What to do In Abingdon Virginia??? Where to go ? Where to Eat? Where to fish ?

Lots for sure.     My wife and I decided to spend our 32nd anniversay in and around the town of Abingdon Virginia.    Now you know I love fishing but of course this was not a fishng trip and I did not fish but I did check out several places for a later date.    This blog post will be about the eating places we visited while there and the places we visited and the sights seen and then some fishing spots !!   

***see towards the bottom for the fishing spots****

I checked out several places for fishing and found some really nice spots but I will start off with the restarurants .    The lady at the Marriot suggested the Puerto Nuevo ,  The Girl and the Raven Cafe,  JJ's Restaurant & Sports Bar , and Tenderloins.

The first place we ate at was Puerto Nuevo .  This Mexican restaurant is very nice and the food and service was great.   They had an awesome looking bar as well and I can reccomend this place highly.    

I can reccomend this place to anyone who enjoys real Mexican Food .

The second place we ate at was here-   THE GIRL & THE RAVEN

   

As you can see this is a very nice place with a lot of character.  They also have a drive thru!

Breastfast is served all day here but when I was looking at the menu I could not  take my eyes off the Brisket Sandwich just delivered to the people beside us.  I had to have one and I was not disappointed. 

  

My wife chose the Turkey melt.

An Aweome place and you can check them out here  https://thegirlandtheravencafe.com/

The 3rd place we visited  was JJ's Sports Bar.   No outside pictures as it was dark outside but this place delivered as well.  

I had the Hamburger steak plate and I can say this was probably the best hamburger steak I can remember. 

another home run.   

The place we did not have time for was TENDERLOINS but I can tell you it was packed the 2 times we drove by there.  lots of people means good food. 

Now I will show you some of the sights around town. Then the fishing info which will be lots !

Main Street

The Barter Theater

Many famous performers have done  some early work done here including Gregory Peck, Patricia Neal, Ernest Borgnine, Hume Cronyn, Ned Beatty, Gary Collins, David Birney, and Larry Linville.

I also think Nicholas Cage has performed here.

 

 Unfortunatly this Theater is closed in the winter.   Check them out here  https://bartertheatre.com/

The Abingdon Methodist Church

The World Class Martha Inn and Spa

This was a little out of our budget this time !

  

My picture does not do justice to this place.  The grounds and building were very nice.  Check them out here  http://www.themartha.com/

We also visited Abingdon Vineyards . A really cool spot. check them out here  https://www.abingdonvineyards.com/

This Winery is located right on the South Fork Holston River,  During May thru late August when the lake is at normal levels you can bring a boat up to it.   The rest of the year the lake is drawn down and the lake is then maybe 1 mile downstream,  so in the winter you will have to drive a car to it. 

Here is/was the current Wine Menu

The one big attraction in the area is the Creeper Trail .  This trail is like the Tobacco Trail near where I live in that it is a trail on top of and old railroad bed.  This trail runs from Abingdon  to White top mountain covering 35 miles.  This is an Awesome trail to hike or bike on.  No electric bikes are allowed.  Also , the trail in many many places is along Laurel Creek and the S. Fork Holston River so Biking and fishing could be done here as well.  You can acess this trail at many places but we chose to access it at Alvarodo Station right on the South Fork Holston River. 

   

Check out the Creper trail here  https://www.vacreepertrail.org/

NOW THE FISHING SPOTS I CHECKED OUT  - 

South Fork Holston Tailwater  Below South Holston Lake

The water comes out of South Holston lake very cold and this means the Trout can live in a river they normally could not and it extends for 18 miles below the dam.   Brooks, Browns and Rainbows are here.      I access it just above the Bridge on Holston View Dam Rd.   there is a small weir dam just above the bridge.  You can get out here and wade below the weir dam well down past the bridge.   You can even stand on the dam when the water is low.   

Here is a video of me on the lower dam. 

