catman70

I saw Fishin' Freak when I was fishing from the shore last night. I was throwing stickbaits and think I had one bite - it was one of those where the fish hits the same moment you jerk the bait. Could have been the ground, but I was out awfully far. Anyhow, met another fella down there who was skunked as well. If the storm would have come through earlier it might have been better.

I know, and I can understand the frustration some folks feel when they see people bending the rules or abusing the outlets. I also think it's very important to preserve the trophy area as a sanctuary for larger fish. In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing it become C&R. But lets face it, what we're talking about is put and take. In many ways it's not too far from the fish bin at the boat shows. I don't mean to demean the lake - it's a gem and I enjoy fishing it very much. I just think folks get a little too worked up over the "purity" of something that's not natural to begin with. Also, I'm sorry if I came across as rude in the last post. I thought it funny at the time, but regret poking fun.

Thanks for the tip. We'll usually take a canoe with a trolling motor in the summer to get through the shoals. I've seen some LARGE browns in White Hole before. Don't usually use live bait, and I'm thinking white jigs and Rapalas should do the trick this weekend.

I do remember White Hole - nice and deep. I just assumed that most of the action would be up by the dam. Guess that's a poor assumption, huh?

Sorry for chiming in off-topic, but I had to. I'm very much for private property and owner's rights, but there should at least be set-backs established. I remember one house inparticular below McKee Bridge that almost sets over the river. To say nothing of floods and the trash/sewage they would sweep from such houses, the erosion and drain-off alone from the excavation would contribute to the silting of the river. Hank, Kelly Ford is the "secret" access I refered to by the Crossroads store. I can only find it by sight and wouldn't be very good at giving you directions. Although if I did you might get to see the sun set in the East for the first time before you were able to put-in.

I remember there being a launch at the State Park, and one at Gaston's that I'd imagine is private. Can someone recommend one over another? I'm thinking of taking my dad down on Sunday. I think he'd get a real kick out of it. We've got an 18' G3 and I probably need 2' of water to move around. Anything I should watch out for? i.e. If I put in at the park ramp and the water drops while we're downstream will I be able to get back up? I figure most of the action will be close to the dam, but I'm more concerned about getting upstream than downstream. As an after thought: Does anyone have any tips on putting a boat on a trailer in the current? What little experience I do have has led me to believe that the best way is to angle the trailer slightly downstream and have one fella keep it centered on back while another cranks it fom the front. I don't know if I could do it if I was by myself. Thank for your help!

If you're going strictly for the trout you may want to start at Hammond Camp (I think on CC) and float down to the PP bridge. Trout water doesn't start until you get to North Fork and Rainbow springs, about 4 miles below Hammond. There is a somewhat "secret" access near the Crossroads Store that Brian Wise may know more about. The trophy water extends from those springs down to where you plan to take out. Below that is Red Ribbon with stocked brown trout and a few rainbows. Population is supposed to be better below the H bridge and down to Dawt Mill. Speaking of which, if you float in March to early April you may want to float from Dawt Mill to the 160 bridge. It's about 2-3 miles and at that time of year you'll stand a good chance of catching stripers, whites, hybrids, walleye and trout through that section. If you do decide to float down to H bridge, beware the Falls at The River of Life. You'll want to aim just right of center or walk the canoe around. It's a 2-3' drop and we always pick up water going over. At worst you'll bend your canoe around the rock in the middle.

I wish I could be as pure as the wind-driven snow.

I was there the weekend before last. Was hoping the walleye were starting their thing, but a local fella said they hadn't quite started yet. A front had moved through right before we got there, and we had a hard time of it. Caught two very small trout all weekend. By March things should be picking up a bit.

Word is they've been catching stripers below the 160 bridge.

the aspect of the front that really affects fishing is the change in pressure. When a low pressure system moves through many species of fish develop lock-jaw. So for many it's not that they don't want to eat, but can't eat. The lightening and thunder play a part as well, but that's not where the extended effects come from. Anyhow, the length of the slow fishing is proportional to the decrease in pressure. Generally, the sunny, cold days after a front are no good – usually 2-3. When the barometer starts to rise again means the fishing should be returning to normal very soon. At least that's my 2 cents. I'd say Tuesday before things turnaround, but a broken clock is right twice a day too.

Well, fished mornings and tried for turkey in the afternoon this past weekend. No luck yet with the hunting. Not devoting enough time to it. So, on with the fishing: Fished mostly with glo-balls and light pink and/or peach seemed to be the color of choice. Did have some lusk on small Rapalas, and did think the trout outside the park were a little bigger since the new regs. The bite seemed very light all weekend. The big ones never seem to hit hard and every day I had a 5lbs+ fish on for a split second. Could never get a good hook set. Fished in the park the today and had a brown the size of my arm take a white jig and clear the water before spitting it back at me. With bite so light, site fishing was a must. With the water so low you almost had to cast from behind the fish. I would throw a jig or glo-ball upstream and vary retrieves from aggressive jerks to a natural drift to get attention and, ultimately, hookups. Don't think I felt a bite once today, but probably caught over a dozen fish.

Will do, Gavin. I'll be in a silver Cherokee, but since it doesn't float so well I'll probably be wading. Don't know if my buddy is bringing his aluminum canoe or not. We'll be staying in the park and will probably do a lot of fishing between it and Tan Vat. I think there are "no hunting" signs posted at some point along the road to Baptist, so I don't know at what point you can and can't chase birds through the woods. I guess we'll find out.

