A lovely spring weekend. The forecast looks perfect. Light south winds. Tides are perfect. Not too hot. Let’s go fishing.

Head out in the morning. Get to the spot. It’s perfect. Fish are there. They’re biting. Awesome. Fish all day and don’t even have to make up any stories, because this was a good one.

Get home that evening and you feel hot. Skin feels warm all over. Look in the mirror. How did you get so sunburned? It wasn’t hot out. It was a nice clear day, but the sun wasn’t blazing. What in the world?

The reality is that every day we spend outside all day in the open, as in fishing, we have the opportunity to get a sunburn. It doesn’t matter how strong the sun shines. Honestly, it can be cloudy. In fact, a low overcast day is sneaky because it won’t get hot at all.

Let’s talk about some common things we can do to prevent sun damage and still be able to have a great day on the water.

One of the things we need to know about is SPF. It stands for Sun Protection Factor and according to Dr. Dawn Davis of the Mayo Clinic, it is a way to determine how long we can stand out in the sun before getting redness on the skin.

Dr. Davis recommends an SPF of a minimum of 30, which means we can stay outside 30 times longer than we normally would without any coverage at all. The SPF is printed right on the box of the sun protection products we see and is ubiquitous.

Here is the problem. When we are fishing, we transfer smell to our baits and lures. I have personally witnessed fish actively rejecting live baits that were tainted with sunscreen lotion and seek out untouched baits. What are we to do? There are many options available.

As I said, the old-fashioned lotion that our mom used to lather us up is not a great option. Fish can smell it. First of all, I like the spray sunscreen. For years I’ve used the Neutrogena brand. It’s available anywhere, it’s not as expensive as some other brands, and it’s oxybenzene free (I don’t know what that is, but it sounds bad). I’ll spray it on my face and ears and avoid my hands. But that’s just the beginning.

You’ll want a variety of clothing options to keep you protected and comfortable on the hot days. When you’re out there all day and concentrating on fishing and little else, there are many helpful ways to keep your skin safe.

I always start with a long-brimmed baseball-style cap. Not only does it provide shade for your face, it also helps you see in the water. Nowadays, I’m seeing more anglers using bucket-style hats or even sombreros to keep the sun off the back of the neck too. I would say that’s a pretty good idea and I wish I had thought of it 30 years ago.

Next are quality polarized sunglasses. Squinting all day is tough for the eyes. Take care of your retinas and they will continue to work. Astigmatism is a real thing in your 50s.

A lightweight shirt with long sleeves is imperative. The “performance” tees made of the lightweight nylon material are the way to go here. They were first popularized by high performance sportswear manufacturers and now have been co-opted by the outdoor industry.

Above, I mentioned hats to protect your neck. Some folks are now making hoodies that are made from performance fabric for the same purpose. The neglected areas like the back of the neck and even the backs of the hands are where I see older anglers having spots removed. There are even lightweight “sun” gloves to protect the hands.

For the legs there are a couple things that you need to keep in mind. Most of the time, I usually wear shorts. The lower leg/calf area doesn’t seem to be an area of concern for most people. If you are very light-complected, you may want to wear lightweight nylon “fishing” pants. Another consideration might be if wade fishing in an area with small stinging creatures like micro jellyfish in the Bahamas (That was a surprise!) or greenhead flies right here at home. They’ll bite right through socks.

Surprisingly, an area of concern for me over the years was the tops of my feet. Flip-flops or other sandals left me with sunburned feet. Sunscreen down there leads to slippery situations. I opted for lightweight deck shoes. Avoid darker colored uppers because they will have a tendency to get unpleasantly hot on the sunniest days. Ask me how I know.

Now a little more spray-on sunscreen on the nose and ears, and we are good to roll out.

Next time you head out, you are covered. It’s a really sunny day. You’ve been out the whole time. At the end of your trip, because you covered up, you’re not burning. The fish bit your lures because they weren’t covered in sunscreen lotion. The tops of your feet feel good.

Now make sure you don’t walk through the parking lot with no shoes at the end of a summer day. Otherwise you have burned the bottom of your feet.

That’s a whole different story.

Spring is getting ready to jump out at us, and with it some pretty great fishing.

Shakespeare said the season puts, “A spirit of youth in everything.”

The inimitable Robin Williams said, “Spring is nature’s way of saying Let’s Party!”

So, it is then that we should be celebrating by getting out there for some of the best fishing in the Eastern U.S. For our purposes, we are going to be talking about March, April and May. February is a bit too early, even though it will sometimes fool us. June really starts to feel like true summer around here, and actually there have been some years when spring was over by mid-May.

It can be fleeting, so we must move fast. Sometimes that means dropping everything and getting to where the action is right away.

The first harbinger of spring is the riverine run of shad in our coastal rivers. Actually, the use of the word “harbinger” in this case is a common cliché. My editor tells me to avoid clichés like the plague, so I’m not going to do it, even though that’s what it is.

There are numerous river systems that host runs of both hickory and American shad. Both are a lot of fun. They put up a spirited fight with tarpon-like jumps. Americans are much bigger and stronger, and they have been called “The First Fish” by people who know about these things. These shad supported communities and got their health up just as things were getting bleak at the end of winter.

Popular shad fisheries exist in Contentnea Creek in Vanceboro, the Tar River in Greenville and upstream, and the Roanoke River, which hosts the largest numbers. Get some shad darts, which are just small jigs, and find a place to get to the water starting in the second week of March.

Probably the most popular spot in the whole state is the boat launch area in Weldon. It’s right at the falls and thousands of fish end up there. Bonus if you have a johnboat. Careful of the water levels. Small boats and big water don’t mix well.

Check out the water level gauges on the Dominion Power website.

Something I have covered before is the speckled trout action in downstream coastal creeks that are attached to larger rivers, such as ones connected to the Neuse, New, and Cape Fear. Trout will start to get active in these areas throughout March. In fact, they will have been in many creeks throughout winter. You just have to be able to deal with the cold. We’ve talked about that before too. But in March we’ll see more consistent action in these bodies of water. As the weather improves, they’ll be there more often.

The biggest fish will move in and out from the main rivers. Be there on the right day and you could get a look at speckled trout bigger than you’ve ever seen.

Along areas closer to the ocean, things will start to pick up in April. The southwest breeze during this period is the key. This flow leads to warm water. When coastal waters start to get above 62 degrees, bluefish will show up near shore. Mostly, these will be smaller fish, but at times really massive fish will make an appearance.

Don’t ask when it will happen. It’s just one of those times when, if you’re there, you’ll be the one telling me about it. 

River fishing for shad will reach a peak early in April and then slack off. This will be in prelude to striped bass taking over. The first captures will take place well downstream of rocks at the falls line. Toward the late to middle of the month, they’ll begin to be caught up by popular areas. Again, the most consistent fishing will be at Weldon. Loads of stripers will be caught on live shad.

Good speck action will continue through April. This is primetime for slow-falling hard plugs such as Mirrolures. Trout will consistently be in these creeks in April. It can be quite good for both numbers and size.

Coastal waters will see an explosion of activity in May. As well as the aforementioned blues, as the water warms through the 60s, be ready for Atlantic bonito to rampage through. The magic number is 65 degrees. Be ready to up and go. It doesn’t last long. We will normally get about three to four weeks. Sometimes more (And other times less, of course).

The appearance of Spanish mackerel usually heralds the end of bonito action. But if you’re out there on the day they come blasting into town, you might see some great stuff. I’ve seen the whole beach covered with diving birds from one inlet to the next. All the usual tactics are good when that happens. Casting with small spoons and jigs is my favorite.

The first two or three weeks of May are when the absolutely best action occurs on the Roanoke River. Striped bass will put on a show. Fish early and late with single-hook-rigged surface lures such as Zara Spooks and Pop-r-s. They will try to kill them. I mean literally. They smack them with their tails, use their dorsal spines, and of course try to eat them.

The striped bass spawn is approaching, which takes place in very fecund waters. In order to counter this abundance of life, striped bass kill the eggs of predator species like sunfish, catfish, and carp as fast as they can. So when you cast a topwater plug into the Roanoke during striper spawning season, they will hit it with the spines on their backs, anal spines, and tails, in order to kill the enemy. It can be amazing when you’re there in early May.

Again, this happens fast. If you’re there when it happens, it’s amazing. If you’re there when it’s done, you’ve missed it. You’ve got to be quick.

Big trout numbers can vary in May until it seems they’re gone. But they’re not. They will move to bigger bodies of water and be moving faster. By May, you have to cover a lot of water fast. Grass flats and humps in more open areas are good to cover with topwater jigs. True bonus will be the red drum that get mixed with them and stay around the rest of the summer.

Have I covered everything that spring offers? Definitely not. Don’t even get me started on purely freshwater stuff. That’s another whole book. But if there’s not enough here to keep you busy, there’s offshore opportunities, bottom fishing and just enough surprises to keep even an old hand guessing.

By the time you read this we will know the complete outcome of the aftermath of the cold event of late January/early February. Let’s take a look at why this occurred in the first place, the immediate effect, and what some old-timers think about possible consequences.

In the southern portion of the East Coast we have numerous species of gamefish that will use shallow creeks in winter. North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries biologist Chris Batsavage says many of these species will be found in shallow creeks during winter.

“The mud bottom found in many shallow creeks, along with their shelter from the wind, can provide warmer water and forage during the winter,” Batsavage told Coastal Review.

Usually this provides a nice arrangement, and the fish are happy in sunny, hidey holes. However, through the years there have been situations where their natural tendency is detrimental to their survival. When there is an extreme cold snap that leads to creeks icing over for extended periods of time, fish using these waters may experience cold stun, or even be killed. The longer freezing conditions occur, the more severe the effect can be.

It would seem that the cold of those couple of weeks in January and February did the job. I talked to fishy friends all along the coast and their words were not encouraging.

“It seems there’s already been four major kills reported. I think it will be very significant,” reported Capt. Harry Meraklis of Kitty Hawk.

Capt. Dave Rohde of Kitty Hawk told me, “The sound was frozen solid yesterday. They are floating everywhere.”

Batsavage said quite a few reports were coming in from the public and division staff.

As is policy in these cases, the Division of Marine Fisheries shut down the speckled trout fishery for all users on Friday, Feb. 6. At this point the closure extends to June 30. However, an official opening date had not been announced at the time of this publication.

The reason is twofold: We have had significant cold events in consecutive years (first time in my memory although I am sure others go further back than me), and this 2026 cold kill was unprecedented in both breadth and length, in recent memory. The record amounts of snow and the length of time that temperatures were well below 32 degrees left creeks frozen for longer than I recall in my 30 years in the state. People were ice skating down the middle of Emerald Drive in Emerald Isle.

Fish kills have been reported as far south as Florida. I remember being down there in spring after a big cold spell killed lots of snook years ago. It was grim.

Experience tells us that this should work itself out. The fish themselves have evolved over millennia and will sort it for themselves. Capt. Seth Vernon of Wilmington holds this view.

“Nature seeks homeostasis,” Vernon said. “I would hope we keep the pressure off of them until after they have spawned, and they will make up for the deficit in the numbers of eggs produced and fertilized.”

Capt. Rick Patterson of Cape Carteret said that, in the cold kills that he had seen over the years, “there will still be trout this summer and fall. The numbers of big fish may be down, however.”

The hope is that recent conservation efforts will pay off in quickly rebuilding speckled trout populations.

“It seems like the stock rebounded quicker from the cold-kill events over the last 10 years or so, compared to those from further back in time,” said Batsavage.

Noted Carolina Sportsman columnist Capt. Jerry Dilsaver of Oak Island adds that, “I think it’s safe to believe the closures help the trout numbers rebound quicker.”

Dilsaver is quick to point out that the statewide closure is wise.

“For what it’s worth, I have heard some fishermen (at Ocean Isle Beach) saying, “Why did they close the season here? We didn’t have any significant kills.’”

Any different won’t work, he says.

“If an area is left open, it will be inundated with fishermen from other areas, and they will most likely harm the fish worse than the freeze,” said Dilsaver.

These are wise words from a wise man. Pay attention. There’ve been and will continue to be plenty of complaints about this in the months to come.

Batsavage agrees.

“It’s hard to measure the impact of closing the fishery after a cold-kill event, but reducing fishing mortality likely benefits the recovery,” he said.

In my personal experience (if that’s even worth considering), the closure helps the fish recover. I have caught 25-inch-long trout on topwater plugs in May while casting for redfish, and I personally have seen fish populations rebound after having been given a few months to recover from cold kills. It would be pretty obvious next fall when everybody had good action.

The only problem this time is the unprecedented nature of this year’s weather. Anyone who says they know precisely what is going to happen, well … no, they don’t.

Be patient. Give the system a chance to recover. The experts who I know know, regardless of what Uncle Ernie on the Internet says.

North Carolina State Continuing and Lifelong Education is readying for the 72nd annual Sport Fishing School in Hatteras this June.

Founded in 1952 as a collaboration between N.C. State’s Department of Zoology and the College Extension Division, the immersive five-day experience combines classroom instruction with hands-on training, offering participants ages 18 and older the opportunity to study under some of the most experienced captains on the Carolina coast.

Two days of classroom instruction cover equipment, technique and the ecological dynamics of North Carolina’s coastal waters, followed by two days of Gulf Stream fishing excursions and a half-day inshore fishing excursion.

This year’s instructional team included captains Rom Whitaker and Brian Taylor, both seasoned captains and longtime mentors.

