The Yadkin River Slam

Yadkin River Bass Slam

October of '09 Steve, Jim and myself made a canoe trip down a 5 mile section of the yadkin river. I had fished the yadkin before but not much. I usually fish the Yadkin down near the Uwharrie and a few times up near Kerr scott Lake. We dropped off the boats at about 10 am and I stayed with them while Jim and Steve took a car downstream. While I was waiting on them I started casting a spinnerbait from the bank. Almost immediately a smallmouth of at least 4 lbs nailed it!.....But, I did not get a good hook set. I then switched to a tube and was rewarded with this spotted bass.

Spotted Bass 

Finally Steve and Jim returned and we launched. Steve and myself in my old town 158 and Jim in his kayak. Immediately we started getting hits. A 3 1/2 lb smallie nailed my spinnerbait. This time I was ready and set the hook hard. Here is 2/3 of the yadkin river slam. Spotted bass was 1/3 and now I had 2/3 of the slam.

Smallmouth Bass

Well, now all I needed was a Largemouth. We proceeded to catch a lot of smallies and spots. I probably caught 8 smallies and just as many spots but, that largemouth bite was not showing up.

When we put in it was cool and the action was good with spinnerbaits and tubes. As the day warmed, the action really picked up by throwing buzzbaits. Steve was killing them with a hart's buzzer. It didn't take me long to decide to switch. Just a little ways downstream we got out of the shoal habitat and got into some slower water. HMMMM, looks like largemouth water I thought. A few minutes later Bam!!!! and I was indeed rewarded with this largemouth which completed my Yadkin River Slam.!

Largemouth Bass

It was a great day on the water. Lots of fish caught. Smallies and spots by all and the lone largemouth I caught. We also saw 5 bald eagles playing in the sky which was a sight and lots of herons and a few ducks. Also a big thanks to Jim for being our guide today.

Thanks for reading ,  Mack

#bassslam

#smallmouthbass

#yadkinriver

Phelps Lake part 2.

Well, we returned to Phelps for another round in spring 09. The fishing was nowhere near what it was last year. This is because of one major condition. The water was down aprox 1.5 ft. This was because of the bad fires and the lake being used for water. Now that doesn't sound like a lot but when it is 16000 acres and the avg depth is like 3-4 ft then you have some problems......I couldn't put my motor down until i was at least 100 yds out!. We could not find any minnows close to the lake. we mainly fished with buzzbaits and tubes. Some fish caught but not many.


here's 1 that nailed a 3 in tube



here's another that nailed a tube



we finally got disgusted of the poor fishing so we went looking for bears in the pocosin refuge.
lots of bears were being seen , one even came through the camp but we missed him. This was at breeding season so the male bears are out searching. We didn't see any but tracks were every where



this was everywhere in the roads!



and then we were out of the car looking for tracks and i happened to walked over to a culvert in a canal and this bad boy was laying on top of it! Picture doesn't do him justice but it is at least a 4.5 to 5 ft timber rattler. Very thick body.


We will be back to Phelps lake. Though the fishing was poor this year, searching the refuge was awesome!. Mack

Brown trout, Smallies and Largemouth!!!!!. Summer 2009

Where in North Carolina or Virginia can you go and catch smallies, largemouth and Browns on the same float.....well this time I am not telling. If you want to go i may take someone one day. I would not have believed it if i wasn't there to see it........smallies(6) hit buzzbaits...the 1 largemouth hit a buzzbait as well.......the bite then stopped. I decided to go more finesse and put on a rapala.....I was then  rewarded with 4 nice browns that were miles and miles from where they should be..Awesome! .. WHAT A GREAT DAY!

Great day on the water. Saw 1 bald eagle searching for lunch.

Cape Fear Float. Summer 2009

I decided to do a quick float 1 evening after work on the cape fear....The water was slightly low but also slightly stained..Lots of hits on top water but lots of misses. We then changed from more natural colors to brighter colors.

Best bass of the day




One hungry gar


Avg size spot caught. Spots outnumber the largemouth here at least by an 8-2 ratio


Good day...saw lots of ducks, herons, ospreys....

July Haw River bass Trip

Floated a 5 mile section of the haw. Most bass caught on topwater, and in the fast water. Not many hits at the slower deeper spots......water clear and slightly low but fish aggressive.

Here is  a nice flower on the haw

all fish were between 1 and 4 1/2 lbs......aprox 20 caught apiece.

#hawriver