Fishing Indian Camp Pond 

Indian Camp Pond is a 4 acre Pond Located in Richmond County on the Sandhills Gameland. 

Here is an aerial Photo of the Pond

This 4 acre pond is open to the public for fishing but you must have a NC Fishing license to do so. 

This Pond is a Blackwater Pond and thus stays "clear" all the time never getting muddy.  Fish found in this pond are Largemouth Bass, Crappie(Black) , Bream, Shellcracker , Channel Catfish and during most winters (usually around the 2nd or 3rd week in December) the pond is stocked with trout.

During warm weather the most sought after fish is the Channel Catfish which the NCWRC stocks peridiocally.   They also have a fish feeder installed just for the catfish.  This is done though a program called the COMMUNITY FISHING PROGRAM or CFP.  see it here  https://www.ncwildlife.org/Fishing/Fishing-Programs/Community-Fishing-Program

Here is an aerial photo of the Pond . I have put a circle around the fish feeder which is in easy casting distance of the end of the 2 piers.  50 ' from the 1st pier to feeder and 70 ' from the second pier to feeder. 

Note - this feeder does not dispense food during the winter. 

The NCWRC stocked 1,100 8'' - 12'' Channel Catfish in Indian Camp for 2022.   You can see the numbers for Indian camp and others by searching NC warmwater stocking for 2022 or the year you want to see. 

As noted above During the Winter usually around the 2nd or 3rd week in December the NCWRC stocks trout in Indian Camp. This is a put and take fishery as the trout that do not get caught will die when the water gets too hot for them in the spring.   

Here is a video of them stocking in 2022

Here is an aerial view of the pond and I have put  ''X'' s where I think the best Trout fishing spots are. 

Here are 2 videos of me catching Trout aat Indian Camp.

Here are some cool pictures of the creek below the dam but this creek is too small for any fish of any size, interesting the walls with grooves in this.  I wonder what structure was on here??

Thanks for reading and Looking.  Mack

#indiancamppond

#indiancamplake

Fox Squirrels Range Expanding in North Carolina

Great News !!  Yes Fox Squirrels are expanding in North Carolina.   

The Fox Squirrels in Eastern NC are expanding North and west and the Fox Squirrels in our NW Mountains are expanding east.  

They are being seen in places where they have not been seen in years. 

Here is an article from the Appalachin Voice in 2012 where they talk of the populations in the mountains expanding east and the Eastern populations expanding west.   

Read it here - http://appvoices.org/2012/04/18/fox-squirrels-making-a-comeback-in-n-c/

This year (2023) the North Carolina Wildlife resources Commission updated the Fox Squirrel range map which had not been updated since 2011 

I am going to show the 2 old range maps the state has been posting for ~20 years or more

Old Map 1  2011 or earlier

Old Map # 2 2011 or earlier

Here is their Press Release that was released aprox 2pm  on February 26, 2023 courtesy of the NCWRC

Click on the picture to make it bigger

Now , here is the New Fox squirrel range map just released this year(2023) by the NCWRC

New Map updated 2023

If you compare Old Map 2 to the New Map you can see they have added 21 counties to the range map.

This is great and exicting  news for everyone.  

#foxsquirrel

#foxsquirrelhunting

#foxsquirrelrangemap

Gilchrist Blue Springs and Jonathan Springs Near High Falls Florida

 

Location -  Gilchrist Blue Springs and Run, & Jonathan Springs

Date - January 26th and 27th 2023

This trip was a bucket list trip for me as it really accomplished 2 things(or hoped to) which was to catch a Suwannee Bass and the other was to see several Springs in this area.   Both were accomplished. 

This is the area where I fished on the second day but one side adventure of this Trip was canoeing up Gilchrist Blue Springs Run to the Spring which was magnificiant. This spring is located in Ruth B. Kirby Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park and I  was the only person there.  The Spring and run are off limits to fishing.

What an awesome spring but the run(creek) to the river was maybe 1/4 to 1/3 mile long and it was awesome as well.   You can see a Suwannee Bass Swimming with 2 Largemouths if you pay attention.   

I Launched at Rum Island Springs County Park which is a very nice county Park which has Rum Island Spring as a swimming hole. It can be seen right on the river.

