Rare Black Carp Caught at Smith Mountain Lake - Virginia Carp Fishing

Smith Mountain Lake Virginia
Virginia Carp Fishing
Dates  October 13th and 14th 2018
Water Temp  64.5 degrees
Water depth  10'


My wife and I spent the weekend at Virginia's Smith Mountain Lake so I did some Carp fishing while I was there.  The first day I had only 3 hours or so to fish as we had to go out to eat and be back in time to see the UNC vs Va Tech Game.    The game for me did not go as well as the fishing.

It was a productive Saturday session with 4 Carp Brought to the dock with one of those being a Black Carp.  A first for me.
The first fish came within 15 minutes and the other 3 were spread out on this outing.  I had not pre-baited this spot so I thought that was a pretty good session.   However, I did know I had a good chance to fish Sunday so I did bait this area so my Sunday session would hopefully be better or have bigger fish. This "baiting" consisted of throwing out 1 can of corn and 1 can or cream corn.

Sundays session was only 1.5 hours but but I did catch the biggest of the trip and had 2 other "runs"
All of these fish were caught in 10 ft of water on the outfits listed at the bottom.  A big thanks to my wife for patiently waiting in the car while it lightly rained for most of this session.

The Highlight of the day was when we left the lake a Big ole Fox Squirrel ran across the road in front of us.   

My You Tube Video of this will be posted below near the bottom.  Please subscribe to my blog and You Tube Channel for more Posts.  

Here are my 2 outfits I used on this trip, All fish were caught on the Shimano 3500 Baitrunner, I don't know why all came on this outfit other than I was casting each to the same spots which were about 30 feet apart from each other.  This reel is matched to a 8' Ugly Stik and spooled with 16 lb High Vis Momoi Line

This is the other outfit, a Daiwa Millionaire 6000 on a 7' Ugly Stik Lite rod also spooled with 16 lb Hi Vis Momoi Line

Both of these are in Driftmaster Rod holders and DriftMaster Clamp mounts

The rig I use is a 1 oz weight ( more if windy) and a very  short length of 25 lb or 30 lb flouro leader and a # 1 Gamagatsu Octopus hook

Here are my baits and attractants.....I left one out as I can't give away all of my secrets. LOL

These mixed with Oats makes this pack bait along with 4 - 5 kernels of corn.

Here is the small but Unique Black Carp

The Biggest of the weekend

Now the Video,  Don't forget to subscribe and ask any questions as I try to answer all of them.

Tags
" Virginia Carp "
#Carpfishing
Virginia carp fishing
fishing with Corn
Smith Mountain Lake fishing

How to Catch Bowfin

How to Catch Bowfin

Bowfin are a fish most fishermen  either love or hate.    Bass anglers despise them because they can really just destroy a spinner bait or a plug but I think most Bass anglers just are not used to unhooking them which can be daunting to some especially since they have teeth.

What's not to like about them??   They get Big,  they fight hard,  they sometimes jump,  they are fairly easy to catch once you figure them out and they are tackle busters.  Come under gunned and they will leave you with your head hanging.  A True Sportfish they are.

So where do you find Bowfin?  Check out the map below.  2/3rds of the Eastern US is Prime Bowfin habitat.
What surprises me about this map is how little Bowfin range in Texas.    I actually feel sorry for people who live outside of where Bowfin Range !

Here is a map courtesy of usgs.gov
 

Anywhere they range you need to look for the backwaters or sluggish areas  and especially areas with lots of weed growth.   For example on my home lake of Jordan lake here in North Carolina they are all over the lake but less common on main lake points and areas w/o cover.   To find an abundance of them you need to go to backs of coves  where it is shallower and /or weedier.  To find a bigger abundance of them find a creek with  a beaver pond on it just above the lake.

