Canoeing the upper Haws old mills July 2010

Made a trip on the Mighty Haw in Late July 10' with Steve to do a little fishing and to see a place where I pretty much learned how to fish but hadn't been there in a few years. My Parent's house sits on a bluff over looking the Haw. I also cut my teeth fishing the Haw as young man. The Alamance County part of the Haw has numerous dams so as a kid I fished every one I could get to. These are 2 of those dams.

This is the remains of Ireland's Dam. Most locals now call it another name but I stick with the old name. All that is left is actually the foundation of the dam which now makes it a 1 -1/2 ft tall dam. This mill started off as a grist mill in the early 1800's then was abandoned in the late 1800's. In 1913 it was turned into a power dam and there is no record of when the dam collapsed. If you zoom in to the picture of the building foundation you will see 2 trees growing on a slope. That slope is the angle of the wood dam(the dam was wooden) and the wood extended to 1/2 the height of the rock building foundation.

This is Steve looking worried as we get ready to run the tunnel .































This is Glencoe dam. There have actually been 4 dams here. The first 3 were wooden and the last was concrete. In this picture you can see the 1st and 2nd dams. First built in the late 1700's and the last dam built in 1951. Its amazing those wooden dams lasted as long as they did.














This is the "new dam" built in 1951.


































Here is a nice flower growing in the log jams just above the dam
















HERE ARE SOME ADDED PICTURES OF THIS PLANT AT ANOTHER LOCATION SHOWING THE BULB AND THE LEAF. i AM PRETTY GOOD AT IDENTIFING TREES BUT NOT SO GOOD ON SHRUBS AND SMALL PLANTS.

IF YOU KNOW THIS PLANT PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT.  THANKS MACK

A sad note to this trip as we found dead fish everywhere and then learned Greensboro had released 1.5 million gallons of raw sewage into Buffaloe creek and the fish kill extended down past glenco. A very sad day.

ADDED SPRING 2014.....video of Glencoe Dam on my You Tube Channel 

Thanks Mack

Bull Loblloies and Eagles

Got out this am on one of my favorite spots at Jordan lake. This spot gave me a 7 lber this spring to a spinnerbait and during that spring trip I noticed an eagle going in and out of a big ole Bull Loblloy pine . I have fished this spot since the early eighties and have seen eagles here regulary, but have never seen a nest on this part of the lake. I have known of numerous other nest but not here. It didnt suprise me as this is a very remote corner of the lake.

Here is a picture of the tree. If you look closely you can see the nest.



















Here is the base of this Loblolly. These pictures do not do this tree justice. This tree is massive. It is at least 120' tall and that nest is as big around as a volkswagon beetle.















I thought the fishing this morning would be great after last night rains but the fishing was slow. I caught 1- 2 lber on a lunker lure and lost 2 and then I lost a decent bass on a texas rigged 10 inch culprit plastic worm. Even though fishing was slow it was a good morning as I saw 2 eagles, 2 ospreys , many herons and 1 white cattle egret. Also, i would not go to the base of this tree if they were still nesting. Eagles are done by the end of June.

Here is a decent bass caught this spring near the eagle nest. Also caught a 9lber in another spot within 1 mile from this nest. Gotta luv spinnerbaits in the spring.















Mack

Piedmont flow for smallies July '10

My good friend Steve and I decided to make a trip to a  Virginia piedmont river that holds some smallies and largemouths. The Staunton  River . This is not pronounced "Stawton" it is pronounced "Stanton" the U is silent. Anyway, We launched the canoe at 11am under bright sunny skies. The water was clear and a toasty 85 degrees . The bite was very slow at first . I caught a few on a popper , a few on plastics, and then I put on the smallie killer a chartreuse spinnerbait. There is a saying that I have that if you can only use 3 colors for smallies then here they are.

1. Chartreuse
2. Chartreuse
3. Chartreuse

The bite was on! We problay caught at least 30 smallies though none were monsters. Most were from 11- 13 inches with the biggest topping out at 13 1/2 inches though I did have 2 big monster smallies smack at one of my lures.

heres the first of the day















Here is Steve with a gar that crushed his buzzer!

A nice day on the water as alot of fish were caught and lots of birds seen. Wood ducks, herons and ospreys were seen frequently throughout the day.

