Welcome to the TUFF website!

by Miss Libby

Posted on Tue Jan 09 2018

Dear Everyone,

Welcome to the Trace Union of Fervent Fishermen website! My son and I started this project in late July 2017 and with his coding/graphic skills and my learning how to post pics and write blogs... well, here it is. Still may need to work out the glitches, but please enjoy. You don't need to login (at the bottom of Home Page) to browse around. If you "Read More" and click on the pictures, there are some captions .

If you want to comment on a blog, send an e-mail to me at gofishin247@gmail.com,

and I will set up your Username and a Password.

Growing up in Wilmington, Delaware, I enjoyed fishing the Brandywine River near my home and the Delaware beaches (staying at the Winkler cottage and taking my ORV to the first dune south at Key Box Road). Through various fishing "buddy" friendships, I enjoyed great success during 25 years of surf fishing trips to Dewey Beach DE and Rodanthe in the fall at the Outer Banks of NC.

However, I have to say that my heart now belongs to Carolina Trace in Sanford, North Carolina. As a long time surf/fresh water (and now big bass) fisherman, Lake Trace has become my very favorite place to be in the world since retiring here ten plus years ago. Lake Trace is a 315 acre river-fed body of water in the Cape Fear basin with seven and one-half miles of shoreline. With NO gas engines allowed (no jet skis, power boats, water skiing), it offers a peaceful setting to pursue the giant thirteen plus pound largemouth bass that roam its waters. (Yes, there are 13 pound bass in this lake, maybe even a State record 16 pounder.)

From now on, this website is where all the information about TUFF and Lake Trace concerns will be. Next Door Carolina Trace will also get this link, as I try to increase social media awareness for our CT Kid Caster lessons in 2018. These are some things that will be posted:

Current standings of the 8-month long seasonal TUFF Derby;
Kid Caster Outreach lessons to the Sanford community;
Who's catching What;
Upcoming Fish for Fun Lessons for Trace youngsters and other Events;
Lake issues like dam maintenance, quarry news, fish kills (rare), sewage or algae concerns (also rare).

I have posted all the background Joint Lake Committee work projects which are in the"About Us" section. (See what many volunteers did to improve the fishery here.) Plus if you go to "Derby", you will find my "Picture Parades" of TUFF Derby winners for the past five years -- a good way to see who caught what, where, when and how. Also, under "Catches" find out how you can register your catches in the Adult or Youth Divisions in four Categories (Bass, Crappie, Catfish, Bream.)

So take a look. Remember to click on the pics to see the captions, if any. Any questions, call me at the Lake Hotline 919-499-1300. Tight Lines!