[gentle orchestra fanfare] Shook it a little bit.

Mmm.

That's a nice bass.

That is a good fish.

I'm wondering if, you know... some of these fish... there's so much structure underneath us.

They could be anywhere.

Look at that.

They're just, you know, laying off the bank.

Look at the head on that fish, Dave.

That's a nice fish.

Good gracious.

You know, you can't tell if he followed that worm off the bank.

Oh, look at the mouth.

He's hooked right in the top of the mouth there.

I don't know if he followed it out.

Look how green that fish-- green and gold.

If he followed it off that bank or I hit something and shook it a couple of times.

Soon as it came through that stuff, boink.

And it was right underneath the boat.

That's a healthy looking fish, isn't it?

That is healthy.

He's a pretty fish.

Man.

- [Announcer] The production of Carolina Outdoor Journal is made possible in part by: - [Female Announcer] Wildlife in North Carolina Magazine.

ncwildlife.org/winc.

- [Male Announcer] And by EZ Bait & Tackle, family owned and operated.

We fish from fresh to saltwater.

We provide fishing supplies and advice to every type of angler.

For all your fishing needs, EZ Bait & Tackle.

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

Well, it's springtime for today's fishing trip.

And we're gonna take on a pond and try to catch some largemouth bass.

And, Joe, we had a good day.

We really did.

We were fishing ahead of a cold front.

We had a little wind that kind of played with us on the pond.

But we got through it and caught some pretty fish using plastic worms and lizards.

Fishing on the bottom.

It's a pond we fished several years ago, used top water baits.

And I wanted to try something a little different.

It's a really pretty pond, full of fish.

And we caught a good class of fish.

(John Moore) A little competition between our anglers too.

They fish together.

You always note that on the water.

And they had a lot of fun.

And they'll give us some of their tips, too, in due time today.

(John Albea) We'll go back and join 'em right on the edge of the pond.

They'll talk about the colors that they used today.

How they rigged up.

And what worked the best.

Now, Donna's in the kitchen.

Another fish recipe today.

Fish Reuben recipe from her.

Goes right along with what we're doing today.

Well, it's all about fishing.

So let's catch up with our anglers.

That and a whole lot more coming your way on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

Well, Bryan, here in May again.

We'll try this pond one more time.

Got a pretty day ahead of a front coming in.

What do you think we're gonna do today?

Well, last time we fished, we caught a few fish but it was post-spawn conditions.

And fishing was kind of tough, you know, right in the middle of a front, so it weren't great conditions.

But I like this morning.

This morning's just got one of those feels.

You know, you can just feel it when you got out of the truck that we needed to be here this morning.

I had the same feeling.

We did catch some fish last time, but it was hard pickin's, wasn't it?

Well, it was post-spawn, behind a full moon.

It had gotten a little bit warm.

And the fish really weren't-- I'm gonna try to catch 'em on plastic worms, I think is what we're gonna do today.

And they just weren't quite back in the feeding mode.

But I think they're gonna be ready for us today, bubba.

I think so too.

What color are you gonna start with?

I got a little old frog I'm gonna try and I'm gonna have a little junebug worm I'm gonna put on the other rod.

That junebug worked pretty good last time.

If you're gonna go with a junebug, I'm probably gonna go with something purple or blue.

Okay.

Would be my guess.

I'm gonna have one ready.

We'll try it and see how it does.

All right, your ready for me to shove us off here?

In just one second.

Good.

Bryan, what an absolutely beautiful morning to catch a bass.

Oh, it's nice up here.

That was a pretty good cast too.

I think there ought to be one underneath that cypress tree.

There usually is every trip.

If I could just get under there to him, that's the whole trick.

Yep.

Yep, just get there.

Yeah, we come and throw the old plastic worm up here this morning.

I was thinking about it all the way up on the drive up this morning.

You know, some deer in the fields.

I saw, you know, turkeys in the field on the way up here.

So it looked like there was some game moving, anyway.

Yeah, I hope we hit some.

Good shot.

There you go.

There's where I wanted it, right there.

Can you believe that there?

He ate it right--oh!

I hit something right there about where your line is.

And I felt it and I just shook it a little bit.

Mmm.

That's a nice bass there.

That is a good fish.

