[piano intro] - Mack there's plenty of fish in there, I'm telling you.

- [Mack] I'm telling you, I know.

Look at him.

- Now this is that little 7 1/2 foot rod, can you imagine what a 7 foot would do?

- [Mack] Now that bream will go 14, 16 ounces.

- Yeah, that bream right there is, is, is, whoa.

- Look at him.

- Whoa, careful kid.

Don't be finnin' me.

- [Mack] But you notice, Joe, how few have seemed to have swallowed it?

- No, they're just hitting at it.

- [Mack] They're hitting at it.

- Yep, that's pretty fish.

- [Mack] Well.

- This one will be about 12 ounces.

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[light instrumental music] ♪ - Hello, welcome to the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

Well, today we're gonna be fishing on mill pond and a farm pond, and we gonna do it with two guys that are not short on words, Joe Jenkins and Mack Dupree.

- [Joe] That's right, they both love that fly rod, and that's what we're gonna be doin' today, targeting bluegills in two different settings: one, the mill pond with cypress trees, really pretty mill pond, and then the other, a farm pond that has been well-managed for bluegill fishing, and just had a lot of fun.

- Well, the fly rod is definitely an art, there, but we'll talk about just how easy it is to fish on your time today.

- Well, they'll show us some of the bugs they used, and the fly rod selection.

You wanna go fairly light, these are good-size bluegills, but, the lighter the better, it just brings out the fight in 'em.

- And Donna's got a recipe for venison today.

- [Joe] That's right, a new venison recipe from her.

- There's a lot goin' on here today, on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

- Mack, in May, Tull Mill Pond in Lenoir County, I told you it's a pretty place, what do you think?

- Beautiful place, and we're gonna catch some bream here this morning, some of these outlaw bream that don't wanna be caught.

[Joe laughs] - Look at it, isn't it beautiful?

- Yeah.

- I can't tell you, this is what it's all about.

- Cyprus tree everywhere.

Beautiful black water.

- Last time we were here, our preliminary- - And that's, you stuck me.

- Yes, you didn't have much fun.

But I tell you what, I got a feeling today we're gonna catch some big ones.

- I think they've had time enough now to spread around a little bit.

- Yeah, they've already had a full moon to spawn, and water's heating up and everything.

- And they knew we were comin'.

- And they knew we were comin'.

[Mack laughs] [fishing reels squealing] - There ain't no better fish than this right here, Mack Dupree.

- Oh no.

- I don't care if you catch a 100-pound tarpon or whatever, you just cannot beat this right here.

I don't know big this fish, but it feels like it's about half a pound, I bet, or better.

- [Mack] Well, you can tell the way he's fightin'.

- It's female, look at her.

Man, Mack, look at this.

- [Mack] Check her for roe.

- Look at that.

She's full of roe.

- [Mack] She's full of roe.

- Full of roe.

They don't look, they gotta be close to gettin' on the beds.

- [Mack] Yeah.

- [Joe] That's a pretty fish.

- [Mack] I don't know why in the world we can't find more of 'em.

- I don't understand it.

- I don't either.

- But now, that one sat right there on the bottom for a few minutes, I went to move it, and it felt, and I'm fishing, you can see how deep I'm fishing.

- Yeah.

- Ah well, if I get it unplugged.

- And if I could just, if I could just catch one.

I'm getting desperate now, I'll tell you something.

- I'm fishing about four feet, right there.

[Mack laughs] Tell you what, that one's nice.

Still not as big as some of those we caught.

But that fish we had was full of roe.

- Yeah, it's time for 'em to start goin' on the bed.

- Well, the first full moon of the month, they shoulda kicked 'em off, and this late in the month, you know, they still should be spawning some.

Get out of that stump, come on, get out of there, get out of there.

- [Mack] Talk to him, talk to him.

- Come on, come on, come on.

[Joe laughs] - Show him what to do.

- Oh my goodness, Mack, now this is a female.

- Oh, that's a big nice female.

- Yes, sir, she's loaded for bream.

She is loaded, look at that.

- [Mack] Look at the roe.

- Now this bream is kinda hued, she doesn't have that wide tail fin like a lot of 'em do.

- [Mack] Yeah.

- That's a pretty little thing.

She's green and slimy.

- [Mack] She's green and slimy, yeah.

- Go back little girl, and have some children.

Thank you.

[Mack laughs] It came up and hit it pretty hard.

- Yeah, and hit it on top.

- Hit it on top.

Well, maybe this little cove is what we've been looking for.

- Maybe they gonna start doin' somethin'.

- I tell you what, let's just find out, 'cause this looks like some shallow water in there.

