Need a fix!

[NealCO]

Just got off the phone with my dad. My family lives in Raleigh NC. THey have a summer home at Smith Mountain Res., which is just north of the NC border in Virginia. It is about 25,000 acres of beautiful wooded hills and gin clear water. It is loaded with Striper, smallies, catfish, largemouth and a few Walleye.

They have a pontoon boat outfitted for striper fishing. It has a big bait well in the middle of the boat that can hold a couple of hundred live shad at a time. You just throw a cast net around the docks or riprap and load up. Last time I was there it only took a couple of throws to get enough bait.

They got about 15 stripers from 4-7 lbs this weekend just hanging live shad on circle hooks and downlines. And they are just casual fisherman! There are big fish there also, but they are few and far between! I sure wish I could take a vacation! They have a half dozen big resevoirs right around them, but have no idea how fortunate they are! I only get out there once a year[unsure]

Anybody tempt fate this weekend? I heard there were some fools out on 2-3 inchs of ice at Chatfield?
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[DonInDenver]

Aw, man!! That sounds like so much fun! I could use a dose of that kind of fishing myself.
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[NealCO]

They have no idea how lucky they are[mad] In fact, they take it for granted!
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[DonInDenver]

I'll bet they'd hit your Vibra-fin leech, too!!! LOL
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[tomcat64]

hey neal-
i have fished smith mountain many many times when i used to live in VA while in the USAF. a good buddy of mine had a house (his folks) on the lake. we used to fish in his pops platform boat with a 200 hp on it. we'd cast net shad, then free line shad for monster stripers. got into many smallies as well. that sure is a beautiful lake. have not been there since 1990. too bad for me.
i used to float the james a lot for smallies as well. howardsville to bremo bluff. awesome river smallies.
my mom lives in NC, down in north topsail beach. i sure love NC and the fishing on the coast.
CO is nice, but it sure would be awesome to be wealthy and do nothing but go fish where the weather was good and the bite was on.
hope you can make it out. the fall was always the best for us.
tomcat
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[DonInDenver]

Hi Thom-

Welcome to BFT as a real-life, registered member. Did you get to Douglas this weekend to try the new Vexilar?? I'm going to try to take some time between Xmas and New Years, but I'm not sure I can get on the ice before then. I'm gonna take up rodbuilding, too, and make a couple of laker ice rods. Hopefully I can get at least one done by New Years or so.

So if you know about castnets and all - how come we haven't tried that around here??
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[tomcat64]

hey dId-
yeah, finally became a real user on BFT. i figured that is where all the poop is, especially since the moderator is pretty decent on the CO board. [] i was going to call you tomorrow.
never made it out this weekend. i just felt another week of below freezing temps at night were in order. i spend enough time on thin ice in real life, so why mix that into my hobbie.
i plan on going saturday. i want to try out the new flip shanty and vexilar i bought. both killer deals. you otta give it a try, maybe even in the evening early night? she'll be home waitin on ya when you get back! those rods need time for the epoxy to dry! i have only this weekend, maybe next sunday to give it the first try until new years weekend. heading back to OH for the holidays.
so let me remind you, as you asked that you are supposed to cut down on all that tackle in your sled - granby! i am still huffing n' puffing from pulling that thing up that hill.
yep, i have been throwing a cast net for many years. mainly in the surf for baitfish, but also off a boat plenty. i guess i never figured it would produce anywhere in CO. i'd give it a try if i knew where some bait minnows were. worth a try. it is also pretty funy watching me get my form back each time i get it out. like a monkey humpin a greased football.
let me know. heck, take a few hours and break the ice fever already.
see ya dId.
tomcat
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[DonInDenver]

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" i spend enough time on thin ice in real life, so why mix that into my hobbie." ROTFLMAO Ha ha ha!!!
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