The Story of the Tabbert Collection in 2014........A Diary to Follow Dick Tabbert's Baits in Coastal Carolina

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

I had tremendous success late last year after receiving some great baits from Dick......they are some incredible shrimp patterns in a wonderful collection of colors.......

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

The new and improved Jelly Jigs in 1/32 ounce and some of the best looking Quills I've ever seen.....Nice work Dick and Carl.......Can't wait to get them wet!

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Five species this afternoon on the pink jelly jig tipped with live crickets......Black Crappie, Largemouth Bass, Fliers, Bluegill and a couple Chain Pickerel.......these baits are holding their own nicely fished under a quill float today at 18 to 14 inches in three to four feet of water........Here's a few shots of today's fish munching on pink.....

The Black Crappie spawn has begun in coastal North Carolina but it will not peak until we get several days of moderate night time air temps to stabilize water temps in the high 50s....

Mouthful of pink.....

The predators wanted in on things too....

And a few chain pickerel too.....

And the gills were hitting this 1/32 ounce jig hard like this one....you can barely make out the jig head.....he inhaled it!

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

I had to get out on the first day of spring so after work the air temperature was sitting at 65 so I hooked up the Ebbtide and headed down to the river hoping the days of rain earlier this week didn't stain our waters beyond confident fishing levels.......The Tabbert Jelly Jig had been so impressive over the weekend it was hard to go away from it on this day.........So I got out a few hours and here's a few shots to show how it went......

The chartreuse scored early and often with the predators as I wound up catching 11 small bass.......

Some fine Black Crappie were nestled in the shallows and a minnow tipped jelly jig pulled out some big ones.....

Solid fish on a great creation....proven to be very durable......

Wind died down a bit as the sun got lower in the Carolina blue sky......

Most fish on this day were caught on a telescopic pole........

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Yeah Dick......North Carolina is one of those states that offers both great fishing for Black Crappie in the creeks and river systems along with amazing Whiite Crappie fishing in dozens of lakes and reservoirs like you remember down on Lake Norman,,,,,,,,I rarely visit the lakes as I prefer the river patterns and have put the time in to learn and record details for my local waters over the years......I love to explore and find new areas but it's also difficult at times to go away from fertile waters that continue to produce year after year......

[dick tabbert]

Jeffrey I remember them days back in N C. That is where I started crappie fishing and fishing for them rascals every since. Loved it then and still love it.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Thanks Carl.....just waiting on a break from Mother Nature.......got a  big fish fry at work tomorrow as I try to do every year to usher in Spring......definitely ready and got to watch the driveway to make sure Joe doesn't have me blocked in.......he's kind of getting hooked.......if you will!

[carl hendrix]

great turtorial jeff!!!    bet our going fishing again soon!1  LOL!

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

So I got to take bigbluegill member Joe out early this past Sunday before the arrival of the latest storm.......We were pole fishing and lure selection is a new process for Joe and I suggested he put a pink jelly on and I would try the chartreuse......We would both be tipping with crickets or live minnows but when the shallow Crappie bite took off we went solely with minnows and boated 27 solid Black Crappie in short order including several slabs up to 14" including Joe's personal best.........We were fishing in two to three feet of water with the jig at 18" and what a blast.......Having a detailed knowledge of the underwater structure in the region we fished, I kept pointing out the submerged wood and Joe would strategically place his bait adjacent to the flooded cypress and often the quill would just shoot down like a torpedo........a lot of fun and here's a few of the fish we landed on that trip........

We doubled up several times as both colors appeared to be working in the semi stained water we had...

Some nice gills and more than a dozen small bass took the offering also....

A big sow on the chartreuse.....

We were fishing them under some quill floats provided by member Bob Garner.....

Awesome fish on the jelly jigs plain and Dick has now made incredible improvements including paint flake and 3D eyes as well.......

So many species will take these jigs as well.......already in just three trips I've caught Largemouth, Spotted Bass, Yellow Perch, Gills, Warmouth, Seeds and nearly a hundred Crappie........the coppernose will go nuts over these baits......

[dick tabbert]

Thank you Carl. You can endlessly make jigs there are so many ways and recipes you can come up with as you know. Personally the time of year I fish if do happen to make it out that's when I think flash pays off not saying plains not good but I think it has its place and time of year when it can shine and spring and summer to me ain't that time of year.

[dick tabbert]

Thanks Earl I'm just a man like you doing what I like to do under the circumstances. The bluish looking one is actually White pearl I'm thinking is didn't get as much light as the others but a light blue wouldn't be bad.