I caught my first ever Bowfin  way back in 1982 on the then New Jordan Lake when  she was only a 1yr old lake. This 4 lb bowfin smashed a chartreuse Snagless Sally I was throwing for bass and I was forever hooked.   Now, some years my fishing for them wanes while I pursue other species but I always keep coming back to the incredible Bowfin.   I have caught them up to near 14 lbs but most are going to be 4-7 lbs with a occasional 8-10 lber thrown in.

One  place I fish for them is the Neuse River in Eastern N.C.   Down there it is a medium sized river that has some Cypress trees but to get into the really good bowfin water there you need to go into a feeder creek that is full of Cypress trees and back water areas,  Here the Bowfin is King.

So, remember backwaters, sluggish areas, beaverponds, etc.

Some days you can even see Bowfin gulping air  as they can breath air so if you see them doing this just know you are in a good spot.

So what kind of tackle do you use for Bowfins?    Any reel that can be used for Bass fishing can be used for Bowfins but usually I go a little heavier.  If I am truely Bowfin fishing I use at least 50 lb braid or 20 lb mono.

Tactics-  Bait or Lures

 Bait-   The best way to catch Bowfin  is to put a piece of cutbait on a Carolina rig using a 2 oz sinker and a 3-4/0 Gamagatsu J hook.   The next  best way is to float a minnow, shiner or very small bream 1-2 ' under a cork.

Lures-  IMO the best lure for Bowfins are a 3/8 oz spinnerbait with tandem blades black in color. Chartreuse and white work also. Always use a trailer hook and this is a Bowfin getter for sure.   Other good lures are a Chartreuse Snagless Sally,   Floating Yellow Worms ( Haw River Tackle Floating Worms are the best ) and Pink Senkos Wacky Rigged.    Truth be known they will hit any bass lure but the ones listed are the best IMHO.

Get the BEST Bowfin Lures  Here -

#1 Booyah Tux and Tails Spinnerbait - https://amzn.to/3gZbtkR

#2 Pink Senko - https://amzn.to/3B1LEaG

Hooks for Senko  -2/0 Wide Gap #230412 3/0 wide gap 230413 https://amzn.to/3gQzj2n

#3 Haw River Tackle Floating Worms - https://amzn.to/3gRxgLg

Haw River Tackle website  https://hrtackle.com/

Hooks for Haw river Tackle Worms - 

Lazer Sharp 3/0 - https://amzn.to/3ESTJzz

Lazer Sharp 4/0 - https://amzn.to/3VpZnAp

#4 Snagless Sally - https://amzn.to/3OSY22m

              Also Note the Fish Gripper in every picture .  This is a MUST when targeting Bowfins

Get Your fish Gripper Here - https://amzn.to/3FhesP4

Here are a few videos I have on Bowfin on my YOUTUBE Channel

Subscribe to this blog and my youtube channel
THANKS ! MACK

Bowfin fishing
snakehead fishing
North carolina fishing

#bowfin

#bowfinfishing

#fishing

#fishingislife

MONSTER BREAM and a Huge Pond Surprise !

The Hickory Shad were on Fire today.

March 3rd , 2018
Roanoke River, NC @Weldon
Quarry- Hickory Shad

***You Tube Video Included below***


I have had a great Spring so far and I have made a couple of trips for Shad and managed only One Hickory On February the 12 (my earliest shad ever caught ) and a White shad the other day in another River.   I got a report the Hickory shad were on fire at Weldon so I called my buddy Aki  and asked if he wanted to go???  He said sure! though he told me later he was skeptical about driving for 1.5 hrs to be able to fish for a little over 2 hours.  Anyway we arrived at the boat landing and you could see people reeling in fish.   The first Hour was  somewhat slow but the second hour it really picked up .    Together we caught 45 plus shad and 1 small Striper which is a lot for the limited time we were there.

I started off with a Tandem Rig but quickly changed to  single Jig with a Big Split shot above it to get deeper.

This rig gets deeper than the Tandem cause the 2nd  jig on the tandem doesn't sink like a big ole split shot.