“Every year, we see people come in as hobbyists and leave as part of a tradition,” Whitaker, who has been part of the Sport Fishing School for more than three decades, said in a release. “This program connects people not just to fishing, but to the history and rhythm of the Carolina coast.”

Taylor, who joined the program as an instructor in recent years, said its about more than catching fish. “It’s about understanding the environment, the teamwork on the boat and the responsibility that comes with being out on the water.”

For registration details, program schedule and instructor bios, visit lifelonglearning.ncsu.edu/sport-fishing-school.

What if I told you that there was a class of fishing lures that not only imitate what a bait looks like, but also what it feels like?

That we have lures that not only smell like the real thing but also tastes like it? We have copied the movement, sound and exact colors of real baits. What if I told these were real and not some figment of my imagination? Would you ever use any other type of lure again?

Soft plastics have progressively gotten better — so good through the years that they are amazing imitations of life. Let’s talk a bit about where they have come from and where we are today.

The first plastic lures on the market were the Crème Scoundrel worms. They literally looked like earthworms. They were stiff and not at all lifelike. They caught fish.

The first saltwater shrimp imitation I ever used was the Boone Tout. It was a weird name, barely looked like a shrimp, and did nothing in the water. It, too, caught fish.

As the ’70s went on we saw the Tom Mann Jelly Worm add flavor to the mix and the Mister Twister added a curly tail and extra action to their baits. By this time, everyone knew how good plastics were.

I caught my first 5-pound largemouth bass on a 6-inch grape Manns Jelly Worm and about a million gray trout (weakfish) from the Delaware Bay.

So they work. No doubt about that. Let’s talk about some of soft plastic lures available today and how to use them to catch fish.

Let me start by saying that the most popular types of lures are changing quickly. It wasn’t too long ago that I used the Tsunami swim baits for almost everything. They have a weight built in and they have a great action that makes them look like an easy target. They’re expensive and bluefish ruin them. For a number of years, I always had one tied on. I caught every kind of fish that can be targeted around here. For some reason the retailers stopped carrying them in big numbers, and they have fallen out of favor. I still have a few bags here and there but it’s tough to get more.

The more popular brands now are Z-Man, Gulp, and DOA — and that’s just a start. The number of new products coming out is astounding. Let’s talk in more general terms.

First let’s consider the kind you would attach to a lead-head jig. Many of these are designed to imitate baitfish. The Z-Man Shadz, and DOA CAL, are two of the most popular brands sold around here. They are quite realistic in both their looks and movement. They are attached with lead heads designed specifically for those baits to ensure a smooth look. There are split tails, twist tails, paddle tails, and something that somebody is making in their garage right now.

My suggestion is to pick one or two styles and stock up on those. Choose different colors based on the local conditions, and go with that. They all work, and instead of fixating on whatever brand is most popular, instead choose what works for you and move forward.

Make a cast, hopefully toward where a fish is lurking. Work it back like any jig.

“Twitch, reel. Twitch, reel.”

Strikes will feel like a tap. Snap set the hook – you don’t have to rip their lips off. I’ve caught 8-pound speckled trout, 6-pound southern flounder, 12-pound striped bass and a whole assortment of every single kind of fish that swims in these waters using soft plastic with a jig head.

Another style I like are the soft plastic shrimp made by the same companies. They are quite realistic and in some situations they are more effective than the living versions. Mainly it’s because you can use the same bait to catch multiple fish whereas a live bait is one and done.

Cast a plastic shrimp into a current run that drops off into deeper water. It might be only a matter of inches. Reel quickly enough to keep your line tight and add a touch of movement. That familiar “tick” means a fish.  Reel down quickly and come tight.

This technique is very effective for red drum and trout in winter holes.

Another good use for them is as a dropper rig when fishing from a pier for speckled trout. Probably the most common way is under a popping cork around oyster bars and on grass flats. Rig the lure about 2 feet deep below the cork. Then pop and reel. A fish will announce itself by pulling the cork under. The plastic shrimp is versatile.

Unweighted soft plastic jerk baits first made their appearance in the mid-’90s with the Slug-Go. In hand it looks innocuous; fish shaped, split tail, nothing special. But rig a weedless hook on it, toss it into the water, and it becomes something.

First of all, it sounds like a living thing when it plops in. Then it moves like a minnow that’s having an extremely bad day and attracts attention from predators. My favorite was the 6-inch size. I could cast it easily with whatever rod I was using and they smoked it.

Now all the aforementioned manufacturers have similar designs. Put them to use in shallow weeds, around oysters, flats. You can even add rattles to them. See what happens when you cast to a school of trout on the edge of a flat during summer.

If imitation is flattering, soft plastic lures are the extreme. As Dustin Hoffman’s character was told in “The Graduate,” “There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it.”

Coastal Review will not publish Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Actively casting to visibly feeding fish is very exciting and often leads to days that will be become legendary. There are numerous ways to approach these situations that lead to ample opportunities for all the anglers who inevitably make an appearance.

Unfortunately, too many people either don’t know or don’t care about anything else but themselves and then proceed to mess it up for all concerned. Let’s figure this out so we don’t become one of “those” guys.

First, we have to recognize what a feeding school looks like. It can present many ways depending on location, depth, and species. If you don’t know what you’re seeing, you’re liable to roll right over them.

The most obvious species and one least likely to be spooked by boats and anglers is the bluefish. I’ve seen schools of bluefish spread out for acres with boats driving through them every which way, without much regard for … well … anything really. People were fishing and the fish were still biting all around.

A big school of bluefish up to around 5 pounds will remain pretty aggressive in almost any circumstance. When they get a little bit bigger, you have to be more careful about driving through them. Even then, they’ll probably not spook too badly, and if the bait is still around, they’ll feel compelled to strike.

Favored lures include almost any jig or spoon in a somewhat approximate size or color. They’ll probably take a whack. Make sure you have an appropriate bite leader or you wave goodbye.

False albacore and Spanish mackerel are less tolerant of sloppy driving. When approaching surface feeds of these, the angler must plan his approach to account for the direction of travel and the wind speed and direction. You must intercept in such a way as to not roll over them and still allow presentations to be made to the feeders.

You’ll see many mistakes being made by people who should know better, and often it can wreck the action for all. On a good day with all being cooperative and considerate, the good fishing can go for hours. Otherwise, it’s up and down with the ill-mannered butting in.

More realistic imitations must be used with albies and macks. Be aware of the size and color of the bait fish. Many times — not always — jigs that are too big or an inappropriate color will be ignored. A good starting point is an epoxy jig such as the Gun Slinger, approximately the size of a man’s ring finger, with an olive or other natural color. There are myriad other options. Try a soft plastic tail such as the Albie Snax with a jig head if things get tricky.

So far, we’ve talked about fish feeding in deep water near the surface. Everything changes in shallow waters. The shallower they go, the less tolerant they become of loud motors and erratic driving. The most extreme example of this is with schools of red drum feeding in water that may be better measured in inches rather than feet.

Most often these fish can be approached with an electric trolling motor. Even then, they can be put off if you get too close and they feel the vibration. Best to set it on low speed and go slowly. Even better is a push pole. This is the stealthiest option. When the water is less than a foot, this will be the only option.

Pay attention to the fish and where they are going and keep your boat a long cast away … did I mention the water is shallow? There’s plenty to get hung on. Through the years, when pursuing shallow redfish, I’ve had best success using D.O.A. plastic shrimp in any color that shows up in changing water clarity: bright colors in muddy water, muted colors in clearer water. Make as long a cast as possible and retrieve in a slow cadence with occasional twitches. They’ll get it, and it will be obvious.

The most difficult to approach are speckled trout. A lot of times, if you’re not aware of the potential of a school being nearby, people will drive right over them and never know what they missed. In certain places, during certain times of the year (I’ll leave it to you to figure out), speckled trout will gather in large schools. This provides great fishing for those who know.

Some places are well known to the point of fame – or infamy — while others remain more quiet. In either case, it’s a good idea to approach quietly and carefully. Again, long casts are best. Use small jigs, ¼ ounce usually. I’ve used the Zman Jerk Shadz for the past decade. Light tackle. Don’t be in too much of a hurry. Use the trolling motor on as slow a setting as you can move up current.

If you get bit, slip the anchor over the side. As long as you’re quiet the fish will hang around. At some point you may need to move up a bit and start over. Be light-footed and, for goodness sake, don’t drive through the spot someone is already on. The fish behind will still be there and will start biting again soon enough. The idea is to keep the action going for everyone for as long as possible. When folks work together it can happen.

That’s pretty much a good rule to use whenever we’re out there. Be polite to others we see. Be considerate of where others are fishing. Sometimes we have to go around.

Start early if you want to be first, and be fine with it if you’re not. I see too many people behaving poorly when big schools of fish are around. Take it easy and we’ll all have a more relaxed and productive day.

There are skills that are so ingrained and synonymous with the activity with which they are associated that we often don’t even notice them or think much about them, we just assume they are performed.

Dribbling a basketball. Breath-holding in swimming. Keeping the beat in music. Casting in fishing.

The best performers in these disciplines often do these skills so well, that they seem to occur without attention or any discernible effort whatsoever. But make no mistake, much practice had to be done to achieve that level of proficiency. We’re going to take a look at casting a spinning rod and then break down the skill to find out what separates the best from the rest.

I want to emphasize that I’m going to be talking about using a spinning rod, not revolving spool/baitcasting. The focus of most of our light-tackle fishing here is most appropriate for a spinning rod. Light rods and long casts are the order, most commonly. Even though bait-casters are popular in the Gulf Of Mexico for some reason, I just don’t feel they’re applicable with light lures or weekend anglers, and they create a lot of potential problems with tangles and backlashes.

Merriam-Webster defines casting (among other things) as the act of throwing out a fishing line. On the most basic level, this is what it is, and it seems simple. Most people can accomplish the basic skill after a couple of practical attempts. They feel the line on the finger and let it go. I’ve been showing kids how to do it my whole life, and that’s all it takes to get a bait in the water. However, if you want to do it well, which means delivering it distantly and accurately, you’ll need to do some work.

First let’s talk about stance. You should be balanced. You don’t have to be in a linebacker stance, but go for an even distribution of your weight. If casting with one hand, small rods and light weight, drive forward with your casting hand and follow through with your rod guides pointing forward. If it’s a rod with a longer handle, we’ll cast with two hands.

A common error I see is that people will release their rod with the top hand. Keep both hands on and drive forward with your top hand and then pull back with your bottom hand. This will allow maximum force to be applied.

There is a big difference between distance and accuracy in casting. Let’s start with getting longer and then move to becoming more accurate. Most people step up to the water’s edge and want to heave it way out there. There are techniques that enable us to get maximum distance.

Let’s start with a two-handed approach. This allows us to use all the force we can apply. Then we need to choose tackle that matches what we’re trying for. When making long casts with small lures we want to have a light, fast action rod with a flexible tip and use as light a line as you can get away with. With the newer braided lines, we can easily use line that is twice the breaking strength of the biggest fish we realistically hope to catch. This enables us to make longer casts because heavier line produces more friction which takes energy away from the lure.

Be careful about going too light or you’ll run the risk of applying too much energy, and a small timing error can snap the line and send it to the stratosphere without you. Let’s avoid that.

There is also heavy gear for long range. Now, we’re talking about thick rods, 10 to 12 feet long. Long popularized by the Hatteras Heaver style of rod design. Heavy weights. Big baits. Strong currents. Often the biggest versions will use revolving spool reels. This is big gear for big water.

Both styles will have a common denominator: Those who get the most distance will be the most proficient performers of the Pendulum Cast. It’s a method for using the full length of the rod to increase the linear velocity of the projectile.

Start with an even stance. Rock your weight back and forth over your shoulder on a lead almost as long as the rod. As you get better, more length on the pendulum will equal longer casts. Time the rocking up with a forward swing and step forward like throwing a football. This timing is what allows for long casts. With a little practice you’ll be zinging it out there.

Nick Meyer from Breakaway Tackle and nickaway.com shares a video on his YouTube channel that gives an excellent illustration of how to do it effectively. He also adds that, “The ability to long cast increases your effective fishable area. When bait fishing, trimming down your bait will make the rig aerodynamic and will increase your distance.”

For accurate casting, there are some adjustments to be made.

We’ll start again with a balanced stance. Keep the length of the overhang less than half the length of your rod or less. Just enough to keep the hooks from snagging. Whether using single- or double-handed technique, drive forward with the top hand and pull back with the lower. Keep your eyes focused on the target. A good way to practice is to pick targets like leaves or anything else floating around. That way when confronted with a tight situation, you’ll be prepared.

Remember, the more you practice in true-life situations, the better. My old biomechanics professor, Dr. William F. Straub, used to tell us, “You have to make practice game-like, if you want to win games.”

Now, picture this real-life scenario. We’re fishing a big, wide, open flat. The visibility isn’t great because it’s early in the morning and there’s no light. The fish could be anywhere in front of us. Being able to make long casts quickly is beneficial. Start out with using a long overhang and pendulum with a long casting lure such as a plug or a spoon (I always preferred topwater for this). Cover the water and be prepared for anything. Strikes can come at any time and be quite sudden. There’s nothing subtle about it.

Maybe after a while, and hopefully a few fish, you’ll spot a tailing fish back in the shallows. These will have their noses down and not be conducive to chasing anything. Most likely they are finding shrimp or crabs right in their face. Now we have to be accurate.

Hopefully you have a second rod rigged with an appropriate lure such as a soft plastic jerk bait or shrimp. You’re probably going to want it to be weedless. This is where the accurate cast is handy.

