Debbie said she felt the best today, that she has in over 6 months. She _LOVES_ to go fishing, but since her stamina isn't up to par yet, we decided to do a bit of local bank fishing. We always love hopping from place to place when we do that, so we set out to check out a few spots. It was overcast, temps above 70 degrees, and intermittently sprinkling rain. Unseasonably warm, for sure...but the water is cold. I didn't measure the temp, but it's cold.
The first place we went to was a public spot under and around the bridge where 231 crosses Little River just south of Zebulon (and just off hwy 96). We climbed down the rip rap and fished a bit, but not much happening there today. Debbie picked up a blue gill on a beetle spin, and I was skunked :-) We stayed about 30 minutes, rotated through several types of bait, and decided to move on.
Next, we stopped at a place we called "Fish Foods" and were horrified. We hadn't been there this year... IT WAS GONE!! It was located across from US Foods in Zebulon, had been there for many decades. They have cut the dam, drained it, cut all the trees, and are filling it in to build more houses. Just what we need...more houses everywhere. Progress. I guess... Well, we moved on...
Next, we stopped at Moccasin Creek where hwy 97 crosses it, just east of Zebulon. We climbed down the rip rap, and fished a while. Rotating through baits, Debbie picked up a bass on a 5" stick bait, weightless and weedless. The water is cold, they're not chasing bait, so slow and stop were the best bait presentations. We stayed about 30 minutes and decided to move on.
After that, we popped into a private place we call the Secret Pond. We didn't go to fish, but since we were close and had not been in over a year, we wanted to check the path and make sure we could get the Jon boat trailer back down there. We talked to a couple of people who were fishing, threw bait a few minutes, and left. The path is good, so we'll be back with the Jon boat, soon!
We were close to another private spot we call "Dale's Place", because it belongs to a friend named Dale :-) It was about 45 minutes before dark, so we decided to stop in. BINGO! This place was hopping. I was throwing a 6" Cabela's stick bait, Debbie was using a 5" Yumdinger stick bait. They weren't chasing anything, but slow sink, 30 seconds of still, and bump it a few inches...that was what they wanted. We caught several bass from about 1-1/2 lbs to one Debbie caught at 3lb 14oz. We fished until dark, sometimes we each had one on at the same time. Great evening! Here's a few more pics...
3 lbs, 14 oz!
