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The upcoming Elite tournament got me thinking about what used to be a bass fishing paradise (from what ive heard).. Would love to hear some stories if any of yall have any! I've heard its quietly coming back after a very long time. They keep it very quiet! But who got to witness it back in its prime? Have heard some amazing stories about that place..
Whenever we go to Hatteras (usually twice a year) I see bass boats everywhere around the Currituck sound and Elizabeth City. I've heard of some giant bags coming out of there but I'm always telling myself, man that water ain't even brackish - it's dang near 100% saltwater!Quote:
Originally Posted by basshammerwannabe
What I always heard its back in the 70s and into the 80s it had beautiful vegetation (not sure what kind) but the place was unreal when the grass was there. Think storms or something killed the grass and the grass never came back for a long time. I heard it was coming backQuote:
Originally Posted by Meadows
Fished there in the 70s and early 80s. I ran a 14 ft. Sears gamefisher with a 35 HP Evinrude to get through the grass milfoil mats. We didn't fish from the boat very often. We would get to our area and jump out of the boat and wade fish. Always kept an eye out for snakes.
that sounds fun! How was the fishing? And yes now that you say it milfoil is what i remember hearing/reading about. Have done that in Phelps lake in NC, clear water sand bottom, waded around fishing. Snakey there too!Quote:
Originally Posted by Jumping Jimmy
I vacationed there around spring 1988 and did very well fishing canals but locals were doing far better in the sound itself. I had a 14’ boat with a 25 hp Johnson. Over the next 5-6 years I made several trips to Duck with good friends and I always brought a boat (now 16’) but fishing was very hit and miss, ok in spring and couldn’t catch a thing in the fall. We ended up spending more time in some other nearby estuaries and rivers. Beautiful scenery, challenging fishing for me. I will note that one day on Currituck I caught a bass and a flounder on consecutive casts.
ive caught a flounder in the roanoke (pretty far up) about 3 miles past dt plymouth.. caught one in the chowan and in the perquimans.. Now you go to the Trent/ Neuse river in New Bern and its another ball game.. you catch trout, flounder, reds, striper and bass all in the same areas. Areas like that in Jacksonville Nc too, ive caught a few bass fishing live shrimp for trout..Quote:
Originally Posted by tcesni
Also heard the Neuse river is back and theres been reports of some big largemouth being caught. It suffered for years. I do think they are talking past new bern towards kinston though
Was hurricanes the cause of the decline?
Might be related to the decline, it usually involves salinity levels and how much fresh water is entering the sound. The very first time I fished Currituck was mid summer, very hot and dry, and I was getting hits in plastic worms but couldn’t get a hook into the fish. Then I started to slowly reel in my line and the bites were from blue crabs.Quote:
Originally Posted by juice780
I think the original decline was due to the failed pump that added ocean water to the sound. I fished there often right after the 1975 BASS Classic was held there.Quote:
Originally Posted by juice780
would be my guess. Also heard droughts so the salinity levels got so bad it killed off the vegetationQuote:
Originally Posted by juice780
how was it? you have any fond memories?Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayne P.
Back bay 77ish? My wife had these pictures out for my 60th birthday last week.
Wading. Dad liked to bream fish so he got me a tube and would throw me out and let me do my thing while he tied up to a duck blind.
I guess I like the place okay - built me a house on the water a little over 20 years ago and still here.
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nice! some throwbacks for good memoriesQuote:
Originally Posted by basnbran
Lots of bass caught on Devil Horses and Johnson Silver Minnows. Huge grass mats.Quote:
Originally Posted by basshammerwannabe
This sounds like y’all are talking about my back yard…. I can catch speckled trout, flounder, redfish, and bass all in a 5 minute boat ride from my house…. I catch bluegills from my dock, and also crabs from my dock…. I catch speckled trout from the dock in winter…
we have some spots close by where you can be in the marsh catching bass and just 50 feet away across a strip of land is straight saltwater….
in brackish areas, the higher salinity rides on bottom and fresh water on top… I never catch bass in deep water around here…they stay shallow or right up against the bank in deeper bayous… they’ll never be out on deep drops like in a big reservoir…
Spent 35 years fishing those rivers. I know the Chowan, Roanoke, Perquimmens like the back of my hand. Very fond memories. Heck I spent the in jail at age 16 for fishing the canals in Coinjock without a license lol. I've ran from the Roanoke to the Perquimmens and had porpoises swim alongside me. Tons of bears in that area and, some of the biggest cottonmouths you'll ever see. Man I miss that place.
guy took me from roanoke to perquimmens 2 days in a row and didnt seem to know what he was doing. never will forget that ride. Yeah the cottonmouths down there are something elseQuote:
Originally Posted by Blue Steel
I fished around Grandy/Walnut Island.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blue Steel
Fished all over the sound but mostly around Knotts Island. Early spring you could catch a hundred crappie around the duck blinds drowning minnows. Then it was waders and the inner tube until it got warm then usually I would wade in jeans and tennis shoes. I have been back there a few years ago. You could catch fish but they were in very limited areas. I hear it's really improving especially in Northern back bay.
