Helpful Airline The biggest shock was the parking fees to stash the vehicles for three weeks, need a damn mortgage to pay for it. Packing all the tackle up to avoid it being destroyed is also a problem, you know what its like, loads of personal stuff that has a mind of its own in the tackle boxes. The baggage allowance is really good though, two cases up to 70lbs each per person plus hand luggage of 35lb with no objection to laptops, etc. Providing we don’t get seated within screaming range of the inevitable six year old monster that seems to be standard equipment on any long haul flight we should be ok. July 15th We are gradually getting some info about the venue via local tackle stores and chat lines, forums and such, but there is little help when it comes to carp as no-one seems to fish for them. The main quarry out there appears to be catfish, Stripeys and wide mouth Bass, in fact the catfish record has just gone at over 92 lbs ! One guy regularly sees big carp rising but has never managed to connect. The problem is the sheer size of the place which it is difficult to comprehend. 60,000+ acres and over 800 miles of bankside,………….. sounds more like an inland sea and we thought Loch Lomond was big !!! The surface temperature at present is 80 degrees but with around 100ft of depth in places there will obviously be plenty of variation. Air temperature is 95 degrees and rising so at least there shouldn’t be any need for the usual ‘all season’ sleeping bags. July 20th The flight leaves for Raleigh at the civilised time of 1.00pm but due to the ever present terrorist precautions the check in time is three hours before. Bit of a drag but better than being blown up. To help overcome the inevitable onset of boredom we thought of doing some cod fishing whilst over the Atlantic, you know, dangle a spinner down the toilet outlet or through one of the portholes but none of us have big enough spools so I guess its the in-flight entertainment or nothing. Probably only catch a Cornish fisherman or lone yachtsman anyway as there doesn’t seem to be anything else stupid enough to be out there now days. Having battered, fried or tinned just about everything with fins the oceans seem a bit barren. Perhaps we could try frying the fishermen …………………. Many thanks to Bobby by the way, he’s been really helpful regarding the carp in Kerr lake and we hope to meet up with him whilst we’re there. Carp anglers in the States are a very rare breed. My wife Jean and our daughter Kelly, (almost 18 and astonishingly sane considering the fact that she was home educated with a heavy influence from yours truly ), are also coming out. Jean asked, “You won’t be fishing ALL the time will you?” Silly woman. PS ………………. many thanks also to Ron Martin, he has helped correct some of the information that wasn’t accurate and we really look forward to having a chat with him. Local knowledge is scarce on carp and some time spent with Ron and Bobby could be really helpful. July 22nd and just a few hours to go Apart from the inevitable last minute panics everything seems ok so the first full report. If you would like to contact us in the States and talk to the team direct you can email us via steve@mobileone.fsworld.co.uk we’d be happy to respond. Kerr Lake Diary Early evening July 23rd The trip over went quite well apart from the poor service on board the plane. Main thing is that all of our tackle survived intact and all of our baits were allowed in despite some very tough but justified security. We arrived at the lake just before dusk, walked through the cabin into the porch and there it was, …. the reason we had travelled over 4000 miles. The cabin is situated down a comparatively narrow creek, quiet, calm and somehow full of promise. So much so that if I had to, I’d happily spend the three weeks here, without moving to the main channel whether there’s any fish here or not. This place immediately has that effect on you. Unfortunately though I’m not here to just laze around with a two litre bottle of Jack Daniels even though the price was cheap enough to make alcoholism an extremely viable prospect. If the carp don’t happen to be right on our doorstep, which to be frank is highly unlikely, we’ll have to go look for them. For now it’s a few hours sleep, more Jack Daniels, purely to be sociable of course, and then we can begin the task of unpacking all the gear before spending the day looking around, … can’t wait ! Sunday July 25th The diversity of habitat here is quite remarkable. The carp have an endless choice and according to what little information we have there appears to be some very distinct seasonal preferences. The creek that we’ve made our base is certainly full of fish but despite keeping a fairly constant watch doesn’t seem to hold any carp. Apparently they are only seen in the creeks during spring but no one has reported seeing any spawning activity and whilst the seasonal theory has obvious appeal I cannot see any reason why the carp would prefer the wild and turbulent main channel whatever the time of year. I am inclined to think that any locational preferences are due to water level variation