Data Mining

We are in a time in which information is abundant. Our government monitors information to determine threats to our country. Internet search engines monitor keywords typed as well as websites browsed to better market their advertisers towards the user. There are facilities, schools, companies, and non-profits whose sole objective it to mine for this data for various uses.

Much like the spelunker seeking adventure and information inside caves, data mining can provide information to turn an ordinary trip into a memorable experience.

I am a writer and a photographer. My career allows me to travel extensively. I am fortunate in that regard. With an assignment that takes me to northern Mississippi to shoot several properties as well as cover an Ole Miss baseball game, I decided to add a little more to the trip.

I wanted to find out what was around that location. I wanted to know if there is anything that me being from the Carolinas would not know about, but should. I went mining for data.

Instead of searching for information on where to hunt mountain lion from horseback and gaining a location to work from there, I wanted to find out was there any outdoors activity special to a certain location, specifically around Oxford, Mississippi.

Specific searches are tough to narrow down in this regard. If I were to search for turkey hunting near Oxford for instance, it likely would not identify as to whether there is anything special about hunting turkey there, rather it would likely give me a few public lands, maybe a few guides, and some information from the department of natural resources.

Broad searches are the key to finding that special something that you would miss otherwise. For instance, I searched both hunting Mississippi and fishing Mississippi. The fishing keyword led me to a few more informative leads.

Of course results showed plenty of salt water action, which then caused me to narrow it down a little further. Once I keyed in on freshwater, then plenty of bass fishing links popped up. Information on catfish was prevalent. Alligator gar stories and videos was also available.

I narrowed the searches a little tighter.

And that is where I found it. Story after story, link after link, post after post all offered the same information. I had found an outdoors activity to include with my work while 700 miles from home.

Northern Mississippi and Alabama are not only great places to fish for largemouth bass, but the crappie fishing is top shelf. The area is even known as the ‘Crappie Capital of the World.’ Following up on what I was reading, I checked the International Game Fish Association website for records. Line class after line class record all pointed to the area as being a prime spot for trophy sized crappie.

And I know how to fish for crappie.

The point being, without seeking for the information in a specific manner, I may have never known about the world class crappie fishing in that area.

In North Carolina, we take for granted the knowledge of the striper spawning in the Roanoke River. But for someone from say, Mississippi, they may never have heard of the ‘Rockfish Capital of the World.’

We know with each cast on our coast there is a chance of a red drum weighing over 50 pounds hooking on. But a visitor from New England probably would not.

However, with a little data mining, we can possibly enhance our adventures exponentially.

Contentnea Creek Part 2

 The night started as well as could be expected considering I was sleeping on the ground in a tent. The paddle down the Contentnea Creek was pleasant other than the many times having to portage around fallen timber, and I wasn’t hauling what would be considered a light weight kayak. An old guy like myself can feel it in the lower back when doing things such as this.

After some time asleep, I started hearing faint barking. Well, it was less barking and more ‘chirping’ I guess, like short little yaps. I could tell the yapping was getting closer as it got louder. It was coming mainly from upstream.

I sat up in the tent when I realized it was more than one dog. In fact, it sounded like at least five or more. They were practically on top of me.

I turned on my electric lantern as I looked through the tent door towards the direction of the dogs. Just at the edge of the light I could tell there were not normal dogs. It was a pack of coyotes. I could not make out the number due to them constantly darting at the edge of the light. I spoke loudly while moving the flashlight and the yapping stopped immediately.

I could hear brush moving and a few splashes and knew the coyotes were gone.

The next morning I packed up the tent and bag and made sure the area was clear of any signs that I had even been there. I try to go by the ‘Leave No Trace’ pledge the best I can. I checked the two rods I had in baited with bloody shad overnight and nothing had taken the lure.

Soon I was on the water again. Of course, it was only to get to the other side of the creek so I could portage around the tree spanning the flowing water for yet another portage. Another 40 to 50 feet and I would have the second portage as well.

The things cleared up. The creek became very winding with many sandbars at the turns with deeper water on the outside portion. One particular corkscrew portion revealed the first snake I had encountered. A copperhead around three feet long but freshly fed by the lump in its tubular body entered the creek from the shoreline on the other side. I watched as it swam down the right side of the shore and exit several dozen feet behind me.

A little further downstream I came across another fallen tree but the creek was much wider. In the branches were a couple of dead shad and a small dead catfish. This lead into a long straight stretch of deep slow moving water.

I began casting from bank to bank with a white with red dot beetle spin. It did not take long for the first hit to come. I immediately casted back to the same location. It almost felt like the spinning lure may have bumped the bottom as the hit wasn’t hard. I never set the hook as it did not feel like a bite. But as I continued to reel I could tell there was a constant tug and the line was moving in various directions.

The first fish of the day was landed. A small absolutely beautifully colored largemouth bass had taken the bait.

The creek was set up for a gorgeous ending to the paddle trip. Several fish were boarded including a couple of small catfish. The stretch I had never been on opened its doors to me. Later that afternoon my wife picked me up at the ramp in Stantonsburg. Now I long to return once again to see what other secrets Contentnea may possess.

Contentnea Creek Part 1

Have you ever been somewhere that is practically in your own backyard and not fully explored or experienced what it had to offer after years of being there? It is often said that New Yorkers rarely visit places such as the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty because they tend to take for granted that those landmarks are there, always have been, and eventually they will go visit.