The water was at about 9000 cfm and the water temp right at 50 degrees

The water Temp has dropped. It was 54 2 weeks ago and 52 on March 1st ,  now it is at 49 degrees. The shad are there you just have to slow down the retrieve.

Aki With a nice Hickory Shad

Me with  The lone White Shad caught out of about 45 Hickories

Here is my You tube Video of our Trip

Thank for Looking!!!

#shadfishing

#hickoryshadfishing

#americanshadfishing

#roanokeriver

The Spring Crappie Bite is on Fire here in North Carolina !!

Thursday February 22, 2018
Location- Central NC

Guys, the Crappie have been on fire here in Central NC for a few weeks but this week has been especially good.  The water Temp in the area lakes and some of the Eastern Creeks  has been in the mid 50's with Jordan hitting 59 degrees yesterday.   This has got the Crappie wanting to spawn and moving into the shallows.  Right now on Jordan and Falls Lake there are many many Crappie in 3 -5 feet of water.    I have had my best luck throwing a 1/16 oz  Monks head with a Kalins Triple Threat Grub In the Acid Rain Color.   I have also been mainly throwing this jig on a 6' Berkeley Med Light Lighting Rod with a Daiwa Tierra 1500 reel spooled with 6 lb line.   I am also throwing a Mini Rattle trap to weed out some of the smaller fish.

You can get anything Crappie related at Monks Crappie. He is located near Liberty, NC but does do mail order. ****

added 120122  -  Note  Monk passed away a few years back and his family sold the business so  check out  http://www.monkscrappie.com/

The Frabill E-Z Checker is a must as the area lakes have a 10 inch min size on the Crappie.

The E-Z Checker is 12 inches long so this ole girl is longer than 12

 

Get the Frabill EZ  Checker Here - https://amzn.to/3FhfpXE

Get your Kalin Grubs Here - https://amzn.to/3XOZuqM

Here is my biggest so far this spring, a fat 14 inch one.

Here is a nice 12 incher I got walking the riprap.

I have kept a few each trip but I am letting go 90 percent of what I catch. Here are 2 gals that went 14 and 13 inches.

Right now since the fish are shallow, fish the back end of coves with overhanging willows , stumps etc.   The back end of coves is where most are going to be but some can be found by walking the Rip rap as well and fan casting.   They will spawn on the Rip rap.

Here are some of the lures I use for Crappie but if I only had one for this time of year it would be the Kalins in Acid Rain. These are not all I use but these are a must have for Crappie.  Starting at the Mini trap and going clockwise are The Mini Trap, Blakemore Roadrunner, the 3rd is a jig with green flake and I think it is out of production I cant remember who makes it. I think it was a company in Virginia. I will post it if I remember the company name.   FOUND IT!!  They are made by the VIRGINIA GUIDE BAIT COMPANY.    Next are 4 grubs by Charlie Brewer then last but not least is the Kalins grub in Acid Rain color.   Purple Rain is also a good color.

Here is a video from my You Tube Channel. Please subscribe to my Blog and my YT Channel !!
Thanks Mack



Good luck and remember to leave some for me!!

Big River Chub on my Unc Virgina Tech Trip - Roanoke River

I made the trip to The Roanoke / Blacksburg area for the UNC Va Tech Football game  and even though my team got pounded I had a great time at the game and on Sunday after the Game I fished part of the Roanoke river that I have never fished before.  Not a spectacular day as far as numbers caught but it was a nice day on some good water that holds a lot of potential.

This section is a few miles above Smith Mountain Lake .   I immediately caught a very small smallie on a small Ultralite Rapala Minnow and then I could not get another hit.

  I then switched to a float with a Trout Magnet Jig 2 feet under it.  My presentation was to cast this upstream into current and let it Float back down.   I caught 2 big River chubs using this method and I can tell you that River Chubs are Hard fighters.  This is similar to how I have caught them on the Eno River using a cork with a tube jig under it.

