Operation North State

It's been a fun week on Lake Norman. Thursday, I took part in the annual Operation North State fishing festival which pairs wounded service men and women with host boats for a day of fishing. The veterans are always so happy to get out on the lake and put some lines in the water. For this year's event, I had Clayton and Albert on board, and they wanted to catch fish to take home with them. So we downsized the cat baits and targeted a large creek that had been producing keeper blues, crappie and spots. We filled the cooler and sent each of them home with two gallon bags full of filets to eat.

Terry Snyder of Operation North State puts on a first rate event each year, and we all appreciate his efforts!

Saturday, I had Reggie on the boat to do a little catfishing. He worked all night and then drove to LKN from Winston-Salem as soon as he got off work. I figured he'd be napping in the hot sun all day, but he was very focused on the fish! The later start didn't help, but in the first couple of hours of fishing, we put a 27.5, 17 and two teenager sized bluer cats in the boat, along with a large channel, jumbo white perch spotted bass and a slab daddy crappie that hit a jig just hanging off the side of the boat while we landed one of the cats.

Then the wind shifted and started white capping and the bite was pretty much done. Still sent Reggie home with a good batch of filets for a fish fry that evening. Probably after he had a nap or two...