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
1 comment:
I can't seem to stop reading your blog. I like how you hit some many different types of water and go after many different kind of species. That's my kind of fishing. I'm looking for my first shad. I'd like to get it on a fly. I went to Milbourne dam and a place in Tarboro a few times but never caught anything. Maybe next year.
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