You sound much more intelligent than me, @ol'crickety   I just work, watch YouTube videos and complain about winter. 😆

I found the bait this morning. Confirmed with this photo. No bass though. Still spending a lot of time playing with electronics and learning how to position kayak in the wind, and my confidence launch spot wasn't accessible so I've been in a newer area trying to figure it out this winter. 

Is this a threadfin? I think it is but would love someone more experienced to confirm. 

@FishTax, the pic goes blurry when I zoom in but it sure looks like a threadfin. Gizzards have a more rounded/blunt nose than threadfin and are generally slimier. Also threadfin often have a yellow tint to their tails, a lot of locals even refer to them as yellowtails 

Looks a lot like a threadfin.  This time of year fish look pretty pale in general so kinda hard to say exactly but it's a shad/Herring of some sort.

After almost 2 weeks with no fishing that seems like years I made it out today.  It was raining but not cold.  Earlier I've been catching small Spots deep, and bigger Largemouth shallow.  Today was different.   The first 4 I caught were all small Largemouth.  12 inchish.  I don't see many LM that small so I think small ones are a good sign.   They were ~20 feet deep hugging the bottom under a school of Shad.  They didn't want an A-rig, blade bait or spoon.   I caught them on a Shaky head with 1/2 a Bizz Baits Dizzy Diamond.   (Don't call this a NED,  I'm not a finesse fisherman).  Since they were 20 feet deep, on the verge of "fizzing" depth (and small) I quickly released them without pictures.   I moved over to a stumpy flat next to a channel swing.  I saw fish on sonar around the stumps.   I decided to channel my inner Pat Brown. (not the size of the fish, his are 3 or 4 times bigger) by trying a buzz bait.   2nd cast got an 18 inch spot.  (pictured)  I caught a couple more 14 inch Spots.  The water where I was fishing wasn't muddy at all.  I moved up river and ran into a mud line.  The muddy water was a couple degrees warmer (52) but not much activity.   I decided then to channel my inner TNriver.  I found a current break where the muddy water as mixing into clearer water.   I tossed a wacky rig into the edge of the clearer water and it got hammered by a 19 1/2 inch 4.7 pound Spot.   That's my 2nd biggest Spot ever, and my biggest in NC.   (NC state record Spot in 6 lbs 5 oz)   The rain was getting harder so I decided to call it a day.  I'll be back tomorrow morning looking for clearish, or at least mixing water.   

Another whopper! Congrats, Woody. What a fish. What a fisher.

Nice work @Woody B!!!! That’s a certified Spotapotamus. I would have to tie myself to the steering wheel if I hooked into one like that, don’t want to get pulled overboard. I found a nice mudline today where our creek hits the main river at the lakehouse. Only problem is a park ranger told me he was locking the gate for sunset about 15 minutes into my casting 😂 (and 30 minutes before dark) 

 

the water in front of our dock is currently ultra brown and I don’t like it, was green yesterday 

Let's GO @Woody B!  Double topwater attack in NC in January today!  I guess if you're south of the Mason Dixon line, better get outcher frogs n spooks n buzzers n poppers n such.  😎😎😎😎🎣🎣🎣🎣

 

I wanna channel my inner woody tomorrow on the boat hopefully and figure out how to catch a million fat bass in one trip like I was sort of doing for a second in the fall.  🥹🥹🥹🥹

 

But only after a sunrise topwater and lipless walkabout.

 

Oh goodness I do love me some prespawn.

It’s always post spawn and pre spawn unless it’s the day or two they are spawning ……..

Okay fair, I do love the late winter early spring transition.  But if I'm hooking them, I'd love them to be pre. 😉

The pre have already spawned so they are post. What is time? 
 

It rained all night last night.  According to Duke Energy the lake is up a foot from yesterday.  I was going to launch down near the dam today but the wind is up.  I'll launch up on the smaller part of the lake.  I may work my way down if it isn't too rough.  

Yeah the conditions are super weird, I'm excited kinda.  I feel like sometimes on weird days the big ones bite better.  Not always but sometimes.

 

My plan is to go check out the main creek first since after big rains that warm water pushes a lot of water through there and I believe that area tends to get cleaner first.  Probably fish around the marina tight to the rip rap for a bit too.  Generally on the lake you find them deep on structure or very very shallow on structure on days where it's very blown out with mud.  Sometimes if you can get them to bite, it makes them very easy to pattern.

 

But we know what happens with plans and bass fishing.  Probably just gonna fish a little bit of everything until I run into a fish or two.  As always.  LOL

 

You might think I'm crazy but I'll be checking spawning bays for bed fish 100%.  Saw some beds at a pond yesterday so.....