I left this spot and went downstream to another spot and although I caught zilch at the second spot , my hopes and plans to return are high.  When I saw the second spot(first spot too) I immediately thought that the lake Stripers came up here from time to time.  My thoughts were confirmed  when I was getting my rod out and looked over and 3 guys were getting out of their car as well and all had Redfins or big plugs on them.  After speaking with them  it was double confirmed that this section was indeed a Striper hotspot as one of them had caught a 20lber the week before.   Towards dark there were a few big Stripers busting up and down river but I never connected.    Return I will.

Date 10/22/2017
Location - Upper Roanoke River

#roanokeriver

#niagradam

Big Catfish and Little Catfish - Dan River Virginia

Big Catfish Little Catfish

July 15th my wife and I decided to do a little Catfishing.    Truth be told I decided and she chose to come along.  Normally bait on this river is very hard to come by so I either bring my own frozen cutbait, buy goldfish, or get both.   This time for some dumb reason I decided to buy 5 tubs of night crawlers and see what I could catch with just them.   My wife was like you/we are only going to catch little cats with crawlers!!
I assured her that IF a big Catfish came up on a big glob of crawlers that it was game on!

First, we had to get the boat in the water.

  First stop produced this massive cat!    Now don't laugh it was cool catching this little guy who got a 7/0 hook in his mouth.

Was she right about we were ony going to catch little ones????????

That stop also produced a decent longnose gar that you will have to see in the Video.

We moved a few more times with not much luck.   Our final stop had me put out all  3 rods.
All of the sudden and the spinner is smoking! after an Intense battle I finally subdued the beast by sticking my hand in her mouth and hoisting her aboard.   My wife tried to net her numerous times and with her being a rookie on the net I was getting worried that that would cause me to lose this giant so that is why I lipped her.

 I have included my you tube channel video of this catch but I will confess that this cat fought way better than the video suggest.  I had to cut out a lot of the fight due to the reel just being in front of the camera and this massive cat splashed water on the lens so you couldn't see some of the fight due to it being blury .

Game On!!!!!

Also, If you read this blog or watch my You Tube Channel please subscribe to Both!    
Thanks for Subscribing!



July 15th
Dan River right on the North Carolina Virginia Border
Boat-  Seras Gamefisher 1232
Motor- Mercury 2.5
Outfits-   Shimano 6500 Baitrunner Loaded with 25 lb Shur strike line on a 7' Ugly stik Tiger rod,  Abu Garcia 6500c loaded with 30lb Big game on a 7' Ugly Stik and a 7000c Abu loaded with 40 lb Red Cajun on an American Spirit Night Stik
Hook would be 7/0 Gamagatsu J and Circle hooks
Bait- Night crawlers on a 3 way rig

#danriver

#catfishing

#catfish

My OLD TOWN 119 Modifications

My Old Town 119 Modifications

This is a  Video of my Modifications to my Old Town 119.  This is my favorite solo River boat by far and a good Lake canoe. If you have any questions please ask either here or on you tube.  Don't forget to subscribe to both!!!

Thanks Mack

#oldtown119canoe

#oldtown

#canoe

#oldtowncanoe

#riverfishing

#canoeing

Bass Slam Quest - My Quest for the Bass Slam featuring Bartrams, Coosa, Suwannee and Shoal bass

Bass Slam Quest  

The above Chart was evidently done before the Cahaba, and Warrior were declared seperate.

I have had a long desire to catch all of the Black Bass subspecies.  The species are Northern Largemouth, Florida Bass,  Smallmouth, Northern Spotted, Alabama bass, Suwanee, Guadalupe,  Shoal Bass, Choctaw  and the 7 Redeye species which are   The Coosa Redeye, The Bartram's, Chattahoochee,  Altamahaw, Warrior, Cahaba,  and Tallapoosa Bass .   

So far (Feb 2023) I have caught Northern Largemouth, Florida Largemouth, Smallmouth,  Northern Spotted, Alabama Spot, Suwannee, Shoal bass, Coosa and the Bartrams. 

This article will be updated peridiocally as I catch more or add to it. 