rather than the seasons as there has to be far more food for the carp in the creeks than the comparatively barren main channel. We have put a couple of rods out today to look for snags, contours etc but only connected with a couple of Blue catfish in the 2lb range. I’ve a feeling that the catfish will turn out to be our biggest problem as they are ferocious feeders and will eat almost anything. So, after some debate, we have decided to lightly bait an area in the Creek for a few days whilst roaming around trying to locate the carp in the main channel ………… spread the odds a bit ………. and concentrate on our behavioural triggers and a few fruit recipes to try and deter the cats. Tomorrow we’ll begin to fish seriously – can’t wait! Tuesday 27th Tonight, courtesy of our host Larry, we are going ‘jugging’. A weird food gathering ritual that involves the use of 15 or so plastic containers, 1 gallon milk jugs, coke bottles etc, and an expedition on the boat in the pitch dark to catch catfish. Should be fun ………… I think. The not so ancient art of jugging. Method: Bait the hooks and sling out the jugs. Drink beer or Bourbon. Float around a little and then search for the jugs that have spread all over the state of Carolina and Virginia with a powerful spot lamp. Drink more beer and Bourbon. Once a jug is located watch to see if it’s zooming around in a weird manner. If it is you charge after it in the boat, net the jug, grab it then net the fish. All in the pitch dark. Essentially you must then drink more beer or Bourbon. This can carry on for many hours until either you’ve caught enough catfish to stock the freezer or you’ve drunk enough beer and Bourbon to not give a shit anyway ! Thursday 29th I think it’s time to have a re-think and talk the whole thing through. As we come to the end of our first week it’s clear that there is a lot to learn about this place. I guess that with all things considered the results have been reasonable, six carp in total, but I’m sure we could do better. I personally have many trips all over the world under my belt, from Nile perch fishing to Muskies in Canada but there has always been some local knowledge to help. Here there is virtually nothing. A trip to the local tackle store earlier today was quite revealing. Hundreds of photo’s of fish from Kerr lake including three species of catfish, gar, six varieties of sunfish, bass, crappies, pickerel and all sorts of other stuff including drum but no carp,………….. not one photo. It might be a good idea to take a break for a few days and start a fresh after the weekend, maybe try for some of the other species as this place really is an anglers paradise. Trouble is I really want to get to grips with the big carp and trying to connect with them is becoming a consuming passion. Friday 30th For now though it’s the carp causing the problem …………… no sign of any again today. The rods were only out for a few hours but we did keep a careful watch and didn’t see anything that could be confirmed as carp. A weekends break is due I think, maybe try a few other species. It’s easy to get trapped by a kind of mental block that has a way of blinding you to the obvious. Talk again later. Kerr Lake week 2 A full weekend break, just lazing around, re-tackling rods, making baits and talking things through. Feel a lot more optimistic now and this morning has raised the spirits. Jeff, a guy we met via the Buggs Island fishing forum prior to leaving the UK took us out for a boat ride up the creek to go Striper fishing in around 40ft of water.
It was a great morning’s fishing, stripers peel off line at an alarming rate with 60 to 70 yard runs that just don’t stop when you hit the reel. What made it all the more enjoyable is that I had the two biggest fish of the day as well as two others that filled my allowable quota of four fish before returning to base at tingling speed. With so many species here it would be easy to forget the carp which are infinitely more difficult to both locate and catch. I must say a really big thanks to Jeff, his knowledge of the lake and his ability to pinpoint the stripers was the sole reason we all had such a great few hours. Lets hope he comes over to the UK sometime and perhaps I can return the compliment………………………… Thanks Jeff. Tomorrow it’s back to the task of finding the bigger carp although I must admit that, as yet, we haven’t spotted any signs. I think that at least the various feeding patters are beginning to make sense although the differences are subtle. Unfortunately there has been one thunderstorm after the other with intermittent heavy rain that makes any detailed observations even more difficult. Understanding the movements of the various species is obviously just as important and it will help a great deal if this un-seasonal weather would settle into a calmer pattern. There is also a tropical storm, the first of the year, just off the coast which is winding itself up alarmingly. The weather people issued flash flood warnings for tonight and the storm, named Alex, is due to hit land in the North Carolina area later this week so things aren’t looking good for the next few days at least.
