North
Carolina
Jordan
Lake NC
Report
submitted by James Poirrier
April 9, 2009
Water temp: 57-60
Water clarity: very stained
I
had the pleasure of fishing the 2009 USAJFKSWCS Tournament today with
Henry from Deep Creek Lures. First I want to extend a sincere thank you
to Marie and Henry for supporting the military. They are tireless in
their endeavor to show complete support to all branches of service, and it
shines through in their efforts like the tournament today. They, as well as
myself are also big sponsors of Warriors on the Water which is coming up this
week.
Now
on to A Day On The Lake with Henry and James.
We
started out north around Bush Creek to get away from any
of the crowds I knew were going to be out today. Started out
shallow fishing some of the bushes still in the water
which were very few since the water dropped. Henry
got hung up a few times and I jokingly told him I was going
to call Marie and do a partner swap if he didn't straitened
up and fly right and there were no fish in the trees. He
told me to just have the net ready cause he was about to
start putting some fish in the boat. We found no takers in
the area we were in, so we moved to another area I had found
during the BFL the weekend prior, didn't catch a fish there
during the BFL, but there were a few there today. Flipped
a Green Pumpkin/Green Flake Deep Creek Stump Thumper with
a 1/2 oz tungsten weight and felt the infamous tick, swung
and missed the fish. While I was getting my lure back together
Henry saw another stump and pitched to it and found a 16
1/2 bass with a June Bug Deep Creek 9 inch lizard. It
was
all over then, He wanted to know if he was needed up front
to show me how to catch a fish, I told him no and to stay
on his end of the boat and just to get ready with the net.
So we continued down the same pocket and came up on a willow
still in the water, and again I flipped the Stump Thumper and
found a connection with a nice 5 1/2 pounder, I didn't know
Henry could move that fast, but he was ready with the net
when she gave up the fight. After running that pocket
and me missing another fish that again became a joking topic
of our discussion, at about noon we decided to head back
south because the wind was picking up and it was a long run,
not wanting to have to run that long to get back to the ramp
we ended up in Bush Creek to finish out last hours of the
tournament. The wind got up pretty good causing even the
pockets to white cap and we finally settled on a protected
bank just off the main creek. It was unproductive until the
last 10 minutes we had to weigh in, thats when Henry said
to hang on as I looked back he made a sweeping hook set even
the pro's would have been jealous of . I saw his rod double
over and a 7 1/2 pounder come walking to the top. I grabbed
the net and headed to the back. After getting her into the
live well, all either of us could do was smile.
The
weigh in came and we saw 1-2 fish going back after the weigh
in, and we though we might just have a shot at this 35-40
boat tournament to cap the day off. Sure enough we weighed
in 16.44 pounds with 3 fish and earned 1st place. We came
in second on big fish, someone weighed in one over 8 pounds.
The memories of this day will stick in my mind for a long
time, it was a great change of pace from the high pressure
tournament days we get wrapped up in sometimes. Henry
thanks again for a great day, I had a blast to say the least,
and to both you and Marie thanks for all your support. It's
Americans like you both that makes our job in the military
worth every second!
For
more information and some great fishing tips, please visit
my website.
James
Poirrier
www.jamespoirrier.com
**********************************************************************
Shearon Harris Reservoir
Report
submitted by James Poirrier
March 21, 2009
Water temp 50-53
Water Color: stained
Rich
Z and I fished the Pine State Open on Harris today. I had
been on the water since Thurs trying to figure out what the
fish were doing. I didn't really find a concentration of
fish until about 11 am on Friday, I knew it was going to
be an afternoon bite. Once I found them I put the boat on
the trailer and looked forward to blast off Sat morning.
Sat morning we started out with cranks and spinner baits,
we immediately started catching a few here and there, by
about 1030 we made the move to what was found Friday, and
it was on from that time until about 15 minutes before weigh
in.
We managed to put well over 60 pounds worth of fish in
the boat, including a 9.93 pounder which took big fish for
the tournament and ended up weighing in 5 fish for 39.34
pounds. Now what were we using is what everyone will want
to know. Rich was hopping a black/blue jig and I was using
a Deep Creek Razor Beetle with a 1/2 oz Tru Tungsten weight.
It was the one two punch that was getting the bites in several
key areas. We managed 5 fish over the slot in one pocket
alone. The key was to fish SLOW, because the fish were moving
in and out of the areas feeding once the water warmed and
the sun came out. This was one of those days that will go
down in history, I don't know what the heaviest weight is
on Harris for 5 fish, but we have to be close to that record.
I do know the 10 fish limit is right at 70 pounds, and I
believe we would have broken that record because we were
culling 5 and 6 pounders. The weather this week is going
to be on the rise, and the fish will start to move into the
2 foot range, by this coming weekend look for the males to
be making beds and the females will be right behind.
Rich and I fished the BFL on Kerr Lake earlier in the month.
We both blanked. Those who fish tournaments know about the
mind set that can take hold after taking a beating at a tournament,
especially one that points mean the difference between making
it further or sitting at home. This is just what we both needed
to get us out of that haze. I'll be getting ready for Jordan
BFL starting next weekend!!
For
more information and some great fishing tips, please visit my
website.
James
Poirrier
www.jamespoirrier.com