NC Sportsman Reported 1st: Most catfish anglers are accustomed to pulling their quarry from the deeper depths of their favorite body of water, not the shallows. But, when Murfreesboro guide Zakk Royce set his course to Lake Gaston on the North Carolina and Virginia border, he had a hunch that the recent warming trend would shuffle shad and big cats to the backs of creeks where the mercury is rising. That’s where he captured his most recent trophy on February 26th, a blue catfish that tipped the scales at an even 100 pounds.
Royce (252-398-7192), who runs Blue’s Brothers Guide Service, is best known as the angler who broke the North Carolina state record for blue catfish twice in 24 hours at Lake Gaston, catching a 91-pounder on Dec. 20th of last year and a 105-pounder the next day. While both of these fish were caught in 50- to 60-feet of water near Gaston’s dam, this 100-pound blue bit in just 5 feet of water in the back of a creek near the Eaton’s Ferry bridge.
After marking shad in the mouth of the creek and and following them to the back where he saw them flipping on the surface, Royce noticed the water temperature had risen from 43 degrees on the main lake to 50 degrees. That’s when he began to slow troll a spread of cut white perch on Santee Rigs at a ½-mile an hour. Continue reading – http://www.northcarolinasportsman.com/details.php?id=5705