[piano intro] - What you got, Tom?
- I'm gonna say it's a nice bream, Joe I believe running in circles.
- He's pulling good.
[splashing] - Still can't tell.
- Yes, he is.
- Yeah, a nice one.
- Blue gill.
- All right, there he is, black.
- Boy, that is a dark fish.
That's not a blue gill, that's a black gill.
- That's one of those black gills, boy.
- Ate it too, didn't he?
- He did.
There we go.
- That's a pretty fish.
- Look how black that thing is, Joe.
- Yeah.
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[light instrumental music] ♪ - Hello, welcome to the Carolina Outdoor Journal.
Well, today we're gonna be fishing in a pond and talking about, and using, the very popular beetle spin.
- That's right, we're going pond fishing today and really highlighting just how popular that beetle spin is to the fish.
We're gonna catch a variety of fish.
It's kind of an open-ended trip.
We're gonna catch whatever wants to hit the beetle spin that day.
We're catching crappie or croppie, blue gill and large mouth bass and just had a terrific day on the water.
- Joe, it's just basically a simple presentation when you get right down to it.
- Very easy to fish, I think that's why, one reason why it's so popular.
It comes in different sizes, it comes in different colors and the guys will talk about it in Gear Time.
- And Donna, she's got a recipe for duck today, that's gonna be good.
- Good duck recipe if you're a water foul hunter and looking for a new wild duck recipe, pay attention.
- Well, let's head to the pond.
Here on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.
- [Tom] A little nippy out this morning, feels good though.
- A little cool, feels nice.
Pretty day, not a breath of wind.
- Nope, thank goodness.
One thing I don't necessarily care to do is fish in the wind too much.
- Especially not with Ultra LAX.
- Yep.
- Yeah, it's full of all kinds of pan fish.
We got the bream and the crappie.
A lot of small bass, big bass.
It's a healthy pond to say the very least.
But even as healthy ponds, sometimes are tough.
We'll see.
- I know we caught a lot of bass when we were here before.
- Yeah.
- There's a fish right there.
- Whatcha got?
- Well, it looks like a crappie.
- Sure is, nice.
- It is.
- As usual, you start out on top.
- Yeah well [laughs].
It was an accident.
- Nice, nice, nice, nice.
- Yeah, pretty.
- Yep.
That's the thing about the beetle spin, I tell ya.
You know?
- This is a nice little crappie.
- Yeah, it's nice crappie.
- Yeah, healthy, just thick.
- Little mouth, I love the way the big ole mouth open for a fish up size.
But the beetle spin, that's the whole thing, I swear you can catch, I don't care what it is, if you tarpon in here, they'd hit it.
- Yeah, I think you're right.
- You know.
- And you can change, beetle spins come from just a real small bout a inch long to three or four inches long with kicker tails or split tails.
Real versatile.
- Fishing however you want too.
You know Joe you can spin that bait almost as if it's a little buzz bait.
If you really rip it through there.
Or you can bounce almost like a jig and pig.
- That's where I caught that crappie at.
I think he was a little deeper than I been working.
- That's appropriate for this area, airborne.
- Yeah, jump.
You just have to let him do what he wants to with this light stuff.
- You know what, imma go ahead and let the cat out of the bag, and I'm doing a little cheating here and here's why.
- Don't start cheating, man.
- [laughs] I have a nice little bass and it's little, that's the whole thing on a beetle spin, it might as well be 10 pounds.
- Yeah.
- This line I'm throwing is two pound diameter but it's a braid.
- Yeah.
- So that's a little cheating now.
It allows you to throw these small lures but it's 10 pound tests.
So I mean even a big ole trophy bass wouldn't necessarily break through the line, he might break the rod.
- Yeah.
- But it allows you to throw that light little lure.
- Yeah.
- Because of the small diameter.
- Well, that's important with this light bait.
- Yep.
- Tom, it's, what, third week in May and we've alright caught a crappie and a bass and had a blue gill on, a small one.
I guess you can catch most anything in a foreign pond this time of year.
- I think that's the whole thing this time of year.
And especially with these baits, these little spinners.
You almost feel like you're throwing a live bait out there to them, they're so good.
But the variety this time of year I think is one of the keys to having so much fun this time of year, you don't know what it's gonna be.
The first couple fish we've caught, we didn't know what in the world we saw them.
- That's right.
- So there's no telling.
But it is a good time of the year in these ponds.
The water temperature's just right.
- Even the air temperature.
We're out here shorts and short sleeved shirts.
A little bit cool, very nice day.
- Little bream I caught a minute ago, when I pulled it up out of the water, it was warmer than my hand was.
From the wind hitting the little bit of water on my hand.
Or just getting a little chilly but the fish was warmer than my hand was.
So this is a good time to catch about anything.
- Whatchu got, Tom?
