82 Days on the Albemarle.........a view from the Bluegill Chariot

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

I decided on a recent trip that I would look back and reflect on a few of the memories of the 2013 season to date....If you have followed me at all on BBG you know that I traditionally count down to Good Friday as this usually marks the end of Winter and our water temperatures begin their slow crawl toward the 60s as we wait impatiently for our beloved Coppernose gills to become active..........Within 75 miles of my residence I have 12 river systems and over 50 creeks that regularly produce quality bluegills which I label as 10" or greater....When It's time to tear April off my calendar I get the chills knowing that May has arrived again and my three best months of the year are finally here.......I have checked every pole twice, retied again and again, put the battery tester on a half dozen times and written list after list to prepare for this moment, as the next 82 days will be a blur on the Albemarle........I have settled down in recent years so that I can really enjoy these moments with friends, family and gills.......I read in a local study that the grass shrimp hatch is one of the best ever and many may think, "well I'll never get a bite with all that forage in the rivers", but I think just the opposite.....it's very important to match the hatch and to fish with live grass shrimp and baits that resemble them.......Of course Doug has nothing to worry about at the local bait store as I have still been responsible for the purchase of 86 tubes of crickets since the first of May....A few local ponds near my neighborhood are producing quality grass shrimp and I go every couple days to fill up my aerated buckets with new specimens.....It would be abnormal to not hear the hum of dueling aerators in my garage this time of year.......I have big plans this season as several new anglers will join me on the Bluegill Chariot including friends from BBG.com and my grandsons also join me for the first trips for us together from a boat.....Twelve anglers fish with me during this 82 day period and 11 of them catch at least one personal best...It's both exciting and rewarding to provide friends and family with this great opportunity that is fishing........Folks from as far away as Louisiana join me in coastal North Carolina to pursue the big gills of the Albemarle.........During this period we experience three full moons and all are very productive and predictable........We have been unseasonably mild through April and the forecast is for more of the same in May.....But I have so many bugs and jigs to try and so little time to get it done......testing is fun and you never want to tell a guy or a gal that their  bait doesn't catch fish!  But when great imaginations are coupled with my bluegill addiction, big things can happen and in the days ahead I will document 82 days on the Albemarle Estuary between the first of May and the 21st of July..........2013 has been special as I have already topped 1,200 Crappie and 4,100 Sunfish.........If you get one thing from this blog, just remember how important it is to enjoy fishing for what it is and indulge in the memories as they happen....it creates bonds that are not easily broken if ever! Thanks to all the guys and gals that have got out with me this season and allowed me to share my addiction to the beloved Bluegill......I'm too old to change so you can rest assured that I'll be somewhere chasing gills or preparing a feast of those mouth watering fillets........

[Slip Sinker]

Very nice text and pics Jeff... good medicine for the cabin fever

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Thank you Jim....I enjoy the digital technology that's available today having a shoe box full of polaroids from the good ole days......I'm truly thankful that my parents can still get out there with me a few times a year and my nephew has been a sponge for the fishing knowledge since he was a toddler.....I'm blessed to have the public waters available that I do and enjoy sharing these experiences......Glad you enjoyed it.....that makes it worth doing!

[jim cosgrove]

thanks jeffrey.i am thrilled to have 1 or 2 days a year like you have on a regular basis.hard to believe they are the same fish with that dark color,please keep it coming this is a  great read and your photography is top notch

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Thanks Tooty.....I'm up through the 22nd of June so I have a month to go to complete the blog, but it'll take some time to get it done....caught about 4,200 gills during this peak period.......great times and a good keepsake...

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

GREAT PICS JEFFREY AND ESPECIALLY LIKE THE FAMILY SHOTS WITH MOM , DAD, AND THE NEPHEW ....

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Appreciate it Carl.....I had great fishing growing up in southern Louisiana and my parents lived on Toledo Bend for nearly 20 years.......I lived in the low country of South Carolina for thirteen years on the door step to Santee Cooper Lakes catching three of my five best gills ever including my personal best, but the sunfish fishing is better on the Albemarle Estuary than any of those spots hands down.......Everyone is entitled to their opinion but I've actually lived it and know........

[carl hendrix]

still say you have a great mom and dad-  kids - grand kids as well! the places you have to fish in are what dreams are made of!!

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

After several hot and humid days, Pop decided to take a day off so my mother grabbed a license and joined Dan and I on the Pasquotank river for a summer classic......We had a great time and here's a few shots of how our day went.......Mom gave us a run for our money.........

And wouldn't you guess it, mom gets the first gill on this trip but my float plunges down while I'm taking this picture....be right back.....

Dan can we get a little help asked my mother.....LOL

Dan answered the bell quickly and a great day was officially underway....

With our water temperatures almost 90 degrees on the surface we were catching the fish out a little ways from the shore line and a little deeper......

You can see these gills have been working.....

Mom shows off another nice gill as that high sky shines down on us.....

We had a nice double but I had to remind Dan we were gill fishing on this trip......

Mom stuck another and we were happy to find a little shade on this day.....

I set the hook and what do you know....a goggle-eye in all that flooded timber......

Dan went in right behind me and snagged another nice Warmouth......

A closeup of Dan's Warmouth.....

Dan and I snagged a nice double so I made him pick up the camera for a minute......

My next fish was a real dark tannic water beauty.....

Mom snagged another beauty.....

Dan got back to work and what a pretty fish....need a closeup of this one....

Wow....what great body dynamics on this fish.....

We caught nearly 80 and kept enough for another good fry......

Mom and I display daily doubles from a great trip.....

It was a great time to get out with my nephew and my mother for a round of gill fishing.....We hadn't done this in a while but she wasn't done yet.....stay tuned for another round with my mom.....

[Leo Nguyen]

Holy smoke. The counter must be half way broken by now.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

We had a falling wind tide on the 19th and we all agreed that we would go back to the coastal marsh and work those cuts on the falling tide.......We had built momentum in recent days and were excited to get back out there....Here's a look at how it went....

Like normal, Dan got the first bite as I got everything settled....water temperature sits at 79 degrees and the falling wind tide was present.....

I tied on an olive hair jig from member Rick King and started making noise right away....

Dan matched my coppernose and the battle was on......

The olive was working well and I put pressure on my nephew.....

Another shot of a great coastal marsh fish....

Pop stuck one to remind us he was not just along for the ride.....

Another solid gill as our trip was getting wound up.....

Typical of areas we fished on this day....

Dan was trying to up his game....

I matched Dan and quickly put the camera down.....

A big hen pounded my olive Gronaw Grass Shrimp and Dan realized he was in for a battle......

He came up with a Yellow Perch as I promised he would be falling behind soon....LOL

I quickly snagged a gill and the pressure was on again......

Almost simultaneously all three of us get a strike and all land a decent copper.......

Dan found a solid Flier a few casts later and we were having a wonderful time...

I stuck a copper and we were winding down our trip....

Popped another on my last cast of the trip and what a day we had.....

Gills were still active and popping the surface when we called it a day having caught 85 sunfish with 20 over 10"......Another classic day....