I have been bass fishing every weekend at Harris and Falls since april, and the bite this year is a lot slower than in past years. I can catch quite a few on topwater early, but the bite after that is really tough. At harris I have been picking up some fishing jigs and worms along the grass edges, but the more it has warmed up, the more that bite has died. I have yet to figure out a consistent bite other than topwater at Falls. I am usally off the lake by 10 am because of all the fucking pleasure boaters and wakeboarders. I cant fucking stand their lack of respect for people that are fishing. They will run 10 yards from my boat while I am fishing and throw a giant wake.

6/28/2012 2:53:37 PM

Quote :

"I can catch quite a few on topwater early"

Because none of the fucking wakeboarders have had a chance to stir things up yet and the bass are hungry as shit from not being able to eat the whole day before. Fortunately, topwater is my favorite kind of bass fishing. But it's sad that the only time you can really fish during the day in recreational lakes is sunrise and a few hours after. Even more sad is that I have pulled some monsters out of Harris fishing deep, and those days are pretty much a thing of the past.

That's why I try to stay away from big lakes now and mainly try to fish ponds.

6/28/2012 2:59:15 PM

Quote :

"did you try to find a "hole"? it's a deep area between the beach and a sandbar parallel to the beach. "

hilton head has a really gradual seasy gradient, so even at low tide i saw no sandbars, at high tide i could wade out far as fuck

only thing there seemed to be were a few channels that i fished and this estuary that i had no success in but i did find fish activity

i have found consistent success fishing rivers and the durham impoundments. aftor 8:30 i have been cacthing big bass, bullheads and channel cats along with some huge redear/green sunfish hybrids and roanokes. it would be better earlier in the day but there is absolutely no flow to the rivers or even through the main channel of the impoundments

i like to fish no more than 2 feet deep and all my success is subsurface (i get almost no commitment on my surface strikes)

[Edited on June 28, 2012 at 3:40 PM. Reason : e]

[Edited on June 28, 2012 at 3:41 PM. Reason : e]

6/28/2012 3:38:18 PM

started off Sunday catching pinfish and fishing off Johnnie Mercer's pier in WB. Caught 2 lizardfish Waited for the storms to pass in the evening and launched round 2 of shark fishing from shore. Pretty scary kayaking out in the dark but I had a buddy with a spotlight on me as well as a headlamp and walkie talkie. Made it ~200yds before I chickened out, the waves began crashing over the bow. The surf was pretty tame though, I just need more experience.

Didn't catch any sharks though

7/3/2012 11:59:34 AM

Vertical Jigging....wow....a new favorite for deep sea fishing. The action is non stop, the amberjacks are almost obligated to bite the jig. I was suprised how fast and effective this method was. I landed the 2 largest fish on the boat and 9 of the 16 keeper jacks on the boat. The smaller game bite was off - I feel the moon was the reason. I also boated 2 small mahis. Will go again in late September.

7/9/2012 1:13:21 PM

Hit up Falls Lake again this weekend. Couldnt find the topwater bite for the bass, but on Saturday I got into a bunch of white bass. Caught 40-50 of them with at least half of them 2lbs or better. Took home 8 nice ones. I also caught a ton of white perch.
Went out again Sunday morning with the intentions of catching White bass again, but I could not find them. Caught white perch left and right. At one point I had 4 perch on at the same time. I decided I wold move around and see if I could find the white bass school (never found them) and ended up hooking up with a 28" Pickerel. First pickerel Ive ever caught. Good times on the water until the jackasses in wakeboarding and ski boats got out there. One day im just going to sit at the ramp and watch all the idiots that have no idea what they are doing load boats.

7/9/2012 1:25:27 PM

7/10/2012 8:25:27 PM

that looks like a tasty tuna

7/10/2012 8:28:58 PM

It was! Made some nice sushi out of it.

7/10/2012 10:15:27 PM

It must be amazing.

7/10/2012 10:19:30 PM

lol whyd this get moved

7/10/2012 10:23:40 PM

^I asked Ken to move it, The Lounge seemed more appropriate for traffic and heaven forbid I call Fishing a sport

this was all that was left on my $17 butterfly jig after the first fish



the first fish was my biggest 25# AJ but I can't believe the shotty quality of that rig, a 9oz jig? that should have handled a 60#+ AJ. I mailed that back to the manufacturer today, that O ring sucks

7/11/2012 3:43:53 PM

Next trip to the beach Aug 18. Going to work the waterways around Snow's Cut and then fish for shark off the beach in the evening

7/13/2012 2:18:56 PM

Gigged an 8.5lb flounder monday. Biggest flattie I've ever stuck

7/14/2012 10:48:18 PM

finished the butterfly jig my GF painted with her nail polish



also managed to take her fishing on a boat at Bond Lake. We caught 4 catfish all around 1lb. I also went out Saturday on the Kayak and missed a few bass while I slow trolled and snagged 3 catfish. Also landed a decent ~2lb catfish on a mepps spinner.

