We are blessed in North Carolina with beautiful fishing grounds and my favorite is the black water rivers of the Northeast Corner of our state......The entire Albemarle region is a farming belt that is broken up by the sound and the many creeks and rivers that are sprinkled throughout this region.....Most are named after Indian tribes that inhabited this region early on and settled in these regions because of the fertile waterways.... We don't have as many gators as our friends to the south but be advised that gators have been sighted as far north as South Mills, N.C. which is just ten miles from the Virginia state line......I'm thankful for many things but I'm humbled by the great fishing available to us in North Carolina......

Thanks Jeff. Truly georgious.

You're welcome..I'm looking forward to filling these pages with current results but in the meantime I've added a few things to keep it interesting.....These are sights I see every time I go fishing so I like to share because it gives the reader a better connection in my opinion.....

Keep 'em coming Jeffrey!

Happy to get out for a little while this afternoon....Did see the drop in the water temperatures that I expected from two nights in a row down in the twenties.....Fish that I caught were nibbling with the exception of the seven channel cats that were aggressive to the point that they were interfering with my Bluegill hunt....But they were fun to catch so I got some kinks out of my line.....The Largemouth were very active and striking the surface, several times a bass took my orange float on a strike.....Saw some pollen on the surface of the water so that's a good indication of change for the better....Hope to get out again before my vacation to the deep South....Seventies the next two days!.........

Man, I gotta get this Jeep back together so I can go wet a hook!

There are many dock structures on the lower Pasquotank that are adjacent to deep water...These areas hold some solid creels of big gills in the hottest part of the Summer...Many anglers pass up these options and often miss a chance at some beautiful gills....The river can get pretty rough in this region so this chases many small boaters but watch for the low wind conditions and cash in.....

Again, great photos Jeffrey.

Thanks Steve...all the photos from the last comment are from my home river including the aerial shot out in the southern branch where the river widens out to several miles and a canoe would be iffy out there.....Lots of great water heading North and generally the better fishing in my opinion because it becomes more remote and alot quieter than the Elizabeth City harbor. Roy you better get some fishing in before you travel...good mental hygiene! All these docks hold fish including the big platform with an entire house built out over the water....It's nice in the eastern part of the state today with mid 70s and a southerly breeze.....

Are you heading out today Jeff? I'm not so sure I can make it today. Maybe a chance for an hour or two in the evening but thats all. It's really a beautiful day out today.

The photo of the marina, docks and city. Where is that Jeffrey? Truly beautiful.

Those are all near the waterfront sections of Elizabeth City Steve..The area behind the flag is a public area for 48 hours of free mooring to stop and eat, refuel etc....The Pasquotank River is part of the Intracoastal Waterway so it sees a lot of North and South traffic from the snowbirds.

well the wind almost blew me off the water this morning all I got was a little entertainment.  There were two racoons wondering around just a few feet away, next to the water.  You know what they say a bad fishing is better...

Nice picture Mark....I was sitting in the shipyard listening to the wind whistling around my building thinking it would be tough out there today but I look forward to having the option....I had a couple deer close to the river's edge a few weeks ago and they pretty much ignored me and went about there business.....Tomorrow looks brutal from a wind stand point and then another cold front....March is definitely up and down in our region.....

It was late July last year and I was having an amazing Summer for Bluegill with awesome creels while family was in during June and early July...A friend and fellow submariner had been wanting to go with me for quite some time and it had never quite worked out before......We celebrated my wife's birthday on 7/26 and I suggested to Don that we fish on the 27th because of great forecasted weather....He agreed and we took leave from work and made plans for a great July day.....I went down to Bassackwards Bait Shop and my friend Doug hooked me up with some big lively crickets for the morning run....Don and I met up for a Hardees steak biscuit and headed for the launch.....We set out on a beautiful July morning with an 83 heat index at 6:00 a.m........I pulled in the first hole and the big Yeopim River Coppernose delivered.....We started slamming the gills right away and when it was all said and done, Don had experienced what North Carolina has to offer first hand and he has been hooked ever since........The photos in this comment section are all from our memorable trip last Summer....It was brutally hot but so was the Gill action....What a trip it was and it just made me happy to hook yet another angler on what bluegill fishing is all about.....I don't fish bait Don, I fish Big Bluegill and now you know the rest of the story!

Had a great time this afternoon fellow members but it didn't look good early on with the passing cold front.....High winds and rain hung around all morning so I took my wife to our local hot dog restaurant and had a delicious lunch.....Got to love those crinkle cut fries!
Got home a little after noon and the sun peeked out an the winds dropped off a bit as they transitioned to the north behind the passing front....I loaded up a couple telescopic poles and my crickets and headed for a local creek....Water was down a bit and temperatures were @ 56 degrees as we got near 80 here in the Elizabeth City area yesterday.......Got positioned in an area to fish the grass beds as I have been doing the entire month....I added a picture in which you can see my floats in or near the grass beds....One of the bass I caught hit first and just about took my pole away as I was setting my other rig out.....Then the bluegill took over and the bite was pretty decent for several hours and I wound of with 26 Bluegill total including several more Coppernose which is a good sign for the weeks ahead......All we need is a few days in the eighties and a couple mild nights and the fishing is going to pick up....The fish are staged and ready to go shallow already.....

