Fishing North Carolina Style

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Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on April 4, 2013 at 5:06pm

Being down near Wilmington, Lake Sutton may be warming a bit like many of the Low Country S.C. waters......I know it was closed over the winter for some service improvements........My local river was up to 58 on the 20th of March but tumbled into the high 40s through the end of the month.....We have rebounded to the high 50s and things pick up dramatically here in the Northeast N.C. when water temperatures reach 60......I wish I knew more about Sutton Dave but maybe someone will chime in.......

Comment by David Wester on April 4, 2013 at 4:46pm

Any of you guys on the east coast fish Lake Sutton? Jeffrey?
I saw a post and pics on crappie.com that a guy caught 50 nice shellcrackers there on March 27. Seems a bit early for those kinds of numbers, unless this is a special place. Anyone got any info?
Check it out on the NC page of crappie.com

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on March 31, 2013 at 4:43am

Good luck David on your adventure to Santee Cooper and enjoy fishing with your dad. My friends in the low country of South Carolina are catching some bruiser Shellcrackers on the western branch of the Cooper River already but they have water in the 60s .....You should have fun in the kayak later this season as well...Last day of March so I'm happy!

Comment by David Wester on March 30, 2013 at 8:13pm

Picked up a used kayak recently with the thought of using it for short trips this spring when I have an hour or 2 and the gills are in the shallows. Gave it a test run today and only found 1 medium bluegill. When I unhooked him he felt as though I just pulled him out of the cooler. Also showed that cold water white color. The temps here in the Charlotte area are on the rise but the water is still frigid. Besides the temps, the wind here has been a factor. I don't mind fishing in the cold but I hate fishing in the wind. I hope to get a few real trips in on Lake Norman before my Dad and I head to Santee Cooper for our full moon shellcracker trip on April 24-25.
I'm looking forward to the first NC post of a true mess of nice gills. Hopefully it will be me. Good luck all. Let the friendly competition begin.

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on March 30, 2013 at 7:52pm

Thanks Jim and Happy Easter to you and your family......we got up into the high 60s today and we should get up there the next several days as well......No real bluegill bite to speak of yet but the Crappie bite has been pretty good for the last couple weeks.......Have a great time Monday and hope you guys battle some monsters on the Potomac!

Comment by Jim Gronaw on March 30, 2013 at 7:46pm

Not bad, Jeffrey. We finally had a day that approached 60 today, topping out at 58 degrees. Went to get bait for the bluecat trip and quickly caught 10 smallish gills and a crappie along with a decent rainbow trout on the jigs w/ mealworms. Cut trout is a great catfish bait...some guys buy them in the stores if they can't catch fresh stockers.

Happy Easter, by the way!

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on March 30, 2013 at 7:37pm

Only one more day in March of 2013 but we had another cold start in Northeast N.C. this morning with air temperatures in the mid 30s around the Albemarle sound.....I pondered where to go....should I go to Currictuck County where the nights have been milder but the ocean has held down day time temperatures....maybe Pasquotank or back to the Little River where I have had good results for Crappie in recent weeks........I settled on the upper Pasquotank but shifted to the Little River mid morning after I couldn't locate any water above 50 degrees.......When I arrived at the Little River it was 51 degrees and climbed to near 54 by mid afternoon......Tipping jigs with minnows was the ticket for fish suspended in staging areas waiting on the shallows to warm a bit....I ended up having the best results fishing 3 to 4 feet deep in water 5 to 8 feet near creek channels......

Pasquotank River was glass this morning

Had a few gills to go with the mess of Crappie today...

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on March 23, 2013 at 7:04pm

As I was scraping my windshield this morning preparing to hook up for a day on the water, I thought to myself that man that warm bed was comfortable....but on this day I had invited a friend and his son as they have been longing to get on some prespawning Crappie. Following a great trip last Wednesday after work I was feeling pretty good despite the winter strong hold.....I met my friends and we first grabbed a Hardee's biscuit and some rise n' shine coffee before heading  for the Little River.....We splashed the Ebbtide in the fog rolling of warmer water but on this morning that was 47 degrees.....I immediately lost some confidence but hoped we could still coax a few willing Crappie......The bite was slow and scattered all day but we hung in there for 19 nice Crappie and 6 bass.....We all three hooked a chain pickerel and landed two of them.....These fish hit soft plastics tipped with live minnows and were caught at four to six feet as they had pulled out of the shallows until the waters begin to warm again...

Some of today's nice Crappie...

My friend Doc with a nice Crappie and his largest Bass today....

Doc's son Matt with a decent Bass on a chilly day....

At least they can enjoy the memories and laugh about the cold over a nice fish fry....Had a good time and look forward to getting on the gills with you guys very soon!

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on March 22, 2013 at 8:54am

After a couple cold nights including a near record low this morning of 19 degrees, our creeks and rivers were fogging off some of that much needed warmth but sunny skies will hopefully keep the water above 50 degrees so don't despair.....get off the couch and try your luck......The Crappie that have went shallow will still bite after a cold front just not quite as fast....for you folks that like to catch a bass they will still be active but many of these will be the smaller males active shallow getting prepared for the females.....Our water temperatures in the northeast region of the state support gills beginning to stage in areas known to have beds during the Spring and Summer......I'm taking everything with me tomorrow....a few minnows, live grass shrimp and some crickets too.....want to be prepared for any frenzy I may encounter....looking forward to the success stories of other members around the Tarheel State...March madness, nascar, spring fever,  good eats and great freshwater fishing....Good luck to you all Fishing North Carolina Style!

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on March 21, 2013 at 4:29am

With just a couple hours to wet a line after work on Wednesday....I packed up some small minnows and my telescopic poles and headed back to Deep Creek mainly because it's close to the house but it produced over the weekend......To my surprise the water temperatures had jumped to 56 degrees from the March sun and the water level was still down 6 to 8 inches from the wind tides....I tied on a chartreuse/white collared Joker soft plastic and caught more than a dozen decent crappie and several largemouth bass....Also had a 3 to 4 pound Bowfin hooked but the violence was too much on my telescopic and he got off. Shifted over to a pink pearl with a white skirt and caught several more nice Crappie including the largest one of the day at 12.75".....Several bass and a few medium  gills also liked the slow falling skirt jig.......Fish were still shallow and caught at 24 inches in three to four feet of water.....We are well on our way as the March sun is doing the work of warming our waters.....During these days the creeks and coves will warm faster, also fish the windward side as the wind will push warmer water to one shore line....often only a couple of degrees is enough to make a big difference......for instance 53 degrees in most places and you locate a cove at 55, there's a good chance the bite will be better in the warmer water.

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