We Put in at the ramp  (Blue Circle) paddled down past Rum Spring and entered Gilchrist Blue Springs Run (Red Circle) and then paddled up to Gilchrist Blue Springs.(Green Circle)

Click on the Picture to see all of it

Here is the Video of that short but awesome paddle adventure.

I then went upstream to Jonathan Spring and this little Spring was pretty awesome to be a small one.

Even though Google Maps shows Jonathan Spring as a Blue Balloon that is not where it is at. The red arrow marks the outlet of it and the spring is only like 20 yards up .   The Yellow Circle is where a very small spring bubbles up into the river. 

Click on the Picture to see all of it.

Video on Jonathan Spring 

Video of the 2 days fishing on the Sante Fe River. The 1st day we put in at the High Falls Ramp and the second day we put in at the  Rum Island ramp.  Both fishing days are on this video. 

#suwanneebass

#gilchristbluesprings

#genniesprings

#jonathonspring

Ruth B. Kirby Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park 

#floridasprings

LJ Brasher and His Jitterbug Modification - The Monster Bass Fisherman

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LJ Brasher and his Jitterbug modifications.

LJ Brasher was the first Big Bass Fisherman I read about.   Now I want go into too much detail here about his tactics as you can google him and find it all out but he used big Black musky Jitterbugs at night, 14'' plastic worms by day,   Abu reels , heavy line and fished a 100 mile radius around Madison Florida.   This Opelika Alabama Resident was IMHO the best Big Bass fisherman there ever was.   He caught well over 500 bass over 10 lbs and one summer I think he Caught 80 over 10 lbs and I know for sure he caught 5 over 10 lbs in one night !! and he mounted all of them on a stringer seen below. 

My Brasher would fish sometimes for up to 2 days in his boat without ever getting out.  His tactics along with his persistance is why he caught so many.   Unfortunatly he passed away in the late 90's and my one regret is I never drove down there to meet him. 

Here is a video I did of LJ Brasher's Jitterbug modification.  

Thanks and leave some comments if you knew Mr  LJ Brasher or just really liked his tactics.

#LJBRASHER

#jitterbug

#bigbass

#monsterbass

Trout Stocking Indian Camp Pond 120722 #shorts NCWRC

120722

Indian Camp Pond

Marston, NC

The NCWRC stocked ~1200 Trout in less than a minute.

Video on My Youtube channel coming up soon where we catch and eat some of these fish 3 days later.   See Mack's Extreme River Fishing on YT

Best Spots for Trout @ Indian Camp Pond

#ncwrc

#troutstocking

Odom Boating Access Area - New Boat Ramp open on the Roanoke River

 112622

New Boat ramp open on the Roanoke River - Odom Boating Access Area

Feburary 2022 the NCWRC opened a new much needed ramp on the Roanoke River.   This ramp will help alleviate some of the crowds at the Weldon NC boating access during the Spring Shad and Striper runs. 

Drone Video at Bottom & Shad Fishing Video ----

The address for the ramp is 1017 Striper Ln Jackson, NC  which is just outside of Jackson NC and is 10 miles below Halifax NC(no public ramp there) and 17 miles below Weldon NC.

The coordinates of the ramp are  36.324494, -77.440062

The  Ramp has 42 spots for vehicles with trailers with aprox 1/2 in the lower paved lot and 1/2 in the upper gravel lot. 

The Lower lot also has 4 spots for single vehicles and 2 Handicapped spots for single vehicles.  This lower lot also has 1 Handicapped spot for a vehiclle with trailer.  

The upper lot has half the spots for vehicles with trailers also has 4 spots for single vehicles. 

This is an aerial shot of the Ramp and parking area(2 pictures below).  The main parking area is paved and the upper parking area is gravel.   This was taken during contruction as the lines are not painted on the lower lot.

**April 2 2023  these aeriel pictures are from Bing Maps and when taken they  had not painted the lines on the bottom lot or put in the parking places on the upper gravel lot when they were taken.   Google Maps as of today still shows woods there where the ramp it so they are way behind Bing.   

I will update these aerial photos as soon as either Bing updates or google maps does.   

***Note you can click on the pictures to make them Bigger*****

****When google maps updates the satelite view I will post an up to date aerial of the lots**** 

A nice view of the ramp which has 2 lanes. 

Some views of the lower Parking lot

Single vehicle spots

More single vehicle spots

View heading out or up to the upper gravel lot

The Upper Gravel lot

which has 2 single vehicle spots on each end

Here are some views of the Roanoke River 

The main fish that are sought after here are Hickory Shad, American Shad, and Striped Bass during their annual spring spawning runs.