Shorten the overhang. Make sure you’re within range. Lock your eyes on a spot from 6 to 8 feet from the fish. Cast toward the end of the fish that actually does the eating. You won’t have many chances. If it all goes well, you’ll be watching one of the finest sights in angling as it snacks on your lure right in front of you.

Make no mistake, doing this well takes practice. “Drive for show, putt for dough,” is what the old golfers say. This is an 8-footer, downhill, for birdie, to win the tournament.

Coastal Review will not publish Jan. 1 in observance of New Year’s Day.

The two federal branches that enforce the Clean Water Act last month pitched changes to the “waters of the United States” definition, which establishes the types of waterbodies that are federally protected against pollution, and if these amendments pass as written, conservation groups fear millions of acres of nontidal wetlands will be left vulnerable.

The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers have for decades had the authority to regulate “navigable waters,” which means “the waters of the United States, including the territorial seas,” as written in the 1948 Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Expanded in the 1970s, the measure is typically referred to as the Clean Water Act.

The EPA explains on its website that the Clean Water Act “establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters.”

One thing the Clean Water Act doesn’t do is clearly define “waters of the United States.” The EPA calls it a “threshold term in the Clean Water Act and establishes the geographic scope of federal jurisdiction under the Act.”

EPA and Army leadership announced Nov. 17 plans to update the definition, which has been the subject of lawsuits and years’ worth of arguments.

The “Updated Definition of ‘’Waters of the United States’’’ was published Nov. 20 in the Federal Register, launching a 45-day comment period on the proposed changes that closes Jan. 5.  A virtual public meeting is scheduled for 12:30 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, with a 2-2:30 p.m. break. Attendees must register online to speak by 5 p.m. Monday. To listen only, register by the start of the meeting.

This latest attempt, which would exclude isolated wetlands, is directly linked to the Supreme Court’s May 2023 Sackett v. EPA decision. The Sacketts are an Idaho couple fined in the late 2000s for backfilling a section of their property that the EPA considered wetlands.

Judges ruled in the final opinion on the case that the “(Clean Water Act)’s use of ‘waters’” only refers to geographical features described in everyday language “as ‘streams, oceans, rivers and lakes’ and to adjacent wetlands that are ‘indistinguishable’ from those bodies of water due to a continuous surface connection.”

Earlier that year, the EPA had finalized a “Revised Definition of ‘Waters of the United States'” rule that took effect March 20, 2023, and which the Sackett case invalidated. In August 2023, the EPA and Army Corps issued an amendment to align the rule with the Sackett decision.

That final conforming rule is what the EPA and Army Corps leadership are proposing to amend.

The agencies argue that the change “would fully implement” the Supreme Court’s ruling “by ensuring federal jurisdiction is focused on relatively permanent, standing or continuously flowing bodies of water—such as streams, oceans, rivers, and lakes—and wetlands that are connected and indistinguishable from such waterbodies.”

With this proposed rule, the agencies explain in the docket, they “intend to provide greater regulatory certainty and increase Clean Water Act program predictability and consistency by clarifying the definition of ‘waters of the United States.’ This proposed rule is also intended to implement the overall objective of the Clean Water Act to restore and maintain the quality of the Nation’s waters while respecting State and Tribal authority over their own land and water resources.”

Environmental groups argued then, when the Sackett case was ruled, and still maintain that by removing protections from the millions of acres of nontidal wetlands, there will be consequences: Water quality will be jeopardized and flooding will increase, to name just two.

Southern Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney Mark Sabath said in an interview that for 50 years, the Clean Water Act has been the strongest and best federal protection for many of the waters and wetlands around the country.

The law does that “by saying you can’t pollute, you can’t fill, you can’t destroy certain features, certain waters, without a permit,” Sabath said, and the permitting process means that there are certain protections and controls you have to apply to minimize the amount of destruction.

Sabath added that a number of features of the Clean Water Act are dependent on the type of water, and, in addressing its critics, not every puddle in the country covered by the act.

“It’s only things that meet the definition of waters of the United States, and that isn’t defined in the statute itself,” Sabath continued. “Congress didn’t define it, so EPA and the Army Corps, in a series of rules over the years, have tried to define exactly what wetlands are and aren’t covered by the Clean Water Act.”

This proposed rule is the latest revision and it is “by far the most narrow, the most extreme definition,” Sabath continued. “It includes the fewest number of streams and wetlands and other waters of any interpretation of ‘waters the United States’ that we’ve seen.”

North Carolina Wildlife Federation Conservation Policy Vice President Manley Fuller told Coastal Review that with this proposed rule, the bottom line is a massive loss of protection of waters of the United States, which are vital habitats for fish and wildlife.

“This will also negatively affect hunting and fishing, which are a significant part of our natural resource-based economy,” he continued. “Wetlands are also buffers for the built environment and help reduce downstream flooding. Protecting clean waters and wetlands is extremely popular with the public for many reasons and we need to strengthen rather than weaken these programs.”

North Carolina Sierra Club Deputy Director Erin Carey told Coastal Review the rule will effectively remove federal protections from at least 80% of wetlands and over 5 million miles of streams across the country.

“This rule will open millions of acres of wetlands to the threat of development, leaving communities already vulnerable to flooding without the frontline protection afforded by these invaluable habitats. Wetlands act as filters for floodwaters and other runoff, making them critical not only to flood mitigation, but to the preservation of clean water resources,” Carey said.

Environmental Defense Fund Coasts and Watersheds Science Senior Manager Dr. Adam Gold pointed out as well that if the proposed rule is implemented as written, nearly all nontidal wetlands and intermittent streams could be without Clean Water Act protections in North Carolina and across the United States.

While there are many changes in the proposed rule, the most notable are to the definitions of “relative permanence” of waters and a “continuous surface connection” for wetlands, Gold said, adding that the proposed language introduces the concept of a “wet season.”

“Under the proposed rule, wetlands and waters would only receive Clean Water Act protections if they have surface water throughout the ‘wet season,’ described in the rule as ‘an extended period where there is continuous surface hydrology resulting from predictable seasonal precipitation patterns year after year,’” Gold said. “This proposed rule would make it easier to drain or develop wetlands that do not meet the ‘wet season’ surface water requirement, putting our wetlands and the benefits they provide at serious risk.”

In North Carolina, the impact of the proposed rule is 3.2 million acres, or about 88%, of nontidal wetlands estimated to be without Clean Water Act protections. “Importantly, this analysis relies on wetland ‘wetness’ during the growing season, but the proposed rule uses the ‘wet season,’” Gold said.

About the wet season, Gold continued, there are “fundamental issues with the proposed rule’s ‘wet season’ dataset.”

He said the classification of the “wet season” comes from the Army Corps of Engineers Antecedent Precipitation Tool, but the underlying data this tool relies on is modeled using the average monthly temperature and precipitation between 1950 and 1999. The modeled dataset was published in 2001 and does not use the best-available methods.

“The agencies proposed ‘wet season’ dataset classifies most of the year, and in some cases the entire year, as ‘wet’ for much of coastal North Carolina. So, under this proposed rule, wetlands or streams in Jacksonville would need to have surface water year-round (the whole year is classified as ‘wet’) to have Clean Water Act protections. For New Bern, the ‘wet season’ is 11 months, and for Wilmington or Brunswick County, the ‘wet season’ is 10 months.”

Gold said the proposed rule “which could essentially remove nontidal wetland and intermittent waters from the Clean Water Act, does not align with the goal of the Clean Water Act to ‘restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters.’ Science shows us that all wetlands, regardless of how ‘wet’ they are, clean our water, provide critical wildlife habitat, and reduce downstream flooding impacts.”

The EPA and Corps also asserted the week the proposed changes were announced that the new rules would provide “the regulatory certainty needed to support our nation’s farmers who feed and fuel the world and advance EPA’s Powering the Great American Comeback initiative.”

Sabath noted that the idea that this will have huge benefits for farming and for farmers is a common refrain when they’re restricting the protections of the Clean Water Act, “but the Clean Water Act actually exempts most farming activities from coverage already, so you don’t need to get a permit for doing regular farming activities, even when they would affect a wetland or stream that would otherwise be covered.”

The idea that this is a huge benefit for farmers is a nicer story, “because they don’t want to say, well, this is a huge benefit for large industrial facilities, industrial polluters, developers,” Sabath said.

Carey sees the proposed rule as demonstrating “that the EPA has abdicated its mandated responsibility to protect the environment and the people who depend on it. Even worse, the agency appears eager to sacrifice our natural resources on the altar of corporate greed.”

The public should be “very concerned that the federal agency tasked with ensuring clean water, clean air, and the protection of our natural environment seems determined to undermine that responsibility. With this proposed change, the EPA claims to seek clarity in regulation, but this rule would serve only to allow industry to profit from environmental destruction, and the ruination of our natural resources,” she added.

White Oak Waterkeeper Riley Lewis said in a statement that the EPA’s new definition of Waters of the United States ignores decades of scientific understanding and generations of Indigenous knowledge.

“By redefining wetlands using ambiguous criteria seemingly designed to maximize developable land and reduce regulatory barriers, the agency is turning a blind eye to the very real, very predictable impacts on our communities,” Lewis said. “Water will continue to move beneath our feet through groundwater and across the landscape during storms, regardless of a federal definition or a construction permit. This rule sets Americans up for flooding, damaged infrastructure, and increased pollution in the waters we rely on for our drinking supply, our food, and our way of life.”

So, why does this actually matter to the public? Sabath said it does in a few ways.

In North Carolina, people who hunt, fish and paddle use wetlands directly and those might be impacted by being destroyed or polluted without a permit.

“Anyone who is in a community that floods during extreme weather, and we all know that that’s happening more and more now, or that’s at risk of flooding,” Sabath said. By losing those wetlands, you lose their ability to protect communities from flooding, and that comes more often now from extreme weather.

“It’s a double whammy. You’re losing the benefits that they provide, and you’re probably creating more problems,” and more potential pollution or channels of pollution at the same time by replacing wetlands, natural areas with pavement or developed areas, he said.

With wetlands being a “good natural sponge” that can absorb huge amounts of water, “if anything, we should be trying to expand wetland coverage rather than take it away, Sabath said.

“In short,” Carey with the Sierra Club continued, “communities will watch rivers and streams in their communities fall victim to unchecked pollution. Without federal protections, industry will discharge and develop at will, destroying habitats, water quality, and flood protection measures as they go. The wetlands and streams of this country belong to all people, not just those who seek to exploit them.”

The bag limit for recreationally caught bluefish in North Carolina will increase beginning next year in the state’s coastal fishing waters and joint fishing waters.

On Jan. 1, the bag limit for recreational fishers catching from shore, pier or private vessel will increase to five bluefish per person, per day, and the for-hire limit will increase to seven fish per person, per day.

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries announced the upcoming changes in a release Thursday, noting that the bag limit increase “is a result of the higher recreational harvest limit.”

“A 2025 coastwide stock assessment for bluefish determined that overfishing is not occurring and the stock is not overfished,” the release states. “Although the stock has not yet fully rebuilt, it continues to get closer to the federal stock assessment target. The coastwide recreational harvest limit and commercial bluefish quota in 2026 and 2027 are higher based on the stock assessment results.”

Additional information is available in the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting summary.

Most often, when we talk about fishing, it’s the physical aspects we are concerned with: how to catch, what to catch, etcetera? But what about the metaphysical? The Why.

The Why is at least as important and, in many aspects, quite a bit more. The Why is what gets us going when the 4 a.m. alarm rings, or weather decides to be uncooperative. If the Why is not strong, the What will not even be a concern.

There are as many reasons why people fish as there are fish. They are varied and interesting. Every person has a different reason, and all are valid, ranging from simple escapism to the most complex mindset. It’s important to so many. Let’s take a little journey to the hearts of some extraordinary individuals.

In communications with anglers across the country in a variety of disciplines we will find certain differences and similarities.

Escape

Tim Brooks of Syracuse, New York, was a hard-hitting college linebacker who is now a leading member in his community. He is an accomplished lake-run rainbow trout fisherman. Those fish, commonly known as Great Lakes steelhead, are a mystery to unlock that provides exciting times during drab winter seasons.

Tim says he mainly fishes, “so he won’t become homicidal.” Now that’s a joke, of course, but the kernel of truth here is the getaway from the events of the day. It’s similar to what Paul Gilbert of Wilmington says.

As well as being a state champion lacrosse coach, Gilbert teaches middle school social studies, and he says he loves to fish because, “There are no eighth graders there.”

He loves his students as they do him, but we all need the separation.

Another good category is where all the world’s cares melt away.

Steve Feinberg has been retired for a few years now from his career as a highly successful advertising executive in New York, and he and I used to fish together often. He talks about how, “Fishing takes him to beautiful places and the world contracts to whatever is on the end of his line.”

Focus

Rob Snowhite is well known podcaster who produces “The Fly Fishing Consultant” podcast.

“Fishing is the one thing I can do where it’s the only thing I’m thinking about,” says Snowhite.

Interestingly enough, Norman Maclean writes in “A River Runs Through It and Other Stories,” “That the best part about fly fishing is that soon the world contracts to thoughts of nothing but fly fishing.”

Understanding

There are those who take a more deeply philosophical angle. One is Capt. Joe Demalderis, who owns a fly shop, outfitting service, and is generally considered to be the guru of the fly fishing community of the Upper Delaware River on the New York-Pennsylvania border. He says that the fish understand him better than he understands himself.

“When I’m lost in my thoughts on the water it’s nice to know that something gets you,” says Demalderis.

