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........

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

JUST READ THIS WHOLE THING AGAIN JEFFREY , AND LOOKED AT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE PICS !!!

UNBELIEVABLE BUDDY. ONE thing stands out , YOU ENJOY SHARING YOUR PASSION FOR FISHING !

  OWEN AND CODY hopefully will have memories with Grandpa that will last em a lifetime , and that's the way it should be ....... Thanks for posting this and it makes me even more determined to make it there this year no matter what barriers stand in my way ........

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

With coastal North Carolina now in the path of Tropical Storm Andrea I pushed to get out one more time before the impact.....water was sure to be up from the southern push and early bands of tropical rains were in the forecast but I still set out.....Man I'm glad I did and here's a few shots to bring this day back to life, Thursday the 6th of June.....

First fish of the afternoon set the bar high but the Albemarle was up to it.......

It didn't take long to realize I had made a good choice on this spot ahead of Andrea.....

The rains came earlier than predicted but the bite didn't suffer nor did the angler......I felt the pressure to fish as the coming days would be a no go.....

Everything was hitting.....11 bass and 16 Crappie as well despite water temperatures near 80.........

The rains continued including a couple downpours but the bite remained steady and good fish too boot......

My wife had just called to check on me when this gill hammered my jig......

It was clear that the rains were here to stay so I began to work back towards the launch......

Bass continued to greet me along the way.....

The sunfish count was over fifty by now with a couple pretty seeds in the mix as well......

I lost one last bait at the launch and wound up releasing 61 Sunfish...16 Crappie and 11 Largemouth.......on a typical June day but I had to rush home to see what Andrea was doing......

She is going to past over us on the 7th but I'm glad to see she is a fast mover.....hopefully less rain and swamp turnover.......

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Now that it appeared likely that Tropical Storm Andrea would pay us a visit in coastal North Carolina....I had to get back out a couple times before her arrival......I set out for Bagley's Swamp on the 4th and here's a few pictures that tell the story on this day......

The day started out nicely despite low water from shifting wind tides....the fish had just pulled back a few feet from the nesting shallows which remained covered thankfully......historically a problem from tropical storms...

Solid Gills continued to hammer my jigs presented under a float......still unaware that Mother Nature was on the prowl again......

The action remained fast and I was enjoying the morning but Andrea remained in the back of my mind.....Dad gets here next week and will it be just in time to wait out the disaster of an over turned swamp from the storm....surely not!

Several trophy gills off of Bagley today along with a few Crappie and Bass......

Most of the fish today were caught on a purple Celsius jig tipped with live crickets or grass shrimp......

It turned out to be a great 50 fish afternoon with quality Coppernose the theme of the day.......Jigs two feet under a fixed float from my telescopics made it a truly fun trip.......Hope Andrea spares the region.......nervous time for local farmers too.......

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

June is now here and so is the pressure to locate the gills for our upcoming annual Abney family vacation......water is up from strong southerly flows and all looks good for a trip to the Little River......Caught a nice mess of gills and here's a few pictures of how it went on the 2nd of June.....

I had tied a #8 brown Bro Bug on for tipping with live crickets and started out early with some great gills....

The action remained steady in the shallows so there was no need to change baits as solid gills continued to hammer my Bro Bug.....

Despite the bait's smaller size.....three nice largemouth and a decent channel cat also joined the fight....

This continued for several hours as the we were drenched under high skies and the approach of the season's first Tropical disturbance......not what we need now for the summer of fishing ahead!

I put the wraps on this day just before 10:00 a.m. and had caught and released 43 nice gills including 6 of 10" or over.......things are right on schedule in the Albemarle Estuary......

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

I'll be continuing with the June section of this blog in the coming weeks......lots of fun putting it together and hope you folks enjoy..........I started on the first of May and I will take it to the 21st of July when it is done.........

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

The sun has set on May 2013 but that just means that June was here and my second favorite month of the year for gill fishing in coastal North Carolina......It came in with high skies and heat and I got out to my home river for a June ice breaking trip and snapped a few photos to look back on a great time.....

I got things started early on a splash jig tipped with grass shrimp.....

This is one of eight 10" class gills from this trip......

Some real pretty seeds in the mix too...nothing real big....

What a great egg layer....definitely want to release her and keep her in the gene pool....

This fish displays those great round characteristics that I love in Coppernose gills.....

Had very high skies without a cloud but the gills stayed active throughout the morning....

Light southwest winds had the water at the best level for bedding gills.......it's always best if it stays up a bit this time of year.....

Everything in this body of water likes grass shrimp......

Too pretty to keep....chestnut colors are awesome....

Early nester showing signs of his work with a bleeding tail......

Big gill of the day.....got distracted by a big surface strike just up from the boat......

This was a great opener for June....wound up with 53 gills, a big Channel Cat (pictured), a yellow perch, a white perch and two Crappie.......nice Daily Double for an Ice Breaker.....

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Thanks Tooty.....I'm preparing early June right now and it'll be fun to do....caught some great fish this Summer....

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

GREAT GROUP OF PICS JEFFREY !!!!!! LOOKS LIKE LITL AND HER FRIEND HAD A BALL TOO BUDDY ......

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Wound up catching 1,084 gills on the Albemarle region this past May......It was a great beginning to one of the best years ever........I'll start the June Diaries very soon and they will feature the annual Abney family vacation....we had a a great 2013 and it'll be fun to recap in this blog.........

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

After a hectic Memorial Day weekend I had mustered the energy for one final trip in May and I invited my wife Helen and family friend Shelly for an afternoon on the "Tank"........We had an exciting afternoon and I took a few snap shots to close out a great month......May of 2013.....

Family friend Shelly wasted little time to get in on the action......

I was very happy that the frisbee gills were hitting for my fishing guests today......

I had located an active honey hole on the Tank this afternoon and man was it productive.....

These fish were in their full spawning glory......

Shelly was very excited with the pole bending quality of these monster gills......

My wife Helen also picked up her pole and caught some solid gills too.....

I couldn't let them have all the fun.......

Action along side the boat....we often had doubles on today......

Fish were tight to cover and stalking the shallows.......

It was a very warm afternoon but we had a great time....

We ended up catching 19 gills of 10" and over today.....

We caught some great fish this day and wound CPRing 60 gills......What a great month May 2013 was on the Albemarle!