Charles Elliott Fishing Report

[FFing Duo]

Since a number of us fish CE/Marben and since we are talking ponds and not streams, I figured we couldn't really ask for a place on stream reports page, but we might be able to keep a thread open for a while reporting all of our successes (and hopefully none of our failures) fishing the ponds south of Mansfield. CE has too many ponds to learn everything all on your own, so if we can get reports from everybody who fishes there, we can get a better idea of what all it has to offer.

My report is on Allen. Thanks to the recommendation of William and others, we went down yesterday to try it out. After figuring out it would have been quicker to come in at the southern entrance, we finally got tubed and on the water. The sheet we have listing the contents of each pond, show Allen as very good for bream, but also holding bass. Our experience was in line with that. Jessica outfished me (a rare occurance) and caught 24 on a variety of dry stuff, including poppers and grasshoppers. She had the best success on EHC variations either on the surface or drowned immediately below the surface. I only caught 10, but had spent quite awhile looking for the elusive bucketmouth. I used mainly the smae patterns, but also caught a couple on a pattern calle Claire daddy, a crawfish imitation of Carter Nelson's. (Its recipe is in the same article with the RLD in Warmwater Fly Fishing.) Most of the bream were found with 5 feet of the bank and many were in the shade of overhanging trees. We also got a couple out in the middle of the lake along what seems to be a drop off that parallels the dam. While we caught a few babies, many of the fish were in the 7 1/2 - 8 inch range. The only b****we saw was caught by a bank fisher using worms.

Jonathan

BTW Allen had a heavy green stain from recent fertilization.

[Sid]

I am thinking of going this Sunday afternoon, but am concerned about crowds. I've only been once during the week. What is it like on the weekend? Any other suggestions for good bream fishing? Is early afternoon a decent time or is it best early and late?

Thanks

[William McClendon]

A Marben report area sounds great! I went out there Sunday. We fished Shepherd from 5:00 until dark. I was really trying to catch some catfish, but I had no takers on my livers. Ted did mention that there is a whale of a catfish out there. My brother-in-law saw one cruising and said it was over 2 feet easily. Anyway, I caught about 25 fish on a small popper. Divided up there were 15 bream (very small) and 10 b@ss. Most all of the b@ss were small except for one 3+ lber. All of the fish seemed to be 10 feet or so off of the bank. I think I should have went deep with a rubber legged dragon for some bigger bream. My step-daughter caught about 10 bream fishing with crickets around the dock. Most importantly, she had a ball. The water was murky, but it seemed like it had been a while since fertilization. Maybe Ted can let us know where and when fertilization will take place in the future.
As for crowds, I've never seen a whole lot of people out there at all. Allen is one of the better ponds to avoid the crowds (just because of location and hike in). Just go and if there's a crowd at one pond, go to another. Oh yeah, Little Raliegh is also usually not crowded.
I've got to get my float tube out there soon. Hopefully I can find some good areas in the smaller ponds that are un-reachable otherwise.
Maybe we can also post when we are going and get some group floats together.

[Owl]

If you want to get away from all the people.............fish either Little Ralieg or Stump ( although Stump is more pop. than it used to be. Crossroads is usually pretty peaceful, too. Anyone wanna go on Monday or Tues.??? Most ponds are bank accessible and I know the area " fairly " well. I can go either day , unless Dave and I hook up for the Jet - boat trip I won . So, no one is fishing Dairy ???? Hmmmmm..... http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif

[William McClendon]

Well I tubed Allen Monday (sorry its taken me so long to post, but work...). This was the first time I've tubed still water, and it went pretty well. I didn't find any cheap fins before I went, so the deep area around the dam was quite difficult to get through. I mainly fished the far end of the pond. Man is it shallow in there. Half of the time I had my legs parallel out from my body just so I could move. Forget walking in that area...the mud is about 2 feet deep. I got a lot of hits, but missed almost all of them. I think I was a little too focused on the tube. Caught 4 bream in all. I missed 2 ba$$ on a popper. I took one bream on a wooly bugger dropper (with a popper up above), but it was too shallow in there to keep fishing it. I took another on a diving, bubbling, foam beetle I tied (guess I need to come up with a name for it). The other two were on popping bugs. The lake was very stained from the recent rains (and maybe a fertilization?), but it was still fun. Oh yeah...it was HOT! The breathable waders worked great! I just got to get some fins now.