Kesley Gallagher is one of the leading female voices in the world of fly fishing. She says she loves fishing because it feeds her soul.

“I love the way the fish reflect the beauty of the area,” says Gallagher. “Like a trout reflects the light of the mountains and a marlin encapsulates the sapphire depths of the ocean.”

These are the kind of rhapsodic experiences we need in our lives.

Chris Desosa is a freshman at North Carolina State University. He’s a leader amongst his peers in athletic and academic pursuits and sure to be an amazing teacher, coach and educational administrator someday when he graduates from being in the education fellow scholar program.

“I fish because it brings me closer to the outdoors with the creations and the beauty of life,” says Desosa. “Being on the waves in a boat, or standing in a creek surrounded by nature, is more calming than any pastime I know. There is nothing like it.”

The challenge

Another category we need to explore is that of the people who do it for the challenge. These are the ones who put a lot of effort into preparing tackle and pay attention to the fine detail. David Edens is a longtime fly-fishing guide on Georgia’s coast. He loves saltwater fly fishing because he loves the hunt and the challenge, “… and being able to do something well that most others cannot.”

Brian S. Leon (Scott to his friends), is an incredibly accomplished angler, former Navy SEAL, author, and former editor of Fly Fishing in Saltwaters magazine, as well as being about as handsome as a TV star and married to Kesley Gallagher. He likes, “the journey to find fish and the people he meets along the way and embraces the intellectual challenge it brings.”

‘Democracy of life’

It may seem that I’m dropping a few names here to show how many different cool people I know (OK, I am) but the real point is that we meet a lot of extraordinary folks on the water.

Regardless of what we think of him as a president, Herbert Hoover himself said, “Fishing is a constant reminder of the democracy of life.” He was absolutely correct. I’ve been fishing with some quite famous people and a whole lot more who aren’t, including people who had little in the way of material things but did not measure life or success in the same way.

I’d say that the only nonvalid reason to like fishing is to prove that you are better than someone else.

Personally, I take the thinking of fishing writer Robert Traver, a federal judge whose real name was Robert Voelker and has a fly fishing writers award named after him. He was of the opinion that the reason he liked fishing so much was, “Because all the rest of the cares of the world mean so little.”

Now, I am locked in a situation where I can’t participate in the best pastime due to medical issues. Hopefully I can continue to contribute in any small way going forward. If I were to let the rest of my cares weigh me down, it would be quite a challenge indeed.

Someone fishing in saltwater should understand tides. More importantly they should understand how tides affect the fish they are pursuing.

It’s a common story: A person heads down to the water and drives out to a spot somewhere that they were told about. They get there and fish are jumping all over and eating everything they throw at them.

Next weekend comes and they head right back to the same spot. Except this time the tide is so low they run aground three times before they arrive. When they finally get there, the water is all gone, the bottom is exposed, and there’s no fish anywhere. What changed? The tide.

Let’s take a look at a typical fall day by my home near the Newport River and Morehead City. First thing we notice is that I use a tide-predicting app from Hahn Software called Aye Tides. It’s a part of the very first tide software called X Tides. Since the product was developed in 1995, it’s become as close to the industry standard as there is. It was based on an early computer model originally developed in the 1930s.

Now take a look at the numbers and see what they mean. First you will see a time and number with a decimal and a unit of measurement. The time shows what time the tide will occur and the number represents the relative height. In our case, the first high tide will occur at 12:51 a.m. Since we are not going fishing until after dawn this is not that important to us now.

The first low tide is at 7:04 a.m. Our plan is to fish the channels in the Newport for speckled trout. The best is on the rising tide with the influx of clean water. Pete Allred, formerly the owner of Pete’s Tackle for many years, used to say that often the bite would shut off, “like a switch” when the tide turned.

We want to get out there early. This is tricky. If you’re experienced and know the channels, you can get back there early and be the first one there. This often leads to some fast action. Once the water gets high enough to allow more access, others may join you, including some who may not be very considerate.

I have a certain young man in mind who I’ve had numerous run-ins with over the years, who would run full-speed through where I was fishing — literally so close he would swamp my small skiff. We’ve had words and he knows who he is.

But if people are considerate, the action will continue through the incoming tide, and assuming that people know what they’re doing, there should be enough to go around.

The second high tide is at 1:25 p.m. Let’s also take a look at the height. This is the average depth of the water as measured at the time of high tide. Notice that the number is 4.01 feet. This is quite a high number for our area. If we look at the moon phases as indicated by the icons, we can see that there was a full moon last night. The full moon in October will have some of the highest tides of the year. Often called “king tides” by the Weather Channel people and some scientists, there will often be swamped roads in the really low elevation areas.

This extremely high water leads to a couple different things for us to look at as anglers. Red drum will be as far back in there as you can see water. The fishing is not easy and takes some skill, but is extremely rewarding (and will be the subject of an entire separate article). Another thing to be aware of is very fast current, which can create fast action on the rise, as we have already seen with the trout, and flounder will often be quite aggressive around bars and points. Very large fish will be caught.

This is the important thing to remember: The large amount of movement around the very high tides will get fish activity to peak. But if you are not aware of the timing, you can miss the whole thing.

This cycle of two high tides and two low tides per day is called semidiurnal. Two tides per day. It’s Latin or some other thing. Some places will only have one per day. These are called diurnal.

Another thing that can really affect your fishing is something called negative low tides. This will be indicated in your app by a minus sign next to the height of the tide at low tide. This happens often in winter. It can be a hazard to navigate because areas that are usually underwater could be dry.

Now let’s return to the day we started with. As the tide starts to go out, it is usually a good idea to head toward the inlet. As the water recedes, it will encourage fish to begin feeding on baitfish that get moved out of the marsh and we will often see nice activity on surface feeding bluefish, mackerel and false albacore, as well as sea mullet and gray trout, while bouncing bottom.

This is one of the best places to start fishing for any species in any place. If you don’t know anything else, fish inlets on outgoing tides. Sometimes the end of the ebb will see the fiercest action. Then it will kind of peter out.

As always, this was just an example of how to approach a specific situation. Remember that being aware of the tides gets you to the fish. “Time, (fish) and tide wait for no man.”

I’m now in my 60th year of life. I started fishing before I was even old enough to have a memory of it.

I’ve been fly fishing since I was 10 years old. The math is pretty easy. During that time I’ve lived in North Carolina for 30 of those years, again, easy math. However, it never fails that since I’ve been here, people will say to me, “Flyfishing? Where do you do that ’round these parts?”

Inevitably it leads to awkward conversation and ends up with me trying to explain something that is not easily explained.

First off, all I’ll say, and trying to not sound braggadocious here, but I have caught 71 different species of fish with a fly and fly rod. I’m talking about the smallest thing you can think of up to and including the biggest things a person can catch in sight of land.

In this age you can fish anywhere you dream of, with the only limit being your pockets. I once knew a man in Beaufort who only fished in Montana, and I’ve fished with guys from Raleigh who only fished saltwater. Having said that, let’s talk only about the fish that are readily available along our coastal waters and within 30 minutes of my home in Carteret County. It’s quite a lot as you’ll see.

We’ll start close in and work our way out. There is a book that gives in-depth attention to this very subject called “Fly Fishing the Southeast Coast: A Complete Guide to Fishing Fresh and Salt Water,” if you’re inclined. For the sake of this article, I am going to assume a level of casting competency.

A type of fishing that gets overlooked by fly anglers around here is freshwater bass fishing in ponds. I covered this topic previously, but it’s worth looking at again as a strictly fly opportunity.

The No. 1 concern is access. But if anyone you know has a residential, golf course, any kind of freshwater body, it will have bass in it. The best time is a nice sunset and the best fishing is with a small popper.

Walk the shoreline, cast in an arc and be sure to negotiate any little pockets. It’s a bunch of fun, and while most bass you catch around here will be smaller due to the acid content of the soil, big ones also lurk.

If there is one fish that is readily available to fly fishing regardless of skill and access, I would say it’s the bluefish. They are aggressive, and almost any place that has access to the water will see bluefish coming in and out.

What I’m going to do is lay out a very specific plan to catch a bluefish on a fly from shore. First off, put a 250-grain sink line on your spare fly reel (you have a spare, right?), an 8-weight rod.

Get a stripping basket. Otherwise, you’ll spend more time untangling your line than anything else. Tie a piece of 30-pound fluorocarbon leader material to the end of your fly leader. Attach a Clouser Minnow fly in size 2 tied in chartreuse over white.

Drive to Fort Macon State Park about two hours into the falling tide. Fish on the southwest corner. You won’t need waders until late October. Cast into the current, which should be flowing from your left to right. Retrieve with an erratic action.

I don’t believe that you haven’t caught one already. But seriously, if all is as it should be, they should be there as often as not, and this will get them. Not normally big, but be ready. As a bonus this is also the best way to get a Spanish mackerel from shore, as well. If glass minnows are present, be prepared for anything.

I have not found the open surf to very amenable to fly fishing here for a lot of reasons. Believe me, I’ve tried. That’s not to say it can never be done, but it’s just more work than it’s worth for me. But keep your eyes open for calm days and close fish.

Lights under docks are another great opportunity for the fly angler. As you cruise down the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, from time to time you will see lights off the ends of docks. If a light points into the water, it’s worth looking at for fishing opportunities. This is classic night fishing. I’m talking not even heading toward the water until 9 p.m.

The fish we are talking about will vary. Speckled trout are always the preferred targets, particularly some really big ones. In fact, if catching a trout over 5 pounds on fly is one of your goals, this would be the way to go. However, some other guests may be interested.

Toward the Neuse River there may be big striped bass, I’ve caught them up to 10 pounds. As you go south toward the Cape Fear, more ladyfish will be available. Red drum will always be around. If you hit on a school of bigger fish, be prepared to bust fly rods and lose fly lines. A school of 30-inchers cleaned us out a few years back.

The same small Clouser Minnow works wonders. Stick with the 8-weight and a 20-pound tippet helps get away from pilings. Position your boat with the anchor almost as far as your longest cast. If you get to close, you’ll mess it up.

Be quiet too. I’ve had homeowners turn off the lights. Uncool.

Cast a little upstream. Strikes will be quick and often show as big boils under the surface. If you can see the fish popping under the lights, that’s a good sign.

Enjoy the moon, and the view of the planets can be spectacular. The sounds that emanate from the water come vibrating through your hull. Often, dolphins will swim through. It’s a great way to fish, and while sometimes things just aren’t happening, it’s as good a way to spend an evening as I can imagine, and a surefire way to catch fish on fly around these parts.

I have not even mentioned the world-famous false albacore run in the fall or the extremely popular tailing redfish action around the full moons. There is plenty of literature about those, some of it written by yours truly, even in these very pages. There’s plenty to do.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries recently certified a new state record for almaco jack, or Seriola rivoliana.

Henry Barksdale of Sutherland, Virginia, caught the 60-pound, 8-ounce fish Sept. 18 off Cape Hatteras. The previous state record was 56 pounds, 4.8 ounces, and was landed earlier this year in the same area.

Barksdale was fishing with Capt. Shaun Dunn out of Teach’s Lair Marina in Hatteras Village. He landed the fish with a jig attached to an Okuma Cedros rod and Daiwa Saltist LD 50 reel with 80-pound braid.

Barksdale’s fish measured 46 inches fork length, or from the tip of the nose to the fork in the tail, and had a 32-inch girth. The fish was weighed at Teach’s Lair Marina and confirmed by staff in the Marine Fisheries Division’s Manteo office.

Fisheries officials note that almaco jack can be easily mistaken for other amberjack species, such as the greater amberjack, aka Seriola dumerili, or lesser amberjack, aka Seriola fasciata.

The almaco jack can be distinguished by the tall and elongated second dorsal fin and anal fin, darker body color, gill raker count and alignment of the maxilla (upper lip) relative to the eye. Lesser amberjacks are also much smaller with the current International Game Fish Association’s world record weighing 12 pounds.

For more information on state record fish, go to the division’s State Saltwater Records webpage or contact the North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Tournament staff at saltwater.citations@deq.nc.gov.

If you travel sandy coast lines anywhere in this country you will see piers. They are popular places to visit the beach without getting sandy, to enjoy the sea, and, of course, to go fishing.

Unfortunately, too many people who try to fish at our piers won’t really have any success and will be disappointed. Here are a couple of tips to help you find some good action at any of our piers.

For starters, we need to determine what is meant by a pier. I’m talking about a structure built on pilings that is above the surface of a body of water. Specifically, we will be directly referring to those that are on ocean beaches.

Along the North Carolina coast, we have them almost everywhere, from Avalon in the north at Kill Devil Hills, as far south as Sunset Beach.

Each of them will have local technical expertise that will separate the rookies from what we used to call “The Sharpies,” however there are things that we’re here to talk about to get us all started.

On all piers, there are fish to possibly be caught from the front, to the very end. As Maria from “The Sound of Music” always says, “Let’s start at the beginning. A very good place to start.”

When you first venture across the sand, there will be fish right in the surf zone. From there on, pan-sized fish that are very popular to pursue, both for their willingness to get involved and the pleasure they bring when we get them home, will be present. There’s a very simple way to get them, but as with all things to do with fishing, it’s the details that make the day.

Use with a light rod. Something that can handle a 15-pound test braided line and a 1-ounce pyramid sinker without flexing all the way down, but with a responsive tip. There will be a myriad of options for bait fishing rigs for sale in the shops and at the pier itself. If you are able, forgo those choices and make your own.

