NC or Bust

I'm back from the North Carolina adventure. That's right; I towed the Ranger all the way down there. The idea was, I was going to be returning $700 richer. I got to my buddy's house about 4:00am and crashed out like a big dog. I was sort of in that state where you're so tired that you don't even realize it.

We got up the next day (the same day for me, Friday) to the high paced action of his 3 year old son. The last time I had seen him, he was just a little baby just barely able to walk. After our coffee and morning routine we headed toward Falls Lake. A pretty large expanse of water mounted in the Piedmont of N.C. near the state capitol, Raleigh. At the ramp I was surprised. HUGE! Must have been about 70 parking spots and I think we was the only ones there. Smooth ramp, launched us with no problems and if it had not been for our full bladders, we would have been blast'n out of there in minutes.

As we got out on our way, I made a "B" line for the NW corner of the lake where I had spotted some standing timber on Google Earth. I frequently use this program when scouting large expanses of water. When we got there it looked like really good fishing, aside from the murky water from all the storms during the earlier part of the week. With trolling motor digg'n and outboard up, we threw some spinnerbaits and buzzbaits to the outer edge of a submerged island. We just kept moving further and further in as we come up short on every cast. We finally got up to the live trees which were some kind of cypress. They pretty much grew in a straight line following the shape of the shore line, but about 40 or 50 yards from the bank. I switched to a purple and blue Explosive Tackle jig with a june bug color trailer and started to flip. We came up to a group of 4 trees and I flipped it. I felt the fish suck in the jig, set the hook, in the boat. A nice 4 pound fish. OK, so we have been fishing for about 30 minutes and I get a good fish. Things are looking up. We finished up in the trees to no avail. To make a long story short, the rest of the day produced nothing. We went home with great concern for what was to come the next day when money was on the line.

Against my better judgment, we went back to the same place on tournament day. Pretty much fished it the same way but without a curious young fella playing with switches and asking every question under the sun. We got up to the same location where I caught the keeper the day before. I felt the jig get sucked up once again. I went to set the hook and I could feel the lure slip past her lips. Out popped my jig from the water and landed at my feet on the deck. DAMN! I missed that fish? That almost never happens to me. That's why if you are fishing for five bites and you miss and break off fish; I am probably going to beat you because I don't miss and I for SURE don't break 'em off. After we completed our loop we decided to fire up the Merc and head down current toward the dam. Bout 10 minutes we end up like 8 miles from where we were. Both of us pick up spinnerbaits and start chuck'n to the shore inside a cove. Bing! My homey hooks up on a fish and gets it right up to the boat before it decides to spit the hook. 2nd fish lost. We continued around through the back of the cove where the water got extremely shallow and we managed to get the boat stuck on a sand shoal. After spending 20 minutes getting us unstuck, we started throwing to some old growth sticking up next to the bank. Buddy boy hooks up again and it comes unbuttoned. 3 fish lost. Now both of us are just pissed off so we move on to the next cove. A flooded drainage area hidden from plain sight provided an opportune area for a hog to get caught. Joe threw his lure in there and hooked a short fish. "We're looking for at least 16 inches dude". At least he had one in the boat. We motored down to yet another cove. I spotted some brush under about 8 feet of water with the trunk of the brush sticking out. I decided to pull a Strike King Red Eye Shad through it to see if I could coax a reaction strike. I casted way past it and just as the thing made it up to the bush I felt something bang against it. We'll call that 4 fish missed. As I am tying on a new spinnerbait, a fish plops down on the deck in front of me. Another no go for Joe as the fish is only about 13. Thoroughly probing the entire area of the cove nothing else takes a one way ticket into our live well. We looked across and liked the way the cove on the other side looks so we go. Poor Joe hooks up on one after getting snagged in a tree and he forgot to retie. I think the fish fought up over a stick and it just broke lose right there. I could see the frustration in my friend's face. That was number 5. An entire limit, lost to near misses and break-offs. Dang shame! I ended up horsing in a 15 inch 2 pounder just before the buzzer and that was the end of it. I just can't get over the fact that our entire bag was ours for the taking but we could not hold on to one of them. All you can do is laugh... and maybe cry. But at the end of the day, I had a blast with my good friend. We'll get 'em next time Joe!