7/24/2012 6:44:40 PM

took my new jigging setup out for a "spin" this weekend






killed them out there

Next trip is Aug 18, just a 12hr out of NMB

followed by Sept 26-28 48hr trip on the Continental Shelf - $400 - helluva a deal for as much fishing as you'll get to do

8/7/2012 8:11:49 PM

nice kings, but what the hell are you gonna do with that AJ?

8/7/2012 8:23:47 PM

I eat 'em...tastes like chicken - you just cut & pull out the parasites

8/8/2012 7:03:26 AM

i refuse to pull worms out of my meat before i cook it

8/8/2012 8:20:05 AM

Quote :

"Heading down to the coast for some surf fishing today. Hoping the rain holds off "

8/8/2012 8:58:38 AM

im packin it in til fall, too hot, flows too low water level too low

plus 80% of my fly fishing gear and ALL of my crankbaits and spinning gear was stolen out of my car, so i need to put in some distance from that moment so it is easier to repurchase items and im not depressed at the low amount of gear i now have

[Edited on August 8, 2012 at 9:55 AM. Reason : d]

8/8/2012 9:55:03 AM

That sucks, I'm going home this Thurs and can grab you a setup to get you going. We have more tackle than anyone should ever need...

In the meantime, where near Wake Co do I have the best spot for a 20+lb channel cat? I was thinking near the dam on Falls Lake off of Falls of the Neuse.

8/8/2012 12:32:33 PM

nah i dont need shit thanks though.

you want channel cats specifically? because any tributary that has a good flow is a nice place to find flatheads

i wish i could tell you where the channel cats get that big, ive heard plenty of them and but i cant ever remember where the dudes caught em at

8/8/2012 1:49:52 PM

The state record channel cat is only 23 lbs. I think you're looking for flatheads.

8/8/2012 2:03:26 PM

Mustad hooks will give you 100k if you can break the NC record for channel & other species. I felt channel cat at 26lbs was achievable for me

http://www.mustad.no/www2010/in-action/hook-a-million-splash-page

8/8/2012 2:05:29 PM

Pretty long shot. I've got a buddy who has some channel cats in a farm pond. He feeds them and he still can't get them that big. They're pretty old now.

8/8/2012 2:29:30 PM

Pretty long shot. I've got a buddy who has some channel cats in a farm pond. He feeds them and he still can't get them that big. They're pretty old now.

[Edited on August 8, 2012 at 2:35 PM. Reason : stupid fuckin phone]

8/8/2012 2:34:43 PM

I've caught a few 15-16lb channels. Doesn't hurt to try -- will likely catch other fun fish at the same time

8/8/2012 2:43:30 PM

I'm looking to plan a long weekend trip to the outer banks in October. Was thinking ocracoke, a day inshore, a day offshore, and the rest of the time surf fishing. Any recommendations?

8/12/2012 3:28:16 AM

i used to surf fish ocracoke a little. we did pretty good and it was never very crowded. haven't been in several years, so maybe it's changed. can you still drive on most of the beach there?

8/12/2012 8:37:07 AM

Hey porcha, cool pics.

Should be an awesome time on the Continental Shelf. I know the captain, Cpt. Dave., and he is a great headboat captain.

8/13/2012 11:15:21 AM

^join us on the 48hr trip at the end of Sept. Dave is a good guy, gives me a nod when were on a school of AJs

Going on a 12 hr this weekend out of NMB

8/16/2012 3:23:24 PM

http://www.ncangler.com/forums/threads/43026-42-pound-flathead-in-crabtree-creek

Bam! Lassiter mill is flathead central swear to god

8/17/2012 11:13:15 AM

I'll be near the Davidson River over Labor Day weekend fly fishing for trout, looking for good spot and good fly suggestions for that time of year/area, I'm coming from CO so not aware of the hatch for late August/ early Sept. Thanks.

[Edited on August 17, 2012 at 3:56 PM. Reason : .]

