North Carolina angling retreat getting better
Transcription
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 22 TexassporTingJournal . com 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 Brown Trophy Whitetail Ranch Ad 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 Polar Vault 240 Polar Vault 120 CaPaCiTy: CaPa PaC Pa aCiTy: 240 -12oz. Cans, 150 Quarts CaPa CaPaCiTy: PaC Pa aCiTy: 120 -12oz. Cans, 90 Quarts Offshore fishing in Cabo? TSJ wants you & three friends to go. Win a 4 day, 3 night trip with 2 days of offshore fi shing with Baja Luxury Fishing Villas. Explore the depths of Cabo with a pair of Steiner Commander V Marine binoculars equipped with a builtin compass. All equipment, food & drinks are provided on the boat. Transportation to and from the airport is included. (Airfare is not.) Photo by T.J. Stallings Commercial-Grade Refrigeration for the Serious Outdoorsman 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. 26 TexassporTingJournal . com Featuring GameGuard® camouflage, The Official Camo of the Lone Star State®. TM TM ® For Additional Product Information and Pricing, We Invite You to Contact: 817-472-8990 [email protected] www.thermell.com Enter to win at TexasSportingJournal.com/sweepstakes Drawing will take place on October 31, 2011. Visit site for details on the prizes. PORT & MARINA, Cabo San Lucas, México 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 of Good Looking, Big Framed, High Scoring Bucks and Voodoo @ 1 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. Texbo X Dreambuck/ Royal Flush Right G-2 broken off 7/19/2010, Dam sold for $225K to Brown Trophy Whitetail Ranch Texbo @ 3 Maxbo X TR W58 co-owned w/ Rancho Trinidad TexassporTingJournal . com Blade Jr. X Dreambuck/ Royal Flush They Grow Up Fast … … and they’re still growing Hybrid Catfish • Largemouth Bass • All Types of Perch and Minnows • Electro-Shocking and Lake Management E-mail: [email protected] www.hennekehatchery.com Henneke Fish Hatchery Hallettsville, Hallettsville, TX TX 361-798-5934 Home to Some of the Best Mamas in Texas All Bucks Shown Were Born and Raised at The Refuge and are out of DeepPedigreed Refuge Doe. Heath Reynolds (903) 467-8707 [email protected] wide clyde @ 3 Cadillac X Rattler buster @ 1 Texbo X Blade/ 2Wide’s Sister Chris McSpadden (903) 229-8787 [email protected] Ranch (903) 396-2848 or (903) 396-2849 28 Absolute @ 2 The Refuge Whitetails RefugeWhitetails.com 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. Meline's Lodge Ad 30 TexassporTingJournal . com 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 32 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 33