- I'm gonna say it's a nice bream, Joe, I believe.
- Yeah, running in circles.
- Yeah, he's pulling good.
[splashing] - Still can't tell.
- Yes he is.
- Yeah, a nice one.
- Blue gill.
- Alright, there he is, black.
- Boy that is a dark fish, that's not a blue gill, that's a black gill.
- That's one of those black gills, boy.
- Ate it too, didn't he?
- He did.
There we go.
- That's a pretty fish.
- Look how black that thing is, Joe.
- Yeah, he is black.
Hand size.
- Hand size, pan size but we'll put him back.
- Yep.
- I sworn that those things fight.
- Yeah, they are, pound for pound, gotta be willing to fight these fish.
- They're just so broad too, when they take a turn, the resistance, cause they're so wide, you really feel it.
- Well, that's a bass.
- I'm not so sure there's not a little bed or something over there case that was the second or third cast I made in there and I mean it was like the fish was watching it come to catch it in it's mouth.
- Yeah.
- Tom, he's right there where you said the bed was.
- Sucker feisty, look at it.
- Yeah, that's another blue gill.
- Wow.
- I believe he's as dark as that one that you had but he's a nice fish.
- Sure is.
Look at the orange.
- Yeah.
- Look at that!
Beautiful.
- And he got in that grass.
Look at that, Tom.
- Oh yeah.
- That orange, remember was on his chest earlier?
Has dulled off.
- It sure has, it was as bright, look like it was on fire when it was in the water.
The moment you brought him out.
- Just in couple seconds it dulled down.
Still a pretty fish.
- That is a pretty fish.
He was feisty coming in, he looked like he was a lot of fun.
- A strong fish.
- Yep.
- They're so thick, if they turn sideways, you can't hardly move them.
- We might be in some sort of a bed over here.
It looks like it's fairly shallow in a lot of sand, who knows.
- Yeah, put that little guy back.
[cheerful guitar music] - I don't know what I got, Tom.
- I don't know either.
- Well, I thought not much.
- We got the age old problem of how much grass is on it.
- Yeah.
I think it's a little bass.
- There you go.
- A little chub wannabe.
- Very nice.
- He say when I grow up imma be a big chub.
[laughs] Not bad for four pound test.
Not bad at all, just about what I would think you'd be looking for with a four pound test.
- Yeah, very very very nice.
- That's about all you can get to boat.
A lot of fun though with this light stuff.
- You just never know with the grass what you got.
- Oh yeah, I know.
- You really don't.
- If it wasn't for the grass I'd think you'd really see a fight with these fish.
- Yeah, exactly.
- Go ahead, big boy.
- That's a doozey with all that grass over there rise, doesn't it?
- Yeah.
- See if he'll go up again.
- Know for sure he is a bass, come on.
- He went airborne there for a minute.
- Jump up there and show us something.
- Ah, the beetle spin.
- Got him whipped.
Pretty fish.
- Carbon copy of the ones early.
I don't know how much he weighs, two pound, pound in a half or something.
He's perfect for this tackle.
- I'm gone change back up and throw that other one in a little bit.
- That was a white one.
I think that's the first one I saw on the white one, just started throwing it.
This one's just a little bit bigger than the one I was throwing.
Not that it's a big deal as far as what it will catch but it allows me to cast a little further.
- That's right, yeah.
Just a small bass.
- There we go.
- That's a crappie.
- Oh, nice crappie.
- A crappie.
- The old crappie.
- Pretty crappie.
- I don't know what we're suppose to call it in North Carolina.
Apparently it changes by where you live.
- I think so.
Nice little crappie.
- Yep, or croppie.
They like that little tail on that thing.
- I bet so.
- That's got a curly tail or whatever or something like that.
Is that the one you caught that other crappie on?
- Yeah, it is.
They do like that tail better I think.
- I tell ya if you're wanting to see what kind of fish populations of different species you have in your pond, you would do it with beetle spin.
- Yeah, we've caught a couple varieties of blue gill, bass, and crappie already, and yet we've missed a lot of fish.
- Yeah.
- I think they'll hit that spinner sometime.
Instead of the bait, the spinners.
- Which would make sense.
- Silver and shiny and it gets their attention.
- I tell you the crappie have been a lot of fun today.
- Yeah, more aggressive then the blue gills when we were really thinking behind that full moon that we were gone catch blue gills today.
- Yep, what are we, a couple days past the full moon?
- I think it was two days ago, yeah.
And normally full moon in May is blue gill time.
They get up on the bed and you can usually just find them and catch a number of them.
And we've caught blue gills and crappie.
- And we've seen some beds.
I take it that it's still kind of happening, I mean.
What do you think?
- It is, yeah.
I think it happens throughout the Spring.
You may have a hot spot around the middle of May but I think it has to happen.
