Don't let High Water stop your Fishing!

Here in NC this December it has been really warm and rainy.  Jordan lake is up 12 ' !!

I have several spots on this lake that are usually good in High water so off to the lake I went Christmas evening.  I was throwing a 1/2 oz Cordell spot along some riprap and caught 3 Largemouth along with quite a few White bass.   Nothing huge but it sure beats not fishing.   I was throwing the spot on a 7 ' rod with a 4600C abu with 12 lb line.

Fast Forward to the 29th of December and Jordan is still right at 12 ' High. I figured some crappie would be shallow so I headed to a spot where I thought the fish maybe cooperative. Fished from 3-530 pm , I luckily  Caught some nice Crappie that all fell for a Monks Chartreuse head on a Purple Rain grub.

I then Went back this morning(Wed 30th) but decided to use A  12' Fiberglass  Zebco Crappie Stik so I could precisely set the bait beside a flooded willow and lift straight up. I was using a plain Cigar bobber 3' above a # 6 gold hook with a small weight just above the hook.    I went through 3 dozen minnows and 2 heavy downpours so I was glad to have my Frogg Toggs with me this am.  The avg size was smaller today than yesterday but still fun. All Crappie today and yesterday were Black Crappie. I Also caught 2 channel cats which were a blast on the pole.

The moral of this story is don't let high water stop you from fishing. They can still be caught .  I didn't see another fisherman on this lake all three trips! 

Castle Hayne Boating Access

Castle Hayne Boating access is on the NE Cape Fear river In the town of Castle Hayne near Wilmington, NC . This river is an Eastern NC "Blackwater" river.  It is all freshwater here but the tide does influence the river up to this boat ramp. This river has an awesome fishery but this ramp can get pretty crowded in the summer

A picture of the Boat ramp and floating docks. There are 2 ramps each 2 lanes wide.

Looking upstream. That is an old railroad swing bridge just up from the ramp . The Swing part of the bridge is permanently open.  Hwy 117 is within sight looking downstream.  Between these 2 bridges it is a "No Wake Zone"

A view of the Boat ramp Parking lot.

Just immediately below the ramp is Public fishing area which consist of its own Parking lot and Pier. 

A view of the fishing Pier looking upstream.

A view from the Pier looking downstream towards the Hwy 117/133 Bridge

Here is a Google image of the Area.  Note- the Pier and Boat ramp are 2 separate entities, each having their own parking lot.  The Pier has a sign that says no weapons but the ramp is a NCWRC ramp which allows guns. 

Fish found here-  Largemouth Bass, Bream, Black Crappie, Shellcracker, Chain Pickerel,  Blue Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Longnose Gar, Bowfin, Striped Bass

Alligators are also pretty common in the general area but you probably will not see one on the main river. They will usually stay back in the swamps or in creeks off the river.

Mack

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