[FFing Duo]

Forgot to post my report:
We (tubed and) fished Whitetail last Sunday after dodging three sets of thundershowers. (in and out of the car each time) The cricket fishers were doing well with some fairly large bream. We did ok but our fish were generally pretty small. Good luck with ants, hoppers and a GRHE. Still looking for some good CE bass. Guess I'll have to go to Bennett or Fox. Anyone tubed these larger lakes/ponds? My guess is its a little different not being able to circle the entire shoreline. http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif

Jonathan

[Owl]

Jonathon, b@ss you say ?....................got milk ?

[NGTO]

Enjoyed reading these posts. I have never been but it sounds like fun. Do you use flippers in these ponds? Anyone interested in making a trip there w/ me soon to show me to ropes?

[William McClendon]

Flippers are a must! It was very difficult to get around in some spots. Most of the ponds are very shallow, but there are places where short people like me can't touch. I'd be glad to show you what little I know about the place. I usually only go after work (I get there around 5:30). Maybe we can get master Owl out there.

[FFing Duo]

Owl,

huh? I'm not sure if you are just being funny or are trying to send me a cryptic message about catching b@ss. If the later, email me please. I need all the help I can get.

Jonathan

[FFing Duo]

Aaron,

flippers are a must. It is amazing how mobile one can be with them on. It's also nice fishing in comparison to a boat or canoe, where you are always using a hand or two adjusting the trolling motor or paddling to stay where you want or move to a new location. With flippers you can go anywhere you want and fish the whole time.

Jonathan

[Ted]

To any and all Marben PFA (Charlie Elliott) regulars or first time visitors. Stop in at the Visitor's Center front desk during regular hours (9a-4:30p T-Sa, 1p-4:30p Su)and fill out a Voluntary Fishing Trip and Harvest Report Form. It is not unlike what is filled out when fishing Dukes Creek. Info gathered will help with management decisions. Thanks.

[jeffg]

Rpt for Sat Sept 11th on Fox Lake

Fished the evening in the one area without the stump fields. B****smashing minnows against the shore. Couldn't get them top take any kind of fly what so ever.
Switched to a torpedo and caught a couple small ones. Just as we were getting ready to call it an evening, put on a buzz bait with a yellow skirt and caught the largest largemouth I have ever caught in my life. He had was over 6 lbs pushing easily the 7lb range. Heck of a fight too.

Sun morning Dairy Pond. Lots of fish smashing stuff agains the bank again. I was determined to take on a fly. I was skunked. My friend caught 2 one about 2lbs on a jitterbug.

[NiteOwl]

http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif

congrats jeffg ! I bet he slammed that buzzer ! Evening is a GREAT time to be on Fox or Shepard. Just watch out for the snake's, right Rod ? http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif


wanna know a secret ? .....there are fish in those ponds thatwould eat a seven pound basz.

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http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif Here fishy, fishy, fishy.......

Owl


[This message has been edited by NiteOwl (edited 10-06-1999).]

[phlyster]

Owl, "*e**n p**n* **s*"?

What??????


???????????????????????????????????

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><>Peace<><
Blake
wowills@mindspring.com

[FFing Duo]

Fished at CE on Saturday from about 1:30 to about 7:00. Started out on Upper Raliegh and had no luck at all. It is still murky green.
Moved over to Fox and began fishing all the tree tops. Just a few hits until we saw and heard bass crashing baitfish hard against the shore. These bass were almost beaching themselves as they thrashed around. It was quite a spectacle. So we started throwing baitfish imitations into these frenzies and finally started catching as dark approached. The best fly was a combination yellow and white, either a deceiver or a short rabbit strip over bucktail. We did best on a point with a few stumps where we heard all the comotion (sp).

[NiteOwl]

FfingDuo, were there any other ponds that were clear...or were they all pretty green ? Thanks dude and dudette. http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif


Owlie

[FFing Duo]

The only other ones we looked at were the bigs ones, Bennett, the one across from there, and fox. All of those were fairly clear (not at all green). Didn't check out any of the other smaller ponds.

[jeffg]

Rpt for Sat Oct16th in the evening.
Went down there to shoot my new/old 22 rifle. And my buddy and I brought the spinning rods along.
Went to stump lake and proceeded to catch a bunch of little guys on torpedoe's. My buddy missed a huge one on a buzz bait.
But lots of fish smashing minnows into the bank, and eager to take a surface lure. Next time will bring the fly rod.

[blue dunn]

Fished lower Raleigh 10/17 in the evening. This is one of my favorite lakes to fish,as the west side is open enough to flyfish.As other people have observed, the B@ss are charging the bait fish in the shallows.You would think some of them were going to beach themselvs.Caught one small bass on a white/charteuse clouser.I have tried other flys, but this is the only fly I have caught B@ss on.With the fish as active as they are, it would be nice to catch more than one.What are some of your favorite B@ss flys? B. D.