Get him, Mack, get him.

Nice fish there.

- It's hard to tell he's comin' at me.

- Is that that eight footer?

- Yeah.

- Oh, that's a good fish then.

- [Mack] That's a nice bream.

- It's bendin' that rod like that.

- [Mack] Ah, he's makin' advance.

- Ah yes, maybe I'll get him for you.

- Oh yeah, great day of the mornin', look at that bream.

- Lord have mercy.

- Look how thick he is.

- Yowza!

Look at that rascal, isn't that beautiful?

- Man alive.

- [Joe] Give me the fly, coach, let me see if I can get this thing out.

That fish has got it in there, pretty, there we go.

- [Mack] He swallowed it pretty good.

- Look at that, look at that.

- [Mack] Yeah.

Nice bream.

- Do you eat these fish?

You ever tried eating 'em?

- [Mack] I'm not a fish eater, I just love to catch 'em.

- My mother used to love 'em.

Tell you about bluegill, see the little, can you see the little black dot right there at the base of that fin?

- Yeah.

- If that fish does not have a black dot, it is not a bluegill.

- What is it?

- This is blue, but if it doesn't have that.

- Oh.

[Mack laughs] - This is a bluegill, but if you catch a little fish, some fish don't have that black dot, it's not a bluegill.

- Alright.

- They could be another green sunfish or whatever, but this, with the colorations here and that dot, that's the key right there.

This is a old male.

Alright, buddy.

- An old bull.

Put him back.

- Thank you, my friend.

- Let's go catch another one.

- And you are my friend.

- Ah, it's about time I caught one.

- Well, I didn't wanna say anything.

[Mack laughs] - [Joe] Well now, this bream we're gonna usually find some real shallow water spawn in.

- [Mack] I don't understand why we haven't had a strike on the bass.

- [Joe] Well now, that's amazing too.

You would think that a yearling or something would come up there and bite.

- [Mack] You think one of these little 3 1/4 pounders would be jumpin' all over this stuff.

- Whoa, whoa!

[Joe and Mack laugh] Come here, baby, come here, come here.

I got that bull bream, I got that, what we're lookin' for.

I got it.

- [Mack] An outlaw bream.

- Ah yes, come to me, bubba.

- [Mack] You see that little blue around his gills, Joe?

- Yes, sir.

Powder blue, he ain't gonna get off.

Look at that.

- [Mack] Boy, that's a nice one.

- Now he's not as big as some that we caught the other day, but he's still a pretty fish.

- [Mack] Yeah, but when you see that blue around his gill, I mean around his mouth.

- Right here?

- [Mack] That's a fairly old fish.

- [Joe] Mack, that fish had that thing sucked down here, I almost lost him.

I had him hooked pretty good.

- [Mack] Yeah.

- Somehow he wiggled it out.

Look at that fish, isn't he pretty?

- [Mack] Yeah, he's a big nice bull bream.

- That's a nice big bull bream.

Maybe a tiny guard to bed.

[upbeat music] - [Joe] Back last week at that mill pond, we didn't do good.

Beautiful place, absolutely gorgeous.

- Fish just weren't bitin'.

- Weren't bitin'.

I think when we got there, if you noticed, there was no clouds in the sky, no activity.

I think that little front that came through kinda knocked us out.

But today's different, we got a lot of sunshine.

- We've got a farm pond here with a lot of sunshine.

- And I'll tell you what, I've seen activity on top.

These bream are startin' to bed here, probably earlier than they did in that mill pond.

So I think we're gonna catch, in fact I will guarantee you we catch 'em.

- I hope we do.

I'm telling you, after last week, we deserve a good day.

[Joe and Mack laugh] - I'm gonna try this little yellow bug that I have, you got one just like it?

- Yeah, I have one just like it, it looks like a sneaky Pete.

- Well, I tell you what, drink and a cold, a cold drink- - Ah, you're on, you're on, you're on.

- Leave us go forth amongst these fishies.

[Mack laughs] - Get him, Mack, that's that ol' big bull bream, now.

- Look at him pull.

- Yes, sir, get him.

- [Mack] I'm telling you, for their size they pull about as hard as anything you can catch.

- Get him, Mack.

- Look at him, he's dartin' and a-jumpin' around, here.

- Yes, sir.

- He's not a stunt jumper, but he's doin' pretty good.

- But they're on those beds.

- Look at the size of this.

The ol' bull, beautiful.

- Beautiful fish.

- I thank you, my family thanks you.

Go back.

[Joe laughs] - Beautiful fish.

- Ah, I got in too close again, Joe.

- You got the wind, it's pushin' us.

- Let me back up.

- Yeah.

