[Dekelor]

Hey everyone...

So I've been driving around town trying to fish at various small creeks and ponds....I'm talking back inside developments, etc. where many times I don't see too many people thinking of fishing.

I've seen a lot of fish jumping out of the waters (my understanding reading online they are Mullet that are jumping, even though I swear I've seen some silvery type fish jumping that would be about the size of a medium perch too), and even saw some smaller fish just ripping through the water near vegetation and whatnot (small black fish, can't identify them yet, but they spook reallllll easy, I mean you just have to look at them the wrong way and woosh they're gone!), so I figured "hey, this might mean they have some bigger fish around here"....

I cast a line in a few times....no bites....I'm thinking "what? come on there's gotta be something in here"...

then....a bite! HOLY COW was it a bite! The darn thing....wasn't....fighting?? It just felt like I was dragging in a rock or something...and yup, sure enough, here i see at the end of my hook....the one dreaded thing lots of freshwater fishers do NOT want to see on the end....a danged turtle...

I stopped and rethought for a bit and decided "heck I'll go out again one day maybe it was bad luck". Sure enough I drove to some spots I used to see people fish at (must have been people who lived right there?) these ponds and creeks, thinking well maybe someones catching something...Just looked into the water, saw the small fishes again, so the others jumping...got close to the banks and one by one heads were popping out...one turtle, two turtle, three turtles....threw my hands up and said "forget it....I can't afford to loose hook after hook after hook just trying to get some pan fish for some lunch or dinner..."

So, i guess...two questions for all you anglers out there...

1) How in the heck do you keep those pesky, annoying turtles from getting on your line so you can get those pan fish?

2) Any spots around New Bern that are fantastic spots for Pan Fish (not bluegill, those you can't eat safely according to regulations, but the others you apparently can...which is weird....unless the person writing the regulations isn't being completely clear...) that one can easily access from the banks? I don't have a boat (yet) so it's gotta be a bank spot that's Easy to get to and one where I can take the kids to as well without worry.


Thanks for any help and advice!

Kong

 

[Dekelor]

And Yes, before anyone asks, I do make sure it's legal to fish there, and if it's private property I do ask for permission, lol.

 

[trigger22]

Eat all the bluegill you wanna eat they haven't killed me yet. Mullet are silvery so that is what you're seeing.

 

[Dekelor]

LOL! I wouldn't mind eating them myself personally. I just know what they say about the mercury levels and crud, but either way...would love to catch those at least over turtles....it's like those danged things just won't go away! And the odd thing is, they're acting like they're used to humans....normally turtles when they see you they go away from you or hide under the water only to pop out on a log far from your reach. These buggers in about 6 different spots now all keep coming TOWARD me, as if they're expecting me to just pick them up and keep them or something....I've seen then a couple of times where I noticed some older ladies feeding the turtles in a pond...they'd come right up on shore and just chill right there in front of them. I'm sitting here going "who in the heck is feeding these turtles at such nice fishing spots?"

I don't know lol, seems "My luck" as usual though LOL!

 

[jab0106]

Go anywhere that little ol ladies can't get to and the turtle trouble will diminish a great deal.

 

[Neilslure]

Try using a small jig or a fly under a cork and you can wear the panfish out and not the turtles. Leave 1-2 ft of line between the cork and the lure, cast it out there and twitch it about every 10 seconds, it will catch bass, bream, crappie and pretty much anything but turltles.

Another option might be taking something to distract the turtles like a few fish heads or something.

 

[wademaster]

I've had turtles (especially those that are somewhat tame) chase my float and anything else I casted out. They've chased my spinnerbaits/cranks and anything else.....

 

[Jbrevard]

We fished a stocked pond and the turtles were taking the bait off almost as soon as it hit the water, I caught 2 of them. My son loved it but it was annoying as anything


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