Thanks, Ted. If memory serves, there's fairly flat land on the South side of the river below TanVat - similar to how it is on the North side just above. Do you recall what time of the day it was?

Heading to Montauk for an extended weekend and wondered if anyone has seen any turkeys along the river while they've been fishing and floating. Haven't been that way in a while and it'll be good to get back. Figure glo-balls will be hot right now and will probably do most of my fishing outside the park. I'll report back next week.

This cooler even had a latch on it. Heard them outside scratching at it, woke my buddy and he thouht they wouldn't be able to figure out the latch. Five mintutes later I heard the latch pop. By the time I slipped on shoes (pants and shirt be darn) and got out of the tent they had gotten away with our leftover chicken and hotdogs. They didn't touch the crappie fillets - guess they wanted a turf dinner.

Well, went to Stockton this weekend. Had to cut the trip short on Sunday when our cooler was raided by Racoons Saturday night. Too bad becasue Sunday probably would have been a better day of fishing than Saturday. Caught two small bass, one walleye that was just short, a nice channel cat and a few good size crappie. All but the crappie came while trolling tail dancers. I think all came on a perch pattern. Caught the crappie on jigs and minnows around the 215 bridge - by "around" I mean right against the supports. There was a bass tournament this weekend, and talking with competitors and other anglers it didn't sound like anyone was tearing them up. I figure it had alot to do with that front on Thursday. At least that's what I'll tell myself.

Don't know much about the draft of jet boats, but we usually scrape on what is being referred to as "the falls" in a canoe. Might try , though. Even if you can't get up you could always fish downstream from the bridge. I've seen many empty trailers at that launch, but never seen a boat above those ripples.

Was planning on making a first-time trip to Stockton to fish for walleye on Saturday and maybe do a little turkey hunting on Sunday. I think I have the walleye thing down pretty good (thank you Thompson!), but was wondering if anyone had any pointers on finding turkey around the lake. Well, I guess an update on the walleye couldn't hurt. Thanks!

What's the word on walleye in Pomme? I've heard they've in there, but not in great numbers. Are they even worth trying for, or should I bite the bullet and just drive to Stockton?

COuld have been teal. Looked just like female mallards, but there was just something different about them that made us believe they weren't mallards. Perhaps it wasn't so much different coloring as it was a different pattern of coloring. Looked at the site from Terry and a female Black Duck looks very similar to a female mallard, but I don't think they'd come down this far this early in the season. Maybe they were female mallards that had some of their stripes scared off them after seeing Gavin's casting technique on Saturday!

Fished from Patrick to James on Sunday with spinning gear. Dad broke off a pretty big brown on a black and gold Panther Martin - too bad it was his only one. Caught a few rainbows on pink lady glo balls and one small brown on a Shad Rap. All and all not too bad for a couple hours of fishing before the rains came. There were some folks at James Bridge where we took out that had caught a really nice brown (and others they said were not large enough to keep) using minnows. Also, saw a whole lot of waterfowl that resembled mallards, but with slightly differnt coloring. Does anyone know if they are mallards or a different species altogether?

Brian, When the Browns migrate in the Fall on NFWR; do you see them congregating near the springs at the upper end or do they stay pretty well dispersed throughout the river?

I'd written a rather lengthy reply yesterday which didn't get posted, but too busy today to repeat the process. I don't know if the article mentioned this but those who ride at CCTR bring in their own horses, and the rides are not guided. People pay to camp, eat and be entertained, but not rent a horse or have a guided trail (I think there is one exception throughout thier season). It is essentially many groups of people who get together to socialize and ride, and they may do the same using public campgrounds or smaller outfitters if CCTR is shut down. Perhaps this problem needs to be addressed with individuals riding horses along these pristine riverways rather than holding a single outfitter responsible. Police horses and the like have bags behind them that catch the waste - why not a similar system that is up to the rider/owner to comply with? I guess my whole point is that we can hold CCTR accountable, fine them, and pretend that the problem is fixed while overlooking other (smaller but more numerous) outfitters who can still hose their stalls directly into the river, or we can seriously fix the problem.

This is a case where there the government is going after the biggest fish in a small pond for headlines, money, etc. I've been to CCTR and seen the steps they've taken to keep horse waste out of the river. Frankly, I'm much more concerned about the fecal levels caused by human waste (James River), particularly in counties that don't have building codes (or septic requirements), but that is beside the point for this arguement. One aspect of the story that is easily overlooked is that it is unknown if the manure control measures taken by CCTR over the past couple years have helped. Obviously, if CCTR is the main source of the pollution we would have seen decreases in the fecail levels after the new measurements were put into place. They can't tell us whether their study is picking up on new waste or stirred sediment. The story also mentions other trail ride facilities, but doesn't say what they will be forced to do to correct the problem. The "others" may well be hosing their stalls directly into the river, but becasue they're not large enough to make headlines they go unnoticed. Environmental studies suggest that point-source pollution is much easier to control than nonpoint-source, and, therefore, the best way to handle this problem would be to restrict trail rides to only one or two of the largest outfitters. By doing so it is much easier to monitor and control waste. But that's not the thrust of this story, nor the settlement the authorities seek. I'll end by reiterating what I said at the begining: This is a case where there the government is going after the biggest fish in a small pond for headlines, money, etc.