sppatton1 Posted January 31, 2015 Posted January 31, 2015 I am making a move in the next 4 months from Central PA to the Raleigh-Durham, NC area because my love of bass fishing has turned into an ever-growing passion and a huge part of my life. I know after reading that last sentence some already think I am in pursuit of a professional bass fishing career.. and although its a dream for most of us, that is NOT my goal. My goals for this move is to be in a warmer area more conducive for bass fishing, network with other anglers, learn as much as I can about how to successfully catch em', and fish local tourneys (at least to start). To get a feel of what level of angler I am, I would consider myself at an moderate to advanced skill level and fished only a couple club tournaments so far up in PA. I planned on fishing every local tournament this year with my current club, but.. well.. I'm hoping to get my 2015 deposit back! I wanted to throw a post up because I am looking for some help on what to expect, good local bass clubs, resources, or anything else to help me out before getting on the water. I've done some research about the surrounding lakes and its awesome to see all the water within a 30 minutes' drive. As you may know, in Central PA, (other than the Susquehanna River) it takes hours to get to a waterway the size of Falls or Jordan. Other than the 3 obvious Falls, Jordan, and Harris, I saw others such as Randleman and John H. Kerr around an hour's drive away. So any other recommendations on preferred waterways in the area would be a huge help. And just for more specifics, I'll be living in Durham and will be hauling along my 14' aluminum Tracker with a 15hp prop and 55lb thrust electric. So when it comes to lakes, it would be nice to know which waterways or areas where it could be unsafe to run my little rig. Not that I can't handle some turbulence, I just don't want to get myself into a bad situation if I can help it. All in all, I'm just looking to enjoy this experience and do some serious bass fishing while learning all I can. So any help would be much appreciated! Quote
Super User Senko lover Posted January 31, 2015 Super User Posted January 31, 2015 Harris is probably your best bet. Lots of big bass swim in there. Also, Falls will be on fire starting around the 2nd/3rd week of March. It takes 30 pounds to win a tourney during that time. Quote
BassmanDan Posted February 5, 2015 Posted February 5, 2015 Shoot me a PM and I can give you a couple places to get good information. You are coming to a great area for bass fishing and we just opened a BPS last year and a Cabelas this spring. One lake to keep in mind is Harris...two of my ten pounders have come from there in the last five years. Welcome to the South! Quote
bassinyea Posted February 6, 2015 Posted February 6, 2015 Falls, jordan, and harris are all good lakes. Randleman was something special the first couple of years it opened but is not even a fraction as good as it was 4 years ago, it gets a ton of pressure especially for the size it is and has affected the bass fishing in a negative way. Harris also gets a lot of pressure for its size and even though it has some big fish it can also be pretty darn stingy sometimes. You should be fine in your size boat on most of the lakes around raleigh. As far as kerr lake goes you have to be careful there sometimes when the wind blows. Roughest freshwater ive ever been on especially fishing the bottom end of nutbush by the trestle with a due north wind. Wind has about 15 miles of water to blow over coming straight from the north and in your boat I would not want any part of that. An older fella I fish with told me a story of back in the 80s when he had a 14 foot boat fishing on kerr where he about sunk the boat fishing bottom end of nutbush. Jordan falls and harris from march to april will definitely take some hefty stringers to win. 25-30 pounds easy have seen some heavier sacks than that too. Quote
Hyrule Bass Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 cant believe no one has mentioned Gaston, its a great fishery... Quote
sppatton1 Posted February 10, 2015 Author Posted February 10, 2015 Thanks everyone for the insight Quote
Cobra Posted May 10, 2015 Posted May 10, 2015 If you are looking for a bass fishing club, check out Triangle Pro Am Bass Anglers (http://www.trianglebass.com). Just starting up this year and getting members from Raleigh, Durham and Wake Forest. 10 tournaments a year and low entry fees. Check us out. Quote
DirtyDeuceGoose Posted May 14, 2015 Posted May 14, 2015 I wish I wasn't so far away! There are a few clubs in Jacksonville but all the fishing is up around you all. Quote
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