Bartram's Bass

 May 2017  I made a trip to South Carolina to get the Bartram's Bass off of this bucket list.   I would of been happy with any size and the first 2 I caught were only 5-6 inches and the next two were 11-12 inches.   I have included my You Tube video of this and just to let you know my wife caught the Biggest. OUCH! it may have been 13 inches but a 13 inch Bartram's is a good one.   It was a nice day on a wonderful river.   The redbreast has some of the strangest color markings I have seen with the red/yellow breast going all the way to the tail.   It was a wonderful trip.

Bartram's Bass from the Chauga River in South Carolina

I caught this one and several like it

My Wife of Course caught the biggest. 

Watch My Bartram's Video here

Shoal Bass

I caught My Shoalie ( Shoal bass ) in May of 2012.  this was a fun trip made with some good friends.

We camped on the Flint River near Thomaston Ga and I caught several Shoalies.   

You can view my blog post here on that camping trip and my Quest for a Shoal Bass here  

Blog Post on My Shoal Bass Trip

Coosa Bass  

April of 2022 I decided to try and get the Coosa bass off of my bucket list.

This Brought me to Rockmart Ga where I fished Eurhalee Creek ( A Tributary of the Etowah River) and while the fishing was tough I did manage 3 with 1 being a very nice one..  This is as big as they get.

Check out the Colors on this one
                                                       

See my Blog Post on the Coosa Adventure Quest https://mackinncblog.blogspot.com/2022/05/i-caught-my-1st-coosa-bass-aka-redeye.html

See my You Tube video on Catching the coosa Bass

Suwannee Bass

January of 2023 I decided to go after the Suwanne Bass.  The Sante Fe River near High Springs would be the area I was going to fish.   I camped at Ginnie Springs and fished upriver day 1 and down river day 2 .  I only caught 1 Suwannee Bass but thats all I needed.    This was and awesome trip.  

My First Suwannee

You can see my Suwannee bass video on You Tube here 

A Great Read of Redeye Bass Fishing - https://amzn.to/3KBdMXF

Thanks and stayed turned for more post on Spotted Bass and Smallmouth

#bassslam

#georgiabassslam

Big Carp Smackdown - Crabtree Lake

Went Carpin yesterday (4/09/2017)  after work from  4-7 pm with my wife Cindy. Caught 10~ carp and 4 or 5 channel cats in about 3 hours with most of the action coming in hours 2-3.   It was  Good day with a few big ones being landed. I had one really big run that I lost , the hook pulling out for some reason.   The outing started slow but once they started coming in it was on.  We Had 2 doubles on as well.

We were set up on a small point on a local lake using sweetcorn for bait. See below.   The carp in this lake really luv sweetcorn and I have only had 1 day there in the last year where i have not caught a carp.  Hopefully this trend will continue and  will have more post to do in the future on this spot.
  

Bait- Sweetcorn with secret packbait on weight.
Reels used- 2 shimano 3500 Baitrunners , 1 on 8' ugly stik and the other on 7 ft Ugly Stik Tiger-  Daiwa Millionaire II 5000M on Abu 7' rod
Line 16lb Momoi Hi Viz

Here are a few pictures.

Here is my you tube video of the outing





Thanks for looking.

#carpfishing

#carp

#fishing

White Bass Action 3/29/2017

3/29/2017

I made a quick trip after White bass to a Falls Lake Tributary before a meeting at work.  My plan was to walk a tributary of a local lake and throw 3 lures.  A Shallow Shad Rap 5 ( SSR5), a Rebel Tracdown and a Roadrunner.
I caught 1 on the SSR5 and then lost the 2 I had. OUCH! There went 14 bucks.
I then threw the roadrunner and caught 1.  Switched to the Rebel and I caught 3 or 4 on it.    Ended up with 5 or 6 in an hour .  Not great numbers but it was a good morning with fish caught.

Here is a video I posted on YouTube on this trip.  Subscribe to my YT channel and also follow this Blog.