There is a creek that I frequent often near where I grew up. It has at times been very difficult to fully explore and float due to the short expanse across the water and the obstacles such as fallen trees that block the passage.

A couple of decades ago there was an effort to clean up the Contentnea. Trash was pulled and trees were cleared. The Contentnea, which comes from an old native American word for ‘fish passing by’, was passable again.

A series of hurricanes including both Fran and Floyd in the late 90’s and once again the creek was in a position to hide the treasures it possessed.

While floating a few stretches of the creek in the past, I had never floated the most difficult yet closest part. Beginning at the Wiggins Mill dam at Highway 301 and advancing towards Stantonsburg and Snow Hill, the creek was alien to me other than a few spots where I could reach the bank or see from various overpasses.

I was assigned a feature story on catfishing the Contentnea and this seemed the perfect expanse to attempt to get the photos and information to go along with the story. Needless to say, I had a bit of excitement brewing in the possibility of exploring and experiencing a body of water I knew my whole life yet hadn’t seen.

The timing couldn’t have been better either. Even though the story I was assigned was targeting catfish, the water temperatures had risen enough to start the spawns of several species. The shad worked their way up the creek about a week prior although they were not at their peak quite yet. Another species, one of my favorites, was starting their trek as well.

The redhorse sucker, specifically the silver redhorse sucker, were plentiful. So much so that in certain rifts and rapids you could spot dozens all over top of each other. I fully believe pound for pound and ounce for ounce, the redhorse is one of the best fighting fish on the end of a line as any freshwater species there is.

After sliding the kayak down the steep bank not far from the dam, I began my journey. It only took ten minutes of fishing to hook into a sucker fish. The fight was strong but short, as the hook was set just a few feet from the kayak that morning. The result was a catch and release of a five pound beauty and the guarantee of not getting skunked.

Over the next ten miles of floating and paddling the creek, I took all I could in. The scenery, the wildlife, all of it was an adventure. It took longer to paddle this section than what I had aniticipated, as fallen trees blocked the passages consistently even in the deeper waters. Portaging the kayak and re-entering became the norm rather than finding other ways around. Once I had to drag the kayak for more than 50 yards in order to get from one section of water to the next due to obstacles.

After fishing, floating, paddling, and portaging I ran up on two more trees blocking the flow about 20 yards from each other. The day was getting late and I realized I could either portage around them and build camp in the dark, or go ahead and set up camp and fix a good meal and tackle the obstacles in the morning.

I decided to get a good night’s rest.

Overnight on the River - Planning

I just finished spooling 150 yards of 12 pound test line onto a reel. That leaves me with one thing to do tomorrow before heading out on an overnight kayak fishing float.

Last month I was offered an opportunity to go on a weeklong float and fishing trip that is one of those trips of a lifetime. I guess it is arguable that any weeklong float and fishing trip would be a trip of a lifetime since few people get the opportunity to commit that amount of time for a hobby. This trip was a little more special though, as it would have been through the Everglades in southern Florida.

A fellow pro-staffer with Johnson Outdoors, makers of Old Town Kayaks and Canoes, Ocean Kayak, Extrasport, Carlisle, Humminbird, and MinnKota amongst other brands, sent out an invitation to the rest of us on this trip. Mike has done this float annually and knows the long paddle well. The planning was near perfect, as he accounted for tides, times to paddle, times to fish, and where to set camp each evening.

One of his first questions to those who were interested in the trip was this, “have you ever done an overnight float trip where you needed to camp?”

I don’t know if I could think of a better first question to a group of experienced kayak anglers. You see, just because you can fish from a floating piece of plastic, doesn’t mean you know what to do on a camping trip without electricity, without cell phone coverage, and figure out what to take with you.

As for myself, I have stayed overnight on float trips before. Not for a week mind you, but for a two or three days float, yes. While hunting I have stayed on a five nights trip without heading back to the civilized world. It was possibly one of the most peaceful times I had, up until the point I was returning home and I had emails and texts hitting me from during the week about how things had blown up at work. I am not sure what is more stressful, having to deal with complete chaos at work, or having to deal with complete chaos at work a week after it occurred. I don’t have to deal with those scenerios any longer, thank goodness.

So, what do you need for a trip such as this, or even a two day overnight trip? Well, you start with the basics; food, water and shelter. Easy enough, right?

You also need the gear appropriate for the why you are taking the trip. I am going fishing, so I need my rods and reels and tackle boxes. I also need my safety equipment such as my life vest (pfd). Of course I need a paddle.

And here is where the thought comes in. A float pan is essential, just as the one given to those of us for the Everglades trip. If you do not return in time, or if you are not at the designated pickup area when you are supposed to be, they need to know how to find you. Different mapping websites such as Google and Yahoo maps makes it easy to measure distances and mark where your intended stops are located.

A kayak, or canoe if that is your means of travel, has a weight limit, not to mention limited space. Either requires a way to keep you gear dry. You do not want to try and sleep in a wet sleeping bag or soaked tent if the kayak or canoe turtles (flips). A secondary set of clothing in the dry bag gives you a change in case of such an event also.

And yes, this does happen. It happened to me on the Neuse a couple of years ago and even though the daytime was mid 70’s, I wondered if I was going to make it through the night without suffering from hypothermia when the temps dipped below 50 and found out my bag, tent, cover, and clothing had all gotten wet.

I will share how this trip goes in the next column. Let’s hope it is memorable due to the fun and excitement of both exploring the river and catching fish rather than other reasons.