Town and Rice’s Creeks are scenic, connected creeks that are ideal for kayak, canoe, and small outboard boat fishing. Town Creek begins as a black water stream in the eastern part of the Green Swamp, just west of the Wilmington area. The creek flows southeast and empties into the Cape Fear River just downstream of downtown Wilmington. Rice’s Creek flows into Town Creek near Winnabow, N.C. Town Creek is a prime wildlife habitat and wetlands and much of it is protected. The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust has worked with both state and federal agencies, timber companies and private individuals to protect over 6,200 acres along Town Creek.
You catch bass, bream, crappie – and stripers at the mouth of Town Creek where it enters the Cape Fear River. Fish both creeks in the spring and fall; do not waste your time in the summer. April, May, and June are the best months. When the water temperature hits 58 degrees, hit the water. That is when bass, bream, and crappie move on their beds, crappie a little sooner. One can catch crappie on a fly rod as well as bass and bream. Old timers say the best one day of the year is the first full moon in May when all these species go on their beds.
Rice’s creek has a tidal effect from the standpoint of the flow as opposed to rising and falling. The effect is more pronounced on Town Creek, the closer it gets to where it empties into the Cape Fear River. The incoming tide causes the freshwater to back up in Rice’s Creek; there is little flow when the water is backing up. It is best to fish when the tide is going out and there is an outflow. You will not catch fish if the leaves on the water are not moving; you need moving water to catch fish.
A local resident advised not to fish the creeks unless the water level is below the third dock piling from the beach at the Rice’s Creek ramp. You should be able to see dry bank across the creek. If the water is higher, the fish will be feeding in the woods. He likes fishing the creek on an overcast day when the water is not so high, and the barometric pressure is low or falling.
A word of caution: Be careful to avoid disturbing red wasp nests. Disturbing a nest can result in a painful and dangerous experience. And, do not forget to remain mindful of snakes.
DIRECTIONS: Drive US 17 N to Governor’s Road near Winnabow, NC. Turn right on Governor’s Road; then left on Gordon Lewis Drive taking you to the NC Wildlife Commission Ramp. The ramp is for small boats, kayaks, and canoes only.
Fishing downstream, to the left, takes you to Town Creek; fishing upstream, to the right, continues you on Rice’s Creek. If going left, downstream, about ¼ mile, take the turn to the left – the oxbow to the right takes you back to the main creek. You will reach Town Creek with an outboard in a few minutes; it takes about 45-minutes in a kayak or canoe. When you get to Town Creek, turn right (left takes you to US 17). Eventually you come to a bay on the right that is good for catching bass.
Traveling further on Town Creek, you will pass a house on the left; slow down as you will pass through a section where a bridge had been and nothing, but underwater pilings remain. After traveling slowly about 100 yards, you can speed up again. Further down, after you pass under a trestle, slow down again. The creek widens and deepens but gets shallow at the mouth on the Cape Fear River. The mouth is guide Seth Vernon’s favorite striper fishing location. It is a 45-minute, 4-5-mile boat ride to the mouth.
One can also launch a kayak on Town Creek at the Brunswick Nature Park off Highway 133. It has a kayak launching ramp. Go up the creek with the incoming tide; down with the outgoing. At this point, you are about 2 miles from the mouth, but the area is not as scenic as further back in the woods. Beware of the 14’ gators.
LARGEMOUTH BASS
When water temperatures reach the high fifties (57 to 59 degrees), bass move into the shallows to prepare for the pre-spawn and spawn cycles. (Folklore suggests bass move to the bank when the new growth of oak leaves is about the size of a squirrel’s ear.) This is when the largemouth bass is most active, most aggressive and be taken in the greatest numbers. The smaller males are the first to appear, followed a little later by the bigger females.
Here are a few tips that might be helpful during both the pre-spawn and the spawn phases:
- Stealth is critical. Sculling quietly along the shoreline or through the shallows is the ticket. If you do use a troll motor, run it at the lowest possible speed and try to maintain a steady speed (in other words, don’t change the pitch of the motor).
- Avoid the use of depth sounders, sonar units or any other devise that emits an electronic pulse. This is especially important during the spawn phase when the fish are on the beds.
- A seven or eight weight outfit with a floating line will accommodate most springtime bass fishing situations.
- In the mornings and late afternoons, size 6 or 4 popping bugs and frog imitations are highly effective. These same flies can be worked well into the middle part of the day when overcast conditions are present.
- Other times try streamer patterns, articulated flies, wooly buggers (wooly worms), crawfish patterns, bass bunnies and 6-7-inch worm flies.
- When bass move onto the beds, fish them (the beds) thoroughly and work the fly slowly. Often, it takes fifteen minutes or more to induce a strike from a bedded bass. A good fly choice here is the 6-7-inch worm fly tied with a small cone head. The better colors seem to be black, purple and red – often a chartreuse or mercurochrome (hot pink) tail adds to this fly’s effectiveness. Crawfish patterns also work well during the spawn.