I'm wondering if, you know, some of these fish...

There's so much structure underneath of us.

They could be anywhere.

Look at that, they're just laying off the bank.

Look at the head on that fish, Dave.

That's a nice fish.

Good gracious.

You know, you can't tell if he followed that worm off the bank.

Oh, look at the mouth.

Mmm.

He's hooked right in the top of the mouth there.

I don't know if he followed it out.

Look how green that fish-- green and gold.

If he followed it off that bank or I hit something and shook it a couple of times.

Soon as it came through that stuff, boink.

And it was right underneath the boat.

That's a healthy looking fish, isn't it?

That is healthy.

He's a pretty fish.

Man.

I'll take a few more like that.

Yes, sir.

He couldn't stand that old worm, though.

But the fish, they could be laying a little bit further off the bank than what we thought they were.

They could be.

See you, buddy.

Yeah, that worked out pretty good.

We've been fishing too close.

I don't know, but... Could be.

I don't know, 'cause I threw off the other side of the boat a few times.

That was a pretty good fish.

I mean, I'll take 'em like that all day long.

Ran my worm all the way up the line.

That's all right.

It's about time for a new one of these dudes.

He grabbed it and sat still with it.

He grabbed and then I couldn't set the hook right there, you know?

So once he started running that way, then I could set the hook back this way.

And if you set the hook straight up on the fish underneath your feet, you're gonna miss 'em a lot of times.

A lot of people break their rods that way.

That fish, he did exactly what he needed to do by swimming away from me.

And it worked out all right.

Could have gone the other way.

I need a new one of these, but...

I'll give up a worm every time for a fish that size, won't you?

Yes, sir.

That was a pretty fish.

Good.

Heck yeah, buddy.

All right, thank you, sir.

You've been a good guide today.

The day's not over yet.

Hang on there, big boy!

Where you hooked one the other day and that rascal got in the boat with you.

That was a pretty aggressive bite, wasn't it?

That was--I mean, he went right on that thing.

He's gonna jump.

Come on, baby.

That's pretty cool when you said that junebug worm weren't working for you.

[laughing] Oh, he's hooked in a perfect spot too.

Right in the corner of the kisser.

Want me to get him?

I'll get him.

You sure you can bend over that far?

Yeah, I can do it.

I tell you, we'd be in a mess if we'd both bend over that far.

That's a pretty fish.

That's a pretty fish.

He's been caught before too.

He's got a little hole in his lip.

Good ol' catch and release product.

Well, we been fishing--that point right there's real good.

We got bit, pulled one off.

And then all this structure in here has always held fish.

It has.

The water's a little bit higher in the pond, isn't it?

I think that's probably why the fish are still up on the shoreline some.

It is a little higher.

Good fish.

I like the way he hit, anyway.

Man, that was a pretty aggressive bite.

Let him roll.

Good job, bubba.

I thank you.

You like to fish with that... plastic worm in here all year or is it just a specific time that you throw the worms in here?

Tell you the truth, you can fish a worm just about year round if the weather's conducive.

But I think when it really warms up I like a top water bait a little more.

But you can fish a worm most anytime.

And what's nice about 'em is you throw in all this structure right here.

I'd have been hung up if I hadn't have been fishing a Texas-rigged worm.

That's right.

'Cause there is a ton of stuff along that beaver dam.

And there's so many things you can fish.

I mean, you know, lizards.

You can switch to lizards when the lizards are out.

Little frogs and whatever you like.

Once the fish come off the beds and they get settled into a summertime pattern in the middle of the day like this, that worm's probably as good as anything.

It is.

There he is.

Oh!

Pulled him off.

What do you mean, pulled him off?

Look.

Pulled the hook through.

He just weren't there.

I used to do it like that before I learned how.

I believe I've heard that before.

Ooh!

I'd say you got him.

Oh, don't go in there, baby!

Don't go, don't go!

Don't go in there.

He's over here.

What a mess!

Don't go!

He's wrapped me, Ted.

Oh, you got him.

I got him.

Good-night, what a bear.

He was laying up in that stuff, wasn't he?

That's a nice fish.

It was a mess.

He went all through that big old snag right there.

That was a fine job of landing that fish.

Well, you know what I say.

I'd rather be lucky than good any day.