Different fish spawn at different times.
Probably over a 90 day window, depending on weather and wind and temperature, the water temperature.
- Right.
- There's a fish, Tom.
- Is it from the same area?
- Well, a little bit left, but I don't know if I'm gone get him out of these lily pads.
I had to pull him through these lily pads.
Yeah, this is a nice croppie.
- Another croppie.
- Yeah.
Boy oh boy, look at that one.
I'm gone put you right back, promise, promise.
- That's frying pan size right there if you were doing frying today.
- Yeah, and that's a good eating fish.
- Yes, I've eaten a number of them, they are good.
- Good white meat.
- You got the same beetle spin on?
- Yeah.
I went with a black one with a little bit of yellow spots.
I noticed those fish we caught earlier were so dark.
- Well he didn't know if he was unerater or what.
[laughs] You see him?
- He said I'm leaving and maybe not.
Yep, a lot of times I'll try to match the color of the water.
- Yeah.
These lily pads offer such a wonderful little, I mean, you know they're just like a little sanctuary for them with deep water all around them.
Not a lot of weeds in here too on the other side where you caught those last two.
- Yeah, I'm not getting in that grass as bad over here.
There's a nice little blue gill right there.
- Look at this.
- Yeah, one of those red breasted ones.
- Yep, sure is, that is a trophy blue gill right there.
No doubt about it, lordy lordy.
I thought it was a bass.
- I thought it was a bass, I really did, I really thought it was a bass.
- Goodness, that's so pretty.
- Big one, Joey.
- Pretty fish, boy he was strong too.
He was stronger than the bass we caught.
- I sure thought it was a bass.
- Yeah.
- Goodness.
- Let me get him off here.
Boy, this is the big bait.
- Yeah.
- And he ate that thing.
- That's got a nice size hook on it.
For him to go after.
- Yeah, but look big the bait is compared to the fish.
- You got it hooked about normal.
- He sucked that whole tail, kicker tail and everything right in.
That's a good one.
- That's a trophy there.
- Yeah, pretty little guy.
- You know, Joe, when you get down to it, it's really hard to bet a good day of fishing in a pond.
THat's just good stuff.
- Yeah, we had a good day.
You saw a good variety of fish, nothing really large but beetle spins have been around a good number of years and I've caught a lot of fish.
From fresh water fish to salt fish and ask one of the guys in your time, they'll talk about what they use today.
- Let's do that, we can get more education on that.
Let's go to Gear Time.
[upbeat guitar music] - Well, Tom, I've enjoyed my day out here beetle spin fishing with you.
- It was a blast, it really was.
- We've caught four/five different species of fish.
We've used all kinds of baits.
Different sizes, different structure, different colors and just had fun.
- Yeah, we did.
- And the neat thing is anybody can do this.
There's a farm pond in your neighborhood no matter where you're at and if you ask permission, more than likely, you can go fishing.
- I think today what we did was about as simple as it gets.
I really do.
- Very inexpensive, I mean, this outfit quantam makes this an 20 to 30 and you can spend 200/300 if you want to.
But you can go fishing for a reasonable amount of money.
- Yep, same as this.
This is a little five in half foot with just a micro little reel and I don't think there's $50/$60 in the whole thing, line and everything.
- Most anybody can put their self out here fishing.
Ultra light, this is a 10 series reel with a very light rod.
Crappie, especially, have a soft mouth and you really can't put much pressure on them.
And it's just a lot of fun, those small fish feel big.
- Every fish we caught.
We didn't catch anything real big but it felt like we did.
As far as the lures go, Joey, just these little beetle spins, I was basically throwing a couple different colors of this size, I think it's three sixteenths of an ounce and it was doing pretty good.
And they make it in all kinds of different sizes.
Here's one, I think, that might be a eighth ounce or maybe a little bigger.
So they vary in size and color but they're all basically constructed the same.
Except maybe this one you were killing it on.
- Well and the lighter baits require you to have a lighter line so you can make your cast.
- Exactly and, actually, what I was doing today, cause I knew I was gonna through this little small three sixteenths ounce.
It's not heavy enough to spur your line off if you want to throw something a little bit heavier, a little heavy line, so I put the braid on here.
Some power pro and a 10 pound test but it's a two pound diameter.
So it would allow you to throw these little small ones, and if something big had hit, you would of had a good chance of landing it, you know, with a ten pound test.
- Well, you know I broke mine earlier.
I got it wrapped and I think I had a nick in it but I broke my line earlier today.
So that braid is better than mono.
- Well, I guess it is, it can get tangled sometimes and if it does for the same reason it's good that it doesn't break, it also knots up pretty tight.
But I do like the fold when it came.
- Well, I've enjoyed it, I appreciate the invitation and we'll do it again.
- I had a great time.