Blue Catfish can be targeted here year round.

Other fish found here are Largemouth Bass, Alabama Bass,  Bowfin, Longnose gar,  Channel cats,  a few flatheads(not common) ,  Chain Pickerel, and your usual panfish, Crappie, bream etc. 

Drone video of Odom Boat ramp March 29th, 2026

See March 2026 Shad fishing video right here -

Check out a video I have of Striper fishing the Roanoke

Thanks for reading.  Mack

#Jacksonnc

#roanokeriver

#striperfishing

Stocking "my" Pond with Bass 

091122

Not really my pond as it is a neighborhood pond (water retention pond) behind my hose but back in the 90's and early into the 2000's I used to catch some really nice Bass in here.   Then one day aprox 10-15 years ago A water main busted a block up from this pond.   The stench of Chlorine was BAD.  I called the city and the NCWRC and they told me nothing would happen to the fish.   I responded with fish can't handle Chlorine which fell on death ears.    Then most of the fish floated to the top.   The NCWRC then came out and honestly I don't know if it was ever restocked but I could go down there several years later and catch some nice Bream and Shellcracker but Bass were non existant.       

So, a couple years ago I put in a few (2-3 ) bass and last year I put in 5 or 6.   This year I have put in 5 in 2 days. I catch these in a very small creek near here which is in another Blog post and bring them the short distance to the pond.    see blog   Creek Post

I plan to put a few more in this year and maybe just maybe try to fish it next year and see what I catch.

2 from the creek 

Thanks for reading and stay tuned next spring for a fishing trip here.  Mack

#bassfishing

#pondstocking

#fishing

Canoeing Juniper Springs Run in an Old Town 119 Canoe

Canoeing Juniper Run 

February of 2021  I made a trip to Florida to Canoe a spring fed creek that I have wanted to Canoe for YEARS.   I first read about this Creek in The Book  FABULOUS FOLBOT HOLIDAYS years ago.   This creek is listed in the top 25 of  River/creeks to canoe in the United States.  

Here is the book(still available on ebay and other sources) and the page where the article On Juniper Run and Alexander Springs are noted. 

This book though old is a must read for awesome Canoe trips.  

So,  I finally  made it down there and the parks shuttle service is closed because of Covid.  I then put my Old Town 119 Canoe in at the take out at Juniper Wayside on Hwy 19  and paddled up .  I caught Bass, redbreast sunfish, Spotted sunfish and the creek was loaded with mullet!   I also had an encounter with an 8' plus Gator that you can see in the video.   I paddled a few miles up well past Sweetwater Springs(private) and then floated back down.  This day was a very fun float/paddle  and one I will never forget.   

Check out my YouTube Video of my float/canoe trip  of Juniper Run. 

#juniperspringsrun

#junipersprings

#Juniperwayside

old town 119

    Quest for the Bartram's Bass

My first quest for one of the redeye species would be the Bartram's Bass found in the Savannaha Drainage and also in the upper Saluda(probably stocked) drainage near Ware Shoals. 

The best place for me to catch a Bartrams would be  the Chatooga river, The Chauga River or The South Fork of the Broad River.
I chose the Chauga River for my first attempt at them.

This video is from 4 years ago but is  on my quest for the first of the seven Redeye Bass subspecies.  

 Now this fish(Bartrams) is found in North Carolina but where it is found in NC is Very very hard to reach in the Gorges State Park.  The Closest and easiest place for me to get one would be on the Chauga River in South Carolina.   

I gave my wife an ultralite rod and a green beetle spin to catch bream , Bartram's etc on and she showed me up with it catching the biggest one.   I got most of mine of the F7 Rapala. 

Here are some pictures of the Bartram's Bass my wife and I caught. I caught several Like this one.

And of course my Wife caught the biggest....uggh. 

Here is My YouTube video of the Bartram's bass and then the range map. 

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

Thanks for watching and reading. Mack

#bartramsbass

#coosabass

#redeyebass

#bassfishing

2 White Bass Adventures from this Spring 2022

White Bass Adventures 

This spring I made 2 trips for White Bass and I had 2 really good evenings on the water. 

