This has got to be my favorite time of year to be on the water. The weather is great, the scenery is beautiful, and the fishing is on fire! Congrats to Brett Meager (Creedmoor, NC) who caught her new PB yesterday. This behemoth blue cat was caught drifting a piece of cutbait in 35-40 feet of water. Call me for your chance to catch one of these monsters! Click here for more pictures and a video of the release 🙂
October report
It’s that time of year again! The leaves are changing, and the fish are making their move down the lake towards the areas they will hunker down for the winter. The good news for anglers is that the fish are gorging themselves along the way! I took some folks out last weekend and we used this pattern to put this citation flathead in the boat! We also landed a few striped bass and a cooler full of smaller catfish for the frying pan. It was definitely a trip that I will remember for the rest of my life, and I hope the same is true for J.T. Tate of Durham, NC, who landed his new personal best of 31 pounds! Pictured below is J.T., along with his uncle, brother, and father. Congrats guys! To see more pictures and a video of the release, click here. 
Veteran’s Day Trip
In honor of Veteran’s Day, I raffled off a free guided fishing trip for a veteran. The winner of the raffle was Joe Prelock, and his wife Emily. Both we’re great people and it was a pleasure having them on the boat! They are pictured below holding a couple of eaters from our trip. Hope to have them out again some time soon!
September Report
September is a great month to fill up your cooler. These post-spawn fish only seem to have one thing on their mind…eating! We’ve mostly been catching 5-15 pound fish this month, but we have managed a few better ones including this nice flathead caught on an evening trip by Heather Alhanati (Baltimore, MD). As water temps continue to cool, the fishing should only get better and better, so give me a call and let’s put together a trip!
July/August Fishing
Finally, the blue catfish spawn seems to be winding down….which is great news because the post-spawn bite seems to be picking up! After a couple really tough weeks of fishing, we’re finally starting to put some decent numbers of fish in the boat again. The big females are the first to leave their nests, and that seems to be mostly what we are catching right now. The males, on the other hand, will remain on the nests a bit longer than the females as it is their job to protect the eggs until they hatch and the fry become large enough to venture out on their own. I expect to start seeing more and more of these guys in the mix over the next couple of weeks as the spawn comes to completion. This is an exciting time of year to be on the water, because the fish are really putting on the feed bags to make up for calories lost to spawning. So come out and wet a line!
June Report
This June has brought with it a major heat wave! Multiple days now with temps in the upper 90’s have put water temps through the roof. However, the fish don’t seem to mind too much. Catfish, like all fish, are cold blooded….which means that their metabolism is controlled by external conditions such as temperature. This translates to a lot of hungry fish! However, this month is also complicated by the fact that most catfish will spawn, making them harder to catch. The plus side of this is that the egg-laden females will probably weigh more this month than any other month. In fact, it was in June that the world record was caught from these waters only a few years ago! While this June hasn’t produced any record breaking fish for us, we have been staying busy with the eater sized fish. Most of these fish have ranged from 5-15 pounds and they can be caught drifting or anchored. The best times seem to be at night and early morning once the water has cooled off a few degrees. Pictured below is David Tidwell (Burlington) and step-son Derek with a mess of fish caught this week. School is out, so bring those kids fishing!
May = Cobia!
Sometimes you have to shake things up a little bit….you know, get away from the norm. So what better way to take a break from fishing for catfish than to fish for something else?!?! 😉 May is a great time to visit the NC coast. The weather is perfect, and this is one of the peak months for fishing. Below are some pics of a 45 inch cobia I caught on a fishing trip with a few buddies from college. Definitely a trip I will never forget! In addition to cobia, we loaded the cooler down with spanish mackerel, bluefish, and bonita. Can’t wait to get back on the salt water! If you haven’t fished the NC coast in May, you have to make it a point to get down there! Tight lines
April Report
Water temps have pushed into the 60’s. The flathead bite has really started coming alive, and the striper are making their spawning run up the rivers. Yes, spring has sprung! This is one of the best months to be in the rivers in my opinion, and with the April showers it is usually one of the easier times to get in the rivers. Still, if you decide to go in on your own be sure to take your time! Every year the might Dan and Staunton deposit lots of silt and debris, forming new sandbars and log jams that weren’t there last year. Many props have been destroyed making the run up river, so be careful! With that being said, here are a few fish from our April endeavors!
March Report
Everything still seems to be just a bit behind schedule for this time of year, largely due to the frigid cold fronts the southeast has experienced in the last couple of weeks….but the catfish know that spring is just around the corner and they are starting to gear up for their big move up the lake. Above is Jordan Nance of Spruce Pine, taking advantage of the first 70 degree day of the year with a solid blue cat. This tends to be one of the better months of the year for big fish in my experience, so come out and experience the fight of a big blue for yourself!
February Fatties
Here is a look at some of the cats we have caught this February. The fishing has been a little touch and go depending on the weather, but believe me….when it is on, it is ON! Our best day in February we landed three fish for 108 pounds….not a bad haul! Enjoy the pictures and don’t let that cold weather scare you….the fish are biting, so get on the water!
