A Prosperous 2014 Panfish Season To Date

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

 Not sure what all the contributing factors are but 2014 has been an amazing panfish season to date in Coastal North Carolina......Despite getting hit by a wave of tornadoes in late April and a brush by a CAT 2 hurricane on the 4th of July......this year has been productive since New Year's Day........I've already experienced quantity records for Black Crappie and the Summer bite continues to be incredible........I topped 3,000 Crappie earlier in July and sit at 3,151 as of 8/1/2014 with 617 of those fish at 13" or larger......Even July has been productive for Crappie with 417 crossing the decks........I'm also on a record pace for Bluegills but the remainder of 2014 will be very busy at work so the jury is still out........As of 8/1/2014, 3,619 gills have been caught this year on the Albemarle with 1,470 10" class fish or better......It has been a blast getting several new folks out with me to wet a line and of course our traditional Abney Family Vacation was special again this year......Here's a few pictures I put together to look back on this great season........Let's hope the rest of the year is just as good......

 All the rivers on the Albemarle have healthy populations of Black Crappie.....Anything of 13" or better is a River Slab in my opinion.....most fish are in the 10 to 12 inch class with fish up to 16" routinely caught in these waters,

99 percent of the speckled perch in these rivers are Black.......very few White Crappie in the rivers of the Albemarle......

A Solid Crappie Daily Double from Early May on the Albemarle......

Even in the heart of the Summer we find quality fish in the shallows on flooded cuypress....

May delivered as usual....

I love it when the Big Gills and Crappies are packed in together....usually occurs in early May...

Quality Coppernose dominate our brackish water rivers.....

A Classic Coppernose Daily Double....

Memorial Day weekend produced this nice pair.....

Caught in the same area a big bull shark was caught last summer....

Remember this region is only 10 miles from the Atlantic Ocean....

My nephew Dan caught his personal best gill back in June at 1 pound 12 ounces......a great fish that will probably go to Tim Overbaugh....

My Avatar picture comes from the most productive water I fish for large bluegills.......

I owe my success in this body of water to all the information I got from a man almost 90 years old....

This monarch gill comes from a location that I save every year for just 4 to 6 trips to minimize pressure and optimize the trophy gills that reside there......an amazing place to fish and I'm usually sleepless the night before......Going back there at least one more time this summer....

And finally earlier this week after work on Tuesday......I crossed paths with my best gill of 2014 and what a tribute to the waters I fish year round.....A great season and I still have five months......incredible fishing this year for sure........

[Andy is OptiMystic]

Nice! Still haven't been able to get out since March and shoulder surgery recovery could be going better. They may end up going back in.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Sorry to hear this Andy......I'm hoping you get better news and relief soon............when you finally heal keep a trip to the Albemarle on the table.......I can put you on some good fishing..........

[Andy is OptiMystic]

I still hope to take you up on the offer. Starting to look like a fall trip at the soonest this point though. I was hoping to get out there this summer, but...

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

I'm ahead of 2014 by several 100 gills but behind the crappie numbers again after my personal best season for speckles in 2014.......

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

With the crappie numbers I have experienced this month it made me flash back to an awesome year with similar weather patterns.......here's hoping the bluegill bite will come close to what I experienced  back in 2014.......if you're a new member or looking for a trip to North Carolina.......take a look at what the public waters in coastal North Carolina has to offer...........# Albemarle Sound, # Coppernose, # North Carolina...........# Elizabeth City 

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

If you enjoy the pictures and testimony I contribute to this site.......please take a look at this Blog in which I document a great panfish season in 2014..............

[Kelly Peterson]

Simply awesome and thanks for sharing, Jeffrey!

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Thanks Kelly, glad you enjoyed it.....

[Bruce Tomaselli]

Hi Jeffrey, I do appreciate your posts. Thanks

Do you mean 2014 or is that a misprint?

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Appreciate it Bruce.......Yes sir........2014 was a season that I set out to document through photos.......and I took a little over 12.000 pictures that year..........we are just breaking loose in 2021......I actually caught and released 26 nice bluegill on the warmest day of 2021 in coastal North Carolina.......

[Bruce Tomaselli]

Great report and beautiful fish. You certainly have some fishing benefits in your area.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

It is an incredible fishery for many species........