Yadkin Float

I have not made a smallie trip all year(usually I do 5-15 smallie trips) so when Fishwhisperer wanted me to go to the Yadkin Wednesday I jumped at the chance. 

We made the  2 and 1/2 hour trip and met up with Ken and proceeded to a tributary of the Yadkin. Here we would float down a few miles, join the Yadkin and take out on river right down stream.   

The day started off cool and by lunch it was a very nice day. Water temp was 57 degrees which is close to 10 degrees cooler than our piedmont flows right now. My first 2 fish came on Spinnerbait and were small Spotted Bass.  I then switched to a black grub and caught my first smallie of the year! Not a monster but I will take it.   Caught a few more here and there then we reached the Yadkin. I then pulled out the big chartreuse spinnerbait and with in a few minutes it got hammered by a good 3.5 to 4 lb smallie.  One jump and she was gone!  Ouch! I then proceeded to catch a few more on the spinnerbait and finally switched to a Cordell Spot. Caught several on the spot but that monster is gonna haunt me for a while.  Ken caught a handful of smallies, all on the fly and FW caught a slam.(Spotted, Smallie, Largemouth). Got my last slam in the same stretch a few years ago,   A good day on the river with 2 good friends  

Boat used- Old Town 119

Lures use- Cordell Spot, Booyah Spinnerbait, Black grub on 1/4 oz head

Water temp= 57-58 in both rivers

Thanks for lookin........

#yadkinriver

#smallmouthbass

#fishing

A Hybrid Kinda Day

Heard from several reports that the Hybrids and Stripers were pretty active in several of the local rivers so I went today to a spot where I used to catch them back in the 1990's. Fished from 3 -Dark.
Air Temp when arrived aprox 74 degs  and when I left 68 degrees,  Water temp was 70 degrees.
I Caught aprox 10 from 4 1/2 lbs to aprox 7 lbs.  All were hybrids except for 1 very small Striper.
I also caught 1 decent chub of a Spotted bass on the Chug Bug.

All of them made good strong runs

Here is a list of the lures they hit .

1. 4 inch Gotcha Curlytail with Flake on a 3/8 Gotcha Chartresue head. This is what the bigger one Hit.

2. Black Chug Bug with red mouth. caught a couple on this one and lost a really big one on it.

3. Booyah 3/8 oz Chartreuse/White Spinnerbait with the pink tubing on trailer hook. This was the top producer.
[b]Note- see the pink tubing on the trailer hook?  that really makes the hybrids hit it.  works in front of a lipless crank also very well.  see[/b] http://mackinncblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-few-lipless-crankbait-tips.html

Hybrids are kinda like Smallies in that they luv Chartreuse.

Boat Used today was my OT 158 as my Fishing partner was "Pete" and thus i need the bigger boat.

Wasn't another fisherman out there except Blue Herons ,White Egrets, kingfishers and some opsreys.
Also saw some ducks and Geese.

"Pete"

Mack

Haw River Float 9/5/14

Nat's Dad called me Wednesday Sept the 3rd to see if I wanted to fish a spot we hadn't been to since last year. We had fished upstream and down but not here so I jumped at this chance to fish here.

Friday afternoon was the day. ND was mainly throwing a Spro Swimbait and his average size bass he was catching was better than mine.  I started off with a pearl fluke and a white buzzer and wasn't gettin any luv. I finally switched to a Cordell Spot and a White Spinnerbait on another rod. The average size I was catching went  up and I ended up with a good solid 5 lber. We probably had 15 bass a piece which is ok as a good day on this river will get you 20-40 bass.  We also caught a lot of  Redbreast , 1 crappie, and the only white perch I have caught this far upstream.

Wildlife seen was lots of Geese, Woodducks, Great Blue Herons, Little Green Herons, White Egrets, lot of Ospreys, and 2 big Bald Eagles which we got to see 1 snag a fish out of the river.

A really good day on the water.

Mack

Great Pee Dee !!!

This past weekend  9/28/14  Jeff (Fish Whisperer)  and  I made a 7 mile float on the Great Pee Dee River.  We launched at daylight and made the takeout at 2 pm. This section is right above the fall line and there are long shoals on this 7 mile stretch. This stretch is also home to several Indian Fish weirs that the Pee Dee Indians made many moons ago. This float was about as scenic as it gets. Glad we decided to make the trip south.