That's right.

Come here, big daddy.

Hooked right in the top lip.

What do you think about that, man?

That's pretty.

Look how thick that fish is.

He's three pounds, three and a half.

Oh yeah, he'll go three and a half, no problem.

No problem.

Big ol' pond bucket mouth.

Mmm-hmm.

Good deal.

He's healthy.

He's started fattening back up.

You know what's crazy about that is how many times have we cast all around the same bunch of stuff?

Pulled off one, caught a couple dinks.

And he was just hanging tight in that structure with this bright sunshine.

Had to drop it right in front of his nose.

Pretty fish.

Healthy.

Yeah, man.

The old purple worm, couldn't stand that.

Thank you, Mr. Large-Faced Fish.

[light instrumental theme] ♪ ♪ You got him?

Oh, I lost him!

No, you didn't, he's swimming with it.

I still got him.

I got him.

I got him.

Whoo!

That's a nice fish.

He's taking off, isn't he?

No, I looked and your line was going.

Oh, good work!

Pretty work.

I could be hung up in...

I couldn't see my line.

And I felt--I said, dag gone, he's gotten off there.

Yeah, I could see your line from the angle I was at.

I can see that line swimming through the water.

Uh-oh.

About to lose a rod tip.

Can you get spun around or you want me to get it for you?

No, I got it.

No quick movements in this boat.

We'll all be wet as him.

[laughing] There you go, Bryan.

That's another decent fish, man.

Got some length.

Real healthy looking fish.

Not a big ol' fat belly, but we're still post-spawn.

A couple weeks behind that full moon, you know, in May.

And, uh, that's a good looking fish.

It's a pretty fish.

Yeah.

That was funny too, 'cause when he took off, I could see your line going.

But with the glare of the sun, you couldn't see it.

I'm like, he's still there.

He's still there.

I know, he picked it up.

It felt pretty good.

Yep, that's a pretty fish, man.

We'll take them all day long.

We will.

Let's catch another one.

All right, bubba.

Pretty work.

Oh, my goodness!

Is it a nice one?

I don't know.

Not too nice.

Nice enough to eat my worm.

He's not the eight-pounder I was hoping for.

But he was certainly nice enough to eat that worm.

He did the same thing... Every fish I've caught has done the same exact thing.

A pound and three quarters, anyway.

They eat it and pow, straight to the boat as hard as they can get here.

Jump.

Come here, Mr. Bass.

Healthy little bass.

He just started eatin'.

He was hooked right there in the corner of the mouth.

They've all done the same thing swimming off the bank.

Just coming right at me.

Look at the green and the gold in that fish.

Pretty fish.

What is he, a pound and three quarters maybe?

He's not two pounds, but... he works for me right now.

Let me ease down here and...

He's a pretty fish.

Yes, sir.

See you, big daddy.

That was pretty cool.

Yep.

I'm ready to do that again.

Pretty fish.

Did you see that?

Hit him right in the boat, didn't he?

He come up like a little bluefish or something, man.

The worm was coming out of the water.

That little dude ate it.

Speaking of dinks, there's one.

That's coming real close to scaring me.

I wasn't ready for that.

You scared me.

Half of the worm...

The worm weight and half of the worm was out of the water.

He ate it.

Right there, following it up.

Well, that answers the question about some fish being out here in this little creek channel.

Yep.

That was a pretty aggressive little fish right there.

He was, wasn't he?

He's not a champion by no means, but it was a bite.

It was.

We'll take him.

That scared me, boy.

You scared me.

[imitates Bryan yelling] [laughing] I wasn't expecting that.

I've had those great big ones in here come up and hit... You'll be sitting here with your lure just dangling in the water.

And it'll come up and just about yank the rod out of your hands.

That wasn't far from it.

If he'd have been any bigger, I would have been in a mess.

An absolute mess.

Um, Bryan, can you imagine... on these breezy days like today, what it was like if you didn't have a troller motor?

You used to fish this pond with just a paddle.

Yeah, I have.

When I first started bass fishing, I didn't have a troller motor, man.

And you know, these days you just did the best you could.

But the nice thing about a little anchor, we can use the troller motor to get where we wanna get and position the boat.

Drop the anchor and fish a whole big section of the pond like this.

