With the beaches still closed, the only fishing spot available seems to be Davis Canal... and that's only if you have access to it. All public boat ramps, including kayak ramps are closed. Eventually, hopefully, things will start to open again. The ban on beach access will be lifted and fisherman will once again hit the surf. This doesn't mean that Davis Canal needs to be dismissed. On the contrary, there's plenty of good fishing happening in the canal year round. If you're looking for sharks or monster blues you might be disappointing. That doesn't mean there aren't large fish in the canal. Slot red drum, speckled trout and decent sized black drum are frequent visitors to the canal. With the right bait, the right timing and a little luck, you can take home a cooler full of fish. If you're just looking to have some fun and catch some fish and you aren't too finicky about what ends up on the end of your hook, your even more in luck. The canal is always full of croaker and other panfish that can be caught on a basic double drop rig and frozen shrimp. You might also be surprised at a few other species you might catch fishing Davis Canal. It's not uncommon to hook an eel on shrimp, especially if you're fishing around dusk. Sea robins can also be an unwanted bycatch. Fishing Davis Canal will produce different results depending on the time of year. In the spring, you might be lucky to land spot or silver perch. All you need for panfish is a double drop rig and shrimp or Fishbites. In the summer, you'll definitely attract croaker, especially if your using shrimp. It's doesn't mater what type of shrimp either, be if its frozen, fresh or live. However, you might also get lucky and land a summer flounder. For flounder, it's hard to keep the croaker off live shrimp so try throwing gulp. In the fall, the trout and the black drum move in. I've caught some of my best drum in the canal in the fall. For trout, soft plastics like artificial shrimp or paddletails work well. Black drum will seek out shrimp or sand fleas. There is one other critter you might run into fishing in the Davis Canal; an alligator. In my experience, they tend to leave people alone. I've bumped into a few small ones when I've been out on the kayak and as soon as they've seen me, they've dived down under the water. I have seen a few large ones from the boat and they too tend to move along. I''m not sure what a large gator would do if we ran into each other while I was in the kayak. I'm hoping we would go our separate ways. So far I've been lucky enough to not have to find out. If you want to see the big one, watch the video below. Fast forward to just past the 2 minute mark. Wanna guess how big she is? Bigger than a bread box, that's for sure.
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Many a deer hunter began their hunting career at an early age by aiming their shotguns at squirrels. For fisherman, before the bass hawgs and bull redfish, many wet their first lines catching panfish. My grandparents owned a house on a small lake in Rhinebeck NY and before I ever hooked a bass or a catfish, I hooked a sunfish. As a preadolescent, I would wake up at sunrise, walk onto the dock and lower a worm into the dark water. It wouldn’t be too long before the bobber would dip below the surface. I would proudly return home with a string of brim. My grandfather taught me how to clean them. My grandmother taught me how to cook them in a frying pan full of butter. When the saltwater fisherman of today imagines the pictures he’ll post on his social media account, he probably envisions something more like a gator trout or citation black drum than a spot. After all, spot, like their cousins the croaker and the silver perch, aren’t very impressive. These types of fish are more often considered as bait to catch fish, not the targeted species. However, with light tackle, these little fish can lead to a fun and exciting afternoon of fishing. Plus, they’re good table fare. SpotSpot can be identified by the prominent spot behind the gill cover. However, spot can often be confused with croaker and pinfish. Unlike the pinfish which has one, spikey dorsal fin, the spot has two dorsal fins. The have a downward mouth, similar to a black drum. Unlike the croaker which has a rounded tail, the spot has a forked tail. Spot can often be found right in the center of the canal. They will eat shrimp but can’t pass up a bloodworm. Since bloodworms can often be pricey, an alternative is to use bloodworm scented Fishbites. I like to make a combination, shrimp/Fishbite cocktail. A double drop rig with a light weight will work fine. Small circle hooks nothing bigger than a 1/0 will work well. Silver Perch Silver perch aren’t as hard to differentiate from spots, croakers or pinfish. Their bodies are silver and there are no confusing spots. Silver perch can be caught closer to the grass than spot. They are often in schools so if you catch one, chances are good that you’ll catch a few more. The same bait and rig set up used to catch spot will work equally well with silver perch. If you’re using light tackle, don’t be surprised if these fish put up a good fight. They are quiet feisty for their size. Croaker Croaker have big heads, tough gills, and growl (or croak) when you catch them. Since their heads are so big, there isn’t as much meat on them as you might think. For this reason, I only like to keep the largest of the croaker. Croaker don’t but up much of a fight and even the little ones are easily caught. I’ve caught croaker that are only a few inches long. It’s surprising they can even get their mouths around the hook. Like spot, croaker also hang out in the middle of the canal. They also can be found around the edges of the grass too. In fact, they are every where and once they figure out the bait is coming, they will stick around. This means you can catch a lot of croaker in a short time and not catch much of anything else. CookingBoth spot and silver perch make good table fare. Spot can be fried in a pan with salt, butter and lemon juice just like my grandmother taught me to cook bluegills. Some choose to bread and fry them in oil. Because of their relatively small size, spot are often gutted and scaled and then cooked whole. Silver perch smoke well and make a tasty smoked fish dip. |
Ian SandsFish along with Ian Sands of 'Sands in the Surf' on beautiful Oak Island, NC. We’re fishing the surf and surrounding areas targeting everything from puffer, to blues, to black and red drum, to sharpnose and bonnetheads. Archives
February 2021
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