Just above the little dam is Osceola Island, then halfway up this island is another Weir Dam (actually 2 since this one is on both sides of the island)   The water from the first dam up is of course a little deeper but just below the second one it is shallow enough for wading especially between the 2nd dam and the foot bridge just down stream

This is the upper weir dam.  This picture was taken from a foot bridge to the Island. 

This footbridge leads to some trails on the Island and you can walk around the whole Island and access all the water around it.   We walked the Island trail and found some Running Cedar and some Beaver sign

Above the upper weir dam is a  boat ramp where drift boats and other boats can access the river and fish but you are limited to just above the weir dam to up near the Lake dam .  Here is that ramp .

Above this ramp is a fishing walkway/pier with some neat rod holders

Bank fishermen have a lot of fishable water below this dam without having to wade. I will be back here for sure with some fishing gear.  Here are some photos we took from on top of the dam looking downstream then above at the lake.

The Next place I scoped out for fishing was at the Creeper trail at Alvarado station.  SEE UP ABOVE for pictures of the trail and Alavarado Station.  

The trail here is following the South fork Holston River.   We hiked upstream maybe 2 miles. Plenty of places to access the water but it has steep banks(except right at the station) and sometimes veers away from the river.    This is more likely Smallmouth bass water vs trout water.   A better option would be is to hike down the trail which leads to a bridge over the lake just downstream of the confluence of the South Holston River and the Middle Fork Holston.  In the fall and the winter when the lake is low the two rivers can be accesed here and are free flowing.  When the lake is at normal pool  the lake goes up both rivers a half mile or so  It is aprox a 1 mile hike from the Station to the bridge.   The lake level on this trip was 1709 feet in elevation.  I think the lake is close to 20 ' down.  

Here is a video of a guy doing just as I thought you could do.  He has hiked down the trail to the Bridge and is fishing the river.  You could also keep hiking as the trail runs along the Middle fork for aprox 1 mile then it veers away from the river.   At full pool during summer this place where the trail veers away(1mile after bridge) is probably where the river meets the lake then.   The lake comes up to the vineyards in the summer. 

I also checked out the lake at the Washington Co Park boat ramp.   This area has a very nice ramp and parking area.    There is also a park but its closed in the winter.   I took several photographs here and you can see the brush and trees put there for crappie etc so when the lake is full this would be a good spot for  bank fisherman to catch some crappie. 

Just to the left of the Ramp

To the right of the ramp. 

Hope you enjoyed this Blog post .  Be sure to check out my YOUTUBE  channel for a lot of fishing/adventure videos.     https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaM9MmMiJa-xoJLplQ7w4OA

Be sure to leave some comment on the area and its fishing.   Thanks Mack

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#abingdonvirginia

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#troutfishingsouthholstonriver          

#bartertheater

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Monster Bullheads !! Citation Bullhead Catfish Caught in North Carolina

Monster Bullhead Catfish !  

One of my favorite fish to catch is the Bullhead.  They are usually pretty abundant and easy (sometimes not) to catch.   One of my favorite places to catch them is within walking distance of my house and on this day back in the summer of 2020 I caught some really nice ones on small pieces of Shad. 

My Favorite bait for them is worms or Night Crawlers followed by small pieces of cutbait then maybe small pieces of hotdogs or Bar-b-Q  Vienna's work well .

Rods and reels can be anything that you catch  Bream and Crappie on and I usually fish for them using a Cork with a   1/0 hook and a small split shot just above the hook a few inches. Usually the hook is anywhere from 1 to 2' below the cork.   They also  can be caught on bottom using a Carolina rig.

Hope you enjoy the video.  

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Catching Wild Fish To Put in an Aquarium !!!!

Got a Call from the Wildlife Commission !!! The NCWRC Called me about the Spotted / Alabama Bass Invasion.

                                    The Spotted Bass Invasion

*****see bottom of this article for my Youtube videos on Spotted Bass *******

 I have caught Spotted bass in  Several NC rivers for years.   Mainly the Cape  Fear river  system where the NCWRC stocked  Kentucky Spotted bass from 1977 to 1981.   They stocked 310,000~ in Advents Creek, Parkers Creek, and the Upper and lower Little Rivers.    These stockings were made due to some creel surveys made in the late 60's where they found that these streams lacked a high level sportfish.   

