North Carolina angling retreat getting better

One in a Series
NORTH AMERICA
King
King
the
I KNEW THE MINUTE I SAW IT I
would love Richmond Mill
Lake. Although situated in the
Sandhills Region of southeastern
North Carolina, the 120-acre
reservoir near Laurel Hill closely
resembles the Mississippi River
oxbow lakes I often fish in
Arkansas. Ancient cypress trees
shade tea-colored water. Fishylooking cover is everywhere. In
shoreline shallows, I saw swirls
of feeding fish.
A heavyweight bluegill from richmond Mill Lake in
north Carolina. A specialized feeding program has
led to the production of numerous two-pound-plus
‘gills in this lake, which is part of the king fisher
society outdoor-recreation complex.
Photo by Keith sutton
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I found comfort in these things, for I had
just finished a two-day drive from Little
Rock to fish Richmond Mill. Had I encountered a different type of lake after such a
long journey, there might have been trepidation. There was good karma, instead.
This was my kind of lake. I knew I’d catch
fish there.
I traveled with my friend TJ Stallings, director of marketing for TTI Blakemore Fishing Group in Wetumpka, Alabama. “You’re
going to want to catch one of these,” he
told me in a Facebook post a few months
earlier. Accompanying the post was a photo
of TJ holding a hubcap-sized Richmond
Mill bluegill that tipped the scales at more
than two pounds. “There’s more where
that one came from,” he said.
TJ knows I love panfishing. And he
knew the moment I saw that boss bluegill,
all I would think about was catching one
myself. Such was the case, and fortunately
for me, TJ had already laid plans to take
me fishing at Richmond Mill, part of an
extraordinary, privately-owned outdoorrecreation facility known as the King Fisher Society. We arrived at King Fisher lodge
late in the afternoon of March 23, 2011,
where we were joined by Chuck Smock,
editor of Cabela’s Outfitter
Journal, outdoor
writers Jeff Samsel and Vic Attardo, and
Bob Lusk of Whitesboro, Texas, editor of
Pond Boss magazine (www.pondboss.com)
and biologist in charge of managing Richmond Mill’s incredible fishery.
history
As the sun set that first day, we toured
the lake in boats while Lusk shared Richmond Mill’s rich history.
“In 1835, a year before Davy Crockett
was killed at the Alamo, the lake was built
to harness water to turn a grist mill,” he
Photo by T.J. Stallings
North Carolina angling retreat getting better with age. STORY BY KEITH SUTTON
One in a series nOrth america / king fisher
Fisher
Fisher
Photo by Keith Sutton
TSJ
Top: While fishing richmond Mill Lake,
author keith sutton landed a dozen
of the biggest bluegills he’s caught
during 50 years fishing for the species.
Bottom: Outdoor writer Vic Attardo of
red hill, Pennsylvania lands a whopper
richmond Mill bluegill on fly-fishing
tackle. Attardo caught a 2-1/4-pound
monster on this trip.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011
23
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Photo by Keith Sutton
One in a series nOrth america / king fisher
said. “To this day, 7,000 to 10,000 gallons of water per minute cascade over the
spillway. The water was acidic, with pH
running between 4.9 and 5.3, meaning
it’s not really good for raising fish. For
the first 165 years of the lake’s life, the
tannic water produced a few largemouth
bass, some redbreast sunfish and some
chain pickerel, but was never a naturalborn fishery. Essentially, the water was
too sterile, so it didn’t produce many
fish.
“That began to change with a series of
decisions starting in 2000,” Lusk continued. “Dr. Jim Morgan, a fifth generation
member of the Morgan family, which has
owned the property since 1872, decided
to drain the lake and do some muchneeded repairs to the dam. Work began
in 2001, and four years later was finished. I met with Jim as dam repairs were
nearing completion, and his challenge to
me was, ‘Let’s figure out how to make
Richmond Mill the best bass-fishing lake
in America.’ That was a pretty bold goal.”
