Fish'in Hole Hoppin', 12/29/21

 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!

Riley Hill Rd, 4/13/21

 We stopped in at Riley Hill for a few minutes, today. Debbie picked up a few bluegill on a micro setup with a beetle spin. I caught this little bass on a Whopper Plopper. Nice quick stop, you never know what you might find!

Riley Hill Rd, 4-11-20

Debbie and I got out a bit on 4/11/20 to do a little fishing on Little River. We stopped in at the Riley Hill Rd bridge, and walked a ways downstream. This is a beautiful place. Along with picking up some bluegill and a black crappie, I had a blowup that took the bait off my hook, and Debbie had a huge hit that popped her 12lb mono like it was a rubber band. Here's a few pics...

Tarpley's Pond, 3-24-20

After leaving Mudham (next post down), we hopped over to Tarpley's Pond. We call this place "SnoBalls", for a shaved ice shop that used to be there... Here's a couple of pics before we headed home...

Debbie caught a red breast, right away, on her micro rig... 

I had the zoom all the way in on this one, Debbie caught a nice black crappie down stream...

Mudham, 3-24-20

Debbie and I decided to roll over to fish Little River a bit today, at the Mudham road bridge. We climbed down through a pile of briars and such, and had a great time. Here's a few pics...

Debbie got the first catch with a beetle spin o her micro rig, a nice bluegill.

I picked up a chubby little bass on a rattle trap....

It's really a beautiful place!

 Looking downstream. I think we can float this area on the Jon boat, if we put it in upstream at Wendell. 

Debbie snatching in the black crappie!

Another black crappie on her Micro rig!

Glory Road, 2/18/20

The 4th and final stop on our fishing jaunt for the day, was the Glory Road bridge on Little River. It was getting late, and I basically wanted to see how high the water was, but Debbie had to grab a rod. Here's a black crappie she caught while we were there :-)

231, 12-26-19

Debbie and I headed out to do a little "river hopping" the day after Christmas. First, we stopped down at the bridge on hwy 231 that crosses over Little River. Here's a few pics...

Snagged this guy on a Beetle Spin with a Shadpole grub, using my micro rig.

Debbie's been having fun with a little crappie dive bait on her Micro rig. Seems to catch everything :-)

We always enjoy this spot, and have caught a lot of fish here from time to time!

Glory Road, 3/14/19

Debbie and I stopped in to fish Little River at the Glory Road bridge for a few minutes. Debbie was throwing a beetle spin, and I was playing with an Orange Sherbert colors Senko rigged weighless. She picked up 3 nice bluegill, I caught a small bass upstream. The bass got tongue-hooked, and I had to snip the hook and pull the two pieces out separately. The bass survived nicely, and I forgot to get a pic of him in haste to get him back in the water. Fun stop!

Fishing on 231, 2/3/19

Debbie and I have been shut in for weeks with this darned bug, and were going stir-crazy. Finally got out for a little while today, and hit a couple of spots. We ran up to fish on Little River @ hwy 231, and caught these pinkish colored bluegills...

Little River

We fish along little river over about a 28 mile stretch, from where it flows from the outlet of Moore's Pond up near Wake Forest (about 15 miles north of Zebulon), to where Antioch Church Rd crosses it about 13 miles south of Zebulon. Along the way, it meanders all around this area in Franklin, Wake and Johnston counties. We've caught pretty much every variety of Bluegill, Large Mouth Bass, Crappie, Chain Pickerel, and Catfish. The personality of this swings wildly, depending on water level and other variables. I'll try to walk you along the various points and what we've seen. This journey will start the the most northern point we fish (Moore's Pond), and work our way along to the most southern point we fish on Little River (Antioch Church Rd).

Moore's Pond: Moore's Pond is a private pond near the beginning of Little River. We fish the bridge on Moore's Pond road near the dam. There's a good bit of water moving through this area, and you're pretty much relegated to fishing from the bridge. 