- [Both] Thank you.
- Tom and Joe, we thank you for that valuable information.
Now let's catch up with Donna in the kitchen.
She's got a recipe using duck today.
[upbeat guitar music] Hi, today we're making Hungarian style duck in the kitchen.
It's a great dish, it's quick and it's easy.
And the great thing about this is you can make it ahead of time and keep it in your freezer and then combine it all at the last minute and have a great meal and no one will be the wiser.
So, what we're gonna do is we're gonna start off with our duck breast that we have, they're boned.
And we're going to press our chicken fry here on our wax paper.
And then we're going to dredge our duck breast in our breader.
The chicken fry will give it a nice, it's got a lot of corn meal in it so you're gonna get a lot of nice crunch to it.
It's more of a corn meal base than a flour base so it's gonna be nice and crunchy.
And we're gonna put that skin side down and we're gonna pan fry this just a couple minutes on each side because we're gonna cook it some more.
We just want to brown it.
So we're gonna do our other one.
And we're gonna put that in our skillet too.
So, we're just gonna brown these on both sides.
A couple two, three minutes on either side until they are just a nice coating.
And then we're gonna take them out and place them one a plate just to set aise.
So we're just gonna go ahead and do that since we don't have time to let that brown up.
So then we have our pan drippings here, then we're gonna add to that one pound of kielbasa that we have just cubed up.
This is gonna be our sauce.
Then we're gonna add in some scallions or some regular onions, depending on what you have in you pantry or in your fridge.
We're gonna add some green peppers.
This Is a nice party meal so this is something you might want to make when it's cold outside.
And then you can put it in some zip containers, put it in your freezer, have your duck breast in the freezer already cooked and the combine it at the last minute and have this wonderful meal but you've already made it ahead and you can enjoy it.
Then we're gonna add some garlic and at my house, the more garlic, the better, we like it.
We have no vampires at our house.
So we're gonna mix that together.
You can see it has all kinds of great colors going on here.
Then we're gonna mix two different types of paprika.
We're gonna mix a smoky paprika and a regular one.
And if you can't find two different kinds, the smoky and the regular, just use one kind, whatever makes you happy and whatever you have.
Whoops, put this over there.
Alright, then we're gonna just mix that together so that it coats all of our vegetables and you'll probably want to cook your vegetables a little bit longer than I have but we're on, you know, a time thing.
So once we have those going, we're going to add a little salt and then we're going to add in a can of crushed tomatoes.
You can use diced if you have diced, but I like the crushed for whatever reason, I just like it.
So, then we're gonna let this simmer.
If it's a little thick, you can add some chicken broth to this, and then, once it is simmering, we're going to add our, if you're making it to go at the one time, then you're going to take your chicken breast, I mean, your duck breast or your quail or whatever game bird you have, put it back and smother it underneath all of your sauce here.
This is what it's going to look like when it's done.
It's gonna cook down, be nice and thick.
And then you're gonna add some sour cream to this too before you serve it, it's gonna be great.
This is what it looks like when it's finished.
I'm gonna serve mine over some egg noodles and you can see the great big chunks.
You'll have your duck breast in there.
It's a great, hesrty meal and it'll smell great and taste great and, hopefully, you'll enjoy it.
So, I look forward to see you next time, here on Simple Cooking, enjoy.
- As always, Donna, thank you for that recipe.
NoW, Joe, let's talk about the beetle spin.
Popular, popular for many, many years.
- Many years and really it carches, as we saw today, a variety of fish today in the pond.
But it'll catch saltwater species too.
The larger models are used a lot for red drum out in our coastal waters.
What a great lure and, again, most of your tackle, if not, all the tackle shops across the state carry them.
Cause, again, you can catch anything from blue gills to red drum, large mouth bass to just you name it.
They been around a long time because they do work.
If you get a chance and you've never tried one, go to your tackle shop and pick up one.
- And you talked about working, it really works.
Ain't nothing better than in a pond to be on that day.
That beetle spin can always get it done for you.
- Yeah, it was productive that day.
- No doubt about it.
For Joe Albea, I'm John Moore, thanks for joining us today on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.
- [male announcer]: And make sure to visit our website for more information.
- [male announcer]: The production of Carolina Outdoor Journal is made possible in part by: - [female announcer]: The North Carolina Wildlife Rescources Commission.
A fishing license goes a long way towards wildlife conservation in North Carolina.
Over 38,000 miles of managed streams and rivers, and 250,000 acres of lakes and reservoirs.
- [male announcer]: And by EZ Bait and Tackle, family owned and operated.
We fish from fresh to saltwater.
We provide fishing supplies and ad vice to every type of angler.
For all your fishing needs, EZ Bait and Tackle.
And by contributions from PBS NC vi ewers like you.
[light instrumental music] ♪