White Bass in a Creek

I had a little time after work today (4/23/14) so I decided to check out a creek that flows in Falls Lake.  This creek holds lots of nice crappie but I was unsure of any White bass making it in there.   I arrived at the spot at aprox  7pm and hiked upstream a few hundred yards.  I was getting some hits on a White 1/16 oz super roostertail and was catching a lot of small white perch.  I lost that lure and I had 1 crappie jig in my ultralite box.  A Kalan's  grub in the "Acid Rain" color got the call and I immediately started getting hits on it.  Most were small white perch but I did catch a handful of decent White bass with one being a really nice one.   I also lost that lure and then put on a SSR #5 . That's a shallow shad rap #5 and I got a few hard strikes by catfish. I lost one about 4-5 lbs and caught a channel cat aprox 2 lbs and also one small bass. Next time I will be better prepared for this spot.



Here are a few pics.
This White Bass was a Brawler. 

 

Another one-

 

 Mack

Back to the Chain Pickeral (Jack) Capital of the World- Lake Mayo

This past Friday(4/19/14) I had promised my good friend Rodney that I would meet him somewhere to fish.   That somewhere where he wanted to go was Lake Mayo and since I hadn't been here in 2 years I was eager to wet a line here.   see-  http://mackinncblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/jack-chain-pickerel-capital-of-world.html

We both arrived at the launch at 2 pm and fished until dark.  Funny, this was about the same conditions I had last time.  A warm period then several cold nights to shut the fish off. It is really a wonder we caught anything.
After a lot of lure changing I finally found a lure they would hit.  The Rapala brokenback( J11) in Firetiger.  This may have not been the best pattern I may have found if I kept changing lures but I was happy to just catch fish after a few coooold nights so I stuck with the J11. Most fish came by casting parallel to the bank and maybe 10 yds off the bank.
I caught 3 Jack and maybe 6 Bass on it with 1 Bass falling to a Roadrunner.

Get your  Rapala FireTiger  J11 Here - https://amzn.to/3VCP1NH

Here are a few pictures-

Nothing over 2 lbs today but I was just happy having a tug on the line.

Mack

Back to my favorite Spot

I called Steve and asked him did he want to go to my favorite spot. He said YES , but  I warned him about the dog and the copperheads.  We made it up there at daylight and the action was fast! Well, at least for me.  I caught 8 bass on the Cordell spot in a little over an hour as we had to leave just after 8 to get Steve to his work.  The water was a little high and stained but the fish don't care. No lunkers today but some good action.  Also,  here you need a good long casting reel to reach the best spots.

 I really like the Daiwa 2600ss for this long distance casting along with the Calcutta Baitcaster. Both reels are spooled with 12lb line.

see       http://mackinncblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/my-first-two-bass-outings-for-2014.html     for my first two trips at this spot for this year

Trip - 4/12/14  daylight to 815am

Cary and Raleigh Urban fishing for 2014.

Lots of Lakes around  the  Cary , Apex and Raleigh area .   A lot of these lakes are from flooding problems on Crabtree creek.  Bond lake and   Crabtree Lake, are a couple examples of these and there are at least 20 of these built in  the Crabtree creek watershed area.   There are also a lot of small neighborhood lakes in this area as well. This post will hopefully be an on going post for this year of my "urban" fishing adventures in the Triangle.  

4/10/14
The first urban adventure was April 10th   on my way home from work.  I fished from  630 -730 and caught 2 bass on a Booyah spinnerbait.   The first bass hit on the 3rd cast(just like the monster I caught the other day) and she weighed in right at 6 lbs.   The second was really hungry and was about the same size as my bait .  That fish may have been 10 inches.   Not too bad for an hour of fishing.

Mack

Monster Bass !!! Can I get a BOOYAH!!!.......... 1st Lunker of the year.

April 2014

Booyah Spinnerbait that is!!!!!!!

Today after work I headed to a spot to do a little bank fishing to relieve some stress.  530 PM-630pm. Water was clear as it gets here and the water temp was 61 degrees with an air temp of about the same.
I started off with a road runner and caught a few small white perch (I was after huge crappie this spot is known for) and with nothing but small perch hittin I put on a 1/2 oz chartreuse booyah spinnerbait .
On my 3rd cast , BAAMMMM   she  felt like a good 3 or 4 lber and then her head came up and I thought "jeepers that's a hawg" then she started fighting and got me wrapped twice but I finally got her in. Thank goodness for 12 lb Ande line. That line is really tough!!!!. Only bass I caught in an hour of fishing but I wont complain.
Oh, If it wasn't for a trailer hook I would of never caught her.

