NC July Fishing

[LrgmouthShad]

As I am wrapping up some final preparations, it is time to get ready for some July NC fishing while I’m on leave from work. I’ll post my reports on this thread. I should be fishing daily. I do plan to fish with @Pat Brown and @FishTax if we can make it happen. I plan to fish Badin, Randleman, Thom-A-Lex, Brandt, “Ol Muddy” pond, a private lake, and perhaps one or two of @Pat Brown’s other places. I’ve got about ten days to make that all happen. What about my DD bass hunting this year? Since I will just be fishing in July out of a basic fishing kayak with no pedals and no sonar (unless Shaky Head Wizard takes me out on his boat), I’m not taking the hunt too serious, but I will not throw something somewhere unless I think both the location and the bait have at least some chance for a DD. Why make this thread? I want to archive my reports someplace since NC fishing is not the norm for me. I’ll try to be detailed on what happened so I can review my trips later. It might prove helpful if I’m in NC again. 
 

Stay tuned! 

[MIbassyaker]

[VolFan]

Don’t sleep on Badin - that place is a great bass lake.

[Pat Brown]

He ain't catching nothing 😂😂😂😂😎😎😎🐸🐸🐸😉😉😉

[LrgmouthShad]

7 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

He ain't catching nothing 😂😂😂😂😎😎😎🐸🐸🐸😉😉😉

🤣 I’ve never caught a bass in my life actually. 

For real, I’ve got Ol’ Muddy though. The sky could start falling and I could catch nothing out on the big lakes, but I bet I will still pull 2 6lbers from Ol Muddy. Thats my prediction. Last time I was in NC over winter the water was frigid. I said I’ll pull a 5-6lber and it happened 👍🏻. 

14 minutes ago, VolFan said:

Don’t sleep on Badin - that place is a great bass lake.

It’s my favorite lake ever

[Pat Brown]

6 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

🤣 I’ve never caught a bass in my life actually. 

For real, I’ve got Ol’ Muddy though. The sky could start falling and I could catch nothing out on the big lakes, but I bet I will still pull 2 6lbers from Ol Muddy. Thats my prediction. Last time I was in NC over winter the water was frigid. I said I’ll pull a 5-6lber and it happened 👍🏻. 

It’s my favorite lake ever

 

 

It's only your favorite Lake ever because you haven't fished timber from the John boat with me. 

 

Just get ready to set the hook on an 11 pounder. I've got the net.

[IcatchDinks]

I'm gonna be in NC the week of July 4th. Hoping to get some fishing in while I'm there. I will follow your progress with interest. 

[Swamp Girl]

This is a cool thread and I look forward to the updates. I could learn so much fishing with your cast of co-anglers. 

[casts_by_fly]

Good luck!

 

on second thought,  you’re leaving Texas to go find a dd?  Sounds counterintuitive…

[LrgmouthShad]

49 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

on second thought,  you’re leaving Texas to go find a dd?  Sounds counterintuitive

No. The season goal is to catch a DD. But I have the opportunity to see my family so that is what I’m going to do. My parents and siblings. 

[FishTax]

Pretty sure Pat caught his dd in July in NC. Just saying. Don't tell anyone though 😎

For real though I'm very much looking forward to it and if nothing else we should get a good photo out of it. 

[LrgmouthShad]

Badin 7/2/2024

Water temps 85 degrees, winds NE 1-8mph, bluebird skies and high pressure, very high water clarity.

 

I fished with Shaky Head Wizard (SHW) today on his 17ft Jon Boat. This is not our first adventure on Badin in the month of July. SHW told me prior to this trip that he wanted to fish deep so we did some of that. Both of us could not resist fishing visible cover including water willows, docks, and laydowns so we did some of that, too. 
 

We caught 2 fish each. Both of us came away from the trip happy with the amount of water we covered but suspecting we should have spent significantly more time fishing docks. This is precisely what SHW heard was *supposed* to not be fishing well right now. He caught his fish on a shaky head off a dock and a laydown tree. I caught both mine on a zoom ol monster worm watermelon seed with the tail dipped in blue Spike-It. 1/2oz bullet weight. One was off the end of a dock (right behind SHW 😁) and one was way back into water willows. We could not get anything going deep. The fish I caught in the water willows I could not photo because my phone was overheated. It was a really fun fish to catch. I threw my ol monster back into the water willows out of desperation. We’d fished everything deep and shallow in the area, including the edge of the water willows. I started thinking I needed to pitch into thicker willows. That fish hit the worm before it could hit bottom and jumped my line all the way back to the spool. 2.5lb fish and my other was about 2lbs.

 

Jordan Lake tomorrow! I have only fished on Jordan one time!

 

 

[TnRiver46]

Yes sir ! 