Alright, come around, baby.

Oh, this is a sight, this is a big one, this is a big 'ol male.

Look at that rascal run.

Come back here, baby doll.

- [Mack] That's one of them bulls.

- That's one of the little big bulls.

Look at the size of that rascal, Mack, look at that.

- [Mack] Man, yeah.

- Look at that fish.

Look at that.

- [Mack] I'm tellin' you, look how thick he is.

- [Joe] Yes, now that bream right there, 12 to 14 ounces.

- [Mack] Yes, sir, every bit of it.

- Big ol' male.

- [Mack] Ah, he bit on that bug.

- Oh, he did.

Okay, my friend, you go back.

[Mack laughs] Thank you.

- [Mack] Let's go get another one.

- I told you.

- [Mack] Well, I'm glad you're right.

- Well, what is that about the old blind hog?

[Mack and Joe laugh] - [Joe] Mack, there's some more fish in there.

I guarantee you there's some more fish in that place.

- I think there is, too.

- It just hit, it was one right, it was one right underneath it, right there, but he just wouldn't hit it, Mack.

Right there, right underneath it.

Underneath it.

- Well, you keep teasin' him, he'll go after it.

- Well, I'm tellin' you what, I'm seein' activity down this side.

- There's a lot of this old grass in here.

- Yes it is.

Come on, baby doll, hit it.

- Well look, coach, let's swing down, I'm seein' a lot of activity down there.

Let this rest, we got a little close up on them.

- Alright.

- And we'll let those rest, and come back.

We can run 'em again.

You know how when you used to play eight-ball, you'd run the table on me?

[Mack laughs] You'd give me, I think I'd have about three balls on the table, and you would smoke me.

Well, there we gotta run this, I got him, I got him, I got him, I got him.

Come on, buddy, eat that little snack.

And this is not as big a bream as those others, but I tell you what.

- [Mack] Yeah, but he's hungry.

- Yes he is, and runnin'.

Good run, baby, run, doll, run.

- [Mack] Ah, he's under the boat.

- [Joe] Under the motor.

- [Mack] Now he's a pretty good size, Joe.

- Oh it is, bigger than I thought.

- [Mack] He just, he didn't realize how much trouble he was in 'til right now.

- My goodness gracious, look at that.

[Mack laughs] - [Mack] Look at the size of that rascal.

- Look at that, look at the size of that fish.

Look at that, isn't that beautiful?

Look at that, isn't that pretty?

- [Mack] They are a pullin' fish for their size, let me tell you.

- If this weighed four pounds, I wouldn't get him in.

- [Mack] Oh man, we'd be breakin' lines.

- You know, someone said before that catchin' bream, it's like catchin' a small pompano, if you've ever caught pompano, if they weighed what a pompano did, that you couldn't, same experience, so to speak.

- [Mack] Yeah.

Well like I said, for his size, he's a pullin' fish.

- Goodness gracious, that is a beautiful fish.

- [Mack] Go back and get on the bed, kid.

- Go back, go kid, and go protect that bed.

Thank you.

I tell you what, Mack, you wouldn't expect this fish to hit, hot as it is.

[fishin reel squealing] But I have found out, when they're on these beds, they gonna stay there until those fry hatch.

- Well, I agree they gonna stay, oh, there she is.

[fishing real squealing] Boy, did he nail that thing.

Man, that's a bass.

Lord have mercy, come here, kid.

Another stunt jumper.

- Well, what I think's happening is there's bass when they're trying to feed on those fry.

And there's bream, that's why those bream are hittin' so hard, runnin' 'em out.

- [Mack] See, he doesn't realize what trouble he's in yet.

[Joe laughs] Now he realizes it.

[Joe laughs] I bet he's wonderin', "how in the world can that little bug throw me all around like that?"

[Mack laughs] Come on, kid.

- Give it up.

- Ah, he'll go about a pound and a quarter.

- Yeah, and that one's got it deep in his throat.

- Yes, sir.

I thank you, my dear.

Joe?

Yes, thank you.

- How come I'm not smart enough to tell the different between a male and female bass?

How do you tell the difference?

- I don't have a clue.

But I know he's pullin' like crazy.

- Mack, there's plenty of fish in there, I'm telling you.

- [Mack] I'm telling you, I know.

- Now this is that little 7 1/2 foot rod, can you imagine what a 7 foot would do?

- Now that bream will go 14, 16 ounces.

- Yeah, that bream right there is, whoa, whoa, careful kid.

Don't be finnin' me.

- But you notice, Joe, how few you have seen that have swallowed it?

- No, they're just hitting at it.

- [Mack] They're hitting at it.

