New Spot, Old Friends

I have been crossing over this bridge for many years but never stopped and fished off the bank for any species, especially Gills. With the water warming and a Storm coming tonight, I thought some Cricket Crunchers might be active right before dark, and they were. Yard mowed, supper fixed and dishes cleaned, I set off with the Shimano rod and Diawa reel to my new spot. The rip rap along the bridge was not very forgiving and a little steeper than I thought, but I was determined to get about 45 minutes of fishing time in before dark. I could see small pods of Gills dimpling the clear water, and usually when you can see them, they can see you, and are skittish at best and hesitant to bite. Not the case tonight, they were hungry and are getting painted up nicely for the Spring Dance.
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Big fish for the night was a 7.5 male that was easily fooled by the buggy looking bait.
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Now no trip to Cherokee is complete unless you stick a Spotted Bass, and of course he cut a shine when hooked.
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The Northland Tackle Impulse Mayfly is a killer little bait right now, tipped with a Berkely Wax Worm or not they are flat smacking it. I am throwing it on a 1/48 oz jig head with a #8 hook and it seems to be working for all size and species. I caught at least 15 tonight on one bait before I had to put on a new one. One of our Board Sponsors Fish USA has 15% off Sale tonight on all Panfish stuff and they carry a nice assortment of Creepy Crawly looking baits. Right before I left I switched over to a Trout Magnet and whacked a nice female Speck.
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What a way to finish the evening, all fish released at this new spot. I may not be going back from the bank as the footing on the large rip rap was just too precarious, but I can easily access this area from the boat, so they better look out!!


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Thanks for posting the good read and congrats on the successful trip. I'm hoping with the warming water temps here in East NC the bite will start to strengthen for the larger guys. Last cold front messed up the fishing here but it'll bounce back though. Rip rap can be tough for sure. Shell crackers are due here soon too [emoji106]

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Nice trip.

Regards


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Looking good! thanks for the report and pics.

Great report!

Nice report! I like that crappie!

Wonderful trip! I don’t do the bank trips much anymore, but it was a mainstay for years. Thanks for taking us with you.