scuba diving north carolina

[gentle orchestral fanfare] ♪ good fish! he's runnin'toward the boat. is he runnin'at you? (man #1)here he comes. (man #2) is he big? (man #1)he wants to be big, but i don't believehe's that big--heh, heh!

he wanna bea monster. that's funny;look at him bend my rod! he's got a lotta fightin him; he's mad. that a mad bass. here, come over andwatch him jump--hup! he gonna jumpin the boat right now. [chuckling]attaboy! well, you wasa fun fish anyway. got one too.

attaboy. welcome to the carolina outdoor journal . well, if you likebass fishing, this program todayis all about you. you're gonnaenjoy it. joe, we hada good day, a toughbut good day. yeah, it was anotherof these days where weather just kindastepped in and said,

you're gonna have to do it a little differently. we're fishing on belews lake, outside kernersville, for largemouth bass, uh; it's a deep water lake, um. it's a lake that stays fairly--temperaturewise, um-- pretty close to-- and it fluctuates during the year, of course, but it's a power plant on the edge of the lake, so it kinda controls the temperature a little bit. our goal was to catch bass in deep water

using spinnerbaits, but as it turns out, we, uh-- because of the wind, we had to move a closer to shore. most of the fish we caughtwere actually close to shore. this was in mid-march, and, uh, really surprised joel a littlebit that we caught the fish that we did that close--but had a good day. that's gonna make "geartime"interesting today. well, they'll go overthe spinnerbaits they used and pretty much the tack-- overall tackle they used--

the spinnerbait combinations they used today, uh, that proved productive. (john) and donna's recipe, it's all aboutmussels today. yeah, it's, uh--this iskind of a different recipe. i don't think she's done a mussel recipe for us before but quite tasty. (john) well, if you're a bass fisherman, you are gonna liketoday's program

here todayon the carolina outdoor journal . (joel) neal, this is a three-bladed hawg caller spinnerbait. it's a half-ounce size, and the color'sgold glimmer, and the fish really seemto have been preferrin' this. (neal)exactly. i guess it matchesthe bait fish. it's got small bladeson it. this is what we'll bethrowin' today.

we'll be slow-rollin' itout off of these flat points. let me look at thata second, joel. i see you beencatchin' fish on this. look at that scar. the fish beenhittin' it hard? they've beenhittin' it. i'm lookin'forward to that. let's give ita cast. let's catch one.

all right, he hit itthere on that point. (neal)good job. (joel) decent fish. keeper fishtoo, joel. yes, sir. sling him in. look how colored upthat fish is! that's a nice fish. (neal)it is a pretty fish.

(joel) this is typical what you catch a lot of this time of yearon belews lake. is thattagged? no tag. what isthat? i don't knowwhat that is. nice fish,though. prettycolor. yeah, he wasup shallow.

(neal)that's a good,healthy fish. (joel)he hit that baitlike he sure wanted it. bent it! (neal)you think his brothermay be out here? i believe so. let'sfind out. see if he wantsthe gold one. he hit it right good waysoff the bank. yeah.

i thinkhe followed it because...i could see-- i could see the baitcomin' under the water, but i never seenthe fish hit it. he was right upthere, shallow. you could see the bottomwhere that fish was. you want meto lip him? (neal)naw, i'm gonnaswing him in. (joel) naw, let's lip him.

(neal)there's another one;follow him in. i'm gonnalet him play. (joel) look at that big bass! he come after it! come on; we'llget that double. i'm gonna let himplay a little more. there's another fish! he came after my lure! have you got somethin'to drop down on him?

i'm droppin' that spinnerbait, man. i'm droppin' that spinnerbait! get it, bass! oh, no! look at thatbig ole fish. that is a good fish. let me grab him. don't breakmy spinnerbait. (joel)neal stocktongot the big fish. i gotthe first dollar.

that is a nice fish--good for a tournament. the fish that wasfollowin' that fish was just as big, and i almostcaught him. he swiped at my bait, but he didn't get it. goodness! (neal)hey, man,that's a good fish. that's the sizethat wins tournaments. (neal)that's right, buddy.