Start with a monofilament line that is no more than 30-pound test. Do not, repeat NOT, use anything with wire. Tie in two dropper loops (diagrams available wherever diagrams are sold), attach a small orange bead and a size 1/0 circle hook to one, then a pink bead and the same kind of hook to the other.  If you don’t want to tie your own, purchase the one that is the closest to this description. This is THE main difference between people catching, and those watching.

There are lots of options for bait, depending on your industriousness and abilities. The top would be sand fleas that you just dug from the surf yourself. There are those who will par boil them quickly and freeze. Next choice would be pieces of fresh shrimp. (You’ll notice I don’t mention frozen shrimp). Regardless, most savvy anglers also use a very small piece of Fishbites brand in the shrimp flavor, which is a scent infused natural product that adds appeal. It’s available everywhere. 

Bites will come as fast taps. With the circle hooks you will not miss as many strikes as you will otherwise if you happen to leave your rod unattended.

A note about that: I once lost a rod while fishing a live minnow from the pier untended. Guy standing there said, “Shot out there about 10-, 15-foot.”

This method will work for pompano, sea mullet, or pretty much anything that frequents the surf zone. If spots are running, substitute with sea worms for bait and try a size 2 hook. That usually happens in fall. Let me add that being observant to successful people is a good idea and most are glad to help.

Most piers have a rule limiting anglers to two rods. Not everyone follows. But if you do, your other rod should be set up with a Gotcha/Jerk Jigger plug. This is a lure that when it’s retrieved with a twitch-pause retrieve, won’t pop out of the water while being high up in the air like on a pier.

Attach it to your line with a 30-pound monofilament leader. They are so effective that some people use them all the time wherever bluefish, Spanish mackerel, or false albacore are surface feeding. But on the deck of the pier is where they shine. Not just for blues, macs, and albies either.

If you look down at the base of the pilings you will see a depressed area around each. By simply yo-yoing your plug around each piling, there is a good chance of hooking a flounder.

With a simple variation you can have a productive lure to catch anything that swims. To the end of your line, tie a three-way swivel. Tie two lengths of 20-pound line. Leave the first piece 3 feet long and the second piece 2 feet long. To the longer length attach a Gotcha plug. Any color is good as long as it’s red and white. To the shorter length tie on a D.O.A. shrimp lure in literally any color.

If fish are visible feeding on the surface, retrieve as always. If not, use a lift fall retrieve as if you’re jig fishing. Strikes will come on the drop and will be on either lure, with some large speckled trout falling to the plastic shrimp.

I’m pretty confident that with those two rods rigged and ready you will have a good chance of having success on any pier anywhere. Having said that, make sure to have a few extra of everything. Also, a fish finder rig with a piece of mullet has a chance to do SOMETHING on a day when not much else seems to be happening. Of course be ready if someone is getting and you are not, and switch it up if necessary.

Finally, fishing is supposed to be relaxing. If you’re on the pier on a busy fall day when the spots are thick, be prepared to get tangled up with someone. Just part of the way it goes. You can make your day better, or worse, by the way you handle it.

 Preparing pompano for the table

Start by completely removing the head and all entrails (ew). Now hold what’s left by the tail and scrape your knife from the back to front to remove the small scales. When you get it all it will not sound so … scrapey(?) Clean your knife blade and run it along a steel to tighten up your blade edge. Cut through the skin just to the backbone several times on each side. This is called scoring. Dust very lightly with flour and season liberally with whatever spices you like. Old Bay goes nicely.

Heat a nonstick sauté pan over medium heat with butter until it gets foamy.

Lay the fish in the pan and leave it alone. Don’t touch it, slide around, or otherwise touch it, if you mess with it, you will ruin it. After a few minutes the edges will change color slightly and will begin to come off the pan. When it’s done it will come loose and then you will see a beautiful crust has formed. Turn it over now.

Drop in a couple knots of butter and let it melt. Spoon the melted butter over the top. It won’t take long. Have a plate ready. Serve with fresh vegetables and some good bread. This is a solid date night recipe. Good luck.

There’s a type of lure that is popular worldwide, and in some places it’s the most common lure sold. If you’re casting for salmon on a river in the Northwest, looking for pike in Canada, or trolling for lake trout in the Great Lakes, you’re going to be using a spoon. But around here they are dramatically underutilized except in very specific fisheries.

Let’s examine those and also see where else we can put them to use.

According to Wikipedia, “A spoon lure is a fishing lure usually made of lustrous metal, with an oblong, usually concave shape like the bowl of a spoon.” Furthermore, they are “mainly used to attract predatory fish by specular reflection of light, as well as turbulences it creates when moving in water.”

Now that we know what, let’s talk about how.

If I were a betting man, and I’m not, I would wager that more Spanish mackerel and bluefish under 12 inches long are caught on size 00 Clark Spoons than anything else. Those anglers trolling along the beaches will drag them behind bead-chain trolling sinkers if they’re going slowly and fishing with lighter gear, or use heavier trolling rods attached to down-planers if they want to go faster and cover more area. It can be highly effective because the hooks are in the water all the time and it’s a good way to go when there are less-experienced people onboard. You’ll see this being done from the Outer Banks to Shallotte.

The next most popular way they are used is to target surface-feeding fish such as mackerel, bluefish, false albacore, or anything else. Small slender spoons that can be retrieved quickly without coming out of the water are preferred. Best are the Gunslingers made by Beach Bum Lures. They cast far and look great in the water. Even better, they are made with quality hooks that won’t break and a great finish that doesn’t get scratched off by toothy creatures.

Anyplace that fish are feeding near the surface (usually you will see them jumping clear or the splashing they make), it’s worth trying this style of spoon.

The classic Johnsons Silver Minnow spoon was first created by a retired Chicago foundry worker named Louis Johnson in 1923. The story goes, he got tired of weeds fouling his bass fishing lures. So he hammered out a spoon from the kitchen, soldered a weed guard on and attached a hook. Hence a classic was born.

Around our coast, we use gold-colored Johnson’s Spoons to blind-cast for red drum that are lurking in stained water. The flash and disturbance attract fish that come in for a closer look. You simply need to cast and retrieve. No fancy rod manipulation is necessary.

Be aware that since the tie-in point is directly in line with the hook bend, it can easily get hooked up to oyster bars. This is a scourge and there are many of my spoons out there.

The biggest reds ever caught in my boat were taken on Johnson’s spoons. I don’t remember the guy’s name, but he had been among the first Marines to arrive in Baghdad. His father purchased a day for him to fish with me back when I was doing that. As you might expect with three young guys barely out of their teens, there was a lot of “talking,” but very fun.

We saw a school of especially large reds, I got the boat into position and all three of them proceeded to cast in every direction but the one where the fish were.

To take the pressure off, I said, “I thought they DIDN’T use chemical weapons on you guys!” That made them all crack up hysterically and they all then proceeded to catch giant monsters.

Another great use for spoon lures is vertical jigging. In trying to remember the different species of fish I’ve using this technique, it’s almost bewildering. Suffice it to say that with the right-sized spoon,  and accounting for the depth and current, there is not a predatory fish that swims in fresh or saltwater that will refuse. I was going to list them all but it’s just too much. Instead, I’ll concentrate on a method that works for any fish that is congregating around bottom structures. That includes wrecks, reefs, and rocks.

Start by selecting the proper spoon. In this situation, I prefer plain silver or gold Stingsilvers. Select the short, fat, 3-ounce model. Switch the hook to a single 3/0 O’Shaugnessy. Nothing fancy or expensive. You’re going to leave some on the bottom. Rig your leader with 40-pound monofilament. Otherwise, you’ll also leave a lot in the mouths of fish you never see.

Identify a patch or reef you want to check out. Drop to the bottom as quickly as possible. You’ll have to adjust how much line you have depending on the depth. The faster you drift, the more line you will be letting out. Strikes will come on the fallback to the bottom. You’ll most likely feel a slight “tick” in your hand. Strike quickly, then be ready for anything.

I’ve hooked everything from pinfish to tarpon, with predictable results for each. If there are king mackerel you are going to want wire.

As many fish species that I have caught doing vertical jigging, I would recommend being prepared to use it anytime you are fishing in deep water, and fish are showing up on your depth finder screen. If something is dangling in their faces, they probably won’t be able to resist.

So basically, there are lots of ways to fish spoons. The guys on the Jersey Shore are catching huge striped bass offshore. If you travel to the Great Lakes tributaries and you don’t know what else to do, you do now. The biggest walleye I ever caught was a 12-pounder through the ice on a vertically jigged spoon.

Spoon feed ’em. They’ll eat!

Recently I was relaxing on the pier. It was a gorgeous day and many folks were enjoying it. The only sounds were waves washing on shore, gulls having their usual conversations, and occasionally one could hear voices and snippets of people chatting.

I was just zoning in and seeing some blues and Spanish mackerel feeding.

Peaceful.

It all changed when this “person” turned on a huge speaker and cranked the knob off. It was akin to the sound of ice breaking underfoot and about as welcome.

It’s a personal preference but I found, through extensive research (I asked a bunch of people I know), that there are definitely commonalities to be found.

Michael Howlett of Newport used to run big boat charters in Oahu. They would always have music playing when fishing offshore for mahi mahi, tuna, marlin. Sometimes it was a while between bites but usually it added to the fun of the day for the tourists who would come out for the day.

I used to fish quite a bit with a friend, Bryan Pahmeier of Titusville, Florida, who is gone now and who had a really nice sound system wired up in his flats boat. He’d use it when running to new spots but not early in the morning.

Justin Manners of Jacksonville says it depends which fish and at what depth. “Ocean, I say go for it. Deeper water bottom fishing for bull drum, catfish, etcetera, go for it. Fishing flats, I’m not going to take a chance.”

This seems to be the theme, as we continue to see.

Ryan Furtak, a fly-fishing guru from Scranton, Pennsylvania, who is the master of the Upper Delaware River system, has an interesting take: “Loud music is completely fine. Under these conditions: Smallmouth bass fishing. I never found they cared. Definitely not while trout fishing or saltwater flats fishing. Spook large trout 100% of the time. Spook flats fish and won’t be able to properly communicate with the guy poling the boat. Otherwise, as long as nobody is around to be disturbed, crank it up.”

Chris Medlin of Surf City offers a measured response, appropriate for the mayor’s son: “Hmmm, I’d say we should just tolerate it because I just don’t want rule after rule on our outdoor activities.”

Those are the people who have mixed feelings or are more open to loud music. I have a lot of friends who are adamant about their opposition, to say the least.

Tim Still of Havelock enters Focus Mode where music is unwelcome. “Well, I’m against it for the same reason I turn off my radio completely when I’m parallel parking. I don’t like the distraction, but I’m not sure if it affects the fish.”

I feel the same way about parallel parking, for sure.

If you talk to Capt. Harry from Kitty Hawk, he’ll tell you, “That’s a hard no while fishing except when traveling, but then it depends on what’s playing.”

Rob Snowhite of Washington, D.C., “despises” having to listen to others’ music on the water. “Never play mine while out for same reason. Maybe going from Point A to Point B”, but even then he says, be considerate.

Now we start to get into the real meat of the conversation. People who are passionate and experienced at fishing for the big ones in the shallows like Rick Patterson of Cape Carteret, “I personally wouldn’t. I believe having loud music playing would definitely spook reds in shallow water.” 

As we’ll see, the more technical the fish you are target, the more likely you will find that anglers don’t want any extra sound. Dave Bernstein of Morehead City gets right to the point, “Never have music on while fishing.”

David Edens of Hilton Head fly fishes 98% of the time. He says that redfish on the low tides are super spooky but, “It’s Ok when I am fishing bait in deep waters. Just not too loud.”

Rip Woodin of Rocky Mount, a confirmed fly fisherman who was taught to fish in the mountains, is unequivocal, “No.” (He may have added a colorful word for emphasis.)

Kristi Irvin, who now lives in Italy, came up with a response that matched her lovely personality, “Good Morning, my friend!  How are you?  Thanks for asking my opinion. First, I love music. It’s a huge part of my life. I never listen to music while fishing however.  I love the sounds of what’s going on around me.   When I first head out, the sounds of nature are exhilarating and relaxing at the same time. Then, most times, I’m so absorbed that even the most beautiful sounds fade away and I’m in my own world. The only time I’ve ever enjoyed playing music while fishing is when I’m on a charter boat at sea and we are making our run in or out.”

See what I mean? So nice.

Personally, I never have music on while on the water. I’m too into the sounds in my own head. As Norman Mclean tells us in “A River Runs Through It,” “The best part of fishing is that soon the whole world is full of thoughts of nothing but fishing.”

It would seem that the general consensus is that playing music while fishing is fine but in moderation. Not so loudly that it bothers the fish and definitely be considerate of others while out there. Just because it’s not illegal, doesn’t mean it’s always the right thing to do.

Recently, we’ve discussed recording memories by taking better photos. We’ve also seen what makes a great fishing companion as well as memorable individual fish. But what really makes a fishing trip one to remember?

Is it just about the catching? Is it just ripping fish out of the water as fast as possible like some kind of machine, or getting the very biggest fish anybody’s ever seen? Or maybe it’s just a combination of those things … or, as the Grinch found out, maybe it’s just a little bit more.

I was lucky enough to spend a week on the Nushagak River in Alaska. It was going to be a friend of mine and a couple of his old high school friends there. The first two days were slow as the fish were not in the river. I read two novels.

On the third morning, I saw a 35-pound king salmon jumping all across the river. This was when I figured out the purpose of this trip.