- Yep, that's pretty fish.

This one will be about 12 ounces.

- [Mack] As Mr. Gray said, "you've all done very well".

[Joe and Mack laugh] - Mack, watch this.

- Go get another one.

Get me fumble-fingered.

[Joe laughs] You're makin' me fumble-fingered back here, Joe.

[Joe laughs] - You know what Tom Baines would say about that?

- What?

- "Get used to it."

[Mack and Joe laugh] Tom would be out-fishin' me, and I say, "Tommy, you're killin' me", he said, "get used to it".

Look at that one right there, it's a little bit bigger.

Look at that.

- [Mack] That's an old bull.

- Look at that pretty powder blue gill, right there.

As Tom would say, looks like he ran into a brick wall with that little hump.

That's a beautiful male, isn't it?

- [Mack] One of those old big bulls, I'm tellin' you.

They hittin' white Yum?

- [Mack] They're hittin' anything.

- Beautiful, go to bed little buddy.

Thank you.

- [Mack] Yeah, he was tired.

Did you see him runnin'?

- Yes, I'd run too if I saw you.

[Mack laughs] I'm diggin' you now, I'm diggin' you.

- [Mack] Oh, that's alright.

Did while you got a chance.

- [Joe] Yes, because I know that one of these days, you're gonna just, you're just gonna sock it to me, aren't you?

- [Mack] Ah, I intend do.

- [Joe] Ah yeah, well, I'm pulling for you to catch up.

- You know, Joe and Mack, they like that fly rod.

- They do, and they love to fish.

I mean, both of 'em, they've fished together a long time, and really like that bluegill.

That's a fun fish to catch, and at the right time of the year, in the spring, you know, when the fish are real active up along the shorelines, that's where they find 'em, and they just know how to do it and have a lot of fun.

- Now, your time, what are we gonna hear from Joe today?

- Just, she gonna share with us the popping bugs that they use, and again, the length of the fly rod doesn't need to be long, I mean, it's short, Joe particularly likes a 7-footer, and it just brings out the best in the fish.

- Let's find out more, let's go to Gear Time.

[upbeat music] - Joe, we've tried Tull's Mill Pond and we've tried a farm pond, and we didn't do very good in the mill pond.

- But it was pretty, wasn't it?

- Yeah, it's a beautiful place, but the fish just weren't bitin'.

- I think the difference is, this is an open pond, the sun can get down in, warm it up quicker, because these fish are on the beds, and we didn't find 'em, in at Tull.

- Well, also at Tull's, it was last week, and the front may have had something to do with it.

- Well, it's hot out here today.

- Yes it is.

- It is, and the end of May, and it's gotta be close to 90 degrees.

- When you catch fish like this, it's a whole lot of fun, you pay a lot of attention to how hot it is.

- You know, in Tull we tried these little underwater, these sinking flies, and we tried these topwater bugs, and we had a little success on both but not that much.

But over here, these bugs, the chartreuse and the white, they were just going' nuts over 'em.

- Yeah, they are shaped like a sneaky Pete.

And these fish have really hit 'em today.

- When we started out, we both had chartreuse on, then of course I lose mine, and I switch to the white.

Didn't seem to make any difference, as long as it's in their area, they were just knockin' the stuffin' out of it.

- [Mack] As long as you put it over their bed.

- You know, your fly rod, the one you have there, that 8-footer, works good.

You like the stiffer rod, a little longer, the 9 foot.

This is a little 7 1/2, ultralight, and the other I have here is probably 7 1/2 foot, with an old Zebco reel.

That reel's probably 50 years old.

- I like a little longer rod, and a little bigger reel, because if I ever catch a big bass, I want to make sure I can get him in the boat.

As far as pullin' small bream, or any kind of bream, these little light rigs do real good.

- [Joe] They're great.

This is a simple form of fishing, it's just an old manual reel, which I prefer, I don't like automatics.

- No, I don't either.

Some people like 'em, and there's nothin' wrong with that, I prefer the wind-up.

- I've got about an 8 foot leader, 7 1/2, 8 foot leader, and that's, I think, what is on your rod, we've broken that leader a couple times.

But it works great.

We've had a pretty good day.

- [Mack] And we have enjoyed it somewhat.

[Joe laughs] - You know the only thing missin' right now?

- What?

- Is if we could just go tell everybody about it.

- Oh, yes.

[Mack laughs] - Oh man, they won't believe it.

- No.

- They wouldn't think you'd be catching fish in the middle of May like this.

- In a 92 degree weather.

Right in the middle of the day.

- We'll do it again.

- Ah, we have to do it again.

- Yes, and I promise I won't put one in your hat.