(joel)about a 3 1/2 pounder. (neal)that's whatwe had saturday, but we had, like,five of those, and then we startedcullin' three-pound bass. wow!that was so neat. that fish was up whereyou could see bottom. maybe they'regettin' shallower. i think so. do it again.

i'm gonna throwto the right of that spot. he had you tied upin that brush. he just wrapped aroundthat brush so pretty. he came right outfor that. oh, he crashedon that spinnerbait. i'll tell youwhat i done. when i made that castand hit that water, that fish chargedon that bait, took it,and drug me down

in thattree lap. but he came out,thank goodness. i put the pressureon him. that's a good thingfor a good line. i did that to keephim from wrappin'around the tree 'cause once he madethat dive and went downthat tree, i pulled backthe pressure so hewouldn't have to wrap. once they makethat wrap, it's hardto get 'em loose.

it is there. (neal)i noticed that fishwe caught was on the bank. a coupleweeks ago, we was catchin' 'emout a bit further and a littledeeper. what's the transitionof this, now? we've got a coupleof things-- we've had a coupleo' warm nights and a coupleo' warm days,

right behindthis super cold weather we've been havin', and we've had--had a low light, so, you know, that right there, low light will make fishshallower a lotta times. and then, you know,in springtime, the warmin' watersup shallow will-- will bringfish in. i think it's a combinationof both of 'em

that, uh,might be contributin' to these fish. you know, that wasa lot larger fish than the average,and a lotta times, your bigger fish'llmove first. right, soa couple days can makea difference. a couple of dayscan make a big difference on any lakein the carolinas.

two or threedegrees of water temperaturedifference can makeall the difference in whetheryou're catchin' or not catchin' any. you gotta findwarmer water. a lotta times,it's in the pockets. with it calmlike this, it can be hereon the main part.

he hit thatstrong, joel. (joel)he hit it hard. (neal)he crushedthat thing. (joel) i just had a strike right there. yep, nice fish. (neal)nice fish. nice bass. is it a spotted bass? it's gonna jump;look at him.

come in the water. swing him in here. look at the fat belly on that bass. joel, that fish smackedthat spinnerbait! i mean,it knocked my line slack. look at the bellyon that fish! is that fishready to spawn? it looks likehe's been eatin' good. probably getting readyto spawn too.

look--it's gota pretty color to it. that'sa beautiful color. you'll notice the tail'sain't been fanned out any, so i think it's just kindaprespawn conditions still. that's a signof a good lake when you got a basswith a belly like that. not a mark on it. (neal)it's been gorging a lotwith shad, ain't it? yeah, belews lake's gota lotta healthy fish.

lots of 'em. (neal)we had so manyshort strikes, and that come up thereand crushed it. it was halfway backto the boat. you gottakeep fishin' it. some are gonnashort strike it and someare gonna get it. i noticed it didn't hitthe trailer hook. it hitthe main hook.

let's take that trailerhook off of there. that might be my--my collar right there. [both chuckling] all right,you can have it. you keep it on. i likethat little keeperyou put on there. you likethe color of it. i think that'sthe attractor. i was gonna say,

that fish did not havethe trailer hook at all. no, hecrushed it. it wasn't no nibble;that's a crush. [mellow acoustic guitar leads soft rock arrangement] (neal)we caught two fish on the other sideof the lake where the wind weren'tblowin' as much. we came back hereand caught another fish. you think the windand the water color change

make a difference? i do, especiallyon a lake like this. the water clarity is-- it's betterthan five or six feet. you know,it being dingier will, uh,always help you in a clear-water lake. if you can findthat dingier water and the wind disturbancekinda stirs it up

and it seems like it'll make fishthat are reluctant to strike somethin'like a spinnerbait or a crank baitand-- and it just makes 'emmore aggressive. well, that last fishwe caught, it crushed it. the other oneskinda hit behind it. yeah, we'd been havin'some short strikes.

you get more wind,it seems like the fish get a littlemore aggressive. seems likethe more wind you have, the more aggressivethe fish'll get a lotta times. so that meansthe bites aregonna pick up as the wind getsa little bit more--more consistent. yeah, after itblows awhile, it seems like it getsmore stirred up out there.

right. and the bite just--it always picks up. usually, the wind'll pick uparound 9:30 in the day, and usually you'll geta good bite startin' then. especiallyif you're fishin'-- movin' lureslike these spinnerbaits. it canreally help ya. great. i tryto stay in it.

goodfish! (neal)here he comes. (joel) is he big? (neal)he wants to be big, same place. i think mine'sgonna be bigger. (joel) mine's gonna be bigger! (neal)it might be another. not much bigger...

but a little bit bigger; now he's fightin'. i wanna tellya, that's-- whoo! look at that! good job. two bassoff the same spot. wow! fat little bass... small. (neal)two fish off the same tree. two fish off the same tree.