The first Video is fishing a Tributary to Falls Lake and the second is fishing the Haw River where it feeds into Jordan lake.    Enjoy the videos and make sure you subscribe.   

Get your White Bass Lures here

Rapala Shad Rap 5   - https://amzn.to/3SdD6Vu

Rebel Tracdown -    https://www.amazon.com/Rebel-Tracdown-Minnow-Fishing-Lure/dp/B003CULULS?crid=4SBBTFIMD2Y1&keywords=rebel%2Btrackdown&qid=1676950151&sprefix=rebel%2Btrackdown%2Caps%2C93&sr=8-2&th=1&psc=1&linkCode=sl1&tag=mack1-20&linkId=d5e9dbeccaaedd56ed8fab0c02f4e02c&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

Thanks for watching.  Mack

#whitebass

#whitebassfishing

I Caught my 1st Coosa Bass !!! AKA Redeye Bass

My First Coosa Bass AKA Redeye Bass !!!

041122 Polk County Georgia

***see video at the bottom***

I will admit that I have somewhat of an Obsession with oddball fish.   Roanoke Bass, Shoal bass etc.  One of my goals or "bucket list" things I would like to accomplish is to catch the Bass Slam.   Now there are several variations of this as Georgia has its own Bass Slam but mine would be to catch all the subspecies of Bass.    Now, I know that I will probably never accomplish this because of time, money, family,work  etc but it is something to strive for. 

Here is what I have caught so far .

Northern largemouth-  Easy for me they are all over here

Florida largemouth- Fairy easy, I go to Florida some and there are a few lakes north of me with them.

Smallmouthbass- Easy for me, I just have to go North or west 1 hr plus of where I live.

Alabama Spotted Bass-  fairly easy for me as they are in a few rivers near me. 

Kentucky Spotted Bass -  Easy for me as they are in the Cape Fear drainage just south of me. 

Shoal bass-  Fairly hard as it is a 6 plus hour ride min for me to get to them

Bartrams bass-  Moderate as I can get to them in just under 4 hours.

Now there are 7 variations/subspecies of the "Redeye bass" and I hope to get all of them as well.

Right now I have caught 2 of them,  the Bartrams and the Redeye

There is a a least one Blog post here on all the above sub species.  look on the side bar of my main page to see the subtitles. 

The last subspecies that I have caught is the Coosa Bass found in the Coosa/Etowah Drainage in Alabama and Georgia, This is/was a 7hr ride for me.   April the 11th 2022 I made it happen and here is the video and some pictures.

I caught 3 on this day but my goal was to catch 1 so I succeeded. 

Here is the area I fished 

My first Coosa Bass

My second one which had better colors.

Then My third Coosa Bass which by all accounts is a true Monster for the species. 

You can see how fat she is 

A cool little  dam on Euharlee Creek

These Coosa Bass will hit anything a Largemouth/Smallmouth will hit but it is best to downsize for them as they are rarely over 12 inches.  I spoke to well known Bioligist that has studied them and every one of the seven subspecies of Redeye they have found over 13-14 inches is a Hybid and not a pure fish.  I had my best luck using the F7 Rapala Original Floating Minnow. 

Get the Rapala F7 Minnow here - https://amzn.to/3iy7oED

Be sure to watch my Youtube Adventure catching some Coosa Bass

My next quest is either the Chatahoochee Bass or the Suwannee Bass.

I hope everyone who read this learned something and please leave comments here and on Youtube and please dont forget to subscribe to this blog and my YT channel to get notifications.

***also is you have access to catch one of the odd ball species I would luv to join you on a trip one day. 

A great read on Redeye Bass Fishing.  Geared for the flyfisherman it is still a great read for the Spin fisherman.

Fly Fishing For Redeye Bass  - https://amzn.to/3KBdMXF

#coosabass

#redeyebass

#bassfishing

#monsterbass

#eurharleecreek

Shooting a 70 year old Shotgun Shell - Buck Shot

I have several old paper shotgun shells that I have had for at least 45 years. These shells are at least 70 years old and I have been wanting to shoot one to see if it would even shoot or go bang. The results were surprising and now for next year I want to kill a deer with one.

The  shells,  20 Gauge #3 Buckshot and a slug

Test firing results at 25~ yards.  All 20 pellets hit the paper. 

See the video where I test fired a 70 year old # 3 Buckshot on Youtube.

#buckshot

#shooting