Mack

#stauntonriver

Staunton river

Bass Pro Tournament June26, 2010 Charlotte

Bass Pro In Charlotte along with Basserdrew and riverbassin.com have started kayak/canoe tournaments with one of the stops this year being Charlotte. This is a catch, photo, and release tournament and since you could fish almost any river withing 100 miles of Charlotte I decided to enter. I knew that some topnotch fishermen were going to be entered so my goal was to be in the top 10, and possibly top 5 and if I was lucky enought to be in the top 5 I knew that I may have a shot at at 1st but I would have to be lucky and others would have to be unlucky. I chose to fish a creek/river that gives up a lot of fish in the 2-4.5 lb range with a few (not every trip of course) 5lbers and it has given me 2 fish in the past that were 8lbs 12oz. This is where I started as we had to take a pic of our creek/river with "legal light".

Here is my first fish of the day.

One big problem this am. I was catching alot of fish. Probaly caught 25 plus but most were 12-13inches so after the first 4 or so I was not catching fish good enough to bump my first 3 pics out of contention. Finally this fish, 7th that i took a pic of, but problay the 20th fish I caught bumped pic # 2 or 3 out.

Then after a few more small fish this fish bumped my 3rd pic out. This fish was caught on a buzzbait.

All in all a great morning as a lot of fish were caught, mostly on buzzbaits, a few on a magnum torpedo and a few on a fluke. On my way back to Charlotte I was confident I would be in the top 10 but thats all I knew. Like I said a lot of very good fishermen were in this tournament.

Namely, Sumtershoaliefan, Redheron, Toba and others. I started my intenet fishing on georgiariverfishing.com where I am sure Basserdrew, Sumtershoailfan and redheron did as well.

After final tabulation I came in 4th. Very happy with 4th but I missed being 2nd and winning a nu-canoe by 1/2 inch. Oh well. I did lose 1- 4lber that could of won it but thats fishing. 1 guy lost a 7lber so you never know.
Here are the final results of the Charlotte Tournament
Official Results
Angler Inches

1. Robert Dainton 55.75

2. Caja Ormand 52* (20)

3. Todd Braswell 52* (18.25)

4. Mack McCorkle 51.75

5. Lance Coley 48.75

6. Drew Haerer 47.75* (20)

7. Ben Adrien 47.75* (17)

8. Michael Troxell 47.75* (16.75)

9. John Japuntich 46.5

10. Joey Sullivan 45



Here are the final standings for True North River Basser of the Year after the 5 tournamnets.  Tied for 10th place is not to bad after only competing in in 1 of the 5 tournaments
TRUE NORTH RIVER BASSER OF THE YEAR


FINAL STANDINGS
Angler Points

1. Lance Coley (Calera, AL) 270

2. Ben Adrien (Johnson City, TN) 240

3. Sean Brodie (Milledgeville, GA) 220

4. Hal Lambert (Marion, SC) 170

5. Josh Tidwell (Attalla, AL) 160

5. Brian Conway (Thompson, GA) 160

6. John Japuntich (Americus, GA)* 110

6. Robert Dainton (Pittsboro, NC) * 110

7. Tim Emberton (Nicholasville, KY) 100

8. Jon Freeman (Mcdonough, GA) * 90

8. Caja Ormand (Shelby, NC) 90

8. Justin Wallace (Bowling Green, KY) * 90

8. Will Dalton (TN) 90

9. Richie Gudzan (Birmingham, AL) * 80

9. Todd Braswell (Albany, GA) * 80

10. Mack McCorkle (Cary, NC) * 70

10. Glenn Anderson (Hampton, GA) 60

10. . Erik Trent (TN) * 60

10. Blake Condo (Cleveland, TN) 60



Mack

Piedmont River Float

Decided to try a spot that I had'nt fished in 2 years. This spot is on timber land and has no easy access to a river in the  piedmont of North Carolina. Here is my rig that i use to get down to the water. It is about a 15 minute haul to the river with this cart. Sure wish I could hunt here but hunting is not allowed.

"boy, thats a purty rig"

Here is the Average size bass that I caught today.

Here is my best fish of the day. A solid 20 incher that gave me everthing she had.

Here are some nice flowers on the river. I call these plants arrowhead plants but I am not sure of the real name.

This is a nice view of a wide part of the river. When I was here 2 years ago this is the place where I got to watch a family of otters. Pretty smart otters if you ask me with all the fish in this river.

This is a very nice and tall  white pine growing along a bluff beside the river. This picture does not do this tree justice.