[Choporoz]

Not all too far from you, the bite lately has been:

 

-Points - 15-20', on the bottom.  They can be stacked up, but bigger ones might be on opposite side of the point from the schools of 2-3 pounders

 

-Just outside grass edges in places where grass ends around 14-15 FOW

 

-In the bait balls.  This one is maddening, fruitless, and immensely rewarding... all in the span of a few minutes.   Always have something on deck ready to drop quick into the bait when there's a blow-up or big disturbance in the bait.  Things that fall fast through the bait have been much better than swimming something horizontally through, under, over.  Early in the day, a topwater may do it, but fast drop is where I have had more success.

 

-In cover, but buried in the thickest branches and multiple casts to same spot often necessary 

[LrgmouthShad]

Thank you @Choporoz!

[LrgmouthShad]

Jordan 7/3/2024

Water temps 85 degrees, winds SE 3-8mph, mostly sunny, very high water clarity

I once again went with SHW out in his boat. He has been fishing Jordan lake for 6 years, mostly out of a kayak with no electronics. We fished a lot of different stuff and ultimately caught 6 fish between the two of us, but they were all really small - 1lb or less. He caught 4 and I caught 2. 5 fish were on a shaky head and 1 fish was on the same ol monster setup I used at Badin. 
I’d fished Jordan 1 time years ago out of a kayak and I don’t think I caught anything. This was my first real chance to see more of Jordan and catch some fish out of there. I’ve come away from the experience thinking Jordan is an incredible lake with amazing populations of shad, bluegill, white perch, catfish and bass. It was rated #3 in the Southeast by Bassmaster recently, so it obviously is standing up to the angling pressure. I fished a couple of cypress trees for the first time and we

fished a lot of rock and red clay points. I spent more time on teaching SHW how to use his electronics, too. I really need to fish this lake more! 

[Swamp Girl]

23 hours ago, Choporoz said:

Things that fall fast through the bait have been much better than swimming something horizontally through, under, over.  Early in the day, a topwater may do it, but fast drop is where I have had more success.

 

This feels like a 24K tip. Thanks, Choppy! 

[Pat Brown]

🎶🎶🎶I looked over Jordan - what did I see?  A plane about to land at Raleigh Durham International Airport flying over me.🎶🎶🎶

 

Glad you had a good time and happy you're exploring some of my home waters from my childhood.  That's so neat!

[LrgmouthShad]

Today mostly spending time with family but trying to make it out to the private lake where I caught my PB for a couple hours. Tomorrow Jordan again with SHW and it will be the last day with SHW. Then, on to fish with the BR crew…

[LrgmouthShad]

Private Lake 7/4/2024

Water temps??? Winds SW 8-9 mph, mostly sunny, very high water clarity

 

Quick solo kayak adventure to the private lake where I caught my PB. The water was pretty low here. Most activity was shallow and bass were aggressively pursuing sunfish. 
This is a great topwater lake. Probably one of the best for topwater that I’ve been on. I threw several different baits but a Megabass Popmax in Baby Bass was the ticket. Extra-long, accurate casts from way off the target were key with the high water clarity. The bass would bite shortly after the popper hit water. Caught 4 small bass biggest about 2lbs. Caught nothing deep and nothing off the big dock here. Very surprising. 
 

Nice to see that the lake I grew up fishing is doing well. 

[Woody B]

I've only been to Jordan once.  It was over 40 years ago water skiing with my sister. (who lives there)   I did see the first Bald Eagle I ever saw in the wild that day.   

[FishTax]

I’ve actually never fished Jordan. 

[LrgmouthShad]

20 minutes ago, FishTax said:

I’ve actually never fished Jordan. 

Good lake. I can’t wait to be out there tomorrow AM for another try

[LrgmouthShad]

Jordan 7/5/2024 

Water temps 87 degrees, winds SSW 5-7mph, partly cloudy, very high water clarity, prefrontal

 

 SHW and I boated 8 bass total on our last trip together. He boated 5 and I boated 3. He once again caught all his fish on a shaky head and I caught 3 on a spinnerbait, with one chasing it down in open water while I was burning it back to the boat! Fish were aggressively chasing shad and pushing them up against the bank. There was a small front incoming that activated a bite window which allowed me to boat 3 on a spinnerbait, but once it was over, it was over. We got off the water earlier than our other days because of the heat. Topwater yesterday and a spinnerbait bite today! I am having a good leave! 
 

BR crew fishing and ol muddy fishing incoming. Hopefully running into a much larger class of fish soon.

[LrgmouthShad]

Pat’s Pond 7/6/2024

Full report pretty well covered in the Latest Catch Pics Thread. Dont care to list conditions since I don’t plan on fishing there unless it’s with Pat. Caught the following: 

Ol Muddy 7/6/2024

Quick trip to Ol Muddy produced some bass. Partly cloudy, still winds, late evening fishing. Rage tail lobster in Falcon Lake Craw 3/16oz brass n glass t-rig produced 2.

Ol Muddy 7/7/2024

 

9-11am fished Ol Muddy again. Partly cloudy, slightly windy, water clarity 1.5ft or so. Mom boated 2 very nice bass 5.79 and 4.96 and I boated the first topwater fish out of the pond on a Megabass PopMax, wild gill. She was using an ol monster in junebug 3/16oz t-rig brass n glass.