[Mack laughs] - Well, you hooked me pretty good this time, but I'll get you back.

- We'll do it again.

I enjoyed it, bud.

- Yeah.

- Thanks guys, for that information.

You know, Joe and Mack fish together, farm pond, mill pond, different setting, they still catch fish.

- Oh yeah, it's a different setup, and get a different look, but still the same type of fishing, and knowin' how to place that fly just right, just natural where the fish just wants to take it, makes all the difference.

- Now, Donna, she's got that recipe for venison.

Let's catch up with Donna, she's in the kitchen on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

[upbeat music] [upbeat music continues] - Hi, today we're gonna be making a venison pizza scone in the kitchen.

It's a great recipe, it's very versatile, you can use it as an appetizer, you can serve it just in the wedges, or you can slice it and use it as sandwich bread, so it's great, and I think you're really gonna enjoy it, it has some great flavors.

We're gonna start out with two cups of biscuit mix, then we're going to add some Parmesan cheese to this.

We're just gonna add all the ingredients in, we're gonna add about 1/4 cup of ground venison sausage that has been cooked and crumbled, into our biscuit mix.

Then we're going to add some yellow corn meal, this will help give it a little bit of crunch and a little bit of, some good texture.

We're also going to add some sharp cheddar cheese to this.

And I like to buy mine that's already shredded, it's just a little bit easier.

We're gonna add some fresh garlic, some sun-dried tomatoes, which add some really nice, if you like tomatoes, it adds a great tomato kick to it, adds some really nice flavor, it's a really strong flavor.

Some black olives, and then some Italian spices.

And if you have fresh herbs, you can use those as well.

Then what I like to do is toss all my ingredients together, and coat it with the biscuit mix.

That way, it helps keep it all separated, too, it won't all group together when we're mixing it.

And once that's all tossed, then we're going to add about 3/4 cup of buttermilk to this.

And the buttermilk also gives it a little bit of a tang, too, instead of using regular milk.

So, once this is all mixed together, we're gonna mix it together until it forms a stiff dough.

And it just takes a few minutes to do this.

Then we're going to pour this out onto a floured surface, and I like to use a cutting board, just because, for easy clean-up purposes.

So, I think we're about ready.

So we're gonna bring our cutting board in, and I'm just gonna put some flour on this and just kind of rub it in.

Take our dough, and put it out into our cutting board here.

And then this is the fun part, then you get to get your hands all gooey.

And I'm just gonna coat mine a little bit with some flour.

Then we're gonna form this into an 8 inch round, and then what you wanna do is, I need a little more flour.

Then we're going to divide it into sections, but we're not going to cut it all the way through.

I'm gonna use a long knife, you can also use a pizza cutter, and you're just going to cut it into six sections.

And you can transfer this, then, to a lined baking sheet if you would like.

Then we're going to coat it with some olive oil, and you can use flavored olive oil, if you like, or you can use just the plain.

There's gonna be plenty of flavor in this scone for you.

So once we've done that, we're gonna add a little bit more Parmesan cheese to this, and then some fresh cracked black pepper.

It's kind of a fancy little dish, but it's really simple.

Your friends will be impressed if you serve it to them, if you can keep it that long.

And then some fresh sea salt that's just coarse.

We're gonna bake this at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes until it's nice and firm, and then you're gonna bring it out, let it sit for few minutes, and then you're ready to serve.

You can also freeze this, you know, make it ahead of time, freeze it, and then take it with you if you're goin' somewhere.

Like I said, you can slice one of the wedges and use it as bread, if you'd like, fill it with some great Italian salamis and things like that.

It's just a great, versatile dish, you can also use it to dip pizza sauce with.

So, it's a great dish, I hope you enjoy the venison pizza scone, and this is Simple Cooking here on Carolina Outdoor Journal.

- Thanks Donna, for that recipe.

Joe, I wanna go back down, as I said, I think fishing with a fly rod is an art form, and so many ponds in North Carolina, you can do this just about in your backyard.

- In your backyard, yeah.

If you don't own the property, always ask permission.

But most landowners will give permission if you do that, and then, a lot of these ponds have good populations of bluegills, but that fly fishing is just, is real natural, it's not a type of fishing that you can just pick up a fly rod and go at it, you've gotta work at it, it's technique and knowing how to do it, and Joe and Mack have been fly fishing all their lives, and they know how to do it, and put that bug just right so that bluegill has gotta take it, and it's just a real fun way of catching fish.

- Just as good as it gets.

- It really is.

- For Joe Albea, I'm John Moore, thanks for joining us today on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

- [male announcer]: An d make sure to visit our website for more information.

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