The demise of the fishery was mostly due to agricultural runoff and runoff from development. This killed the grass and the shallow water would be loaded with sediment. Multiple factors happening at the same time doomed the fishery.
Did you happen to see the secret squirrel Blackwater compound?Quote:
Originally Posted by basshammerwannabe
https://flymenfishingcompany.com/
Short video chronicling the fall of Back Bay Va fishing.
Did they ever spray the grassQuote:
Originally Posted by Jumping Jimmy
That's a great Marty Smith Team Honda MX tee. :thumb up2:Quote:
Originally Posted by basnbran
No, not to my knowledge.Quote:
Originally Posted by juice780
We used to vacation there every year for over a decade and I always just assumed the sound was saltwater, turns out it's not. Salt content is less than 5 PPT which a bass can easily tolerate compared to the ocean which is around 35 PPT. However we used to fish on the sound side of Nags head and would catch Spot, Croaker, Flounder, and Blue Crab, never a freshwater fish that I could remember.Quote:
Originally Posted by Meadows
It would depend on how close you're fishing to the inlet, or how far inshore you are. I'm sure the salinity varies based on how close you are to the ocean. Same thing with the James River here. You can catch bass all the way down close to the Chesapeake, but at some point the salinity is gonna get too high and you'll stop catching them. I've fished the Pamlico Sound my entire life, never caught anything other than saltwater fish out of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by PatriotAW4
That’s at the mouth of Perquimmons River on the western point,it’s called Harvey point. The camp was built on an old WW 2 sea plane base and some of the infrastructure is still there,like some really wide boat ramps. You can fish right up to the base on the Perquimmons and I’ve caught a ton of bass around the seawall there. But if you do,you’ll be watched. As in an armed guard will come down to the bank and watch you,some of them are friendly and will talk to you but will not discuss anything about the base. They haul in old junk cars and practice blowing them up,you’ll hear some very loud explosions there ,they will make you jump out of your skin if you’re close by.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blue Steel
I think salinity increasing is affecting alot of the rivers/sounds. I am noticing cypress trees all over dying, I assume from the higher salinity levels.
right across the river/mouth from there i remember fishing a ditch after a huge rain.. rain so bad water was coming in the rooms at the sportsmen but at the mouth of that ditch/creek water was swirling from the current coming in and man ive never seen so many fish in a tiny hole. Would be stripers non stop then the bass would move in then the stripers.. Only time ive ever caught striper on a texas rig and caught multiple on it.. thin kit was a lizardQuote:
Originally Posted by Rip Bass
they do say we are in a droughtQuote:
Originally Posted by chris c
Just a guess, but I doubt inshore bottom trawling has helped the grass/ habitat much.
Rip, I think the Harvey point defense testing center that you mentioned is not the place blue steel was talking about. He was referring to the 7,000 acre compound special op training center hidden in the woods just north of the Pasquotank river in Moyock. Used to be called Blackwater, now it's called Academi. A lot of interesting things around those areas. You really want to talk about remote check out on google earth the clandestine air force/navy range hidden in the Alligator river wildlife refuge just east of the river. I think it's an urban simulator military bombing test area and whatever else they do out there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rip Bass
If you pick the right day to fish over there, it is like an air show.Quote:
Originally Posted by white gambler
We used to vacation there every year for over a decade and I always just assumed the sound was saltwater, turns out it's not. Salt content is less than 5 PPT which a bass can easily tolerate compared to the ocean which is around 35 PPT. However we used to fish on the sound side of Nags head and would catch Spot, Croaker, Flounder, and Blue Crab, never a freshwater fish that I could remember.
There used to be a good population of bass in Kitty Hawk Bay but have not fished over there in 20+ years. The salt could have moved them out.
When my boater in a state tournament took me to perquimans 2 days in a row all he talked about was man "if i felt comfortable to make the run we'd make the run to kitty hawk and be done with 12-14lb limits in 30 minutes max".. that would of been nice and actually won that tournament easily, roanoke was far as you could see into the woods and everything was flooded bad but after riding with him to perquimans i thank God we did not make that run. this was back around 2005-2008Quote:
Originally Posted by RedShad