I did not bring any ul equipment today. Dumb me! This nice bream hit a buzzbait. Bream were busting top everwhere. This is a day I should of had a nice ul with me and a few beetlespins! I really could of mopped up on them today with all of their topwater activity. A flyrod would of been nice with a small popper. Oh well, maybe next time.

Here is a nice view of a creek entering the river. This channel was loaded with aquatic life.















All in all a nice day as I caught some good bass, saw some nice trees and plants and 1 big Tom Turkey. No otters seen today. Mack

My 2010 Shad season In Review.

I had high expectations for the 2010 Shad season. If everything went like it did the last 2 years it was going to be a great season. The first spot I went to was on March the 11th . I shall not name this place as I don't want it hammered. Water temp was 56 degrees, a very good temp for shad., but no shad were to be found. Caught 1 bass on a ratltrap.

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

Stone Mountain trip July 09

I Had shoulder surgery in August of 2009 so I made a lot of trips in late July and early August as I knew I would be out of commission for a while. This is one of those trips. Mainly a hiking and exploring trip but we did fit some trout fishing in. Here are a few pics.

This is atop Stone Mtn. My son with one of his best Friends, Miles.


This is a windswept pine atop Stone Mtn. probably a Table Mtn pine.

This is the top side of Stone Mtn. Falls . Sandy creek is the creeks name. Stone Mtn creek is actually on the other side of the mountain.

And, a view from the bottom.

A nice little water fall on Sandy creek.

We didn't catch a lot of trout today. Probably just 6 or 7 rainbows but is was a very good day to be out on the water. One rock bass caught which was a surprise. All fish caught on rooster tails and blue fox spinners. This is a nice little rainbow that my son caught.

A nice little waterfall on Garden creek.

A great day to be in the woods and on the water. Mack

#stonemountain

#troutfishing

Haw river trip with my son. May 2010

Took my son on a float trip to my favorite river. The Haw of course. We fished it during the heat of the day from 1-5 so fishing was OK at best but we had a good time. 6 bass caught in all, and all on buzzbaits.
Here is my son in his canoe.

Here he is trying to show off by standing up and fishing.

Here I am with an avg Haw river bass.

Here is Mack N. with a Haw River bass that crushed a buzzer!

And here is a water snake that he took a picture of.

A great few hours on my favorite river with my favorite fishing partner. We caught all of the bass on buzzers in slack water. Lots of minnows everywhere in the water which suggest that there was a good spawn this year and ample food in the river. We saw some geese and a few ducks. I cant wait to hit it at daylight one day. Mack

A young man, a scanoe and one Bad@$$ River. May 2010

My son wanted to go catch some fish on one of his last days during track out from school. I said where do you want to go?. He replied that he wanted to go to the neuse since that's the only place we catch fish. Ouch!..

So the Neuse River it was. we started the day with this little guy

A nice little yellow bellied slider


We then saw the biggest snapping turtle that I have ever seen but i could not get the camera out in time.

We then started catching bream, some up to 12 ozs but no big bull bream. All bream today caught on crickets aprox 1.5 ft under bobbers.

here's the avg bream we caught today


After bream fishing we then started out trying for some cats. We had some good hits but hooked only 2. Mine was a nice 7 lb blue that my son netted. This blue was caught on a flat that has been productive for me in the past. The bait was cut bream on a 4/0 hook. The reel is a 6500 Ambassadeur loaded with 30 lb line stuck on a white uglystik rod. This blue actually jumped out of the water when i set the hook. I have never seen a cat do that before!


Here is my son getting ready to crosseye a cat or a bait stealing gar!



Right at dark we left the flat and went to a "hole" which also has produced for me in the past. I told my son that we had to leave by 9:30 as we had a 2.5 hr ride home and I had to be at work early the next day. Right about when we were getting ready to leave, he popped up off his seat and set the hook and the fight was on! I did not even see the rod go down. After a short but awesome battle which almost ended up with my son in the river , he got this 22 lb flattie canoe side and I returned the favor by netting his fish. This was his PB flattie by 1 lb . (his biggest cat to date is a 30lb blue). This fish was caught on a live bream on a Carolina rig anchored by a 2 oz weight. The reel is a shimano 6500 bait runner with 25 lb test golden stren. This rig is easier for a 13 year old to cast than a baitcaster, and has plenty of power matched with a 7 ft tiger rod.


It was a great day on the water. Lots of owls heard and 1 bald eagle seen. We also saw 1 muskrat and 1 beaver . We usually see a few fox squirrels in one spot but they did not show their selves today. Mack