As predicted, the catfish will add to the problem as they are even beginning to devour the strawberry boilies, as well as corn and just about everything else. Over the weekend we spent some time preparing peanuts, boiled complete in their shells until almost too soft to hair rig and then rolled in yeast powder. It’s a recipe we’ve used many times in Europe with reasonable success so at some point during the week we’ll give it a try. A guy at the local tackle store was amazed by the whole principle of hair rigging …………… he said “Hell, no wonder it’s so Goddam hard to catch the mothers, you ain’t even put the friggin bait on the hook!” Much explanation followed but it was to little effect. The general consensus of opinion is that carp anglers are in need of therapy. When I asked the guy if he’d ever tried to catch carp he replied “Hell no ………. they taste like shit”. Judging by the nods of agreement from everyone else present it was obvious that to pursue the issue was a little pointless. He did however wish us luck whilst muttering under his breath, “Goddam weirdo’s, no wonder they ain’t got no empire no more.” Perhaps he has a point. Tuesday 3rd August My main three rods are unbranded 13ft carbon, two piece, with Kevlar inner and over-wraps, 2.5lb test fitted with Fuji ceramic rings and reel seats. They would cost around two thousand pounds each to replace but they are worth every penny. I know that six grand for three rods sounds excessive but they really do have to cope with more than it’s reasonable to expect any rod to deal with. They are very flexible but with superb progressive power that has handled any fish they’ve had to deal with. The reels are modified Shimano 8010’s with very precise ceramic clutches on both the main and baitrunner drags. The spools are from the later series, carbon with stainless steel leading rims. Line is usually Soft Steel at 8lb test or Big Game if I need 10lb which gives a capacity of about 320 yards per spool. I’ve landed some very big fish with this set up and do not believe that stronger line is really necessary except on vary rare occasions. Leaders vary and of course there’s the occasional need for traces. I never use trebles of any sort whatever the species and of course all hooks are barbless, usually Starpoints. Alarms are Fox micro’s which have coped with some atrocious weather without ever failing so although they are a little worse for wear I see no need to upgrade or replace them. Electronic enabled swingers finish the main set up and the whole lot rests on a reinforced pod, again one of the Fox products that has been modified. The only spares I carry are bail arm assemblies, rings and a Kevlar repair kit. The rest of the peripheral stuff is too varied to go in to and most of it is home made but the above should answer most enquiries. If you need specific info on rigs and stuff just drop me a line via any of the e-mail addresses on the ‘contact us’ page or via my laptop : steve@mobileone.fsworld.co.uk and I’ll do my best to answer. In view of the conditions I doubt there will be any point in fishing today, we’ll see how it goes. It will be the 5th day that the rods have been idle, at least for carp, and time is running out. Lets hope things improve soon. Wednesday 4th
Much better day in terms of weather, we actually had a full session without any rain ! The temperature was in the high 90’s and the water itself was an amazing 83f and like a mirror. Not much was moving around except of course the catfish. I personally had 17, mostly in the 2 to 3lb range with one really fat double late in the day which took me completely by surprise. As for carp, only three were caught and of no real size with the biggest at around 8lb. We threw everything we had at the catfish today from peanuts to marshmallows and they took everything with alarming speed. Much of the time the baits were taken before the rod could be set on the pod. The whole thing is a bit exasperating in the creek, the carp just don’t stand a chance of finding the baits before the catfish gobble them up. One thing I am certain about is that the carp here are harder to catch than any I have fished for all over the world. So nervous and wary. I guess it’s due to the sheer volume of predators here. For a carp to survive to the 10lb+ stage must be nothing short of a miracle. Apart from the various species of bass, ferocious catfish, gar and pike etc there are large numbers of buzzards, huge Blue Herons and even the odd Bald Eagle to cope with. Living amongst that lot would make anything nervous! Even gently rowing along the margins with just a single oar is enough to spook small carp from 60 yards away. Tomorrow is supposed to be stormy again; we’ll see. What we need is a really settled spell of weather but until then things are mostly trial and error. The calm weather today has helped in many ways particularly with regards to being able to see every movement. I think we are almost at the point where we can finally put our own baits in the water. As they are fished singularly the location is obviously the key factor, throwing them in at random would be completely pointless hence the need to understand as much as possible about all aspects of the environment here. But there is still so much we just don’t know and we haven’t seen any sign of the larger carp being present. We’ll have to decide soon about whether to change location. Thursday 5th Steve Marriot |
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