These fish stocked in these 4 tributaries of the Cape Fear river eventually made their way to the Cape fear and populated it.  I started fishing the Cape fear around 1990 or so and my catch of Black bass was 90 percent Largemouth and 10 percent spots.    10 years later and this had reversed!!!   90 percent spotted bass to 10 percent Spotted Bass.   They had taken over!!!

Cape Fear Kentucky Spotted Bass

The Yadkin River / Kerr Scott Reservoir was also stocked sometime later probably in the 80's ad I have caught them there as well.   Some say Kentucky's were stocked first but now Alabama Bass are in there as well.  I have caught several every time I have Smallmouth fished the Yadkin. 

Yadkin Spotted Bass

Then the Catawba System got Alabama Spotted Bass(now known as the Alabama Bass) and they have taken over there as well.

I think the next system to get then was the Roanoke river system as Belews Lake has them and the Dan and Staunton Rivers have a few.    Where they have really taken off is downstream on Lake Gaston .     Now, I don't fish Lakes much as I am a river fisherman and maybe 3 or 4 years ago I caught my first Spotted Bass in the Roanoke  near Weldon .  This was a slight shock to me but I guess it was expected sometime. 

This is the first Spotted Bass I caught in the Roanoke a few years Back  2020 or so.

Fast forward to this year(2021) and I caught a 4 lb Alabama Bass in the Tar river.  A river I fish a lot and had never caught one there before.   Then on a later trip caught several in the 3 lb range and mentioned this on the Face Book page called the THE AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY BLACK BASS CONVERSATION COMMITTEE   seen here at The American Fisheries Society Black Bass Conversation Committee    This page is run by some Biologists and Fisheries Scientist and I know one of them named Steve Sammons.  They are dedicated to trying to preserve genetic stocks of  bass as spotted bass are being relocated to waters where they are taking over and hybridizing with Shoal Bass in the Flint/Chattahoochee drainage and Smallmouth bass in others wiping them out and outcompeting and hybridizing with Largemouths.   They are also hybridizing with others.   When he saw my post about Spotted bass in a new water he contacted me as he had already contacted the NCWRC  and they wanted to find out where this new water was. Steve gave them my contact info and Kurt Rundle a Biologist with the NCWRC called me and asked where I caught them.  I informed him on the location and he confirmed that these were the first reported from that area.  The NCWRC has done shocking every year including this year in this area and these are/were the first.

The first one which is a BIG Spot probably going 4 lbs.  . 

So, what's the Big deal with Spotted bass in a New location?   As mentioned,   they are invasive and hybridize with other Black Basses and can wipe them out in some instances.  Most rivers where they are non native they have outcompeted the other Native Basses  and taken over.   Lake Chatuge is one example in NC where they have wiped out the Smallmouth bass.

Maps courtesy of USGS.GOV showing the spread on Alabama Bass.

 

They have started to have and impact on the Flint River Shoal Bass in Georgia where  I met Steve at.

Here are some Flint River Spots .  I have a  blog post on this trip where I caught my first Shoal Bass which can be seen here Shoal Bass Blog Post 

Here is an Alabama bass I caught on 082022 in Downtown Columbus Ga.   These are not native to the Chatahoochee River .

Here is my YouTube video explaining the the Spotted Bass Invasion. 

Another you tube video where I catch the 4 lb spot and an 8lb Largmouth !!

So, what can we do?   Well probably nothing where there already are but the one thing we can do is to not transport them to other lakes/rivers and let our fellow fishermen know this as that is how they are spreading. 

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Smallmouth Bass in the Piedmont of NC ???

    Smallmouth Bass In Central North Carolina?

 Are there Smallmouth bass in Eastern North Carolina?   No.   But, there are Smallmouth bass in Central North Carolina in the Uwharrie Mountains of NC.  These are the most Eastern Smallmouth bass found in NC and they are isolated from other populations.    The Uwharrie Mountains are the Oldest mountain range in North America once rising over 20,000 feet tall and now due to erosion the tallest one  is just over 1,100 feet tall.  Time and erosion have taken a toll on this once huge mountain range. 

