Bass

My next quest is either the Chatahoochee Bass or the Suwannee Bass.

I hope everyone who read this learned something and please leave comments here and on Youtube and please dont forget to subscribe to this blog and my YT channel to get notifications.

***also is you have access to catch one of the odd ball species I would luv to join you on a trip one day. 

A great read on Redeye Bass Fishing.  Geared for the flyfisherman it is still a great read for the Spin fisherman.

Fly Fishing For Redeye Bass  - https://amzn.to/3KBdMXF

#coosabass

#redeyebass

#bassfishing

#monsterbass

#eurharleecreek

Shooting a 70 year old Shotgun Shell - Buck Shot

I have several old paper shotgun shells that I have had for at least 45 years. These shells are at least 70 years old and I have been wanting to shoot one to see if it would even shoot or go bang. The results were surprising and now for next year I want to kill a deer with one.

The  shells,  20 Gauge #3 Buckshot and a slug

Test firing results at 25~ yards.  All 20 pellets hit the paper. 

See the video where I test fired a 70 year old # 3 Buckshot on Youtube.

#buckshot

#shooting

What to do In Abingdon Virginia??? Where to go ? Where to Eat? Where to fish ?

Lots for sure.     My wife and I decided to spend our 32nd anniversay in and around the town of Abingdon Virginia.    Now you know I love fishing but of course this was not a fishng trip and I did not fish but I did check out several places for a later date.    This blog post will be about the eating places we visited while there and the places we visited and the sights seen and then some fishing spots !!   

***see towards the bottom for the fishing spots****

I checked out several places for fishing and found some really nice spots but I will start off with the restarurants .    The lady at the Marriot suggested the Puerto Nuevo ,  The Girl and the Raven Cafe,  JJ's Restaurant & Sports Bar , and Tenderloins.

The first place we ate at was Puerto Nuevo .  This Mexican restaurant is very nice and the food and service was great.   They had an awesome looking bar as well and I can reccomend this place highly.    

I can reccomend this place to anyone who enjoys real Mexican Food .

The second place we ate at was here-   THE GIRL & THE RAVEN

   

As you can see this is a very nice place with a lot of character.  They also have a drive thru!

Breastfast is served all day here but when I was looking at the menu I could not  take my eyes off the Brisket Sandwich just delivered to the people beside us.  I had to have one and I was not disappointed. 

  

My wife chose the Turkey melt.

An Aweome place and you can check them out here  https://thegirlandtheravencafe.com/

The 3rd place we visited  was JJ's Sports Bar.   No outside pictures as it was dark outside but this place delivered as well.  

I had the Hamburger steak plate and I can say this was probably the best hamburger steak I can remember. 

another home run.   

The place we did not have time for was TENDERLOINS but I can tell you it was packed the 2 times we drove by there.  lots of people means good food. 

Now I will show you some of the sights around town. Then the fishing info which will be lots !

Main Street

The Barter Theater

Many famous performers have done  some early work done here including Gregory Peck, Patricia Neal, Ernest Borgnine, Hume Cronyn, Ned Beatty, Gary Collins, David Birney, and Larry Linville.

I also think Nicholas Cage has performed here.

 

 Unfortunatly this Theater is closed in the winter.   Check them out here  https://bartertheatre.com/

The Abingdon Methodist Church

The World Class Martha Inn and Spa

This was a little out of our budget this time !

  

My picture does not do justice to this place.  The grounds and building were very nice.  Check them out here  http://www.themartha.com/

We also visited Abingdon Vineyards . A really cool spot. check them out here  https://www.abingdonvineyards.com/

This Winery is located right on the South Fork Holston River,  During May thru late August when the lake is at normal levels you can bring a boat up to it.   The rest of the year the lake is drawn down and the lake is then maybe 1 mile downstream,  so in the winter you will have to drive a car to it. 