Right at the Put in-

Not a great day catching fish, but overall it was an excellent trip  We saw several "pods" of 20-50  lb Blue Cats Hitting bait. It was like a scene from Wicked Tuna.   Jeff caught 4 cats on a spinnerbait but I couldn't buy a hit w/o bait.

I switched from a spinnerbait  to a Cordell spot and "bam"  fish on!!!.  This fish was making some really long hard runs and I jumped out of the canoe as I didn't have a net and landing it it the water would be better. Plus i didnt want to put down my drag chain and have it wrap around that/.  After a good long fight I landed my first Biffalo. At first we though it was a carp but after looking at the pictures it was determined to be a Buffalo.   Yeh!!!!

I was hoping for a Robust Redhorse..lol.. but a Buffalo was an awesome addition to the fish I have caught.

Stripers were hitting as well,  but there was absolutely no sign of bass or bream.   Lots of Native mussels in the water and lots of Geese, ducks, deer seen as well along with a lone Eagle.

Jeff with some nice fish.

http://vid35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/mack4321/DSCF2863_zpsbe6f2f80.mp4

Indian Fish Weir

Another Great float with my Buddy Jeff.

#greatpeedee

#greatpeedeeriver

#peedeeeriver

Central NC River Shoals

Had to "Settle" for Bass

Well my plan Saturday was to go to the Pee Dee river with my life long friend Rodney  and fish for the ROBUST REDHORSE.


 Figured I would have to wade through a lot of Bass, Blue cats, and stripers to get a robust redhorse but it would be fun.  Ok,  just kiddin about the Robust Redhorse as it is endangered and the odds of catching one are slim to none but our plan was to float the Pee Dee and catch Bass and cats.

 Scratch that. Found out I had to go to my sons football meeting at 11 am so I had to hit up some place local.  We chose Buckhorn Dam on the Cape Fear because of it proximity to the both of us plus the time factor.  Our quarry was going to be Blue and Flathead catfish.

One WARNING.  Buckhorn is a nice place but it can be a place where a lot of hoodlums Hang out and I don't go don't there w/o a gun.  Note- when Rodney arrived at the dam there was a guy smoking a crack pipe.

 Met my friend Rodney there and we fished from 230- 800pm. I had to use my Frogg Toggs because of the rain which ended about 4 pm. The rain was actually a blessing as it kept the temps cool and probably increased the fish activity.  Our goal was to catch bait and then catfish, problem was usually here  I can catch all the bream  I want to but today they were not biting.
I tried everything I had. Spinners, grubs, ul Rapalas, even red worms. Nothing. finally after a couple of hours I grabbed the ole trusty Lews Speed Spool loaded with 50 lb braid and started slinging my favorite spinnerbait. Immediately I hooked into a chunky Largemouth and that may have went 3 lbs. Ended up catching no more Largemouth but caught 3 bowfin. 3lbs to 9 lbs. only got picture of smaller one as I released the 2 bigger ones while still in the water and caught aprox 20 Spotted Bass ranging from really small to maybe 2 lbs. Lost several big gar and no lunkers caught but it was a fun day on the water.

Here is Rodney's first Spotted Bass

 A nice 3 lb chunk Largemouth I caught on a spinnerbait

 A nice spot

 Another

 And another

3lb Bowfin

Wildlife seen was Ducks, herons(watched several catch some nice bait that I couldn't) , eagles, ospreys, 1 deer, 1 raccoon, and lots of 3 - 6 inch eels trying to do the salmon thing and swim up the dam. Some were making it 1/2 way up then falling back down. Note- I have caught eels above this dam so either some make it over in lower water or they crawl around.


