Photo courtesy of Capt. Gus
Bob Whitbeck of Mooresville with a Lake Norman spotted bass.
Shane Whitbeck with a hybrid striped bass.
As we near end 2015, here are a few one liners for the New Year.
- “No Fishing Signs” offend me.
- I wonder how people would react if I walked around Sea World with a fishing rod in my hand.
- Fishing is a tough job, but I can tackle it.
- The alphabet as I learned it: A B C D E F I S H.
- You cannot catch trout with dry breeches.
- Life is simple: Eat – Sleep – Fish!
- There is no greater fan of fly fishing than the worm!
- For some there is therapy; for others there is fishing.
- Fish come in three sizes: Small, Medium and “The One That Got Away”.
- Sometimes I wonder if the fish ever thinks about me.
- Sorry I missed your call. I was on the other line.
- I fish because a voice in my head tells me to.
- My wife lets me buy all the fishing tackle I can hide.
- There was a guy fishing in a rain puddle. When asked why, he replied, “Because fishing in the river is too mainstream.”
- The two best times to go fishin’ are when it’s rainin’ and when it ain’t.
- One does not simply quit fishing after saying, “LAST CAST!”
- Fishing is the most peaceful of all sports.
- You want the gills; we got the skills.
- Whoever said Disney World is the happiest place on earth hasn’t been fishing with Capt. Gus.
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Hot Spots of the Week: The sea birds are back in full force, and they’re leading anglers to the fish. Reed Creek has been busy with anglers catching a mixed bag of bass, perch, stripers and hybrids. The same is true in Mountain and Stumpy Creeks. When fish aren’t surface feeding, they’re being caught by drop-shots and deep jigs with bucktails and spoons while tolling and live baiting. Since many of the fish are suspended at depths between twenty and thirty feet deep, diving lures and Alabama rigs are the baits of choice for trolling.
Warmer than normal water temperatures have crappie swimming in shallower than normal depths, which makes them easy to catch. Crappie minnows and small jigs are best baits when fishing sunken brush piles, covered docks and bridge pilings. White perch are also biting crappie minnows, as are Sabiki rigs fished near the bottom.
Tips from Capt. Gus: When you take someone fishing for the first time, don’t let him use your bait-cast reel!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Lake Norman is about 1.3 feet below full pond and 1.0 feet below at Mountain Island Lake. The water surface temperature is in the high fifties and low sixties.