See this post for how I do my trailer hooks-   http://mackinncblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/trailer-hooks-for-spinnerbaits.html 

Get the Booyah Tux and Tails here -    https://amzn.to/3UtrLRQ

The Bank on this spot has a lot of burrowing crayfish which I guess adds to the forage here.

 

Burrowing crayfish home

Thanks for lookin.................

#hugebass

#monsterbass

#bassfishing

My First Two Bass Outings for 2014

This is a report of my first 2 Bass outings of 2014.  I have been really busy and made it a point to get out to one of my favorite childhood spots(come to think of it,  it is one of my favorite spots even today).    This is awesome in the early spring and rat l trap style baits here work wonders.

1st trip was on March the 30th from 7 am - 930 and I caught 8.   All were from 2 lbs up to 4lbs with one lost big un.  2 were caught on a Booyah Spinnerbait, 2 hit a swimming super fluke on a 1/2 oz jig head and 4 hit a Cordell Spot.   

The air temp was a chilly 43 degrees with a water temp of 46 degrees.   Water was stained.

A few pics of the first trip

Now the Second trip-

This trip took place on 4-2 and was from 7am to 9am. Water temp had climbed from 46 the other day to 51 deg today.  I also caught 8 bass again with the smallest being around 2.5 lbs and the biggest maybe pushing 5. All hit the Cordell Spot but I also threw the Super Fluke on Jighead but had no takers on that one.  Had to leave biting fish to get to a doctors appt.   Dangit!!!

Here are a few pics- 

Thanks for looking-  Remember the Trap or Spot is awesome right now!

The 2014 White Bass Run is ON!!

 I made two trips this week for white bass.  The first was on Wednesday April the 2 from 5pm till 730 pm.   I launched my Old Town 158 and I trolled a jig while heading upriver.  I hooked 1 nice white and continued upstream to one of my favorite spots.   I arrived there and caught a couple but nothing like I expected though I did catch a 5 lb bowfin on a jig.  I then trolled back down and caught another fish in the same spot as before so I anchored .  The bite here was on.  Most whites caught on a mini-spot but I did catch some on a curly tail jig .  I caught aprox 25 whites , 5 crappie, 6 Stripers and 3 perch.  The water temp was a nice 61 degrees with the air temp in the 80's.  
I saw several Bald Eagles , Herons and some Pileated Woodpeckers. 

A few Pics-

Fast forward to Friday April the 4th and I decided to go to this same spot but instead of a PM trip I chose an AM trip. I launched the Old Town 158  at 7 am and went to where I caught them the other day.
Nothing!!!..I headed to another spot and caught a few but it was slow.  I then headed back down to the good spot and they were biting.  I caught aprox 30 white bass, 3 stripers, 3 crappie and 3 perch along with 1 small largemouth.  I good morning on the water.  I left at 1130 and had a nice day catching fish and seeing  eagles, ducks and a few Hawks. 

Here are a few pictures of the fish-

And here are the lures I used today.  These lures will catch any white bass.  
 Starting at 12 and going clockwise - Mini-trap(the most productive lure this week), #2 Blue Fox spinner, Gotcha curlytail grub on 1/16 oz jighead,  5 in Swimmin Fluke on 1/4 oz jighead(this caught the biggest white),  Chartreuse Roadrunner, and a Cordell Mini Spot.

Thanks Mack...........

Hickory Shad on The Roanoke with Aki, March 15, 2014

Aki and I made the trip to the Roanoke River at Weldon , North Carolina  3/15/14 in search of some more shad ( the Tar was Good 2 weeks ago but we needed more shad) ....

We arrived at the ramp at 4 pm and I immediately started throwing a big sassy shad for stripers . Got a few hits but no good takes. I put the rod down and picked up my shad rod and on the third cast caught a hickory.

Today, to get a hit you really had to slow the retrieve down and be deep, the shad came through in waves and 1 person caught one then the next person would. Not a great day but we caught enough to get our "FIX" . The stripers were also biting a little right at dark and I couldn't get one but Aki did.