I didnt go out ..the bass are so confused right now. but a good week to come

I agree Derrick....I only saw a couple bass moving this afternoon and the two I caught were small.....We are facing back and forth temperatures right now but that's how March usually is anyway....We're alot closer than we were in December right! 

if the weather stays on the same course i think i can catch a few 7+lbers this week..or die trying

caught some crappie yesterday on a finesse worm but nothing huge

Got out for a little while this afternoon...Kind of chilly and a pretty strong North wind wasn't helping any.......Caught some nice gills including a few nice coppernose......Water temperatures were @ 56 degrees and still stained a bit from recent rains.....Caught the fish near bottom in three to four feet of water.......Had to be patient today...bite was slow but just a few days in the 80s and some mild nights and business will pick up........

in the 60's by me but went out and caught about 30 bass today in 3 hours im happy. no big ones.

There was a couple guys catching quite a few small bass on the creek I fished today.....I thought about you.....They never caught anything big though.....Bass have to be 14 inches here so they were throwing quite a few back.....They said they had three keepers when I left.......

It appears I really missed a good fishing weekend. But something came up Saturday that would had me on the water really late. Wife was off work yesterday, so I stayed home with her. Our schedule is where we see each other about 30 minutes in the morning each day and very seldom on the weekends. This Democratic Convention coming to Charlotte has really gotten everything moving. Lots of people already coming in. Hopefully things will calm down soon. Water is warming and so am I! Need to go fishing. 

I'm a mostly saltwater fishermen whose getting into bluegills so forgive my ignorance, but what is the fish in Jeffrey's Friday post that's not a gill and not a bass?

It's a big golden Shiner Roy.....basically a really nice bass bait.....A couple places I go have a lot of these and they hit crickets pretty good so you normally hook a few of the bigger ones....

I've caught one or two, but never really knew what it was.
Looks like it's getting close to fishing time. Last year I had a ton of camel crickets under the house, think I'll crawl under tomorrow and look and if their there I'll put out a couple of traps and start a collection for the fishing trips.
I think I'm also going to finally learn how to set up my fly rod. I'm heading to the Caribbean in may for a couple of months and would like to do a little fly fishing while I'm there. I know nothing about it, so I think I'll figure out what line I need and try to learn on the pond and river below the house.

Those camels are good bait if you can catch some.....The fly fishing will help pass the time as well Roy...I hope things are wide open soon....No matter where I fish my favorite fishing is North Carolina black water rivers for Coppernose......

Down to just three weeks until Good Friday but I'm betting things will bust out early this year....I've fished in some old haunts down in South Carolina this week and a few new spots in Central Georgia on the way to my old stomping grounds down on the bayous of Louisiana tomorrow...Regardless of how the fishing goes in Louisiana, I will return to North Carolina later this month energized for the new season......Doug from DB City Marina has tuned up my Mercury outboard and checked everything out for me and said I'm ready for the new season....The early season photos from last Spring are a great reminder of things to come......Moral of this story....Get Ready in Carolina.....March Madness starts tomorrow and the Bluegill bite soon after!

Do love those pictures and stories Jeffrey. Enjoy yourself on your road trip. Be safe, catch plenty of fish everywhere and return home safely.

Thanks Steve...I know it's a busy time for you, but I'm hoping you will get on some of your Spring time Gills soon and share some of the stories with us...

Sounds like fun Jeff.  Caught about half a dozen bream on the popping bug (Tulls creek) yesterday.  Water is still a little muddy.  Hope they really turn on in the next few weeks

Things are getting better Mark if they are striking on the surface...Tulls does have a tendency to mud up in some areas more than the other area rivers at times...Saw the 80s stretched up through the mid Atlantic today so that will help......Thanks for the update......

Thanks for your interest in the group Harold....look forward to your inputs.....

Still getting passing cold fronts with strong north/northeast winds but it's got to break soon....Looking forward to getting out this week and see how the Carolina fish are reacting........I've been counting down until Good Friday next week and it appears to be right about the time things will pick up! Also happens to be our next Full Moon..........Good luck to all the members hunting for Spring time Gills!

Most Important News today is water temperatures are in the high 60s in the Northeast Corner of the state......Had enough time after work today to run over to Deep Creek and give it a whirl.......Fished an hour and caught 16 total gills...nothing real big and I had some chunky hens in the creel......I released all these fish as I was just prefishing for some upcoming trips......The Live Cricket and Chartreuse 1 Inch Minnow is still my bait of choice......Good Friday and Full Moon is at the end of next week but things appear to be in good shape if you can get out this weekend........Have to see what this front does Saturday........Start fishing weed lines and tighter to the bank.........

