seamonkey
04-24-2009, 09:26 AM
New NC Record Crappie Taken From Private Pond
by Fred Bonner
If you think that the best angling for freshwater fish is to be found in the larger lakes in our state, take a look at the record books for North Carolina and list there where the big fish were taken. An amazing number of them come from relatively small, private farm ponds.
When you take a look at the boat launching ramps on the major lakes on weekends and the sunny spring days that seem to precipitate a sudden outbreak of sick-leave days from work, you can get some idea of just how heavily most of the big lakes near populations centers are used. Between fishermen, jet skiers, sailors, paddle boaters, and the joy riders, many of the larger public lakes are “pounded to death” by the various recreational users these days. Many serious anglers simply try to time their time on these lakes to very early in the mornings or during the week when there’s less on-the-water traffic.
A lot of serious fishermen learned a log time ago that they could find a little peace and quiet along with some good fishing on private farm ponds that may be tucked away off the back roads of North Carolina. The fishing pressure on a lot of these relatively obscure private ponds can be very light and other anglers haven’t yet spooked some trophy-sized fish.
I can think of several cases where these out of the way farm ponds were built 50 or 60 years ago and are now hidden in the woods that grew up after the ponds were built. The landowners and a few neighbors know that the ponds are there and if a visiting angler plays his cards right, and with the proper diplomacy, can gain access to the pond.
One such fisherman is Ronnie Emory from Franklinton, N.C. He had his little honey-hole of a farm pond tucked away in Granville County and it produced the new North Carolina State Record white crappie for him recently.
According to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (who keeps up with record fish that anglers take from the inland waters of the state), “March 30 is a day that Franklinton angler Ronnie Emory, Jr., won’t soon forget. In just a few hours after launching his boat in a private pond in Granville County, he and a fishing buddy, Jeff Williams, reeled in 43 white crappie, one of which is now a new North Carolina freshwater fishing state record.
Emory, 25, caught the 3-pound, 8-ounce record-breaker, which measured 20 inches in length and 14 ½ inches in girth, using a Garland mini-jig on a Quantum rod and reel combo.
“I’ve been fishing that pond since I was 10 years old, and I’ve caught some big crappie out there, although nothing that size before,” Emory said. “I knew that it was big but I didn’t know it was the state record until I went online and saw what the current state record was, and thought, ‘Mine’s bigger than that.’”
Emory’s white crappie catch surpassed the last state record by 1/4 pound. James G. (Greg) Brown caught a 3-pound, 4-ounce fish on March 5, 2008, from a pond at the Waverly Swim Club in Charlotte.
Emory’s crappie was weighed on certified scales at Gooch’s Grocery in Franklinton. The state record crappie was examined and certified by Corey Oakley, District 5 fisheries biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
To qualify for the state record, anglers must have caught the fish by rod and reel or cane pole, have the fish weighed on a scale certified by the N.C. Department of Agriculture, witnessed by one observer, have the fish identified by a fisheries biologist from the Commission and submit an application with a full, side-view photo of the fish.
For a list of all freshwater fish state records in North Carolina or more information on the State Record Fish Program, visit the Commission’s Web site, www.ncwildlife.org (http://www.ncwildlife.org). For more information on fishing in public, inland waters, call the Division of Inland Fisheries, (919) 707-0220.
North Carolina State Record fish are one thing but world records are another matter. In many cases the official world record for fish is kept by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
The official All Tackle Word Record white crappie in the International Game Fish Association book (as of 2008) stands at 5 pounds, 3 ounces and was caught by angler Fred Bright near Enid Dam, Mississippi in July of 1957. Interestingly, the IGFA All Tackle World Record for black crappie trails the white crappie record by a mere 3 ounces and was caught in a private lake in Missouri in 2006.
The IGFA was originally set up as a saltwater fishing conservation and record keeping body on a worldwide basis. They took over the freshwater records when the Field and Stream magazine handed over their record books to the IGFA.
The IGFA now keeps the all of the official world record fish taken by “sporting” methods and keeps some very extensive records on who caught the fish, how it was taken and how much it weighed. Records are broken down into all tackle records (the largest species ever taken on any given pound test line), line class records, women’s records, youth records and fly rod records. Of course all these various divisions of record fishes is broken down into freshwater and saltwater records. As you can imagine, the list of world wide record fishes is extensive and contains only a small percentage of the 25,000 or so known species of fishes in the world.
Striped Bass Show At Weldon, Outlook Good!
The news from the biologists of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is that “Striped bass are starting to show up on the spawning grounds.”
Those words, from N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission biologist Jeremy McCargo, are music to the ears of many striped bass anglers who have been waiting for the striped bass to arrive in the upper Roanoke River.
“Limits of stripers were rare last weekend, but most anglers fishing at Weldon on Saturday and Sunday were able to catch a few keepers,” McCargo continued.
However, as the water temperatures continue to rise, more and more stripers will show up and fishing should improve. With the air temperatures warming considerably over the next few days, this weekend should see some good fishing in and around the boat ramp.
Stripers aren’t the only fish biting. Hickory shad are still in the upper river and anglers are still catching their limit in some areas. According to Bobby Colston of Colston’s Tackle Box on Hwy. 48 south of Gaston, anglers have been doing very well using 3/0 silver spoons and 3/0 hot pink spoons.
Down river, Ricky Mobley from the Roanoke Sportsman in Williamston, said striper fishing has been really good.
“If they want to catch rock, now is the time to come because the fishing is really good,” Mobley said. According to Mobley, the morning is best to catch stripers, while the afternoon fishing is good as well.