And it's worked out, 'cause we caught some fish this way.

But that troller motor's a lifesaver... on days like today.

'Cause it is plenty breezy.

It makes it a lot more comfortable, for sure.

I'd hate for you to have to paddle me all over this pond.

[both laughing] The middle, buddy!

Whoo, nice fish.

I don't know how nice he is, but he certainly ate my worm.

He's nice, he's nice.

It's funny 'cause I was looking down at this wasp trying to fly up my pants leg.

I felt a little thump thump.

He's a nice fish.

A nice fish.

Yee-ha.

Come here, little man.

Threw my worm all the way up the line.

He did.

It was hooked right in the roof of the mouth, so he certainly wasn't going anywhere.

Kind of funny, 'cause we just drifted right across that--must be a little creek channel or something right there.

Yeah, that little run of the creek is over there.

That's a pretty little fish.

Yeah, man.

Heck yeah.

First bite we've had in the last little while.

We'll take him.

We will.

I got snagged in the midst of all that.

You did?

I did.

Joe, we had a good day of fishing.

Good quality of fish too.

They really were.

About a three pound, two-and-a-half, three pound average.

A couple small fish.

But that pond is loaded with big bass.

And the biggest one I know that's been caught has been 13 pounds.

We were hoping for a big fish.

But, again, we were kind of pushing it.

Trying to get ahead of this cold front.

And we'd tried it, actually, a couple mornings before.

This is right at the end of May, June.

Post-spawn, right after the spawning time of the year.

But a good quality fish.

And just had a lot of fun.

Well, it was a good day of fishing.

We're gonna find out how you can do the same thing.

As we go to Gear Time.

Ted, we've been trying to get up here and fish when the fish were bitin'.

We've come a couple days and they didn't cooperate too good right in the post-spawn time.

But today was a really good day.

We caught a lot of fish.

And it was overcast and sunny.

But I think it kept the fish active all day.

(Ted) It did.

We had to work for 'em.

But we caught some fish.

Some small ones.

We worked for 'em.

I think I probably... Well, I know I probably caught a few more fish, but I imagine it had to do with the fact that I was sitting in the front of the boat, and you were running the troller motor.

And I just got a few more shots that smacked the fish.

I won't rub that in too bad on ya.

(Ted) You caught some nice fish today too.

They were some pretty fish.

I don't know what the deal was here, but I don't think it had anything to do with the colors we were throwing.

We were throwing plastic worms.

You threw a lizard a little bit.

I think it was a function of me getting the shots at the best spots first.

We threw plastics all day.

What'd you do best with?

The worm I used the most was this purple.

You know, it's kind of a grape colored worm with the blue specks in it.

Eastern North Carolina.

I've used it all my life, you know.

Junebug is a really good color that we've caught some fish on here.

I know you throw that lizard a bunch.

That junebug lizard.

The red shad is a great color.

Anywhere in eastern North Carolina when you got some of that tan that stayed in the water.

And of course, you know, different sizes, different make-up of your worms there.

This ringworm works pretty good in certain applications.

And yeah, we were both throwing spinning rods, but a bait caster would have been fine.

I was using ten-pound monofilament, but really abrasion-resistant monofilament.

The fish just busted right behind us right here.

And, you know, six-and-a-half foot... medium to medium heavy fast action rods.

So we're fishing in all this structure in here.

This pond is full of structure.

When you set the hook, you want that hook starting to penetrate as soon as you start to move your rod tip.

And that's why these stiffer rods work a little bit better.

What do you got there?

Did you do anything with that little frog?

I threw that size frog.

I didn't do much today.

But I felt like I would do all right with that in a day, but I didn't do much with it today.

I did throw the purple worm a little bit.

But I mainly stuck with that junebug worm and lizard.

Yeah, that worked really well.

You know, that 3.0 worm hook is, you know, the standard hook I throw.

This size worms, we're not using really big baits... for this size fish and everything.

And that 3.0 works really well for me.

You got the red style.

I got a regular old chrome style.

But they both work pretty well.

We're gonna grab us something to eat, since you've been fishing me to death all day.

Are ya hungry?

Yep, been hungry for a while.

And then maybe we can slide back around here with a top water bait this afternoon.

Yeah, that'd be fun.