8/17/2012 3:56:05 PM

ive fished the davidson, we had the best luck with streamers and anything that looks like pellets

because those fish are all stocked and there is a hatchery right on the davidson actually

dont even bother with anything else, the fish are doughbellies i wish i had learned that sooner in my trip. Nonetheless the davidson is a beautiful river, but its heavily fished and the fish are pretty wary...drifting a streamer somewhat low in the water column worked well.

if you want to really drift nymphs and dry fly fish id go to the tuckaseegee, those fish are a little more forgiving even though that is also hatchery supported...its just a larger river plus pellet-like flies will still work

if im not mistaken, the pigeon river in the area of tuckaseegee has native brookies if you are interested in that...i fished there and got jack shit, rising trout laughed at me for 3 hours i had to go size 20 with a dry midge imitation and 7x to even get one refusal

all this was in october...you can go to davidson outfitters and get advice but honestly theyll just sell you crap, i didnt get a good vibe from the guy...none of the guys i went with thought shoping there was enjoyable. I would use it to stock up gear and just bring your own flies or go with your own gut instinct because youre probably gonna be right. when he recommends you a size 8 stimulators and size 10 grasshopper imitations in october somethin is wong. The shop has everything you need though. Id say look at their hatch chart and then make your own decisions on flies. They do have some really good sales.

man id love to go back there. maybe i will on labor day weekend...



[Edited on August 17, 2012 at 4:40 PM. Reason : ;]

8/17/2012 4:30:06 PM

Anyone going fishing this weekend? Offshore looks nice & it's the first mini season for American Red Snappers. I've never been able to keep one in my life. If you do manage to catch one, the fisheries dept will send you an official citation if you provide the carcass.

I'm going on the 24hr Continental Shelf trip out of MHC

9/11/2012 10:55:37 AM

^How Much $$

9/11/2012 1:17:04 PM

http://www.continentalshelf.com/

$175

9/11/2012 8:12:03 PM

Awesome, I was gonna ask you for a website.



[Edited on September 12, 2012 at 4:45 AM. Reason : No bananas b/c they are bad luck, didn't know that.]

9/12/2012 4:37:29 AM

Quote :

"I'll be near the Davidson River over Labor Day weekend fly fishing for trout, looking for good spot and good fly suggestions for that time of year/area, I'm coming from CO so not aware of the hatch for late August/ early Sept. Thanks."

Hey Prospero, I got a job in the research triangle and now I'm jonesing for some mountain fishing like I used to do in Boulder County. Thanks for the post on fly-fishing in this thread! The Davidson looks like it would be a tough day - but I still might try it when I head up to Brevard for the Oskar Blues opening.

I decided to pick up some bass flies and try my hand and using my fly gear on the ponds/lakes around the triangle. I've got rabbit divers and poppers, and a ton of streamers. Has anyone here had luck fly-fishing for bass?

9/12/2012 9:27:55 AM

not this year

i gave up early summer when the flows to some of my favorite rivers turned them to frog water

im going to resume in a week or so

i live in durham too, jdman if you ever want to hit the durham impoundments i can take you out there, thats where ive had the most success fly fishing for bass

the davidson is tough because the fish are jaded towards pellet like things, but there are some wilier holdover trout the farther you get from the hatchery where conventional flies get a little more attention in my experience. I am a dead drift, highstick nymphing kinda guy, thats why i like flows and runs



[Edited on September 12, 2012 at 9:37 AM. Reason : []

9/12/2012 9:32:55 AM

So I fished the Davidson anyways over Labor Day as that's where I was camping, in about 20 min I caught a 10" brown trout with a light cahill fly right around 7:30pm, not bad for the 30-minutes I spent fly-fishing, lol. It was pouring rain and muddy water all weekend.

[Edited on September 12, 2012 at 10:44 AM. Reason : ,]

9/12/2012 10:40:42 AM

very nice

my fishin trip got moved back to the end of october because the cabins are cheaper im probably going to hit the tuck and pigeon

9/12/2012 10:49:18 AM

Well god damn, not enough people to go out this weekend :-(

Looks like I'm back on board the 48hr trip in less than 2 weeks

9/14/2012 10:24:00 AM

looks like i'm moving to wilmington early next year. should be getting a whole lot more fishing done.

9/20/2012 6:07:03 PM

Caught a small trout, a few flounder, and a few puppy drum this afternoon. Only keeper was one flounder.

9/21/2012 10:45:08 PM

You should move down to FL. All the trout fishing you can do

9/22/2012 9:08:15 AM

Fuck Florida

Plenty of trout right here in NC. Caught some more this morning. Topwater bite was hot. So fun to watch them blow up a topwater plug.

9/22/2012 11:56:38 AM

I went noodling for the first time yesterday. I know a lot of people don't consider it "real" fishing, but it was a lot of fun. Put 7 catfish in the boat in a couple of hours and fried some up last night.

9/22/2012 1:20:40 PM

where at? i would definitely consider it fishing

[Edited on September 22, 2012 at 2:47 PM. Reason : .]

9/22/2012 2:46:42 PM