After dark we headed over to Cracker Barrel and My wife and her family(my wife is taking care of her mother this weekend) and I told them Aki was a son of mine I hadn't told them about, I wish I had a pic of meemaws surprised look. funny stuff.

Here are a few pictures and then a video of Aki landing his first Roanoke River Shad.

Video of Aki Landing a Shad....His first??

Thanks for lookin. Mack

White Shad Fishing and a Nice Bass on Contentnea Creek

March 21, 2013

I needed to get my White Shad fix so off to Wiggin's Mill on Contentnea Creek I went.
I arrived there at aprox 11:30 am and went down river to a "hole" where I lost a nice white the other day. No Hits.    I then moved a little upstream and got into a few small hickories that were hitting the white jig and not the  Chartreuse.  Here is the first and probably the best Hickory shad I caught today.

 

 The bite was kinda slow. Ok, really SLOW, so I headed back to the car , ate a little lunch and then went in search of a striper or 2.  Now , this spot isn't noted for stripers but a few do make it up here
each spring.   I was throwing a Zoom Swimmin super Fluke on a 1/2 oz jighead.  I was on my 3rd cast and hopping it in and "Bam" , a good hit and good fight. This Bass never came up till the end so I was thinking I did have a striper but ended up with this 5~ lb bass.  I won't complain.

 

 

The reel used for Stripers was a Daiwa 2600SS spooled with 12 lb suffix on a 7' Penn Rod

 

Now it was getting time to try for a White Shad so I headed back downstream and hit one pool where I caught a handful of them. This ole gal was the best maybe pushing 4  lbs. (sorry for the crappy pic but there was condensation on the lens)

 

The reel used for shad today was a Shimano Saros 3000 spooled with 10 lb Suffix on a 6 1/2 ft Berkeley Lighting Rod.  Lures today were 1/16 and 1/8 oz Pink headed arkie jig heads with white curly tails.

Not a bad day,  saw lots of Herons. Even saw a wood duck pair several times and the female kept going into a hole in the top of a dead tree. She defiantly has a nest in there. I left early so I could make it home in time to see UNC play.    Thanks for lookin Mack   

#wigginsmill

#contentneacreek

#shadfishing

 

 

 

A Few Lipless Crankbait tips

Lipless Crankbait Tips

It is getting that time. Late Winter Early Spring.   Time to use Lipless cranks. 

Back in the 80's  I used to fish with this older gentleman  named "Whitey" ...Mostly we fished Jordan for big bass and Hybrids.

The first few trips he usually caught more fish than I did and what was odd was a lot of the times we were using the exact same bait.  same technique, same depth, etc. What was the difference?  was he just better? Possibly,  but there was one thing that he used that I didn't and for awhile I refused to believe that his little "trick" made a difference.  What was it? Well, Whitey had this pink tubing that he on the line just on top of the lure.    It was  cut about 3/8 inch long and each cut was made at an angle and this cut "glowed" kinda like a fiber optic bow sight.

I  talked him in to giving me some of this tubing as he was reluctant to at first  as he couldn't remember where he got it. I finally convinced him to and  My catch rate went up. I searched for this tubing and I finally found some in a Myrtle beach K mart and it was made by JT's Tackle. I bought every one they had.  I still have some of that supply today but it is getting low.

This tubing I think causes the same kinda reaction as the red hooks but Whitey was using this long before they became popular. 

Also with trap style baits I go by the same color scheme as for spinnerbait, rogues etc,  Gold down east and lighter colors west.

Also , while I usually use a trap or spot,  if I need more distance I use a ratlin rap. It's smoother rounded edges give me a lot better accuracy and distance,  The rat l tap (at least for me) tends to fly erratic when you try to really sling it and get a lot of distance out of it.
The Rat lin Rap  helped me get my biggest hybrid at 13lbs 11 oz as where they fed at my hotspot a trap wouldn't normally reach them.

Another trick is to put a curly tail grub on the rear treble.  This seems to work really well.

Here is the picture of the tubing.

Get you Lipless cranks here -  Rat L Trap - https://amzn.to/3VBxo0v

Cordell Spot - https://amzn.to/3FuS6K8

 Here is the picture of my biggest Hybrid to date.  A 13 lb 11 oz behemoth that measured 30 inches long. I would have never reached this fish if not for using the Rapala  Rat Lin Rap. 