Okay, good.

Well, I appreciate that, man.

It's been a fun day.

It sure has.

As always.

Bryan and Ted, thanks for those good tips.

And will the competition ever end?

Well, let's catch up with Donna.

She's in the kitchen.

Now, she's got a recipe for ya.

I think you're gonna like this.

It's called Fish Rueben.

[light instrumental theme] ♪ ♪ Hi, today we're going to be making a variation of one of my favorite sandwiches, the Reuben.

And what we're gonna do, is we're gonna take some stale pumpernickel bread and we're gonna make it into some breadcrumbs.

Then we're going to add it with our In Your Oven House-Autry breader.

Which is a great way to cook your fish in your oven.

It's fabulous.

You're gonna get a nice crunch on the outside.

But it'll be nice and tender and moist on the insides.

Let's go ahead and get started.

I've got my pumpernickel bread in here.

And what I'm gonna do is just gonna pulse it several times in my food processor.

And I'm gonna go ahead and put my breader... my In Your Oven Mix in here so we can mix it up really well.

And like I said, this is a great way to use some stale bread that you might have.

You can also use rye bread if you like.

But I just like the pumpernickel 'cause it's not quite as strong.

So we have all that mixed up.

Let's take it off.

And then we're gonna pour it into our baggy.

And this is a great way, too, to keep your hands from getting really, you know, messy too.

It's easy clean-up, which is what I like.

I can just toss my bag and go.

So we're gonna take our... Kind of just mix it up.

Then what I do is I fold down the top of my bag.

That helps keep it a little bit clean.

And then we're gonna take our fish fillets.

And I would just do one at a time since these are pretty big fillets.

And I would use a fish that is a mild white fish because the sauerkraut and all the flavors are gonna be kind of strong.

So you don't want to be competing.

So we're gonna shake this all together till it's coated well.

We're gonna place it on a baking sheet that I've lined with my foil.

And we're gonna bake this at 450 degrees for about ten minutes.

It's gonna be nice and crunchy, so it's gonna be a really quick bake.

Once it comes out, this is what it's gonna look like.

And we're going to top it with some thousand island dressing, just like you would.

And place some Swiss cheese on the top.

We're gonna put it back in the oven or underneath the broiler for about five minutes.

Just until your cheese is bubbled.

And then we're gonna serve it with a topping of some sauerkraut and maybe a German slaw with some cabbage.

It's a great dish.

I hope you enjoy it as much as you do your regular Reuben.

It's a great variation.

And that's Simple Cooking.

Enjoy.

Thanks, Donna.

That's another good recipe.

Joe, I wanna go back to the pond.

Springtime of the year.

Largemouth bass.

Sometimes I ask myself can it get any better.

Well, I tell ya, that's probably the most popular freshwater fish we have here in North Carolina.

And you can catch 'em across the state, as everybody knows.

Lakes, ponds, rivers.

And what they did today you can utilize in these other areas.

I mean, worm fishing has been around as long as popular bass fishing has been around too.

And you can fish at different times of the year, as they said in Gear Time.

You don't necessarily have to fish in the Spring.

It can be in the Fall.

Even in the winter time.

You have to slow your technique down a little bit.

But very productive.

And both of them carry a lot of different colors.

Because different colors, as we saw this day, make a difference.

So be sure to have a variety of colors to meet whatever conditions you're gonna be fishing in.

But a great sport fish.

Largemouth bass is popular across the country.

Joe, we caught some three-pounders that day.

But I bet you there's some nice ones in there.

Oh, I know of a 13-pounder.

And several over seven.

Seven-and-a-half, eight pounds.

But, you know, we all know they don't come every day.

Not every day.

Nope.

For Joe Albea, I'm John Moore.

Thanks for joining us today on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

- [Announcer] Make sure to visit our website for more information.

- [Announcer] The production of Carolina Outdoor Journal is made possible in part by: - [Female Announcer] Wildlife in North Carolina Magazine.

ncwildlife.org/winc.

- [Male Announcer] And by EZ Bait & Tackle, family owned and operated.

We fish from fresh to saltwater.

We provide fishing supplies and advice to every type of angler.

For all your fishing needs, EZ Bait & Tackle.

[light instrumental music] ♪