Friday, March 4, 2011

Shad Fishing Trip Turns Into Bass Fishing Trip

Wanted to catch  my first shad of the year but I had a problem. My son had early release from school today (11:45) so I could either wait on him and fish closer to home,  or leave out early and fish by myself way down east where I know the shad are. I chose to fish with him but that presented another problem. Leaving after lunch meant that we couldn't  reach my hotspot on the Neuse River without being limited on fishing time and the shad may or may not be  far up the Neuse yet, but I would take that chance rather than to not spend time with him.

We arrived at the private ramp at aprx 1pm and the journey was on. The main river was slightly stained but not bad.  We threw rigs consisting of 2 pink headed chartreuse jigs,  the bottom weighing 1/8 oz and the top 1/16 oz. Water tempature in the river was 52 degrees and after trying several spots and then the mouth of a tributary without any hits we headed up the creek which was a toasty 56 degrees.

Here we are making our way up this tributary. Larry Dalberg can plug Jack Links Jerky so what the heck,  here is my son plugging Old Trapper Jerky! 















This creek is pretty unique as it is blackwater with some cypreess trees and  also has areas of rocky bluffs. I spent many afternoons on this creek in the 90's after work catching Bream, Bass, Cats and Shad.
Here is a nice Bald Cypress tree as we head upstream.















After getting no hits on my shad rigs I decided to start throwing a spinnerbait for bass. This was my reward on my second cast!

















I then put on a Yellow Shyster hoping to get a Jack ( Chain Pickeral ) out of this creek and this little guy hammered it.
















After heading back downstream to the river I pulled this little guy out of a ditch feeding the river.















No Shad today but I would  rather spend time with my son vs catching alot of shad. There is always Weldon and Wiggins Mill.  Almost forgot, we saw 5 deer feeding along side the river and several wood ducks and I personally saw 1 of the woodies up close as he about took my head off zooming down the creek!.

Mack
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4 comments:

  1. Fish WhispererMarch 5, 2011 at 11:40 AM

    Wish I could have joined you on this one. Did your son catch any or did you hog them all again? :)

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  2. MackMarch 6, 2011 at 10:26 PM

    He right now doesnt have the patience to shad fish unless they are hitting often. I only hog the fish when Steve and you are the partners! LOL...

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  3. Tar Heel '81May 30, 2011 at 9:21 PM

    Need help. I have two days a month to fish the Uwharrie River, and I'm somewhat of a novice. I'm using plastic worms, Rooster Tails and Jitterbugs, and most of my catches are catfish (5 to 7 lbs.) Any tips for fishing large and smallmouth bass on shallow (2' to 6') river? I fish from kayak, which is great fun. I just want to land bass instead of catfish.

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  4. MackMay 30, 2011 at 9:53 PM

    i use a buzzbait alot, a spinnerbait alot, a pop r, and a rapala....even though i use a lot of baits these are problay the 4 i use the most.....Mack

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