02-01-2004, 04:59 AM
[font "Arial"][size 2][center][#006666]![[Image: img_00_drum2.jpg]](http://www.ncwildlife.org/news_stories/pg00_NewsRelease/images/img_00_drum2.jpg)
[url "http://www.ncwildlife.org/news_stories/pg00_NewsRelease/images/img_00_drum2.jpg"][/url][/#006666][/center]RALEIGH, N.C. (Jan. 26) – Although some envious anglers may say he’s lucky, Paul Riggs, Jr., knows that finding a fishing hot spot is a lot like buying prime real estate – it’s all about location, location, location.
Kerr Lake, last month, yielded two new freshwater drum state records in less than a week to the Vance County angler, who attests that finding the right spot – and the right lure – is the best way to reel in a wall-mounted whopper. Riggs caught his first record breaker, a 16-pounder, on Dec. 21, using a white, Crippled Shad jigging spoon as bait. A week later, jigging a white, half-ounce Hopkins, Riggs broke his own state record when he reeled in a 17.8 pound monster measuring 31 ½ inches in length and 24 1/8 inches in girth.
Whether it was luck, lure or location, interested anglers, eager to get in on some hot fishing action themselves, want to know where to find this honey hole on Kerr Lake.
According to Riggs, Kerr Lake is the honey hole.
“The first big drum came from the end of Mill Creek, way on down near the North Carolina and Virginia state line. The second one I caught up around Henderson Point,” Riggs said. “It seems like Kerr is really doing good, and for the last three or four years, the fishing’s been getting better and better.”
Freshwater drum aren’t the only big fish to fall prey to Riggs’ wicked jigging spoons this winter.
“Since October, we’ve been catching a lot of fish up here at Kerr Lake – more than we ever have actually,” Riggs said. “We’ve caught stripers, largemouth, walleye, crappie, perch, white bass and some big catfish. Every one of them came off jigs. Jigging is really the way to catch fish.”
“It’s just been unbelievable,” he exclaimed.
While Kerr Lake boasts a diverse and well-populated fishery ready to get jiggy, Riggs has discovered some fishing spots are hotter than others.
“Every time I caught a big drum, there’s been real deep water close by,” Riggs said. “These drums are coming off points that have got 40 to 50 feet of water within 15 to 20 yards. From what I’ve seen, these drums love deep water.”
Both fish were weighed on certified scales at Bobcat’s Lake Country Tackle Unlimited in Clarksville, Va., and were verified by biologists with the Commission’s Division of Inland Fisheries.
To qualify for a state record, anglers must have caught their fish on a hook and line, must have their fish weighed on a certified scale witnessed by one observer, have the fish positively identified by a qualified expert from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and submit an application with a full, side-view photo of the fish. [/size][/font]
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[url "http://www.ncwildlife.org/news_stories/pg00_NewsRelease/images/img_00_drum2.jpg"][/url][/#006666][/center]RALEIGH, N.C. (Jan. 26) – Although some envious anglers may say he’s lucky, Paul Riggs, Jr., knows that finding a fishing hot spot is a lot like buying prime real estate – it’s all about location, location, location. Kerr Lake, last month, yielded two new freshwater drum state records in less than a week to the Vance County angler, who attests that finding the right spot – and the right lure – is the best way to reel in a wall-mounted whopper. Riggs caught his first record breaker, a 16-pounder, on Dec. 21, using a white, Crippled Shad jigging spoon as bait. A week later, jigging a white, half-ounce Hopkins, Riggs broke his own state record when he reeled in a 17.8 pound monster measuring 31 ½ inches in length and 24 1/8 inches in girth.
Whether it was luck, lure or location, interested anglers, eager to get in on some hot fishing action themselves, want to know where to find this honey hole on Kerr Lake.
According to Riggs, Kerr Lake is the honey hole.
“The first big drum came from the end of Mill Creek, way on down near the North Carolina and Virginia state line. The second one I caught up around Henderson Point,” Riggs said. “It seems like Kerr is really doing good, and for the last three or four years, the fishing’s been getting better and better.”
Freshwater drum aren’t the only big fish to fall prey to Riggs’ wicked jigging spoons this winter.
“Since October, we’ve been catching a lot of fish up here at Kerr Lake – more than we ever have actually,” Riggs said. “We’ve caught stripers, largemouth, walleye, crappie, perch, white bass and some big catfish. Every one of them came off jigs. Jigging is really the way to catch fish.”
“It’s just been unbelievable,” he exclaimed.
While Kerr Lake boasts a diverse and well-populated fishery ready to get jiggy, Riggs has discovered some fishing spots are hotter than others.
“Every time I caught a big drum, there’s been real deep water close by,” Riggs said. “These drums are coming off points that have got 40 to 50 feet of water within 15 to 20 yards. From what I’ve seen, these drums love deep water.”
Both fish were weighed on certified scales at Bobcat’s Lake Country Tackle Unlimited in Clarksville, Va., and were verified by biologists with the Commission’s Division of Inland Fisheries.
To qualify for a state record, anglers must have caught their fish on a hook and line, must have their fish weighed on a certified scale witnessed by one observer, have the fish positively identified by a qualified expert from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and submit an application with a full, side-view photo of the fish. [/size][/font]
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