They had a gas-powered generator set up for the sole purpose of running a chest freezer they had flown in. Fish were slaughtered as quickly as they could be hauled in. To make matters worse, they could not speak a sentence without using the f-bomb as every part of speech — sometimes all in the same sentence.

It quickly becomes akin to being hit with a two-by-four. I was surrounded by shiny, silver, bright salmon and also subjected to the most ignorant people with whom I had ever been stuck. There’s no accounting for how many fish I caught. But it was unending torture — not a situation I would ever want to repeat. I don’t even have any photos.

Conversely, I’ve been on some trips in which I caught very few fish, or even none, but those indeed became memorable because they included one great catch. Such was the case in catching a wild 20-inch-long brown trout behind the home of an old friend.

Then there was the huge largemouth bass I got on a 7-foot-long fly rod made by my brother.

Or maybe it was the redfish that is still the biggest one I ever caught on a fly rod while I was guided by another friend who in this case is no longer with us. (Side note: What do we do with the contact information of those who have left us?) Were those trips made better by the company? Most people would not consider a trip with only one caught fish to very memorable.

John Geirach once said, “Maybe your stature as a fly fisherman isn’t determined by how big a trout you can catch, but by how small a trout you can catch without being disappointed.”

Of course, once you say something like this, some wise guy has to be all tough and tell you how wrong you are, and real anglers only catch “Big Uns.” You know what? That’s fine for that guy, we all progress differently.

For me, I’d say that the answer lies somewhere in between. There have been the days when actual hundreds of fish were caught. Of course, there have also been times when nothing happened. I have had great trips in both situations.

What was the difference? It really comes down to the company.

I’ve been stuck in remote places with the worst company. I’ve also been fireside with good dudes after a long day and been exhausted after dragging a raft around a waterfall, knowing that the next morning would bring a good time with good fishing. I’ve been awakened in the middle of the night by salmon splashes next to my tent, and then I woke up everyone else, and we all tied into monsters.

For every trip to places like Alaska or Hawaii (big bonefish) there are dozens more with people we know and places where we are more familiar.

My father, Don Churchill, who was a huge influence on everything in my life, used to fish with me all the time. About seven years ago we took a golf cart onto an old, closed-for-business, golf course. We had a great time catching bass on fly and plastic worms. It seemed that every spot we tried had a fish or two.

It was a great day made even more exciting by my father catching a giant fish. When it jumped, it seemed to clear the bankside brush by several feet and made a sound like a canoe paddle smacking the water when it came down. Now of course, a fish like that makes any trip memorable. With my father being the one who got it and him not being able to fish at all now, it makes it even more so.

So it seems like our most memorable and meaningful fishing trips are those where the fish we caught may have been a factor, but more important was to have the people who matter really make it.

As Isaak Walton used to tell us, “Good company in a journey maketh the way seem shorter.”

That’s pretty much it.

If you have been fishing for any length of time there are certain fish that stick in your mind.

This means different things to different people. I don’t know what it says about me that the most memorable fish in my memory are the ones I didn’t even land. Nothing good, I’m sure.

I used to flyfish the Delaware River along the New York-Pennsylvania border. It’s an area well known for producing large, wild trout that fight with abandon.

Indeed, I have caught numerous brown and rainbow trout of 20 inches or better. Including a 24-inch made more memorable not for just being the largest trout I had ever caught from a body of water not connected to the Great Lakes, which is full of huge fish by the way, but also because my brother Eamon, also caught a monster that day and we were accompanied by a great friend named Ryan.

So yes, it was a big fish. Was it made more memorable because of the company? Or even more by the memory of one I hooked years before and took off like it had been shot out of cannon never to be seen? Or, a bigger one than that, which jumped in my face and left me with a bent hook? If we go often enough, this happens to us all.

I literally can smell the water and hear sounds of splashing rapids in a little pool of a stream near my dad’s house, which I had fished literally a hundred times, as I caught numerous small trout. Then one cast later, I was connected to something else that left the premises quickly. I couldn’t tell you how many fish I caught that evening, but that one memory is sealed in.

My father happened to be sitting streamside enjoying the evening as well, and he said, “What just happened there?”

Did that add to the memories as well?

Tarpon have never been a common catch for me due to the distance between them and me. All the ones I have come across have been memorable.

The first one I ever caught was late at night under a bridge in the Florida Keys, as they all have been, mostly, with one notable exception. My buddy was coughing up a tornado in our hotel in the middle of the night and I had to get out. Some guy we knew had pointed a spot out to me as a good place for night fishing. I had a casting rod that was more suited for bass fishing, but I figured it wouldn’t matter anyway.

I was totally wrong. It was happening! Large shrimp were being washed by the outgoing current and the tarpon were on.

I didn’t know what lures to use and I wasn’t prepared in any way. I cast a Rapala swimming plug and twitched it on top. In three seconds, I was stuck to a leaping brute. It wasn’t huge for a tarpon, but for me it was astounding. It jumped clean out of the water what seemed like dozens of times. Miracle of miracles it then was laying at my feet.

What happened next was foggy but here I was with a 50-pound fish that had multiple treble hooks flying around, and I didn’t really know how sharp a tarpon’s gill plates were. Needless to say, I got hooked. I was to shake it out just before the barb pushed in and the fish then did me the favor of getting off and swimming away.

Obviously, I have pretty clear memories from that encounter. Even so, sometimes I think about that night and have questions about the whole process. However, as is often the case with me, one that I didn’t catch remains crystal clear in my memory.

The same is true of another night move with another old fishing buddy.

He had already caught a small tarpon and we were stoked. Small jacks and ladyfish were keeping us busy and it was a good time. Then I saw a VERY large fish swirl and take up a feeding station right in front of me.

I made a cast. It was a little short.

Again.

This next part plays out in my mind time and again: My little shrimp fly swam past Goliath. She turned to it, turned away, then came back all the way over and slurped it while going away. My rod doubled and she flew out of the water.

Next thing was my line dissolving off my reel. She jumped again an impossible distance away. My leader was frayed off and it seemed to take forever to reel my dead line back. Off to my right I heard, “Well that was something.”

Again, a perfect, clear memory of a failed catch.

Of course, the only tarpon I ever hooked in North Carolina left me similarly empty-handed but thrilled nonetheless. It might be a character defect that I remember these instances so much more vividly.

As you may be able to tell, I’ve been fortunate enough to fish a lot of amazing places with some special people. A few of them are no longer with us and I think of them often.

There have been many giant fish that others have only ever seen in magazines. I wrote some of those articles.

I’ve said this before, I’ve been from one end of this continent to the other and been blessed with many incredible fishing experiences, but the times I’ve spent fishing with my child really have been life-changing and those that stick with me years and years later.

As Mr. Thoreau once told me:

“Our moments of inspiration are not lost though we have no particular poem to show for them; for those experiences have left an indelible impression, and we are ever and anon reminded of them.”

It’s no accident.

A father-son duo from Grimesland, while fishing recently off the coast of Ocracoke, established state records for two species: a channel scabbardfish (Evoxymetopon taeniatus) and a spinycheek scorpionfish (Neomerinthe hemingwayi).

There were no previous state records for either species, according to a Wednesday announcement from the Division of Marine Fisheries, which is under the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.

Jody Hopkins landed what officials called a “rarely encountered and deep-dwelling” channel scabbardfish that weighed 7 pounds, 3.2 ounces. The fish measured 60 inches total length from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail and had a 10.25-inch girth.

Hopkins’ son, Oden, landed a spinycheek scorpionfish, weighing in at 4 pounds, 6.4 ounces. The fish measured 20.63 inches total length and had a girth of 13.63 inches.

The Hopkinses were jigging 33 miles off Ocracoke July 13 in nearly 700 feet of water, both using a torpedo jig, a Dragon Strike DSC-633 rod and a Gomexus SX450L reel with 30-pound line and a 50-pound leader. The two fish were weighed in at Neuse Sport Shop in Kinston.

This is Jody Hopkins’ second state-record fish for 2025. He established a state record for bulleye in June.

The International Game Fish Association, or IGFA, current world record for the channel scabbardfish is 9 pounds, 9 ounces. That fish was landed in the Bahamas in 2023. This is one of only a few dozen recorded observations of this species in the Western Atlantic.

The channel scabbardfish was taken to the Division of Marine Fisheries headquarters in Morehead City for identification. Biologists worked with the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh to identify, photograph and collect genetic samples from the fish that will be donated to the museum’s permanent specimen collection.

The spinycheek scorpionfish unofficially tied the existing IGFA world record that was landed in Virginia in 2015. Fisheries officials advise anglers to handle any species of scorpionfish with care as the spines of the fish are venomous and dangerous.

For more information on state record fish, visit the state saltwater records webpage or contact the N.C. Saltwater Fishing Tournament staff at saltwater.citations@deq.nc.gov.

Stand on the beach on a nice summer day. Look out at the ocean. It’s what we do most of the time anyway.

See those boats cruising slowly parallel to the beach, anywhere from a hundred yards to as far out as you can see? Check if they have trolling lines out. I bet you they are trying to catch Spanish mackerel.

Hours and hours of effort are spent each year from April to October — along the North Carolina coast — in pursuit of the tasty, gold-spotted speedsters. Let’s take a look at when they are around and the myriad ways they can be pursued.

There are a lot of ways to do it, depending on the season and your preferred methods of fishing.

Sometime around Mother’s Day is when I usually expect the first big run of Spanish to make their appearance. A week either side is when you’ll see big schools rushing baitfish along the beaches, wrecks and rocks.

These fish are very aggressive, hungry and can be caught in a variety of ways. My favorite way is to cast to visibly feeding fish. A light spinning rod with a 2500-series spinning reel loaded with 15-pound test braided line will suffice. Cast a metal jig like a Stingsilver or Beach Bum that matches the size of the forage fish and retrieve at a high rate of speed.

Attach the jig to your main line with a bite leader of around a foot of 40-pound test fluorocarbon line. This will help keep them from stealing your lures and the fluorocarbon disappears in the water. The strikes will come fast and hard and it will feel like you’re snagged in the middle of the ocean. This is a great time to break out the fly rod you’ve been thinking about trying in saltwater.

Use an 8-weight rod loaded with a floating fly line attached to a 9-foot saltwater style 10-pound test leader with a 40-pound test fluorocarbon bite tippet. Any small, flashy minnow imitating streamer fly will get a bite.

These fish are on the move and eating everything.

Another easy way to pursue these early season fish is to simply troll a deep-diving swimming plug like a Yozuri DD around the visible feeding activity. No extra hardware is needed beyond a wire leader of about 12 inches long to protect against that impressive Spanish dental work.

If you are trolling and there are casters around, please be considerate and don’t troll right through the school of breaking fish. Trolling around the edge of the schools will still get you bites, and the fish will continue feeding on top.

The first spring run is impressive but the fish will be moving fast. One day, they will be like stars in the night sky; the next day, it will be over. They won’t have disappeared entirely but the huge abundance will be gone. Then they settle into the summer pattern.

Summer is a little less exciting. There won’t be the mass panic of huge schools coming north, but the fish are still there. You may have to cover more ground to find them but you can catch them. You can still cast to actively feeding fish when you find them, but they won’t be as prevalent.

Light tackle trolling with deep-diving plugs will still work, but having to cover so much more water necessitates a higher trolling speed that isn’t practical with light gear. This is when heavier trolling rods and planer boards will come out.

Attach a planer to 30-pound test monofilament. To the end of that tie about 10 to 15 feet of 20-pound test line with a short wire leader. Put a trolling lure like the venerable Clark Spoon out there. Troll at around 5 knots. You’ll have to handline the fish the last bit of the way to the boat after the planer board is brought to the rod.

This is an easy way to fish and a good way to fill a cooler in the summer months.

Something I really look forward to is the fall run of “macks.” They will come to the beaches in good numbers most years and surfcasters can have a blast. I prefer a fast-action rod, 8 to 9 feet long, and a 300-series reel with 15-pound test braided line. Make sure you have a bite leader. I use the 1-ounce casting spoons from Stingsilver or Beach Bum and with this set up I can cast them to the moon. Retrieve at a moderate to fast pace. The strikes will be stiff. This will start to happen at the end of September and into October. The biggest Spanish mackerel of the year seem to be caught around shoals and inlets right until around Columbus Day.

Finally, a word about preparation of these tasty speedsters.

Cut the dark strip of meat out of the middle of the fillets. Don’t fry them. Use dry preparation methods. Best is to broil or grill them. Use a fish basket and cook fillets over direct heat. Finish with lemon butter.

If you have a smoker these will go nicely. Try a dry brine with 1 cup of kosher salt, ½ cup of brown sugar, add spices like garlic, onion, paprika, pepper or whatever you like. Put the fillets on a pan and cover with 1/2 the salt mixture. Put in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Flip the fish pieces and cover with the rest of the salt. Let it sit again. You can leave it longer than an hour. I’ve done it overnight. Take the fish out and give a quick rinse with cold water to get all the salt off the outside of the meat. There should not be any visible salt left but be quick.

Now it has to dry completely. You can leave it overnight in the fridge.

Set your smoker for 160 degrees. After an hour, brush a 50-50 mixture of soy sauce and maple syrup. Then do it again after every 30 minutes. Smoke for two hours minimum but two and half is probably better. This is as close to candy as you can make from fish.

This also works with small bluefish, which can be caught in the exact ways and times as detailed above.

Spanish mackerel provide fun almost all season long. The fishing isn’t too difficult, and they provide a nice treat on the table too.

