cfarmd

My 5YO and I fished the entirety of hadnot creek yesterday, from the mouth to the bridge. I 'expected' some fish to be holding in the creek: Mud bottom, sun warming water, etc. We caught exactly nothing. We casted some and trolled a bunch up the creek (creek averages about 30 feet wide and is easily trolled) so I feel like we covered the water pretty well.

I do not want to know your 'spot' I am trying to better learn and understand the patterns. Do you old farts suspect the fish have moved further up into the rivers? I just really felt like that creek would be holding some fish, even if it is just spikes. I was a little disappointed to strike out completely

anyway, any ideas are much appreciated

1blueheron

As of last week, we were still catching them near Barden's Inlet/Drain area so I don't think they have moved that far up the creeks yet but we didn't try there. Look for some deeper channels or holes off points and fish the outgoing tide with flukes or shrimp and see what happens. Specks we caught were quality fish. Hooked 4 and landed 2 in about an hours time. Lot of bite offs. We were also slamming the Grey trout and Blues out at the CLO rock jetty on Sat. Dec 12. Most of them we hooked were right at 12-13". A few a little larger. For a 5yo it would have been a hoot although it is a bit of a run for 1 fish per person.

Tegin1

I was out yesterday (Cape Fear area) and the water temp was down to 49 deg F, I caught one 15” trout in 5 hours of fishing. It may be that the majority of fish have moved offshore, or they could be holding in deeper water where the temperatures are more stable. I know of one marina where the depth runs about 15’ and it will hold trout when the temps drop. I think a major impact down here is the amount of freshwater that came down the river due to the rains inland. The freshwater pushed the bait and the trout out early and now the temperatures are low enough that the trout activity has slowed considerably. The only other thing to add is work your lures very slow.

cfarmd

the rain and freshwater was certainly on my mind. That and the wind was howling pushing freshwater out of the white oak river. I wish you had better luck, but in some small way I am glad you had similar results! Misery loves company

heelwithnoname

I don't have any advice but I appreciate the report about Hadnot even though you did not find any fish. Doing what you said, you spent some time I know. I don't envy you keeping a 5yo occupied during that time. I agree that place should hold fish and I've heard that it does, but I've yet to catch anything but one spike last spring there.

For whatever it is worth, I've heard that there is not a lot happening further up river near Stella. I have not been there since Thanksgiving, so I cannot speak first hand. Typically there are a lot of nets set out starting December 1, so that usually affects things.

It has been a strange fall to say the least. It seems like the fish never really got up the river in big numbers.

cfarmd

my little guy had fun regardless. he set out the trolling 'spread' all by himself several times, and i had him reeling in to check baits for grass etc. we saw several vipers and a sea stallion. we had fun, despite me running up on a sandbar and an oyster bar....with the waves rolling those dang cans are next to impossible to see

Rick S

Netters are hitting the creeks hard and have been.

The good news...hearing that the market is flooded and the price has dropped to $1/pound. Hopefully that will take the pressure off. I damn sure hate to have to start praying for a minor cold-stun event.

Info from another thread this week-

cfarmd

I am not at all surprised to hear that the netters are stripping the creeks. Does netting open 12/1 every year?

Seamus67

Recreationals are hitting the creeks hard and have been.

The good news...hearing that no one can catch one. Hopefully that will take the pressure off. I damn sure hate to have to start praying for a minor flu event.

Info from another thread this week-
In 2019, recreationals landed 3,334,163 pounds of spotted seatrout.

The ten year (2010-2019) average total annual recreational landings is 1,483,185 pounds.

Landings in the previous years are highly variable as a percent of total annual harvest compared to previous year:

2015 = -337%
2016 = 400%
2017 = 21%
2018 = -305%
2019 = 506%
Avg. = 57%

If 2020 follows the 57% average, then the projected total recreational landings for the year will be 5,234,635 pounds...an all time record that will exceed the ten year average by over 3.5X.

With DMF/MFC allowing 100% of active recreational fishing licenses to lie "latent" with zero trip tickets reported, that is an unmanageable and unsustainable pool of effort that can be brought upon a fishery at any moment...and it appears that may have happened on spotted seatrout.

cfarmd

Maybe CCA will win the wildlife mismanagement suit

Rick S

Recs don't shut a creek or canal down in a few days, nets do that. Nets have to go. Until trout are gamefish, or nets are banned, we need an annual closure from Jan 2 to June 15 to protect the overwintering sows and to allow at least one major spawn.

CAP1

What a complete BS post.

You commercial guys keep fooling yourselves that the current system is sustainable. Soon, either the Feds will have to step in, or the fisheries will completely collapse and you will see how the New Englanders faired then they destroyed their fisheries.

Seamus67

Well according to the stats, recs kill at least 3 times more trout than comms even with the nets on any given year in the last decade.

Seamus67

Well once again another thread has been crapped on by the anti-net crowd. It is always more of the same propaganda and refusal to see but one side.

cfarmd

^^^ yeah no way in hell anyone with a brain believes that recs kill 3x more trout than comm.

Seamus67

Direct from NOAA: https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/SASStoredProcess/do?_program=%2F%2FFoundation%2FSTP%2Fmrip_series_c atch&yearfrom=2010&yearto=2020&summary=annua l&wave=1&state=NORTH+CAROLINA&species=SPOTTE D+SEATROUT&mode_fx=ALL+MODES+COMBINED&area_x=A LL+AREAS+COMBINED&catch_type=HARVEST+%28TYPE+A+% 2B+B1%29&data_type=WEIGHT+OF+FISH+%28POUNDS%29&; qoutput_type=TABLE&source=PRODUCTION



In the same time the commercial caught 232,409 pounds so far in 2020, versus 822,605 via recs. More than 3X!

cfarmd

yeah ok....I have fished in NC for all of my 32 years and I have never once been asked what I caught or how many. They are extrapolating data to everyone with a CRFL. The DMF sure as chit didn't ask everyone

Seamus67

I really hope you do know that this is the exact data NOAA and NC uses to estimate stocks and quotas. This is the "science" that is being used and my point exactly. But atlas, I'm just a lowly fisherman and apparently has no brain, but yet the scientist in charge say that those counts are accurate. So, if you look back since 1981, this is what you get:



So, according to the scientists, recs have been killing over 4x more specks than comms since 1981.

Rick S

I don't see how the fact of why a creek is wiped out is "another thread...crapped on by the anti-net crowd", especially when the original poster of the thread is helping facilitate the discussion. You just sound like a whiner.

Now...if you want to play tit-for-tat on which sector kills the most fish, I'm up to the challenge.

My first entry is Summer Flounder.

In 2020 going forward, the recreational sector has pretty much been eliminated from the Summer flounder fishery while, today, the commercial sector can land 20,000 pounds per trip.

History shows the disparity even before 2020-

Rec 10-year annual average is 119,188 pounds.

Com 10-year annual average is 2,090,147 pounds.

The commercial sector is landing 17.5 times what the recreational sector gets. 2020 going forward will be more like commercials getting 95%+.

Seamus67

I thought this thread was about trout? Deflect much?