The Phenomenon of the color PINK in Brackish Waters for Sunfish......

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

As an active member of Bigbluegill.com the last several years, I have learned a lot and shared many ideas that have proven successful for Sunfish in the waters I fish. Prior to becoming a member I had several secrets that remained in my pocket and only my closest fishing buddies had ever even shared in this success. This isn't to say others weren't fishing the same baits in a similar style and catching fish or using baits of their choice and finding similar success.  I was a young kid with numerous anglers in my extended family and I learned early from my grandpa Foster Abney, who always told me to listen when I got around fishermen and think about things that might help me or work where I was fishing.  I was fortunate to be pretty close with an Uncle on my mother's side of the family that lived one town over in Southeastern Louisiana. He grew up and lived near the banks of the Tcefuncte River in the small town of Madisonville, Louisiana and only fished two bodies of water during his eighty plus year life.  A fact that many folks close to him never knew is he fished live grass shrimp for some 60 to 70 years and I couldn't begin to tell you how many Bluegill, Shellcracker, Warmouth and Crappie that he caught over the years.   One Thanksgiving day in the early 1970s as our 100 member family assembled in Folsom, Louisiana for the best dinners we ever ate, Uncle Kenny walked out to an acre pond that was dug on the family farm to stock with fish for the 20 plus grandkids in the Sharp family.  I was there casting a beetle spin when he asked if I had a scoop net with me. I did and we went over to some grass beds near the shore and made a quick scoop and filled a bucket up with little crustaceans called Grass Shrimp. He said put a cork and a bream hook on there and let me show you something. I eagerly followed his instructions and a few moments later we were pulling out big bluegill one after another.  This went on for quite some time and my Uncle explained if you ever run out of Grass Shrimp "Jeffie" and can't find more, take a pink soft plastic jig and fish that in the same areas. He explained that I wouldn't be disappointed and don't be afraid to tip the hook with a worm, grasshopper or a cricket if you have some.  I went home armed with the advice and went through seven or eight tackle boxes my dad and I had but no pink in any of them. I couldn't believe it but surely I'll find some the next time at the bait shop.  A few short days later my dad and I visited the local bait shop and I rushed the fishing tackle, both shelves and found two packs of little curly tails that had a mix of white and pink, they were mine and I was excited to let Uncle Kenny know I had found some and was eager to try them as soon as I could. His only clue was Pink was the best match for live grass shrimp in our brackish waters. He explained saltwater anglers have realized it for some time but freshwater fishermen have failed to make the correlation and they are truly missing out. In the weeks ahead I will go into detail how I fish these jigs and hopefull answer many of the questions I have received about the mystery of pink.

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

YOUR CATCHES THIS YEAR HAVE BEEN ASTOUNDING JEFFREY!!!!!!! WHAT DOES NEXT YEAR HOLD ?!!!!!!!!!!! YOU'LL get an early start in the spring and maybe break the 2000 mark for gills caught this coming year. IF THE WEATHER cooperates for me this coming year, I should do OK too .  PROBABLY won't get the 2000 mark but will certainly break a 1000 with a little luck and a few more bugs........................

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Now it's the second half of October and the fishing has been pretty good this month despite up and down weather and prevailing winds from the Northeast keeping our rivers down a bit on the Northern reaches of the Albemarle Sound......I had a couple more fun trips the third week of the month and got to field test a few baits from BBG member Leo....Here's what it looked like.....

I got home from this trip and checked the mail and discovered mail from "Caly".......Let's see what they looked like and test them out a little while....

The Pink Panther jig was doing good but it was time to tie one of Leo's baits on an give it a whirl.....

So the first soaking for Leo's homemade jigs resulted in a mixed bag of Bass, Crappie and Gills.....These baits will not get a fair shake until the Spring of next year.....Got some friends from Virginia coming to join me on the North River next week......And watching the weather there is some concern in the Atlantic basin.......a storm named Sandy is brewing......

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Any time I get to take out some friends to wet a line I look forward to it and I was finally able to get a long time buddy down to Carolina on the North River....His youngest son accompanied us and we had a great time......Here's how it went......

On this day my guest caught his personal best Crappie.....a real slab! Way to go Matt!

Another great trip is over and we pass through the Dismal Swamp on the way back to the launch....These guys had three great trips with me this season and here's hoping for more next year.....Going to get the Grandkids out for a couple trips on some really great weather before the storm........

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

It's an added bonus anytime you can share your passion with kids and it's priceless when your grandkids can get in the mix with you.....We hit the community lakes for a great time with pink and here's a few shots of us doing it right........

I get a tremendous amount of satisfaction out of taking the boys fishing....We open up the Bluegill Classroom every chance we get.......It will be one of my goals to present them each with a Master's Degree in Bluegill Angling.......

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

October is winding down and Hurricane Sandy is now becoming a serious threat to the east coast........I become anxious to get back out a couple more times before Sandy brushes the Outer  Banks of North Carolina........Here's how the last two trips on the Little River went before Sandy  came through the area...

This was a great trip catching fish a little deeper on telescopic poles......The weather is always amazingly calm before a tropical system and it was no different before Sandy rolled by.......I had time for one more morning trip before the winds from Sandy's outer bands arrived in the Albemarle region of Carolina......

So final preparations were complete and we had filled a cooler and grabbed some snacks to wait out the storm........We were very fortunate that Sandy spared North Carolina and another month was nearing an end but I still considered it a success. It was time to take the kids trick or treating and I looked forward to some November Gills on pink......

[Steve Crowder]

A great and wonderful story Jeffrey. As always, your photographs make me want to drop everything and head your way. Thanks for passing all of this along. 

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Thanks Steve.....one of these days.....

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

The calendar says November now and Hurricane Sandy has left a path of destruction to the north and we were spared in coastal North Carolina......I'm eager to get back out and see what's going on....I got out several times the first week of the month and we had chilly nights and lowering water temps.....this is how it looked......

It was good to see things were not disturbed on the Pasquotank River after the storm.....Water temperatures in the mid 50s on a beautiful Fall afternoon......It was time to get my grandsons out with promises of milder air temperatures.....

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Here's a few more shots from an outing in early November with my Grandson's Owen and Cody......

We ended up having a real blast on an early November day with a chill in the air.......These Channel Cats and Gills were hitting everything pink tipped with live grass shrimp.......Owen and Cody had a blast with their Zebco combos in their hands!

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Weather begins to take a turn and I continue to get on the water ahead of the dropping water temperatures......I take a couple adventures the second week of November and here's how it went........

This was a great outing with the grandchildren...time to get back up to Virginia for a Veteran's Day outing on the Northwest River with a fellow submariner.....

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

We have been pretty chilly at night on several occasions including our first couple heavy frosts by now but I packed up my things and headed an hour North to wet a line on a border river between Virginia and Carolina.....

A great November trip and a nice mixed bag.....Nice to enjoy Veteran's Day with a fellow Veteran and some good telescopic fishing for Bluegill......The pink mini-mite with grass shrimp was a killer on this trip....

[Rick King]

Variations of Pink on a size 12 hook