Lusk determined the lake couldn’t produce an adequate food chain with “normal” management efforts, so he decided
to bypass nature’s offerings and provide
Texas fisheries biologist Bob Lusk displays a pair of trophy bluegills—fish produced using
an innovative management plan implemented by Lusk—from the king fisher society’s
richmond Mill Lake.
Coppersmith
24
TexassporTingJournal . com
One in a series nOrth america / king fisher
weighed and measured at 8.2 pounds, 20
inches long and 19 inches girth.
“Bluegills have been the most surprising,” he continued. “Our goal was to feed
them to become part of the food chain,
expecting some to grow large enough to
become legitimate target species. Recently,
a guy caught two Richmond Mill bluegills
1 Establish a state­of­the­art feeding sys­ larger than three pounds. Those are quickly
becoming a huge reason to visit King Fisher
tem to dispense feed to the fi sh.
and are garnering national attention, much
2 Stock at least 50 pounds of feed­
more than the fantastic bass fishing. This
trained largemouth bass per surface bluegill fishery is snowballing into someacre to start.
3 Stock a forage­fi sh base (fathead min­
nows and sunfi sh) just as one would if the lake were to be managed “natu­
rally.”
4 Develop a high­quality feed, designed specifi cally for this project. (This new feed, AquaMax, is now sold nation­
wide by Purina.)
a direct food chain via feeding. Biologists
had recently learned the merits of stocking young largemouth bass conditioned
to eat pelleted fish food, and Lusk knew
if good quality food was presented consistently, feed-trained bass would eat it.
He chose this approach to managing the
Richmond Mill fishery:
“As we fed the fish after the first stocking in the winter of 2005-06, I saw a number of fascinating things begin to happen,”
Lusk said. “The bass grew exceptionally
well. Those we originally stocked, which
averaged 2.2 pounds each, now exceed seven pounds, with the largest one
thing which could be significant in the fishing world. The difference between a normal
eight- or nine-inch bluegill that weighs half
a pound and these foot-long monsters is
like comparing a paper airplane to a fighter jet. Try to rein in a fighter jet on fourpound-test line on an ultralight.”
fishing
The next morning, fishing with TJ and
Vic, I saw the fish feeders operate. Fifty are
scattered around the lake, each connected
to a computer network and set to disperse
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Photo by T.J. Stallings
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While fishing richmond Mill Lake, author
keith sutton landed a dozen of the
biggest bluegills he’s caught during 50
years fishing for the species.
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One in a series nOrth america / king fisher
Quail, Clays &
Falconry
Photos by Mindy Morgan
the Doe that Produce them!
FISHING AT THE KING FISHER SOCIETY (KFS) is an experience never forgotten. The comfortable lakeside lodge, offering the finest food, drink and live music, provides an ideal place for client entertainment or a retreat with family and friends. But there’s more!
From October 1 to April 1, guests can enjoy unparalleled bobwhite hunting on a gorgeous, 2,000­acre nature preserve. The resort also has a state­of­the­art, five­stand, sporting­clays facility
that gets rave reviews as one of the best in the nation. Add an exciting hunting or shooting session to any KFS experience just by asking.
For a truly unique adventure, let KFS’s trained handlers teach you about falconry. Whether in a group setting where you learn about and help train falcons, hawks and owls, or in an exciting hunt where you experience the thrill of the chase as the birds try to catch rabbits, squirrels and quail, this is a once­in­a­lifetime experience.
All KFS experiences are by advanced booking only. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
The King Fisher Society
P.O. Box 1167, Laurel Hill, NC 28351
910­462­2324; 910­462­2328 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern)
www.kingfishersociety.com / [email protected]
food pellets in the morning and afternoon.
When the feeder by our boat went off at
dawn, there was instant pandemonium.
Fish food shot in all directions, like corn
from an automatic deer feeder. Instantly,
the water started boiling as scores of bass
rushed in for breakfast.