Bass bugs recommended by member Bobby Sands and others include the Pencil Popper, Wooly Bugger, Wobble Bug, and the Hackle Fly (Seducer). Pick two or three flies and try them.
A local fisherman on Rice’s Creek reported great success spin fishing with a watermelon, pumpkinseed soft plastic worm. Cast the worm against the bank and bring it back slowly. Another resident’s favorite spin fishing bait is the Zoom Super Speed Craw, Green Pumpkin.
BREAM
Folklore suggests that bream fishing is at its peak on the full moon in May.
Below is a display of bream bugs that have been effective for member Bobby Sands and others.
Wasp imitations are a good fly choice as wasps are a great indicator for spring fishing. They must collect water from the surface to emulsify pulp for their nest. When they swoop down to collect the water, the fish are waiting to eat them.
Popping bugs cast against the bank are particularly effective in the spring. Former member Al Noble catches the most fish on poppers on the first and last hour of daylight.
For catching crappie, emeritus member Bobby Sands likes white wobble flies and both olive and black bead-head wooly buggers in 3 to 6 feet of water.
You don’t have to tie your own flies; you can buy Betts poppers and Sneaky Pete’s at Wal-Mart, Bass Pro, or online.
CRAPPIE
Folklore suggests that crappie will be on the bed when the tips of dogwood blossoms turn brown.
STRIPED BASS
For striper, use a larger clouser; one can also use poppers for stripers. Below are examples of clousers and pencil poppers:
PRESENTATION
Vary baits, sizes, and retrieves when fishing for bass and bream. For example, let a fly sit on the surface for 15-20 seconds and recast elsewhere if you don’t get a strike. Other times, retrieve it, sometimes slow, sometimes faster. Or, start with a slow presentation; let the fly sit on the surface a minute; give it a twitch but never retrieve it with heavy chugs. Vary your retrieves to find what works.
Vary your flies; what works last year may not work this year. A spider pattern used with great success one year may offer little success the next.
Use a large popper to fish for bream and bass at the same time. Fish nothing smaller than a #8 hook or bigger than #2; throw something bigger, such as a pencil popper or a wooly bugger, for bigger bream.
Do not try to cover too much water too fast; instead, if you see a log or other structure you like, cast to it 3 or 4 times.
GEAR
Emeritus Bobby Sands uses an 8-weight fly rod in case you hook a large bass. Use an 8-10 lb leader without a tippet.
Former member Al Noble uses a 6-8-foot leader; 8-lb test line for bass; 6-lb test for bream; go to 12-15 lb test if fishing structure. Use a 4-6 lb tippet. One can buy tapered leaders instead of making your own.
LINKS:
Brunswick County NC Nature Park – Kayak Launch
IN DAYS GONE BY (from Bobby Sands)
Fishermen in the know, those serious about the sport, kept a mindful and practiced eye on natural cycles and occurrences, correlating them to the seasonal behavior of specific fish. They knew, for instance, that
And folks, guess what happens on the 25th of this month. Yep, that’s right, it’s the full moon in May and there is absolutely no better time to be on the water pitching size eight popping bugs to this pint-sized battler. Most anglers have their favorite springtime patterns for bream, their go-to bugs if you prefer, and while one color seems to work about as well as the next, the more popular colors are white, orange, chartreuse, black and frog-colored. In selecting a color on a given day or at a given time, you may want to keep in mind that, generally speaking, darker hues seem perform best in low light situations and, conversely, brighter colors tend to catch more fish when the sun is high and bright.
If you are of a mind to try something a bit different, here’s a tactic you might want to consider. In early spring when the red wasps are building their nests, try a #8 or a #10 up-wing dun or down-wing spinner (trout flies) in a color that is similar to that of a wasp, i.e. brown, burnt umber, dark cinnamon, etc. The reason this fly is effective is that, when wasps are building their nests, they have to drop frequently to the surface of the water to dampen the pulp they use in constructing the cell walls of their nests. With the added weight of the now heavier pulp, they are slow getting off the water. Bream know this and, like Pavlov’s dog, they have been conditioned to hang out under these construction sites looking for an easy meal.
Granted, there is no greater thrill for the fly fisherman than fishing topwater, but it needs to be remembered that there is also excellent sport to be had below the surface, especially when the topwater action is slow. Wooly buggers and small streamer patterns in sizes 6 through 10 are good choices here. Many of the nymphs and wet flies you use for trout (in the same sizes) can also be highly productive. Bottom line, don’t leave home without them!
That’s the when and the how, the where is these easy part. Just about anywhere you find clean water is where you are likely to find bream. Small streams to large rivers, farm ponds to lakes, creeks and bayous, they all hold bream and in May they are hungry and willing. Look for them along the banks and in the shallows, in brush piles, around cypress trees and along the edges of buggy whip cane and bull rushes. You also want to look for light-colored depressions on the bottom. These are bream beds and, when you locate one, back away from it, slowly and quietly ease you anchor over the side and prepare to enjoy Southern bream fishing at it best.
Tight lines and don’t miss out on this great fishing time in Southeastern North Carolina!