(neal)did he hit it hard? (joel) he hit it like he'd been waitin' all day. that one i hadthought he was a tiger. fighters--the smaller they are, the harderthey fight. he came outfightin' that lurelike he was mad at it. (joel) let's catch three off the tree. (neal)we're gonna do that. last night,we was talkin' about fish--

the main lake points,with the deeper water with thespinnerbaits where we catchthose suspended fish. i know this mornin',we started off shallow and caughta couple fishand stayed shallow. is thereany reasonfor that? well, we've had a coupleof warmer nights here in the lastcouple o' days, and then we've gotthis overcast conditions.

it's--it's nottoo awful cold today compared to whatit's been bein'. you know, we had thatsuccess first thing there, and, uh,conditions are just favorin'fishing shallower. any time i'm ona clear-water lake, it seems like low-lightconditions make fish-- they'll come upin shallower water becausethe light

is not shinin'so bright, you know? mm-hm and, uh, you'll--you'llfind your active fish cruisin' around up therein the shallows, but, you know,we're still catching 'em close to deep water. good fish. (neal) need a net? naw, i needyour hand.

(neal) i can hand him in there for ya. i can hand him to you. (joel) he is a-fightin'! this is a good one here. look at this big bass. or it's either one of them small hard-fightin' ones. comin' up to jump. (neal) oh yeah, boy, what a good fish. bringin' him in.

nice one, man. congratulations! good catch. (joel) that's a good three-pounder. that fish has gota belly on him. (neal)look how fat he is. (joel)prespawn bass-- lots of thesein belews lake right here. lots of 'em--i can't tell you how many-- this lake has got as many fishas any one i've ever fished.

grow upand bite again. (neal) that's definitely a tournament fish right there. (joel) yes, it is... anywhere you go. got a good one! oh, it's a biggun! biggun!don't let him get away. he's just a-jumpin'. (neal)he's just fightin'like a devil. watch him come up. (joel) i put a lip-lock on him.

i think this breaks the tiebreaker, doesn't it? whoo! that's a three-pounder! he sure is jumpin' a lot, isn't he? that means he mighttry to get away. heh, heh...heh that meanshe don't likethem hooks. oh, yeah! all right! look at that!

(neal) i tell you what; he crunched that bait again. (joel) that was a fine job you done. (neal) he swallowed that whole bait! he's got trailer hookand all in him. (neal)i mean, he wentand just gorged that bait. (joel)wow! what a fish. (neal)that's a nice one. that's a tournament fish. look at them black spots;have you noticed that?

what's so particularabout that? (joel)well, lakes that havea lot of bass in 'em, biologistshave said that these bass with theseblack splotches on 'em are characteristicof a lake with lots of fish. see theselittle black marks? but something else i look at:see that mud on his belly? that's--that's mud. that fish was downon the bottom when--

before you caught him. i see that a lotin the spring. you get the mudon the belly. nice. (neal) good eye. (joel)oh, he's stillshakin' his head! (neal) he still can't believe it. (joel) heh...heh...heh! oh, good job.

you brokethe tie. we'regonna getanother one. (joel)you broke the tie. joe, we ended upwith good fish. we really did. consideringthe weather conditions were not what we'd hoped for--we plan these shows out months in advance,and you never can go-- be guaranteed perfect weather,

but, yeah, we ended upcatchin' some pretty fish, and then had to do it a little differently. that lake is real deep, and so it's-- it can have its really, really good days, and it can have its, you know, slow days, but joel has been fishing the lake for years and stays on it a lot. he lives around the corner, and so that always helps, knowing whatthe fish are doing.

but becauseof the weather change, we had to adapt,and it worked out. and something elsethat always helpsis "geartime." let's catch upwith joel. neal, we hada good day onbelews lake today. weather wasn'tquite like whatthey called for. we had a lothigher wind, um. really wasn't callin' for any chance of rain, but it's clouded up right nicely out here.

the fishing--we got started off pretty earlythis mornin' and-- and starteda little shallower than whatwe'd been fishin' and had some success right off the bat there. and--and these fish seem to be... moving in shallower daily with thiswarming temperatureswe've been having. right,and it was fabulous.

i really had a great time,and it was just amazin' how ferocious those basswere hitting that lure. what was surprising to me,we had the short strikes, but when one really wanted it, he wanted it. (joel) yeah, it's funny. i guess all fish are different, uh. i think there's some spawning goin' on out here too. these fish werechasing these baits up out of thispretty deep water

and hittin'at the blades. so we donea lot of changing. i know you're usin'a gold glimmer. i'm using a white and chartreuse here. yours is 1/2 ounce and mine's 3/8, and the reason for changing these colors and sizes is because when fishare a little finicky, you know, it can bea little subtle change like a blade coloror a skirt color,

or the weightof the spinnerbait yes, that's what youtold me about the line. you like a lighter lineon this lake. (joel) yeah, typically, all of the lakes i fish that are real clear water, normally, you want your bait to go down a little further. and you can control that with your line, you know, like10-pound i'm using, 12-poundyou're using.