Here is/was the current Wine Menu

The one big attraction in the area is the Creeper Trail .  This trail is like the Tobacco Trail near where I live in that it is a trail on top of and old railroad bed.  This trail runs from Abingdon  to White top mountain covering 35 miles.  This is an Awesome trail to hike or bike on.  No electric bikes are allowed.  Also , the trail in many many places is along Laurel Creek and the S. Fork Holston River so Biking and fishing could be done here as well.  You can acess this trail at many places but we chose to access it at Alvarodo Station right on the South Fork Holston River. 

   

Check out the Creper trail here  https://www.vacreepertrail.org/

NOW THE FISHING SPOTS I CHECKED OUT  - 

South Fork Holston Tailwater  Below South Holston Lake

The water comes out of South Holston lake very cold and this means the Trout can live in a river they normally could not and it extends for 18 miles below the dam.   Brooks, Browns and Rainbows are here.      I access it just above the Bridge on Holston View Dam Rd.   there is a small weir dam just above the bridge.  You can get out here and wade below the weir dam well down past the bridge.   You can even stand on the dam when the water is low.   

Here is a video of me on the lower dam. 

Just above the little dam is Osceola Island, then halfway up this island is another Weir Dam (actually 2 since this one is on both sides of the island)   The water from the first dam up is of course a little deeper but just below the second one it is shallow enough for wading especially between the 2nd dam and the foot bridge just down stream

This is the upper weir dam.  This picture was taken from a foot bridge to the Island. 

This footbridge leads to some trails on the Island and you can walk around the whole Island and access all the water around it.   We walked the Island trail and found some Running Cedar and some Beaver sign

Above the upper weir dam is a  boat ramp where drift boats and other boats can access the river and fish but you are limited to just above the weir dam to up near the Lake dam .  Here is that ramp .

Above this ramp is a fishing walkway/pier with some neat rod holders

Bank fishermen have a lot of fishable water below this dam without having to wade. I will be back here for sure with some fishing gear.  Here are some photos we took from on top of the dam looking downstream then above at the lake.

The Next place I scoped out for fishing was at the Creeper trail at Alvarado station.  SEE UP ABOVE for pictures of the trail and Alavarado Station.  

The trail here is following the South fork Holston River.   We hiked upstream maybe 2 miles. Plenty of places to access the water but it has steep banks(except right at the station) and sometimes veers away from the river.    This is more likely Smallmouth bass water vs trout water.   A better option would be is to hike down the trail which leads to a bridge over the lake just downstream of the confluence of the South Holston River and the Middle Fork Holston.  In the fall and the winter when the lake is low the two rivers can be accesed here and are free flowing.  When the lake is at normal pool  the lake goes up both rivers a half mile or so  It is aprox a 1 mile hike from the Station to the bridge.   The lake level on this trip was 1709 feet in elevation.  I think the lake is close to 20 ' down.  

Here is a video of a guy doing just as I thought you could do.  He has hiked down the trail to the Bridge and is fishing the river.  You could also keep hiking as the trail runs along the Middle fork for aprox 1 mile then it veers away from the river.   At full pool during summer this place where the trail veers away(1mile after bridge) is probably where the river meets the lake then.   The lake comes up to the vineyards in the summer. 

I also checked out the lake at the Washington Co Park boat ramp.   This area has a very nice ramp and parking area.    There is also a park but its closed in the winter.   I took several photographs here and you can see the brush and trees put there for crappie etc so when the lake is full this would be a good spot for  bank fisherman to catch some crappie. 

Just to the left of the Ramp

To the right of the ramp. 

Hope you enjoyed this Blog post .  Be sure to check out my YOUTUBE  channel for a lot of fishing/adventure videos.     https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaM9MmMiJa-xoJLplQ7w4OA

Be sure to leave some comment on the area and its fishing.   Thanks Mack

#southholstonriver

#southholstonlake

#abingdonvirginia

#creepertrail

#troutfishingsouthholstonriver          

#bartertheater

#barterstheater