So pat is post spawn February-December ? 😂 I’m still stuck in the twilight zone 

5 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

So pat is post spawn February-December ? 😂 I’m still stuck in the twilight zone 

 

It's post pre post spawn today for some poor fish out somewhere.  🥹🫡

I’m going to fish for them on a drop off from 25 foot down to 40 so I don’t know what they are doing down there in the darkness. Might even be some of those fish with flashlights sticking off their heads down there 

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’m going to fish for them on a drop off from 25 foot down to 40 so I don’t know what they are doing down there in the darkness. Might even be some of those fish with flashlights sticking off their heads down there 

 

If there were bass down there in the darkness with laser beams attached to their foreheaads, expect this guy to want to go fishing with you:

 

 

 

Got a tank on the Jimmy Houston spinnerbait.  Rain prevented us from doing the boat but single Colorado in cold muddy water getting it done.

 

Jake also got a nice one on the old red eye shad 😎😎😎🫡🫡🫡🎣🎣🎣

 

Way to fish, Jake and Pat!

On 1/25/2024 at 5:33 PM, Pat Brown said:

 

Just trying to do you proud!  We all know who the master is dude!!! 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

I wish brother, but in all honesty your results are VASTLY more significant than mine.  I've pondered at times "what if Pat fished this lake".    I have little doubt you'd show me what actually lives in the lake, the fish I've tried to catch so unsuccessfully.  

 

You've gotten a 9.1, 11.5, and 9.3 in NC on pressured public small bodies of water within the last year or so, I really can't stress enough how incredibly impressive that is!   

 

@Woody B  Let's GOOOOO!   Congrats on the tank of a Spot!

On 1/25/2024 at 8:15 PM, Jamesg0418 said:

Last day of our trip from CT, we headed to Kenansville lake.  Fishing was slow but we got a couple decent ones.  It’s probably the steepest ramp I’ve ever seen, however the road in wasn’t nearly as bad as everyone made it out to be.  We got this one on a 12” finesse worm.

 

That's more than a decent one, congrats!   

@AlabamaSpothunter: Six days:

 

Jan. 3rd:: 23.5lb bag anchored by a 6.2 fish.  

 

Jan. 4th: Fished about 6 hrs., caught 21.    Best 5 went about 20.5lbs with a big fish of 5.9 and 4.13 got weighed, 4+ on the 110, and a nice 3lb Spot were the highlights.  

 

Jan. 5th: A true 50 fish day, right on the nail, it's like the Bass Gods gave me the 50 and then said now go home.  27lb+ bag.....7.6 and 6.4 weighed fish, with 3 easily in the 4-5lb range. 

 

Jan. 6th: Caught 32 + 2 big Crappie.......22lb+ bag, big fish was a 6.8, and a 5.15 got weighed as well.   Another close to 5, along with numerous 3+ fish rounded out today's bag. 

 

Jan. 7th: Caught 36 fish, with the best 5 going 22.5lbs.   A 5.5 was big fish (red Vault), 4.8 (mid strolled Drift Fry), and a 4.7 (Bucca Burrito) were weighed, and then another pair of 4lb+ fish rounded out the bag.  

Jan. 8th: Had a great day, caught 55 fish which is the most I can remember catching in a single day since I was a kid fishing a golf course pond for sub 12" Bass.   Big fish was a 5.4. 

 

Alex's six days = Ol' Crick's entire 2023, more or less

 

I caught more four-pounders over many months than Alex did in six days, but I didn't catch a 7.6.

Got a couple!!! Zoom lil’ critter craw on 6 lb tatsu
 

 

Alex is a hammer, but keeps the humility that most hammers have.  Same for some others around here.

 

I managed 1 tiny spot today.....kinda.   It came loose with I boat flipped it,  I just pushed it off the deck back into the lake.   It wasn't hooked.  the hook was still embedded in the shaky head.  I brought it up from 20 feet deep,  but it had to just be hanging on.  Lake was really muddy, and the wind was terrible.   I saw some Bass(?) on sonar hugging to cover...dock posts, lay downs brush piles.  I simply couldn't make accurate casts in the 20 mph winds.   I also saw some kind of fish suspended.   I couldn't get a reaction from them except for 1.   It was strong and quick but came loose quickly.  I suspect it was a Gar.   Most of the time with I hook a (longnose) Gar they jump, throw the hook back at me and laugh.   This one was suspended 15 feet deep.  It didn't make it to the surface before it came loose.   It might have been a decent size Spot but I got a good hookset on it.  I've never been able to keep a Gar stuck.   Spots and Gar look similar in schools on sonar.....at least to me.   

 

A bad day fishing is still a good day.   I got out of the wind, came home early, picked up my Dad and took him to Supper.   

 

 

1 hour ago, Woody B said:

A bad day fishing is still a good day.

Amen brother. 👍

On 1/27/2024 at 12:49 PM, FishTax said:

I found the bait this morning. Confirmed with this photo. No bass though. Still spending a lot of time playing with electronics and learning how to position kayak in the wind, and my confidence launch spot wasn't accessible so I've been in a newer area trying to figure it out this winter. 

Is this a threadfin? I think it is but would love someone more experienced to confirm. 

It Counts!