we've kind of got itall mixed up, but if you wantto go shallower, use heavier line, but it makesa differenceon clear water on tryin'to keep your bait down to drop downin line size. you have to be carefulnot to break your line. one thing--i thoughtwas gonna be smart, i put that trailer hook--we had those short strikes--

i thought it was gonna make a difference. like you were sayin',the bass were actually hittin' the bladesinstead of the hook. yep, we stillgot 'em. but even though there'strailer hook on there, it didn't makeany difference 'cause the bass we caughtstill hit the main hook. (joel) that's correct, uh. sometimes, a trailer hook makes a difference.

a lotta times, i don't use it. i believe you can adjust your color or your size or the blade combination to get the fish to bite it better. it's preference,really, but i-- i've learnedover the years that if they'renot hittin' it right, there's somethin'a little wrong about it, and, you know, usually,you can home in

on somethin' likecolor or something. well, it definitelymade a difference today. well,i enjoyed it. you're doin' a good job,and thank you, joel. your welcome, buddy;had a good day. great job. good information--if you wanna try to catch these bass,give joel a call. his number'son your screen.

just givehim a call. he can put youon some fish. now, as you writethat number down, we're gonna catch upwith donna. she's got a recipetoday using mussels. hi, today in the kitchen,we're makin' mussels, and this is somethin'that a lot people eat out and maybe are a little nervousto make at home, but it really isa very simple dish to make,

and it's really great. it's really fun,and i think you, you know, can enjoy it anytime. you don't have to waitto go out to enjoy them. so i have some butterand olive oil in my pan, and then i haveabout six shallots, which is a combinationof a mixture of garlic and an onion. and i have those kind of shaved,

and i'm just gonna put those into my pan and let those sautã© for a while. so while they're sautã©ing, i wanna talk to you a little bit about your mussels. so you're gonnaget your mussels, and you're gonna make surethey're clean. you can soak themwith some flour and some water to make-- to get all the sand out, if you'd like,

and then drain them and rinse them well. you wanna make sure that your mussels are always closed when you get ready to, um-- to cook with them. if they're open, like this one is cracked and partially open, so we're gonna want to discard this one. and you also make sure that you take the beards off if they're on there.

you can just pull those off. ooh! that one's a tough one. so you can pull it off, and then you're ready to go. and if you need to, you can get a soft brush and just kind of, um, scrub 'em a little bit if you need to. so those are ready to go, pretty much. we're also goingto go back here and give our onionsor shallots a little stir.

we're gonna add ina bunch of garlic... some fresh parsley... some fresh thyme... and a couple saffron threads. just give that a stir. you see all those nice, bright colors, and it really smells wonderful in here. like i said, this is a great-- this is one of my mom'sfavorite recipes

or favorite thingsto eat out. so i madethis recipe for her, and i was like,"so, what do you think?" she was like,"it's really good." she loved it, and like i said,she loves to eat mussels out. we're gonna adda little salt... and give that a stir. then we're gonna add in our white wine... [sizzling]

and then our mussels. oh, and i forgot, and some tomatoes. these are canned plum tomatoes that we just chopped, and we're gonna add in our mussels. we're gonna put our lid on. give it a little shake, and let it cook for about five to ten minutes until your musselshave opened. quick and easy.

so this is what it looks likewhen it comes out. you can see,it's a great, beautiful dish. very impressive, i think,if you were making it for friends or just for your family. some great, crusty bread to soak up all the juices, and you're ready to go. i hope you enjoy the mussels; i look forward to seeing you here on "simple cooking." thanks, donna,i wanna talk about joelfor just a second.

he can put youon a fish. he knows it likethe back of his hand. he guidesthroughout the area. he guides on mostof the triad lakes in the area, but belews lake is in his backyard, and he really does know it. and you know, it's always good, you know, if you've never-- familiar with a body of water sometimes to--to-- to take, uh--

to hire a guide and learn it in different conditions 'cause like i said, the forecast a week out was not what we ended up with, and that happens so often. anybody that fishes here in north carolina knows that's alwaysthat possibility-- is you just can't plan ahead. so--but havingsomebody with knowledge of how to fishin the type--

and we wantedto use spinnerbaits for-- for this show. and, uh--and again, we didn't do the offshore fishin' that we had planned to do, but we stuck with it. and the weathernever really changed during the day,but we caught fish. local knowledgemakes a difference. for joe albea,i'm john moore.

thanks for joining ustoday on the carolina outdoor journal . (announcer) make sure to visit our web site for more information and a link to our online store, angler's bay.