Hwy 98: This is the bridge just east of Hwy 96 on Hwy 98 (abt 14 miles north of Zebulon). It's a tough spot, but you can stand between the bridge railing and the culvert, and fish safely without worrying too much about traffic. There's no where to climb down in this spot, but there's ample standing room. 

Hwy 401: This is the bridge on hwy 401 near the Moore's Pond Road intersection (about 13 miles north of Zebulon). The state will be installing a large bridge here soon, as they're gonna be widening the road to 4 lanes, so this will probably be a nice place to fish int he future. 

State Park: The State Park, this is a rocky area just north of Mitchell Mill Road, next to hwy 96. Lots of high speed shallow (but broad) waterway. There's a cool little store with live bait and tackle near this. 

Mitchell Mill: This is a bridge that crosses over Little River on Mitchell Mill road. If you walk north, you'll come up on the backside of the old Mill Pond. Just south of the bridge there are several deeps that harbor LMB.  Click THIS LINK to open a window and see the blogs associated specifically to this location.

Fowler's Rd: This is a really cool spot on Little River where Fowler's Rd crosses it. On the north side of the bridge is a wide and marshy area, just south of the bridge there's several deeps where we've caught loads of LMB, especially when the river is low and they get impounded in that area. See the pics below, and click THIS LINK to see the specific blog posts about this spot...

Glory Road: This is a super cool area where the state has closed the road. An old dilapidated bridge makes for a great fishing spot. You can also walk up and down the river a ways in this area. Lots of deeps and shallows makes for a great habitat for many types of fish. See the pics below, and click THIS LINK to see the specific blog posts about this spot...

Riley Hill Rd: Next, Riley Hill Rd crosses Little River. There are several deeps on the south side of the bridge, and loads of bluegill hiding spots up stream with wide shallows and slower moving waters. See the pics below, and click THIS LINK to see the specific blog posts about this spot...

Greenpace: Little River moves on south and under Greenpace road. The land on either side of it is private, but you can fish from the bridge as well as work your way down and around the riprap of the bridge underlayment. I recently caught a 1 lb bluegill right off the bridge with a Beetle Spin! Click THIS LINK to open a window and see the blogs associated specifically to this location.

Highway 64 Overpass: You'll find a place to park, well off the road, on the south side of the eastbound lane. Water depth varies a lot, but it's mostly shallow and fast.Best spots here are just downstream of the bridges.

Zebulon Park: From Hwy 64, Little River slips on down to the Zebulon park. The park has a broken dam with several deep pools. There have been some pretty big fish caught in that area. We often walk upstream from the park and find some of the most beautiful places to fish on the river. See the pics below, and click THIS LINK to see the specific blog posts about this spot...

Tarpley's Pond: This is an old mill pond dam between Zebulon and Wendell, where we've caught a little of everything. Lots of fun, both up and down stream. You can park in the old Pelican's SnoBalls lot and walk down to the dam. See the pics below, and click THIS LINK to see the specific blog posts about this spot...

Mudham Rd: Mudham road turns west, off of hwy 96 on the south side of Zebulon. On Mudham Rd you'll find another bridge that crosses Little River. There is decent access on the downstream side of the bridge. Lots of beavers in that area! Click THIS LINK  to see blogs on fish we've caught there...

Hwy 96 south: From Mudham Rd, Little River swings east and passes under highway 96. This is a tough place for access...be careful, but some nice water awaits you at the bottom...

Hwy 231: This is where Little River passes under 231. Crappie LOVE the area around that bridge. We've caught some decent bluegill and LMB there, but Crappie are the shining star at that spot.  See the pics below, and click THIS LINK to see the specific blog posts about this spot...

Antioch Church Rd: The southernmost point in this journey is where  Antioch Church Rd crosses over Little River. We haven't fished that area much, so I don't have a lot to say, but it's a nice looking place. See the pics below, and click THIS LINK to see the specific blog posts about this spot...