Mattamuskeet
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Rose Bay canal, west end of the lake there is a boat ramp, there is a ramp on the peninsula at the pump station that would allow you close proximity to the lake itself if you didn't want to fish the canals. On the causway at the culverts I would think you could put a yak in at any of them but i would check with the rangers office first... used to be some FABULOUS bass fishing there.
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There is a small ramp on the right side of the culverts. If you fish the main lake you can do a ton of wade fishing. It's all shallow.
Before you go, study up on the federal side of the law. I wouldn't carry anything more than a folding pocket knife on the boat. They used to have a fixed blade knife length. If you see trash around you, pick it up. Otherwise you may very well wind up with a ticket for it.
In years past, it has been some of the best bass fishing in the state for chunky fish in numbers. The state's best kept secret in my opinion.
March is probably going to be a little early. Mid to late April is the time to go in the spring.
Wind and shallow water are a bad mix. That lake gets rough in a stiff spring wind. There is no chance of sinking.
I've had a 14 foot fiberglass boat ride up on a swell and sit smack on the sand bottom. Ride a swell and sit smack on the bottom. Over and over.
Before you go, study up on the federal side of the law. I wouldn't carry anything more than a folding pocket knife on the boat. They used to have a fixed blade knife length. If you see trash around you, pick it up. Otherwise you may very well wind up with a ticket for it.
In years past, it has been some of the best bass fishing in the state for chunky fish in numbers. The state's best kept secret in my opinion.
March is probably going to be a little early. Mid to late April is the time to go in the spring.
Wind and shallow water are a bad mix. That lake gets rough in a stiff spring wind. There is no chance of sinking.
I've had a 14 foot fiberglass boat ride up on a swell and sit smack on the sand bottom. Ride a swell and sit smack on the bottom. Over and over.
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597 Posts
"Before you go, study up on the federal side of the law. I wouldn't carry anything more than a folding pocket knife on the boat. They used to have a fixed blade knife length. If you see trash around you, pick it up. Otherwise you may very well wind up with a ticket for it."
I stay away from places like that for safety reasons. Is M'skeet still good fishing and crabbing? I heard something happened there, the government did some experiment that didn't work.
I stay away from places like that for safety reasons. Is M'skeet still good fishing and crabbing? I heard something happened there, the government did some experiment that didn't work.
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The only experiment I am aware of was by the private owner. Draining a huge natural lake to farm the lake bed. After he spent millions trying it, the feds wound up with the property.
The problem with Mattamuskeet has always been in who was managing it. You get some that only care about the ducks and you get some that manage for ducks but make allowances for fishing by keeping water in the lake. Ducks are number one on the skeet. Fish are always secondary.
The problem with Mattamuskeet has always been in who was managing it. You get some that only care about the ducks and you get some that manage for ducks but make allowances for fishing by keeping water in the lake. Ducks are number one on the skeet. Fish are always secondary.
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In a nutshell, it's primarily about maintaining water levels.
You have the WRC that funds and builds boat ramps to encourage boating but you have federal lake management that won't maintain a water level to float a boat.
It's all in who the feds send to manage the whole thing. Ducks will always be priority but in the past there have been some good managers that found the happy medium.
Best times to fish. April, May, and October. At those times you'll usually have good water levels and the fish are biting.
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This lake flyover video pretty well explains what is going on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH4Wi95WIzg#t=273
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH4Wi95WIzg#t=273
I read in a history of NC that native americans took the first colonists to Lake Mattamuskeet to feast on giant freshwater prawns that were native only to that lake. I guess they must have been wiped out when the Dutch first drained the lake. What a resource that would have been...
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the failed gates have allowed more salt water to back up into the lake also and it kills the bass eggs and stunts the living bass. Not the trophy lake it once was. I crab there sometimes and have caught some perch and cats and BIG bowfin, but only a couple of dink bass. I shoreline fish from the cross overs on the main road like most do. I always wanted to get a small boat in there..
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The gates aren't failed. The gates just aren't being used.
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