These Smallmouth bass are in the Uwharrie and Little Rivers which both flow  through what is known to the locals as the Uwharries.    The Closest next smallie population is in the Yadkin River some 60 plus miles north west  of these.  To the North  the next known population is in  the Dan River some 90 miles  distant.   To the west the next known population is in the Catawba/Johns River area  90 plus miles away and to the south some 90~ miles in the Broad River Drainage.   

Are these Smallmouth bass native to these 2 rivers?  No.   Sometime in the early 70's the NCWRC stocked Barnes and Cedar Creeks with Smallmouth bass.  These 2 creeks feed the Uwharrie River.  The Biologist at the Wildlife commission thought the cooler water of these 2 creeks could host a population of smallies which they did thrive in.  The commission never thought They would live in the Uwharrie River.   They were wrong.   They entered the Uwharrie out of these 2 creeks and the rest is history. 

How did they get in the Little River?   Rumor has it that they were stocked by drivers of the stocker trucks. I spoke with a biologist and he told me back in the day that it wasn't uncommon for the commission to stock a river with fish and if the drivers knew another nearby river they thought would be cool to have that fish as well they would just save a few and on the way back do their own stocking. 

No matter how they got there the Little River has a very nice population of Smallmouth bass.  Both rivers have nice Populations of Roanoke bass as well and it is probably certain they got stocked in the same way. 

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Lures I use in these rivers

Rapala F7 -  https://amzn.to/3ugkadx

Strike King Mini Pro Buzz - https://amzn.to/3Vv58wD

Strike King Mini Buzz - https://amzn.to/3H7T2oO

Pink Senko -  https://amzn.to/3EV0IrU

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Lets talk about the rivers 

The Uwharrie River - 

The Uwharrie starts Just South of High Point NC and makes  it way south 61 miles to and through parts of the Uwharrie National Forest before dumping into the Yadkin River at Lake Tillery.   The Yadkin is known as the Pee Dee River below this.  There is only one Dam on this river which is Asheboro's water supply Lake Reese.   All of the good smallie water is downstream of this dam. 

From where it dumps into Tillery up to Randolph Co Sr1314 is 33 miles and averages 85' in width.  From Burney Mill Rd down to Low Water bridge Rd down to Hwy 109 are the best stretches for Smallmouth bass and most of this is in the Uwharrie National forest .  There also is a good white bass run out of Tillery in the spring and they can be caught best in the lower 2 miles .  There is a new NCWRC access on the Uwharrie for carry boats 1 mile above Tillery and it can be accessed off of Dennis rd.  This is the back water of Tillery but you can go up and catch white bass.   Forest service rd 555 is also a good rd to access for white bass and Smallies 

From SR1314 to the NC 62 Bridge is 24 miles and this stretch averages 40'.  This section has really good Redbreast fishing.  The 4 miles of river above Hwy 62 it too small for fishing.

This is my best smallmouth bass out of the Uwharrie going 4 lbs caught on a Chartreuse Strike King Mini Buzz. 

Here is a Uwharrie River Roanoke Bass 

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The Little River - 

The Little starts in the city limits of Asheboro, NC and makes it way south dumping into the Pee Dee River at the upper end of Blewett Falls Lake. It is 55 miles long from its origin to the Pee Dee and there are only 2 dams in this river as several have been removed. 

From the Pee Dee Up 5 miles the Little  to NC 73 is 5 Miles.  Avg width 175'   A survey done back around 1970 or so has 1.06 fish per hour    77 % sunfish 9% catfish 7% crappie 4% largemouth and 3% Pickerel.  Also there is a White bass run in this section in the Spring. 