Vic fired a lure into the melee, and
wham! Bass on—a high-jumping sixpounder TJ and I quickly hooked up,
too—a four-pounder and a five. For the
next 30 minutes, every cast each of us
made resulted in a hookup with a threeto six-pound bass. In another boat by
another feeder, Jeff, Bob and Chuck were
enjoying similar action.
Nice thing was, when the feeding frenzy
was over, the bass catching wasn’t. Only
in the famed bass lakes of Mexico have I
ever caught more bucketmouths during a
day of fishing. The biggest pushed seven
pounds, with dozens of three- to sixpounders. We all savored the incredible
action.
The next morning, TJ and I headed out
with one goal in mind: catching a twopound-plus bluegill. We had caught several huge specimens the first day (“ginor-
Consistent
Producers
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TOP AND BOTTOM RIGHT: Bobwhite quail hunting can be an added bonus for those
visiting the King Fisher Society from October through March; BOTTOM LEFT: The King
Fisher Society offers shooting at a five-stand sporting-clays facility considered one
of the nation’s best.
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Photo by Keith Sutton
One in a series nOrth america / king fisher
Chuck smock of sidney, nebraska lands one of richmond Mill Lake’s whopper bluegills.
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30
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mous” TJ called them), but not the fabled
two-pounder.
We began casting to a steep bank with
Road Runner’s Natural Science Trout and
Panfish spinner, the same lure TJ had
caught his big ‘gill on six months earlier.
This produced several one-pound-plus
bluegills (and some hefty black crappie),
but not the monster panfish we sought. A
change in tactics was in order.
I suggested we fish around some grass
mats offshore in deeper water. Each of
these floating islands is an ecosystem unto
itself, full of grass shrimp, insects and other
bluegill favorites. And sure enough, larger
bluegills were feeding there.
TJ cast a Yellow Coach Dog Road Runner
beside one mat and nearly had his fishing
combo yanked from his hands. His rod tip
bent to the water, making me think he’d
hooked another big bass. But when the
platter-sized fish started swimming in tight
circles, I knew he had a bluegill. Little did I
realize, however, this would be the biggest
bream I’d seen caught during almost 50
years spent fishing for the species—a skillet-sized behemoth weighing just a shade
over two pounds.
Photo by T.J. Stallings
One in a series nOrth america / king fisher
One in a series nOrth america / king fisher
Edgecraft Ad
Photo by Keith Sutton
While fishing richmond Mill Lake, author keith sutton landed a dozen of the biggest bluegills he’s caught during 50 years fishing for the species.
Edgecraft Ad
During the next few hours, casting Road
Runners to the shady side of cover, we enjoyed several double hookups on bluegills
this size. It wasn’t like shooting fish in a
barrel. Catching these giants was challenging, which made the fishing even more rewarding. But when all was said and done,
we had caught and released two dozen bluegills the size of jumbo tortillas, including
one beautifully colored coppernose bream
that weighed two pounds even—my biggest bluegill ever. Our buddy Vic waylaid
one on a fly rod that weighed two pounds,
four ounces!
There are other waters where you might
catch as many trophy largemouths, but
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TexassporTingJournal . com
few with so many hawgs in so few acres.
When it comes to trophy bluegill fishing,
however, I dare say no lake in the world
produces more two-pound-plus specimens.
Richmond Mill Lake is best of the best, bar
none.
The combination of giant bream and extraordinary numbers of heavyweight bass
makes the North Carolina’s King Fisher Society one of the top destinations in the United
States for anyone who loves fishing. And the
transformation of this once-barren millpond
into a blue-ribbon bass and panfish lake is
testimony to the possibilities when fisheries
biologists and lake owners work together to
create a paradise for anglers.
Photo by Jeff Samsel
Outdoor writer Vic Attardo of red hill, Pennsylvania lands a whopper richmond Mill
bluegill on fly-fishing tackle. Attardo caught a 2-1/4-pound monster on this trip.
Author keith sutton is all smiles
after landing this hefty bass in north
Carolina’s richmond Mill Lake.
Picture description tag
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011
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