It’s no secret what the glory fish are for targeting in coastal North Carolina. Ones like the speckled trout, red drum, flounder, king mackerel, and a bunch others are really the glamour fish for people to target. People get a lot of joy out of targeting them and some great memories and photos are made when the target species are acquired.

But I’m going to level with you here, there’s been more than one occasion when those fish have not made their appearance known in my boat. Sometimes “other” fish are the only things that show up that day.

We are going to discuss what those interlopers are, what they do, and what you may want to be aware of when dealing with them.

Aptly named pinfish

First, we are going to talk about the fish that “people say” is the most abundant species of finned fish in our waters, the pinfish, or Lagodon rhomboides. Of course, we all know what “people say” is not always accurate but I’ve talked to a few people who know what they’re talking about, and pinfish are everywhere.

If you have ever had a hook cleaned of whatever expensive bait you were using, chances are it was by a pinfish. The chances are higher when you’re using live shrimp and are targeting some large trophy trout or flounder. The only way you can avoid catching pinfish is by not fishing with bait at all. If you are using some type of cut or live bait, pinfish are going to get you.

When you catch a pinfish, first thing that you will notice is that they are aptly named. They have little spines like pins seemingly projecting from every corner. When you get them in, you should hold them in such a way that you can push down the spines from the top to the bottom to be sure your fingers are not getting stabbed. Think about petting a cat from the front to the back.

I have been told that in some places people eat pinfish, but in my experience around here, due their small size, any pinfish that you catch is probably not going to be worth the effort. They are a member of the porgy family, which in a larger species such as sheepshead, includes great table fare.

Skates, rays

Another common misdirection are the skates and the rays, or Batomorphi. One quick walk along any of our area piers or beaches will show you in a short period of time that most people, when they’re hooked into large fish that gives a really good kind of themselves, are usually hooked up to skates or rays.

The first time I recall hooking one was when I was fishing off of a beach near St. Petersburg, Florida, live-lining for the large snook that were known to be present. Well, that big ray ran out all my line — almost to the end of the spool — before it finally turned around at the last second. (Note: I ended up with a 20-pound snook later.)

Rays have an interesting defense mechanism that they use to protect themselves from their main predators — sharks. They swing their tails around and try to poke the sharks in the eyes with the sharp barbs on their tails. Unfortunately for us, they don’t know the difference between a shark or the angler that’s pulling them out of the water. I have a nice scar on my lower leg from not taking enough care while bringing a ray into a boat. It didn’t feel good, I used many words unfit for inclusion here, and that is all I will say about the episode.

I should point this out: Because of my bad experience with rays, take what I have to say with a grain of salt. But my No. 1 tip regarding these guys: Don’t mess around. With a big ray that you don’t feel comfortable with just cut the line. Don’t risk it.

No. 2 is a trick I see a lot on the piers. The angler will actually step on the tail of the ray to control the dangerous end and then work the hook out. After that, they carefully flap them back into water. Still, I see guys getting hit on the hand by that gnarly barb, so always refer to No. 1: Don’t mess around if you’re inexperienced.

Holy flounder? No, robin

Another “popular” species, is the sea robin, or Prionotinae. If you drop a bait to the bottom in order to catch flounder, chances are you will also get to meet the acquaintance of several sea robins.

Named for their so called “wings,” these appendages are actually feet the sea robins use to walk around on the bottom in areas of heavy current.

They are primarily known as bottom feeders but I have caught them on every kind of lure or fly you can imagine, including on a top-water fly during a false albacore bite. That was kind of a surprise.

They are relatively easy to deal with. They have a hard point on their gill covers, so be aware, and I usually flatten down the wings as well to keep them from getting hurt. Then I just flop them back in the water. No reason for anything else.

A pox on fish houses

If there were any single fish that I would consider to be a scourge, or to paraphrase ole’ Bill Shakespeare, a pox on all fishing houses, it would be the lizardfish, or Synodontidae.

When a lizardfish first bites, it feels like you have something good, for about 1 second. Then they pop around, and then it’s over. Any carefully prepared bait, soft plastic lure, hard lure, trolling lure, anything else you can think of, they will bite it and mess it up.

If you are trout fishing in a particular creek in the fall, and you catch a lizardfish, then it’s time to move.

I have had some massive strikes that I really thought were something good, and then it’s the same old thing – lizardfish. They are also known amongst many anglers by particular sobriquet that will remain unspoken for this purpose, due to the fact that lizardfish seem to be a fish without a purpose.

Other ‘others’

There are many other “other” fish, that we have not mentioned, the main one being sharks. Sharks are close relatives of skates and rays.

All I will say about sharks is, refer to aforementioned Tip No. 1: If you don’t know what you’re doing, then just leave them alone.

Some of the big ones can hurt you pretty badly, and they can bite their own tail, if that gives you any idea of hazards to watch out for. Anglers who know what they’re doing have a lot of fun pursuing big sharks, and if you don’t know how, find one of those guys and go with them. They will have all the equipment and all the know-how you need to stay safe — you and the fish.

We’ve talked a lot about how to catch certain fish and what it takes to be a good angler. There’s one thing that makes a big difference to everybody. Others may not even notice or pay attention to these things. The whole point is that paying attention to them makes the whole difference.

Good anglers are concerned with details.

I guarantee you that the person you see who just seems to randomly toss a bait out but catches fish all the time is paying attention to something you or I may not notice. The little details count and add up to big successes later on. If you don’t see these things chances are you’re not going catch fish in a lot of situations that other people will.

Of course, careful gear inspection should go without saying, but years ago, skilled angler Owen Mulvey learned that overlooked details such as an unnoticed ding or a scratch can have explosive results. Often when a rod blows apart like the one shown above, it’s from pulling too hard with too much drag, or pulling the rod too far back. But even a gentle bump against a rock that can happen while rigging the rod could inflict an easy-to-miss injury with similar effects. Graphite can get very brittle when it gets a chip — I’m talking little stuff.

But beyond gear, the real nuances to notice are in nature.

Let’s start out with an easy one, there’s a fairly popular place to catch speckled trout in September and October not too far from my house. If you go there and you cast to one side, you will catch nothing but lizardfish. You cast on the other side, you’ll catch speckled trout.

At first there is no difference between the two sides, in fact if you didn’t pay attention, you might never notice. But on the good side is the outside bend of the creek where the water flows a little deeper, faster, and has an undercut back. On the bad side, there’s not much current and all that’s there are the aforementioned lizardfish. If you and I go fishing there, if you don’t pay attention, I’ll catch every fish and you won’t get anything, and that’s the way it goes with detail-oriented anglers.

Let’s go to a very specific night of speckled trout fishing with a fly rod. We were casting to big trout under the lights. For some reason we just couldn’t get a bite. I finally noticed some very small minnows — I mean tiny. I changed to a fly that I had tied for the false albacore run in the early season, when the small bay anchovies are in. That did the trick. For the rest of the evening we were catching very large speckled trout and a couple of beautiful citation fish.

If I had not been paying attention to the small details, we would’ve gone home without anything. Instead, we had a very memorable night that we still talk about today.

One of the things that I was well known for was fishing for redfish in very shallow water with a flyrod. It involves details on top of details. First, we had to be able to see the fish. If you couldn’t see it at all, you were not even in the game.

Once you locate a fish, usually by its waving tail or some more subtle indication, such as a glimmer of a shiny back or something else that, if you don’t know what you’re looking at, you won’t see it, then you need to know how to approach the fish within casting distance without spooking it.

Once you determine how far the fish is from you, then you have to notice the direction it is facing.

If it sounds like a lot of things can go wrong, it can. If you haven’t practiced your casting, there’s a lot of chances to mess it up. Not leading your target appropriately will lead to a blown-out fish – spooked and gone in a watery cloud of silt.

The very grass that draws the fish in, becomes an obstruction because it becomes very difficult to cast sometimes and you have to wait for the fish to move into an open area. But these very things that make it difficult are the exact reasons that I enjoyed it so much. Noting the details and working out the problems will allow you to catch a fish that other people may not even know of — that to me is the true essence of fishing.

On the most basic level, paying attention to small details will help you become a better angler. You should always check your tackle before heading out. Know how your line is, reels are, if you rod is about to break or something else stupid. What are you going to do if you hook a big fish? Are you going to be prepared? These are the details. Because if you’re not ready beforehand when the time comes you will not have success. All the great anglers whom I talk to all say the same thing: Have a plan, know the details, know how the fish are going to react. All these things are what make good anglers into great anglers.

I realize that I have talked about this before and in many different ways, but I really believe it. A big-time football coach doesn’t go into game without knowing every detail of the game plan from each and every one of his assistant coaches. A big-shot businessman always makes sure everybody is on the same page before progressing. The president of the United States does not assign people to cabinet positions off the top of his head without knowing what every person is going to be doing. You just don’t do that. That’s dumb.

There’s a reason that the term “detail-oriented” is often used to describe the very best of the best people we admire. You should incorporate that into your fishing as well.

A senator representing five Piedmont counties has introduced an amendment to a House bill that, if it becomes law, will prohibit shrimp trawling in all of North Carolina’s inland waters and within a half-mile of the Atlantic Ocean shoreline.

Despite protests from a coastal senator and several commercial fishing representatives, two Senate committees that met Tuesday were in favor of amending House Bill 442, which Rep. Frank Iler, R-Brunswick, filed in March “to restore recreational fishing for flounder and red snapper in North Carolina.”

Iler said to both committees Tuesday that there wasn’t much of a recreational flounder season last year. He was referring to the harvest seasons established by the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission, which manages flounder and red snapper fisheries. The commission votes on management plans that determines when those species can be harvested.

As the bill made its way through the House and then to the Senate, its language focused solely on expanding recreational access to southern flounder and red snapper, but that changed Tuesday morning during the Senate’s agriculture, energy, and environment committee meeting. The committee approved the amendment and then referred it to that afternoon’s Senate rules and operations committee, which also voted in favor of the bill.

Sen. David Craven Jr., R-Anson, who also represents Montgomery, Randolph, Richmond and Union counties, introduced the amendment to put North Carolina “on par” with regulations in force in Virginia and South Carolina.

He said that the estimated bycatch, or unwanted species, that comes with shrimp trawling is 4 pounds of bycatch to every pound of shrimp harvested, “which is a lot of other species of fish that’s getting caught in the net, potentially dying,” he said. “This has been an issue for quite some time, and I think it’s time this body addressed it.”

The amendment details the penalties a commercial fishing operation would face if caught “Taking or attempting to take shrimp using a trawl net in any coastal fishing waters other than areas of the Atlantic Ocean located more than one-half mile from the shoreline.”

When Committee Chair Sen. Brent Jackson, R-Pender, opened the floor to elected leaders for comment, Sen. Bobby Hanig, R-Currituck, was the first to speak. Hanig asked why not wait for the results from an ongoing lawsuit filed in 2020 by the Coastal Conservation Association — North Carolina to ban shrimp trawling and the results of a study commissioned in 2022 on the issue.

“Why the urgency all of a sudden and at the 23rd hour?” Hanig asked.

Hanig said he was also concerned with “what data was used to support the amendment to put the hardworking men and women that work in our fishing industry every day out of a job and completely shut down an entire industry?

“Seventy five percent of the shrimp that are caught in the state of North Carolina are caught where this amendment is affected,” said Hanig.

Craven responded that there was no intent to put anybody out of business.

“I believe these fine folks can trawl a half-mile off the coast of North Carolina,” and continue to shrimp. He added that work had been done on a separate matter to ensure there’s “compensation during that time to make sure that we get these folks transitioned.”

Craven said shrimpers must “understand that they will have a process to move through from doing what they do on a daily basis now to kind of moving and changing into going out in the coastal waters.”

Hanig, with no time to ask further questions, urged the committee to reject the amendment.

“This bill started out as a great step forward, one that restores reasonable access to flounder for both recreational and commercial fisheries. This bill comes from progress, cooperation, long-overdue relief from closures derived from flawed science and outdated rules that hurt both industries,” said Hanig.

“Throwing this trawling ban at the 23rd hour undermines the intent and spirit of the bill. It reeks of the same old sleazy, backroom politics and special interests that caused North Carolina endless wars, endless fish wars,” he continued. It’s “disgraceful what we’re doing to the citizens of North Carolina. This is nothing short of special interest and backroom deals. There’s no question about it. That’s why no one was instructed about this amendment.”

Sen. Julie Mayfield, D-Buncombe, said both the original bill and the amendment were taking what should be collaborative, scientifically based decisions out of that realm.

“I’m always worried about this body overruling, for instance, the Marine Fisheries Commission on the flounder and the snapper,” Mayfield said, noting that there’s a shrimp management plan and shrimp working group that’s been together for years, working on and improving trawling and bycatch regulations.

During both committee meetings, supporters and opponents of the amendment explained their positions.

North Carolina Fisheries Association Executive Director Glenn Skinner said that, as a lifelong commercial fisherman, “I probably don’t have tell y’all we are opposed to this trawl ban amendment.”

Skinner said that because the CCA-NC lawsuit and the study were ongoing, “I just can’t help but think that it’s no coincidence that we’re talking about this trawl ban in the same year, both of those are supposed to come before a judge and before this General Assembly.”

Chad Thomas, on behalf of the nonprofit North Carolina Marine and Estuary Foundation, said that while the state “has been a leader in the effort to reduce bycatch, and although the need to protect critical habitats is well documented, legislative action is necessary to ensure the enhancement of nearly 900,000 additional acres of inshore habitats that are critical to our fish and shellfish populations. After careful review of the available science, our foundation’s conclusion is that the shrimp trawl legislation, as proposed in House Bill 442 would bring a huge step closer to this protection goal.”

