Stick Marsh fishing reports and Farm 13 fishing reports provided by Jim Porter, your Stick Marsh bass fishing guide.

Whike vacationing in Wetern NC, we have been so lucky to be able to try out the RIPPIN' STICK jerk bait on numerous species of fish. The smallmouth bass in the fast-flowing, cold waters of the mountain rivers definately have a preference for the 3-inch size lure. We gave all four of the colors in which the 3-inch RIPPIN' STICK is available (JUNEBUG, PUMPKINSEED, GREEN PUMPKIN, and WATERMELONSEED) a fair try. All the colors caught fish. BUT ---- by far, the Green Pumpkin came out the preferred color for smallmouths. The Kentucky Spotted bass are a small part of the river population, but they are very active and chase the plastic lure well. However, their color of choice was Pumpkinseed. We would have thought the tan color of the Pumpkinseed would have ben the better shade for smallies, as it resembles a crayfish a bit more. Largemouths in the local lakes appear to be like their Florida cousins and go for the Junebug well. Their secondary choice seems to be the Watermelonseed. Who can tell about fish!?!!

We took an opportunity to drop by a trout farm, owned by our good friend John Garth. With his cooperation, we tried he various colors of the RIPPIN' STICK on large rainbows he had in a special pond. We di not want to catch or even injure these delicate fish, so we cut the hook points off and just used the shank portion for rigging. Our conclusion is that rainbow trout have a decided liking for the pale, translucent green of the Watermelonseed color. While they would take the other colors to some lesser degree, they really went after he Watermelon seed. And, size (5.5, 4, or 3-inch) did not seem an issue. But, these were larger trout, with some pushing 5 lbs. In the other ponds of the farm, with the 10-14 inch rainbows, the smaller 3-inch lure was a beter choice.

The key elment ith all hese cold water fish has been the rigging and presentation method. These fish do not chase a lure all that well, possibly due to the low temperture of the waters. So, we make a very suttle, 'dead-stick' presentation, with virtually NO added action. As stated before, we rig the RIPPIN' STICKS, regardles of ize, with the appropriate size hook, a short leader and a small swivel betwen the main line and the leader. Our presentation in the rivers is to let the current take the lure along on a totally SLACK line! Using FIRELINE, you still easily feel very strike. Smallmouths bump it once and swim away. Sunfish and Rock Bass continually jerk on the tail. In the lake waters (largemouth reas), where there is no current flow, we cast to down treetops and rock slide banks and let the lure simply sink on a slack line. In these clear waters, the RIPPIN' STICK sometime has to get to 30 feet before strike comes. But, with the extra salt content of the RIPPIN' STICK, it sinks faster and gets down more quickly, making these depths easy to fish on light lines.

Here we are in North Carolina again. We have caught a bass from the Western NC mountain lakes, finding that a 3-4 inch worm fished 'Slider' style would do the trick. Then, we found that a very small crank plug may well be the real secret to these finicky fish. We took the smallest size (there are 3) Big-O crank plug and actually ran the shorelines with it. We tossed it right up to the edge of the water and up under every overhanging tree we could find. The water is VERY clear and we could see every bass run and get the small plug. Where did they come from?? Out in the deeper water, off the bank. It appears these fish (which can often see cruising along about 6-10 feet off the shoreline) are lying offshore, but keying to the shallow water right at the shoreline for food. We find they are feeding on small minnows and a lot of crayfish.

There have been lots of rain and muddy water in the mountain rivers we like to chase smallmouth bass in. Consequently, our smallie fishing has been very limited. The waters finally got down to normal levels in the Little TN River, although it is still somewhat dingy. I slipped away Saturday by myself and made sure we could still catch them and found it was a no-brainer. Lots of smallmouths and very EASY to catch -- IF you fed them the right thing. In past years, we have used 4 and 5-inch soft jerk baits. This time, I got very few bites, much less caught fish. So, I dropped down in size to a 3-inch RIPPIN'STICK. Junebug and Green Pumpkin both cleaned their plow!! It was like turning a light on. As soon as I changed to the 3-inch lure, I started to get both smallmouth bass, red-eyed rock bass and big sunfish in rapid sucession. It was unreal. The rigging and the presentation methods are remarkable simple. I used 10 lb. Fireline on a light spinning rod, using a small swivel and 18 inches of 8 lb. monofilament. A 1/0 hook topped off the rigging. To present the lure, I simply tossed it along the shoreline where the river current ran up against it strongly. I also tossed it into the pools and eddies just below rapids. In both cases, NO action was applied. I actually just let the unweighted little RIPPIN' STICK just 'go with the flow' on a slack line. Smallmouth could easily be identified, as they would hit it once and start to swim off (we also found that they, like the largemouth cousins, would not let go of it). I just let them swim a moment and then set the hook. Virtually never missed one. The rock bass and the panfish were a bit different. They would grab the lure and just start a series of jerks. If they were large enough to have it in their mouths well, they got hooked. But, it sure was easy to tell the bass from the other fish.

Yesterday, Don Hitchcock and I went back to the little TN River to heck them out. The result was great. BUT, we had to use the 3-inch RIPPIN' STICK. If we went larger, we got virtully nothing; not even a strike. We finished he day with around 22 smallies and he best 10 went approximately 13 lbs. Don had a 3 lber on the top side.