*Date 8/2/2014
*Where- Cape Fear River
*Boat Used- Old Town 119
*Main Outfit used-  Lews Speed Spool 7.1-1 ratio on 7' MH Daiwa rod
  load with 50lb PowerPro
*All Bass caught on a Booya Spinnerbait


 Thanks for lookin-   Mack

Catfishing Below a Dam with Todd

Saturday June 21st I called my old friend Todd and told him we were going cat fishing. He said where are we going??. To a dam where we wade out 300 feet to the middle and catch catfish I said.  Catfish during the daytime??  Yep!  Catfish during the daytime and not just channels and blues but Flatheads during the daytime.
I picked him up and off to the bait store to get aprox 20 gold fish. Not cheap at 2-3 bucks a piece so we must luv to fish.
We waded below this 600 foot long dam and tossed the goldfish right into the turbulent water below the dam.   We missed a few fish and slung off some Goldfish but it was worth it.
My rod used was a Ugly Stik Tiger Rod paired with a Shimano Baitrunner 6500 spooled with 25 lb line.   7-9/0 hooks and 2-4 oz sinkers.  
All of this video is from the 21st except the last picture which I threw in from the last trip.

Not many caught today but it was a FUN DAY.

Enjoy.   

#flatheadcatfish

#danvillevirginia

#danriver

Catfish Adventure Below a Dam

Steve and myself made a trip to one of my favorite rivers on Friday the 13TH!!!. First we had to stop and buy goldfish at 2.75 a pop but these were Jumbos. We made it to the spot and the river was a little higher than normal. After a little thought I went back to the car and got my life vest. Steve already had his on and by the look of the rushing water I had better have one on also.   
We had to pretty much swim a channel with a backpack on, rods and bait buckets. Then wade though waist deep fast water. This was all to get out in the middle where the fish are. This Dam is 600 feet long so we had to get out 300 feet . Boy was that a workout. This spot is not for the weak and is very dangerous hence the life jackets.

Anyway action was very good with slightly rising water and a full moon. The water flow today was aprox 2300 cfm.    Steve caught several Blues before I even had my first hit but we were after Flatheads. Sometime later I heard Steve yelling and look over and he is fighting a big one. Then the line went slack. Crap, cut on a rock. A short while later I get a good hit and I got her head up and kept it up. Brief hard battle and I released her back to fight again. Most of our hits came by casting the goldfish right up against the base of the dam.   An awesome day on an awesome river with a good friend. Cant beat that.

Outfit I used- Shimano 6500 Baitrunner on a  7' Ugly Stik Tiger Rod , Bait Goldfish, Terminal tackle - 2 oz bank sinker swivel then a 6 inch leader using an 8 or 9/0 Hook. 

An Awesome day!

A good night of Catfishing Using Goldfish and Cutbait

Dan River VirginiA

June 7th 2014

I went  to one of my favorite rivers in search of some cats 6/7 430pm -430am 6/8.

 I arrived at my spot a little after 4 and  I was at my first hole 430 ish, 

 Bait today would be 12 bream I caught earlier and had on ice for cutbait. These would get the garlic bath. I also bought the last 8 goldfish a bait store had so these would be my flathead bait.

Gear and Outfits used- 
Abu 7000c on American spirit Nite Stik , 40 lb Cajun with 3 oz bank sinker and 9/0 j hook.
Shimano 6500 baitrunner on Ugly stik tiger rod loaded with 25 lb big cat. 2 oz sinker with 9/0 circle hook.
Abu 6500c on white ugly stik loaded with 30 lb big game. 2 oz bank sinker with 7/0 j hook on 3 way rig.6
Oh, I cant leave out the boat.  Sears 12' Jon with 55 lb thrust motor. Water too shallow for my gas motors.

I immediately started getting hits on cutbait(didn't used goldfish till 30 min before dark) from blues 5-10 lbs with the biggest at 10-11 lbs. Moved every hr to a different hole and caught fish on each hole and also lost several big ones, still nothing big.

^^^^This equals this \/ \/ \/

  
I also brought along a Banana (oh no he didn't!) because the forum post the other day had me laughing. I bring bananas a lot while fishing and it has never hurt my fishing.

anyway, aprox 245 I set up on my last hole. Apox 3 am I get a good run on the Abu 6500 set with a goldfish. I set the hook and the battle is on!!!....It was crazy for a few as I had to hold this strong fish and wind in 2 lines that were out. After 5 mins I bring in a good 35lb flathead to anchor the blues I caught today. Can you say Banana Smana??.

                                               ^^^^^ This equals this \/ \/ \/

I set the lines out again and get one more run at aprox 4 am. A small 5 lb flattie. I release her and head home. A nice night of fishing.

going to bed..........

#catfishing

#danriver

#fishing

#danvillevirginia