Thanks, Mack

#fallslake

#whitebass 

First Shad of 2017

March 21st 2017
Location-  Roanoke River   Weldon, NC
Air Temps-  70's
Water Temp- 57
Lures- Tandem jigs

Tuesday March 21st Pete and I hit the Roanoke River in search of my first shad of the year.   The water is extremely low at   2250 cfm.     I caught aprox 25 Hickory Shad.  Most came on Pink headed Jigs with White bodies but I think 1 came on Chartreuse.   Some days they like a particular color and today it was White.   You should always carry White,  Chartreuse and Pink as you can never predict what color is hot. 

Here are a few Pictures

I spent approximately  4 hours on the water with 25~ caught.   This is not really a good number as on a good day in 4 hours you sometimes can catch double that but I am happy with 25~.

Here is a video I posted on You Tube on this trip.   Please subscribe to it and follow this blog if you haven't already.

Thanks for watching.     Mack and Pete 

#shadfishing

#shad

#fishing

#roanokeriver

#roanokerivershadfishing  

Good Crappie Trip

March 7, 2017

I went back out to one of my Fishing holes and fished for 45 mins for bass with no Hits. I only had 1 1/2 hrs so I devoted the last 45 minutes to Crappie fishing.  It was a good thing I brought a Crappie outfit as the Bass were not biting. I caught 10~ Crappie, 2 bream and 1 tiny bass in 45 mins.

I also recently purchased a Frabil E-Z Check "R" and several of these crappie would not even fit into it! That is a good problem to have.

It was a short trip but a good one.   All Crappie caught on a Roadrunner head with a Charlie Brewers Chartreuse grub with multi colored flakes in 2-5' of water .    Here are a few pics.

I also did a video on this which can be seen at  link below.  If you have not followed my blog please do and please subscribe to my you tube channel.   I know I sound like a hick but what you see is what you get.  I hopefully will be cranking out a lot more videos this spring.   I hope to have some nice carp, catfish, white bass, Bowfin and small stream fishing videos  online soon

Click this link for the Video   Crappie Video
 
Thanks, and don't forget to follow my blog and subscribe to my you tube channel.

Mack

#crappie

#crappiefishing

#howtocatchcrappie  

Slab Crappie were Hitting Today

The plan today(2/25/17) was to take one of my canoes out for some Crappie and Bass fishing with my wife but due to an employee not showing I had to go in and work, thus getting home around 430 or so ad too late to take the canoe out.
We decided to load up some gear and hit a spot I thought may be holding a few crappie. We fished for about 1.5 hours and the action was constant with only a handful being small. 90 percent of em were slabs and all were Black crappie.

We used 2 outfits for the Crappie. 1 rod had a 1/16 oz monks Chartreuse  head with a slider grub and the other had a small cork and spaced 2 ft apart was a 1/16 oz tube jig head with white Berkeley micro power tube.

It was a fun time with a few bream also caught and a couple of small but fat bass caught. We probably could have caught some nice bass and we even had a big bass attack the cork.

The fishing was so good I think I may could of Got Nat's Dad on his first Crappie...

 We could of had a nice fish fry but all were released to fight again.

My Wife with a nice Black Crappie caught on a Berkeley Power tube under a cork

Me with a couple

Here you can see the Slider grub that we used today.  This was one of the few small ones we caught

 2/26/17

Went Back today with Mark B. to my Crappie spot. I was afraid the  bite maybe gone since last nights freezing temps and I was right. We decided to make a move down the lake to another set of riprap and throw Rat l traps and spots on the Sunny side of the Riprap. In about an hour we each caught maybe 5 bass on the lipless cranks.  Mark used a 1/4 oz trap and I used a 1/2 ounce Cordell Spot.  Not a monster I am posting but heard from others it was a tough bite today so we were happy with 10~ Bass. We also got to see a nice sunset so it was an awesome day.

Thanks for looking.

Tags.  "North Carolina Crappie" "North Carolina Largemouth Bass"