[Carolina_matt]

Hey guys,

My dad and I are gonna be fishing the Haw River tomorrow morning so I decided to post on here and see if y'all have any immediate tips or advice. Neither of us have fished the Haw before so maybe a good starting place to park and enter? We'll be bank fishing/wading a little if we can and primarily going for large and smallmouth bass.

Any specific types of lures/baits?

Thanks for the help,
Matt

 

[OptiMystic]

Where's Gene to say "speed craw"?

I would lightly T rig plastic weedless and take lots of extra hooks, weights and plastic.

 

[wademaster]

I've never seen many river bass that wouldn't hit a spinner or Rapala shad rap with the long diving bill in fire craw....they'll kill those.


Sent from my kayak...

 

[Fish Whisperer]

You aren't going to find any smallmouth. Buzzbaits are a good choice, but may be tough if you're wading. Weightless plastics are also good, like a weightless fluke.


-Jeff

 

[jerry condrey]

Where's Gene to say "speed craw"?

I would lightly T rig plastic weedless and take lots of extra hooks, weights and plastic.

That's my job, lol! Zoom ultravibe speedcraw, split shot rigged. Toss it out, and twitch it back to ya. Hang on, they'll eat it up.

 

[Mack in N.C.]

white 3/8 oz spinnerbait and then Hang on! pearl fluke would be my next choice...buzzer is good also. bigger bait going to get you better fish in the haw. small baits and you will catch a lot of redbreast but they are fun.

 

[regskinner]

When I cross the HAW on US64 going west from Apex, I see places to park but the water seems pretty shallow, not a good flow. (Hard to tell at 50mph) do folks walk north or south of that small parking area and the flow improve? Is the normal state freshwater fishing permit all that's needed?

carolina_Matt,
howd your trip turn out?

 

[pizzamanrob]

I've had very good luck in Haw with bass spinners, on a cloudy day buzz baits, but if its shallow and swift I'd grab a #3 or #4 meps. Freshwater fish is all you need...best thing to do is just head out there and find some good water, maybe try to avoid places that look like they have been heavily fished. I used to have this "secret" spot on the river In Saxapahaw, fished it for several years and it looked like I was ever the only person to fish there much, but since then the area has gotten much more popular...and there is a cleaer trail to "my" spot and now there are never any good fish there But its still fun to get in the river and fish. Good luck to you guys!

 

[peanut]

Lived in Mebane for a couple years and the wife and I would actually hike, wade, explore etc. there at Saxapahaw. It looks very fishy and I seem to recall plenty of places to park near the bridge and the old mill. Would get crappie and channel cats just upriver below a dam.. I don't recall the name of the rd, but the access point was on the west side and you'd need a 4x4.

 

[pizzamanrob]

Lived in Mebane for a couple years and the wife and I would actually hike, wade, explore etc. there at Saxapahaw. It looks very fishy and I seem to recall plenty of places to park near the bridge and the old mill. Would get crappie and channel cats just upriver below a dam.. I don't recall the name of the rd, but the access point was on the west side and you'd need a 4x4.

yea, they have now turned that mill into appartments, loads and loads of people there now! used to be one of my fav. spots. But these guys are fishing near jordan....hopefully its not as crowded there!

 

[peanut]

So that project finally came to fruition, eh? There was talk about it when I was there '95-'97.... There went the neighborhood! The good news is you aint far from Cane Creek, but depending on who you talk to that could be a blessing or a curse.... Speaking of Cane Creek, I've seen zero posts about it here in the past several months...

 

[pizzamanrob]

That's funny I grew up on that creek, didn't realize there was much there to really post about..I fished it nearly every day (weather permitting) for years and years! Lived right next to the dam on snow camp rd

 

[Fish Whisperer]

I think he's referring to CC reservoir, not the creek itself. There have been several posts about it over the last few years, they just aren't saying where they fished.


-Jeff

 

[pizzamanrob]

Well that makes tons more sense..I was really scratching my head on that one.....I've heard good things about that place from a local game warden , but it's only open one day a week. Maybe I'll head down there soon and give it a shot

 

[Carolina_matt]

When I cross the HAW on US64 going west from Apex, I see places to park but the water seems pretty shallow, not a good flow. (Hard to tell at 50mph) do folks walk north or south of that small parking area and the flow improve? Is the normal state freshwater fishing permit all that's needed?

carolina_Matt,
howd your trip turn out?

Well unfortunately it didn't turn out so well, but more because that spot you pass is where we went to fish. Since we'd never fished the Haw before we parked at the canoe launch off 64 and waded into the river from there. We waded up and down a bit and fished for a good while and did not see a single fish other than minnows and very small panfish. I know there are bass on this river but we simply didn't know where to go to find a suitable place for them to be located, but we determined that they certainly weren't there.

 

[tallastro]

Keep at it. I'm sure they move around with changing water levels and flow. The easy access spots probably get cleaned out when the water stays low like it has been lately. Maybe take a long walk up the trail on the east shore and then find a spot.

Another bit of Haw River news... I saw a guy with a 8-10# striper (or hybrid, I didn't get a great look) from the Robeson Creek access neighborhood. He took it with a gill net though so I don't know what it would take to hook one. And yes, enforcement knows about the netting already.