The section from NC 73 Bridge  to SR 1119 in Randolph co is 37 miles and it averages 68' wide in this stretch.    Eurie Lake is in this stretch at River mile 10.5 .  On some maps it is Eure Lake.  This lake is roughly 1.5 miles long and 30 acres.  You can access this millpond Off of Chip Rd and then onto Green Oak Gap rd.   The access here is private but you can fish by putting 3$ in a pay box.   You can fish the lake or paddle up an  reach the flowing river but remember the banks maybe Private .    Just 2 miles up from the upper end of Eurie Lake is Hurleys lake.  This millpond is roughly 35 acres and 2.5 miles long.  Some maps have it as Brunton Mill Pond  This millpond can be accessed at the NCWRC public boat ramp off of SR 1005 (Pekin Rd) and a lot of the banks on this stretch is the Uwharrie National Forest.

From SR 1119 to the Little's origin is 13 miles.   The avg width is 36'  and this reach provides some good redbreast fishing. 

I Have caught Smallmouth bass in all 3 sections of this river but I usually catch more above SR 1005 up to Okeewemee Rd. 

The Little as seen below is IMHO one of the prettiest rivers in North Carolina. 

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Both of these rivers can be accessed by either wading or canoeing/kayaking.  For a good read and listing of all access points on Both of these rivers a must have is  The Book PADDLING EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA   with Paul Ferguson.  You can get this on Amazon here at  https://amzn.to/2Uh8M2L   

Another must read is TAR HEEL ANGLER Freshwater Fishing in North Carolina by Buck Paysour.  Chapter 17 is mainly about fishing the Little River.  You can get this on Amazon as well here https://amzn.to/3m4Yvm2

Here are 4 videos on trips I have made to these Rivers.

This trip I did not catch any Smallmouth Bass but you can see the Beauty and Variety found here

Here is one where I caught some Smallmouth bass and Largemouth.

Thanks for watching and reading, Mack

#smallmouthbassnorthcarolina

#fishing

#riverfishing

#uwharrieriver

"smallmouth bass in North Carolina"

Catfish Noodling: Grabbing Flatheads to Save Them from a Dried up River !!!

06.09.21

Location - North Carolina

Today I went to a favorite river of mine to catch Flatheads on rod and reel and was surprised to see the water below the dam I fish almost DRY!!!! 

They are working on the dam so the water is being all diverted into a canal which empties into the river 3/4 mile below the dam thus leaving alot of that stretch dry. 

I spotted 2 young men Noodling them and then I started doing the same.   Then a young lady named Rebecca came along and said she saw several in different hole so she became my spotter and camera woman.   Thanks to Davey, Jojo and Rebecca. 

#noodling

#catfish

#hannahbarron

#flatheadcatfish

#rivercatfishing

#fishingislife

#1 Lure for River Bass ?? Best Lures for River Bass

Best Lures For River Bass

Check out my new video on the Lures I use for River bass here in the Southeast.  

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Chattahoochee River SkipJack Fishing w Bobby Garland Baby Shad's

Skip Jack Fishing !

04.04.21   Columbus, Georgia

Water Flow aprox 14000 CFM

Today I fished for Skippies or Skipjack Herring in the Chattahoochee River on the Columbus Riverwalk.   I actually had caught my first one the day before getting this species off of my bucket list.    These fish are very very close cousins to the Hickory Shad on East Coast Rivers and they are caught with the same tactics.  

A very fun fish to catch !!!

Hope you enjoy and hit the subscribe button!!!

Thanks, Mack

Get your Glo Shad here- https://amzn.to/3i4U1cC

See My Video

#fishing

#bassfishing

#columbusgeorgia

#skipjackherring

#jonb

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#chattahoocheeriver

#georgiafishing

#creekfishing

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1st SHAD of 2021 !!! - Shad Fishing in North Carolina

Our First Shad Trip of the year.   Dont forget to check out my YT Channel 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaM9MmMiJa-xoJLplQ7w4OA

#shad

#shadfishing

#shadrun

#shadfishingnorthcarolina

#fishingislife

Save 300 + Dollars on your Mud-Skipper Mud Motor Longtail

    

                                                                                                                                                                                        

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