My best from Jordan Dam 

Thanks for lookin. Mack

#Liplesscrankbait

Tar River Shad and My First shad of the year for 2014

FishinCary and myself decided to go and TRY to get our first shad of the year. We decided against the Neuse since it was too high for our liking so I talked him into hitting a section of the Tar that neither one of us had been on. I have caught shad in Rocky Mount but this was a few miles down.

 The fishing was slow for us today but we did put a few in the boat today. Almost all except 1 hit white curly tails with one hitting Chartreuse. We saw 6 other boats today and not one of them caught fish, however we did see a bankfisherman catch 1. Reports are that the bite in Greenville (downriver) was better today than where we were at. We did speak with 2 guys in a G3 Jon and they said that not many were this far upriver.

Today we covered about 6 miles of river .  Wildlife send was Herons, kingfishers, Hawks, Pileated woodpeckers, wood ducks and a beaver.    A good day fishing.


Conditions and equipment.
  
Water was a little high and off colored and the water temp was a cool 44 degrees.

Boat used was a Coleman  Scanoe with a 2.5 mercury that I am glad I had 1 shear pin for it!!!

Reel was a Saros 3000 with 10 lb line with 1/16 and 1/8 oz arkie grubs.

  

The lures- were the 2nd and 3rd from the bottom on the right column with the white getting the most hits today.

 

 

Video of Aki landing his first Hickory Shad of 2014

 

 

 

And us motoring up the Tar in the Ole Scanoe

 

Thanks for lookin. 

Mack

Trailer Hooks for Spinnerbaits

Trailer hooks IMO are a MUST for 90 percent of spinnerbait fishing.   There is debate among anglers as to how the trailer hook attaches, Some like the hook to be "free" and floppy but I am of the belief that it needs to straight and stay inline with the hook of the lure.   To do this you take tubing and slide it over the eye of the trailer hook and then insert the spinnerbait hook through the eye and the tubing keeps the hook ridged for a long time.   This way the trailer hook follows the spinnerbait hook exactly and isn't as likely to get hung up. 

**my you tube video is at the bottom****

I also don't buy "trailer hooks".  They are too expensive so I buy 3/0 or 4/0 trotline hooks or Limerick Hooks.   These have a big eye and work great for trailer hooks.  Don't buy 5/0's as I have found these eyes too large to slide the tubing over.  I also like pink or red tubing as I think this gets more bites,  kind of similar to  the idea behind Bleeding red Hooks.

Here is  the Tubing I use.   I purchased a lot along time ago and it was made by J T's tackle.   Jan's Netcraft is  also a good source for tubing.    The Hooks I use the most are these Eagle Claw Limerick's.

Here is a video from my You Tube channel on How to do this

Mack

Piedmont Small Stream Chain Pickerel

February 7th, 2013

Duke Forest

New Hope Creek

  I had caught zero fish this year and I was getting pretty restless wanting to catch something slimy .   Where would I go?  I didn't have the time or confidence to make a trip to some of my usual haunts  with this cold weather so I figured a trip to a spot that held a lot of Chain Pickerel aka "Jack"  would maybe get me a fish or two. I decided to hit a small stream in the Piedmont that has a few Jack in it.  

My rod would be a 5 1/2 ft lite spinning outfit loaded with  6 lb mono.  My lure of choice today would be a 1/6 oz Super Roostertail in red with red hackle.  This color combo is no longer made by Yakima Bait company in the super.

I arrived at the stream at aprox 11:30 am and immediately took the water temperature and it showed 42 degrees.  I started working several pools and at 1 pool I had 1 follow and 3 hits.  I caught this Jack which was maybe 13 inches. Not a monster but I will take it after a winter of not fishing. After not getting anymore hits I took a few pictures of this stream and left knowing I would be back here in warmer weather to catch a few bass and bream. 

Here are a few pics of this nice stream. A hidden jewel.

The last time I fished this stream was probably 5 or 6 years ago and I will be sure to make it back there by May.  Here are a few pics from that trip .

A Green Sunfish

"

Thanks for lookin. 

Mack

#dukeforest

#newhopecreek

#fishing