Like upstream, fishermen are having the most success with cut bait, although Mobley said that they’re also catching good numbers with rattletraps, and bombers and hairy worms.
by Fred Bonner
If you think that the best angling for freshwater fish is to be found in the larger lakes in our state, take a look at the record books for North Carolina and list there where the big fish were taken. An amazing number of them come from relatively small, private farm ponds.
When you take a look at the boat launching ramps on the major lakes on weekends and the sunny spring days that seem to precipitate a sudden outbreak of sick-leave days from work, you can get some idea of just how heavily most of the big lakes near populations centers are used. Between fishermen, jet skiers, sailors, paddle boaters, and the joy riders, many of the larger public lakes are “pounded to death” by the various recreational users these days. Many serious anglers simply try to time their time on these lakes to very early in the mornings or during the week when there’s less on-the-water traffic.
A lot of serious fishermen learned a log time ago that they could find a little peace and quiet along with some good fishing on private farm ponds that may be tucked away off the back roads of North Carolina. The fishing pressure on a lot of these relatively obscure private ponds can be very light and other anglers haven’t yet spooked some trophy-sized fish.
I can think of several cases where these out of the way farm ponds were built 50 or 60 years ago and are now hidden in the woods that grew up after the ponds were built. The landowners and a few neighbors know that the ponds are there and if a visiting angler plays his cards right, and with the proper diplomacy, can gain access to the pond.
One such fisherman is Ronnie Emory from Franklinton, N.C. He had his little honey-hole of a farm pond tucked away in Granville County and it produced the new North Carolina State Record white crappie for him recently.
According to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (who keeps up with record fish that anglers take from the inland waters of the state), “March 30 is a day that Franklinton angler Ronnie Emory, Jr., won’t soon forget. In just a few hours after launching his boat in a private pond in Granville County, he and a fishing buddy, Jeff Williams, reeled in 43 white crappie, one of which is now a new North Carolina freshwater fishing state record.
Emory, 25, caught the 3-pound, 8-ounce record-breaker, which measured 20 inches in length and 14 ½ inches in girth, using a Garland mini-jig on a Quantum rod and reel combo.
“I’ve been fishing that pond since I was 10 years old, and I’ve caught some big crappie out there, although nothing that size before,” Emory said. “I knew that it was big but I didn’t know it was the state record until I went online and saw what the current state record was, and thought, ‘Mine’s bigger than that.’”
Emory’s white crappie catch surpassed the last state record by 1/4 pound. James G. (Greg) Brown caught a 3-pound, 4-ounce fish on March 5, 2008, from a pond at the Waverly Swim Club in Charlotte.
Emory’s crappie was weighed on certified scales at Gooch’s Grocery in Franklinton. The state record crappie was examined and certified by Corey Oakley, District 5 fisheries biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
To qualify for the state record, anglers must have caught the fish by rod and reel or cane pole, have the fish weighed on a scale certified by the N.C. Department of Agriculture, witnessed by one observer, have the fish identified by a fisheries biologist from the Commission and submit an application with a full, side-view photo of the fish.
For a list of all freshwater fish state records in North Carolina or more information on the State Record Fish Program, visit the Commission’s Web site, www.ncwildlife.org (http://www.ncwildlife.org). For more information on fishing in public, inland waters, call the Division of Inland Fisheries, (919) 707-0220.
North Carolina State Record fish are one thing but world records are another matter. In many cases the official world record for fish is kept by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
The official All Tackle Word Record white crappie in the International Game Fish Association book (as of 2008) stands at 5 pounds, 3 ounces and was caught by angler Fred Bright near Enid Dam, Mississippi in July of 1957. Interestingly, the IGFA All Tackle World Record for black crappie trails the white crappie record by a mere 3 ounces and was caught in a private lake in Missouri in 2006.
The IGFA was originally set up as a saltwater fishing conservation and record keeping body on a worldwide basis. They took over the freshwater records when the Field and Stream magazine handed over their record books to the IGFA.
The IGFA now keeps the all of the official world record fish taken by “sporting” methods and keeps some very extensive records on who caught the fish, how it was taken and how much it weighed. Records are broken down into all tackle records (the largest species ever taken on any given pound test line), line class records, women’s records, youth records and fly rod records. Of course all these various divisions of record fishes is broken down into freshwater and saltwater records. As you can imagine, the list of world wide record fishes is extensive and contains only a small percentage of the 25,000 or so known species of fishes in the world.
Striped Bass Show At Weldon, Outlook Good!
The news from the biologists of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is that “Striped bass are starting to show up on the spawning grounds.”
Those words, from N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission biologist Jeremy McCargo, are music to the ears of many striped bass anglers who have been waiting for the striped bass to arrive in the upper Roanoke River.
“Limits of stripers were rare last weekend, but most anglers fishing at Weldon on Saturday and Sunday were able to catch a few keepers,” McCargo continued.
However, as the water temperatures continue to rise, more and more stripers will show up and fishing should improve. With the air temperatures warming considerably over the next few days, this weekend should see some good fishing in and around the boat ramp.
Stripers aren’t the only fish biting. Hickory shad are still in the upper river and anglers are still catching their limit in some areas. According to Bobby Colston of Colston’s Tackle Box on Hwy. 48 south of Gaston, anglers have been doing very well using 3/0 silver spoons and 3/0 hot pink spoons.
Down river, Ricky Mobley from the Roanoke Sportsman in Williamston, said striper fishing has been really good.
“If they want to catch rock, now is the time to come because the fishing is really good,” Mobley said. According to Mobley, the morning is best to catch stripers, while the afternoon fishing is good as well.
Like upstream, fishermen are having the most success with cut bait, although Mobley said that they’re also catching good numbers with rattletraps, and bombers and hairy worms.