I went to the Scuppernong River today for the first time in 2012......With the forecast for Saturday including rain I couldn't chance a wash out with the climbing water temperatures.......Had a great time.....Started out chilly....truck read 50 degrees when I arrived at the launch....I went out solo today and had a pretty good trip.......No real large gills but I had several at 9 inches....I had a mix of bulls and hens and the fish were scattered shallow......I covered quite a bit of water to put this mess together......I also ran into a couple tree tops holding Black Crappie and I kept a dozen of them as well as my 30 fish limit of Bluegill........The bass were going crazy and I did add one keeper out of seven Largemouth caught today.....I started out using my standard Chartreuse Minnow/Live Cricket combination and switched over to an Acid Rain Kalin's jig in yellow/white tipped with a cricket for several gills and 10 of the Crappie......Water temperatures are in the mid to high 60s so the gills will start piling up earlier this year.....All the fish pictured in this comment were near the shore in relatively shallow water so start pounding the shoreline next time out.....I only fished about 14" deep today............Good Luck!

I think two of my boys and I are headind out to the Millpond tomorrow. I'll let ya'll know how it goes.

Good deal Roy...hopefully you guys can get out with the rains and passing cold front......I'm going to get out again on Sunday....I'll decide where after I check water levels and wind direction this evening........I'm eager to try several different spots early season!

I will put up a bass piece for those of you that enjoy Largemouth.......I took my neighbor's son Eric today and he begged me to go after seeing me cleaning fish yesterday....I told him he was good but I was pulling out at 6:15 a.m.......He was good as long as he was treated to a Bojangles Sausage biscuit......No problem...I like the Cajun Filet Biscuist so we'll be o.k. We first got on some Crappie with shiners and caught our 40 fish limit....More to follow on a different comment....We then geared up for gills and we were amazed at the bass movement and I caught 4 keepers and Eric caught 2 and a throwback...These fish were shallow and we were fishing a foot deep.....You need a bass every once in awhile to keep the kinks out of your line!

Awesome morning on the Crappie....After catching a few Friday I picked up some medium shiners and it was on.....The limit in North Carolina is 20 per person 8 inches and over...........Eric and I got on them early and got our 40 fish limit....Eric caught his personal best @ 12 inches.....It's always a great day when you take a kid fishing and then on top of that you get in the fish!....Priceless!

The water temperature in this river was down to 60 degrees at first light.......Air temps got down to 49 last night so the gills pulled out of the shallows...Nothing big today....Wound up with 13 gills to compliment the limit of Crappie (40) and a nice stringer of Largemouth (6) for a total catch of 59 fish........The ice beakers are ten days ahead of last year which came on 4/11/2011.......All in all a great weekend Fishing Carolina Style!

Jeff, where did you guys go today? We picked up one small Crappie yesterday at the Millpond and didn't even have any of the other bait picked off. I forgot to take my temp gauge but the water felt pretty cold, may have been a bit too early, especially with the rain lately.
Either way, it was a great day out with two of my boys!

We fished the Little River Roy....the main channel back towards 17 and a ditch that runs off into Perquimans County.....I call it the  "Hog Pens" because of the farms on that side...... It was chilly to start out and the water temps had dropped a little from Friday ......In my opinion the gills won't start good until the water temps settle out above 65 degrees.....

Glad to see all you North Carolina anglers out and doing well. It's been so busy at my work for the past 2 weeks, have not had a chance to get out to fish. Thought I was going Sunday, late morning. Loaded and ready to go Saturday afternoon. 9:00PM Saturday, phone rings. Got to got into work. Did not get home until 8:00AM Sunday morning. Needless to say, no fishing. Oh well. Soon there will be another chance. You guys do well out there. Send plenty of photos so I don't forget what fishing is about!

Get out there when you can Steve....water temperatures have been going the right direction for a couple weeks now.....Still have to rebound from some chilly nights but Sunny skies will warm up the shallows quicker which will draw the Gills in....I find just a few degrees makes a difference in catching early Spring fish.....like Friday I was fishing an area flashing 63 degrees with limited success and went a mile up and water temps jumped to 67 and bluegill fishing picked right up......It's a real factor this time of year as the gills naturally want to start looking for nesting locations.....Full moon is this Friday so it's a historical time on my Bluegill rivers.....The rivers north of the Albermarle Sound drop significantly with North/Northeast winds but this has an opposite affect on the Southern Rivers like Alligator and Scuppernong.....Planning a big day on the water this Saturday the 7th and I will not decide where I'm going to as late as Friday......Good luck everyone....... 

Will do Jeffrey. Like you, Saturday might be a good day....keeping my fingers crossed. Friday being a holiday, Easter Sunday, no scheduled work this weekend. Praying for no more callouts. Would love to see more pictures of cypress swamps! 

It's all about the Swamp Steve.......I love it and there is no better place to wet a line..........Truly peaceful and there is a surprise around every turn......Whether it be the groan of a gator......the call of a Wood Duck taking off or the Morning Doves breaking the silence of daylight over the marsh......

One of my favorite spots to go is a local swamp off the Pasquotank River that a family of beavers have lived for many years and have created an amazing fishery.......It's so fertile with almost every species of freshwater fish in North Carolina ......It was isolated for decades but is now accessible and beautiful.....I've caught great stringers of channel cat, largemouth, bluegill, shellcracker, warmouth, flier, white perch......you name it....it's hanging out in the Beaver pond! I may not get there again until May but I'll be counting down for sure!