[HankV]

It looks like we are fishing Cane Creek reservoir next Saturday. Does anyone have any experience with the place? Suggestions for lure patterns? Secrets? Tricks? My understanding of it is as that is larger than Univ Lake (500+ acres versus 200+) and that it receives less fishing pressure. It is also a newer lake (built in the 1980's, as opposed to Univ lake in the 1920's). Does anyone know if it is regularly stocked?

Here is one thing I have noticed lately: bass are in the shallows again, feeding for winter. The best strategy of late has been to use suspended crankbaits, to retrieve them and let them sit, twitch them, then retrieve again. The trick is to keep them in the middle range of the water column, about 4-7 feet deep. The other good lure has been a spinnerbait, slow retrieve, at roughly the same depth.

I'm not sure how plastic worms will work now. You never know if keeping them slightly off the bottom with a Texas rig might not work. The same applies to live bait, I imagine.

I guess we'll find out what works after we fish the lake, but anyone with prior knowledge or an educated guess is welcome to voice their opinion.


henry

 

[dalton]

I actually just talked to a friend who has fished this lake before but I forgot to ask him about it. I just checked it out on Google Earth, it is much larger than University Lake but it is very elongated, it seems that it is entirely too long to fish the whole lake on a trolling motor, especially considering my luck with trolling motors from University Lake. I'll give this guy a call sometime this week to get a fishing report.

 

[dalton]

Didn't get much of a report for the lake. There is supposed to be fair amount of vegetation in the water. The weather report is looking good, with a high of 82 for Saturday. Can't wait to get out on the water.

 

[HankV]

I was impressed with Cane Creek in several ways. In the first place, the bass were full of fight, and they had a rich, bright green color to them - a sure sign that the water quality is is healthy and forage is abundant. In the second place, we applied the "University Lake" method to the lake's design: focus on the points, fish crankbiats in deep water drop-offs and plastic worms on the flats and around trees. It worked like charm. Finally, this was due in part to the lake's spectacular design, with long, panoramic views that helped us get a sense of where to fish. In short, it was a perfect bass lake, with easy-to-read contours, plenty of submerged structure, and an abundance of hungry, big fish.

We only fished the "short" northwestern arm of the lake, which was to the left of the boat dock (most of the boats went to the right), so we only fished a fraction of the lake. I can only imagine what the rest holds. Judging by the photos in the boat house, the lake holds bass in the 10-15 lb. range, if not larger fish. It certainly qualifies as a trophy bass lake.

I hope the club will decide to return to this lake in the future, it was fantastic.

H

 

[dalton]

I had a great time on the lake, just didn't get any fish in the boat. But hey, it was better than laying in bed all day. Here are some pictures if I got them uploaded right.

 

[dalton]

We went out again early Friday morning with a few guys from the club and had a great day. The topwater bite was excellent in the morning around the banks. It got a little bit tougher as the day went on, natural colored crankbaits and jerkbaits worked well during the afternoon.

Can't wait to get out here again, but the bad news is that it will be closing down until the spring in less than a month.

 

[5pounds+]

Hey guys, I used to fish Cane Creek when I lived in NC, last year. I always had luck on finesse worms at the far end of the reservoir where the actual creek meets the reservoir. A lot of the guys that worked at the Foolion in Mebane would fish there ever weekend. There is also a small farm pond that feeds into the Haw River in Saxapahaw that always produced LMB. Take 54NW away from Carboro hang a left on Saxapahaw Bethlehem Church Rd and you will see the pond on the left handside just before Mulberry Lane and before you get into town. I parked along the road and had to bushwack my way to the shore. I used inline spinners in yellow and black (Mepps #5), I always fished near the road bridge. There are also several excellent spot in Durham, Lake Jordan, that produced TONS of crappie and excellent LMB. let me know and I will hook you guys up.

 

[HankV]

The sad rumor has it Cane Creek will be closed due to drought conditions. Let's hope we get rain.