Brent Fulcher, a business owner with operations in New Bern and Beaufort, said he doesn’t “understand how you would even think about taking the fresh North Carolina seafood away from the North Carolina consumer, and run the risk to ruin infrastructure for the entire industry and other sister industries.”

Cameron Boltes, a former Marine Fisheries Commission member, said he, as “one of 460,000 recreational anglers in North Carolina,” supported the measure. “The big point of clarification I want to make is that the bill is not a ban on trawling in North Carolina. It’s in alignment with the best management practices used by every other state in the Southeast.”

Earl Pugh, a lifetime resident of Hyde County and a former county commissioner there, said his county, as the second smallest in the state, relied heavily on the seafood industry. Seafood is one of the three major industries in Hyde County, along with agriculture and tourism, Pugh noted.

“A ban on trawling in inshore waters would be devastating to the economy of Hyde County,” he said, adding that it would take away income that fishermen, fish houses and other locals in the industry rely on.

Thomas Bell with the North Carolina Wildlife Federation praised the measure, saying it “addresses a major threat to the long-term health of North Carolina’s fisheries inshore.

“Shrimp trawling severely impacts the fisheries we depend on, killing millions of juvenile fish, degrading essential habitats and putting enormous pressure on our collapsing fish populations, including spot croaker and flounder,” said Bell. “This bill does not completely ban trawling but puts good stewardship of our estuaries first by moving shrimp trawling offshore.”

Coastal Review will not publish Thursday in recognition of the Juneteenth holiday.

HATTERAS — Long famous for its bountiful fishing, Hatteras Island now has a new state-of-the-art processing and packing facility that keeps Outer Banks fish local from sea to plate, while also enabling local fresh catch to be shipped directly to customers.

And it’s owned by a local fishing family, to boot.

“The thing was, all this fish used to go to Virginia to get processed,” owner Jeff Aiken said during a recent tour of Jeffrey’s Seafood, situated along Back Creek in Hatteras Village.

The business officially opened May 21 during a ribbon-cutting celebration.

At a time when commercial and charter fishing enterprises face multiple challenges, the new facility is especially good news, Lynne Foster wrote in a message to Coastal Review.

“Jeffrey’s brings vitality to our Working Waterfront,” said Foster who along with her husband Ernie Foster run the Hatteras-based Albatross Fleet. “It also offers hope to the fishing community as well as the island community, which include many supporting businesses that rely on a vibrant fishing fleet and the sale of their catches.”

Working nearby in the chilly, 55-degree fish-cutting room, with heavy metal music seeming to set the pace, Aiken’s son Kelsey, 35, skillfully sliced through fish, one after another, cleaning and filleting. Along with another four or so people, they work their knives swiftly on large tables from early morning hours until about noon.

“As soon as we cut it, it gets bagged, we vacuum seal it and then it’s placed in a box to be shipped,” Kelsey Aiken said. Delivery drivers transport fish to local restaurants and markets from Hatteras to Avon, and sometimes to Rodanthe and Ocracoke. Fish awaiting processing are packed in ice, or stored in large freezers.

In addition to a temperature-controlled fish cleaning and cutting area, and rooms for packing, freezers and storage, the 11,000-square-foot facility also includes Hatteras Seafoods, the new retail market on the ground floor. Additional space remains for a small restaurant that is being planned, with the idea of serving local seafood favorites as well as beer and wine.

Proper cooling is provided by on-site freezers as large as walk-in closets, and the flash freezer — 30 degrees below zero — includes three gigantic fans to keep the air moving. There is also a chute from an ice machine on the upper floor to an “ice room” below.

“This is the brand-new vacuum sealer,” Jeff Aiken said, pointing to a long, steel machine with a pressing device on top. “That’s a $35,000 piece of equipment,” he added, as Kelsey Aiken demonstrated on a rockfish, using a 4-milliliter bag.

Nearby, there is the shrimp grader, another huge machine that not only pinches off the shrimps’ little heads, but also sorts them by four different sizes.

Jeff Aiken said that the business buys most of its shrimp from Native Seafood in Ocracoke, which has a deepwater inlet.

Although the warmer water from climate change has created boom years for shrimpers from Florida to Virginia, Jeff Aiken said, most of the local catch has to be processed in Engelhard and Swan Quarter because of depth limitations for the 60-foot shrimp trawlers. But he said that he hopes they’ll be able to get smaller shrimp boats into Hatteras for processing in the near future.

The retail store displays whole fish on ice in the glass cabinet, as well as filleted fish. A large window offers the customers in the retail store a view into the remarkably shiny and clean cutting room, showing the men, all wearing gloves and waterproof overalls, as they worked.

“I wanted them to see what’s going on,” Jeff Aiken said.

Fish scraps are returned to the water, to be happily “recycled” by other sea creatures, he added.

The facility also has an upstairs area for offices, meetings and storage, with an outside deck that boasts a wide view of the creek, the Pamlico Sound and lovely sunsets. Once the new website is up and running this winter, fresh-frozen filleted fish and shellfish will be able to be ordered online and shipped next-day air directly to consumers.

Jeff Aiken, along with his then-partners, founded the original fish house at the Hatteras docks in the 1980s, soon expanding to a wholesale business that involved driving a refrigerated truck packed with fresh Outer Banks catch to Hampton, Virginia.

Over the years, Jeff Aiken’s business adapted and evolved along with the fishing industry, as numerous local fish retailers and processors downsized or closed entirely.

But it was the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when supply chain disruptions left local chefs without fish to serve, that led to the dramatic expansion of Aiken’s business.

“They said, ‘Hey, you got the fish. Can you cut the fish?’” Jeff Aiken recalled. “So from that point, it spread by word of mouth and they kept coming.”

By then, Kelsey Aiken and his wife, Kelly, had joined Jeff Aiken in the business.

Jeff Aiken said he had purchased the fish house from Lee Peele, who had owned it when it was called Quality Seafood. It is also where he worked for $5 an hour when he first came to the Outer Banks in 1981.

“We were finally out of that little space out of Hatteras Harbor and we were cleaning all the fish for the charter vessels,” he recalled.

Jeff Aiken, who is from Hampton, Virginia, where he still has a home, credits his daughter-in-law Kelly, the company’s retail manager, with securing grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2021 to renovate and enlarge the facility with the goal of improving efficiency and capacity. The business had to pony up about a third of the matching funds.

“We’re in it for a million and they’re in it for two,” Jeff Aiken said. “And they got what they paid for.”

Now local chefs at local restaurants can ask for the fish they want to be filleted to order, Kelly Aiken said. Whenever possible, she said, the fin fish as well as seasonal oysters, shrimp and crab are local catch, and Jeffrey’s continues to partner with Ocracoke and Wanchese fish operations. The business also works with a distributer to bring its fresh fish — frozen and labeled — to North Carolina farmers markets to sell.

But Jeff Aiken said while their business sells almost all North Carolina product, and would never buy foreign shrimp, it’s impossible to guarantee that all their fish is strictly from the Outer Banks since fishers work within the realities of fisheries ecosystems and seasons.

“Fish have fins and tails and they swim,” he said. “They go where ever they want.”

And some fish they sell aren’t local at all, such as salmon from Norway or Scotland.

Jeff Aiken said that they buy most of their shrimp from Native Seafood in Ocracoke, which has a deepwater inlet. Although the warmer water from climate change has created boom years for shrimpers from Florida to Virginia, he continued, most of the local catch has to be processed in Engelhard and Swan Quarter because of water depth limitations for the 60-foot trawlers. But he added that he hopes they’ll be able to get smaller shrimp boats into Hatteras for processing in the near future.

Any customers looking for a brief history of Hatteras fishing can walk to the hallway behind the retail store to view a collection of historic to contemporary photographs of fishermen, including Jeff Aiken, with their boats, their family, their friends and the fish they caught.

“We call it the Hall of Fame,” he said, adding with a laugh: “Or, the Hall of Shame.”

One prominent picture is of the Ada Mae, a skipjack built in 1915 by Ralph Hodges and named after his then 13-year-old sister, who was Jeff Aiken’s grandmother.

The vessel, a former oyster dredge boat that is believed to be the last surviving skipjack in the state, has been restored. Today the boat is moored in New Bern and has participated in the reenactment of Blackbeard’s battle on Ocracoke Island, with Jeff Aiken onboard.

“All of those guys are local fishermen,” Jeff Aiken said, in between telling numerous fish tales about the various scenes lining the walls. “These pictures kind of bring the life to commercial fishing.”

THE EDGE of the sea is a strange and beautiful place. All through the long history of Earth it has been an area of unrest where waves have broken heavily against the land, where the tides have pressed forward over the continents, receded, and then returned. For no two successive days is the shore line precisely the same.

From “The Edge of the Sea” by Rachel Carson.

Countless reviewers and critics have noted through the decades how Rachel Carson’s words above, first published in 1955, were written from the point of view of a scientifically sophisticated observer.

Carson had the knack for describing the various aspects, patterns and lifeforms — many invisible or unknown to all but the most familiar – found on the world’s three types of ocean shore, all three of which, she noted, are found along the East Coast.

Reared in Springdale, Pennsylvania, just northeast of Pittsburgh, the scientist and writer is best known for her 1962 book, “Silent Spring,” which stirred controversy and raised awareness about pesticides’ harmful effects when used indiscriminately. Her book is often credited as the spark that ignited the environmental movement.

In the years just prior, Carson, a marine biologist with a long career in federal service, had written a trio of bestselling, highly praised books about seashores and sea life, culminating in 1955 with “The Edge of the Sea.”

“Miss Carson, thanks to her remarkable knack for taking dull scientific facts and translating them into poetical and lyrical prose that enchanted the lay public, had a substantial public image before she rocked the American public and much of the world with ‘Silent Spring,’” according to Jonathan Norton Leonard’s report of her death as published April 15, 1964, in the New York Times.

Carson was 56 when she died.

Among the many still enchanted with Carson are Bland Simpson, a distinguished professor of English and creative writing at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, songwriter and pianist for The Red Clay Ramblers; Jim Wann, a theatrical writer, musician and leading man; and Don Dixon, a highly regarded record producer, songwriter and musician.

Together, these three form the Coastal Cohorts, whose collaborative comedic musical, “King Mackerel and the Blues Are Running; Songs and Stories of the Carolina Coast,” is now in its 40^th year.

Tickets are on sale for this year’s performances Oct. 24-25 in Morehead City. The scheduled shows were announced earlier this spring.

The musical presents aspects of coastal life through song and onstage hilarity, but also conveys, more subtly, environmental themes, without lecturing or moralizing. The loose plot involves our fishing-buddy “Cohorts” who set out to help save their favorite destination and its proprietor from the wrecking ball as wielded by prospective condo developers.

The production debuted Dec. 8, 1985, at Rhythm Alley in Chapel Hill. While much of that original performance remains part of the show, the Cohorts have continued over the years to write and perform new songs, weaving them into the show. This most recent song, a reverent homage to Carson, “Edge of the Sea,” that took two decades to develop, may work best as an epilogue, according to the Cohorts.

The song was inspired in particular by Carson’s research in North Carolina in the late 1930s and 1940s, Simpson recently told Coastal Review. That research informed her book “The Edge of the Sea” and its chapter about Bird Shoal in what is now the Rachel Carson Reserve just south of Beaufort.

“We just happened to have pulled it together when one of the very things that Rachel Carson caused to come into being, the Environmental Protection Agency and the laws that it worked under, when those things are being just taken part,” Simpson said.

The song’s development began with a staging of “King Mack” at East Carolina University, Simpson explained during a recent video call with Dixon, Wann and Coastal Review.

“Well, Don and I were playing ‘King Mackerel’ in East Carolina on one of those literary homecomings that (distinguished ECU English professor) Margaret Bauer was sponsoring every year for about 10 or 12 years,” said Simpson. “And there was a little workshop, and they asked us to maybe bring in something new we were working on. And I don’t know how we determined Rachel Carson, but we each brought in a verse. It wasn’t a complete song.”

Wann was unable to be at that particular event, but when he was told about the project, he let his fellow Cohorts know that he had already begun working on his own song about Rachel Carson.

“Jim kind of took the lead, and it grew over some time,” Simpson said.

And grow it did. The song clocks in at 8 minutes, 29 seconds, commencing with ocean sounds and a lush choir of female voices. Those are the voices of Dixon’s wife Marti Jones, as well as Rebecca Newton of North Carolina’s own Rebecca & the Hi-Tones, Durham educator Pattie Le Sueur, and Simpson’s fall 2024 songwriting students at Carolina, Madeline Lai and Maggie Thornton. The Cohorts provide the rest, including lead vocals, with Dixon on bass and guitar, Simpson on piano, and Wann on guitar.

“We went up to Chapel Hill where we were in a studio with those women singers Bland had recruited from his class, and then Rebecca and Pattie, who I knew, and Don was mentoring us from Ohio, through the magic of modern technology,” said Wann. “It was very much a stage-by-stage process to arrive at what we’ve got now.”

In its early development, Wann’s working title was “Kayaking with Rachel,” because, he said, “I read that she used to kayak, you know, when she was in her time around the North Carolina shores. And I thought that was interesting, because that was before — the song says, ‘She was kayaking before kayaking was cool,’ and that kind of was my jumpstart into the song.”

Dixon, at some point, had noted the need for an intro to set up the rest of the song, specifically referencing Carson’s own words: “The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place,” said Wann.

“And you just kind of tossed that out,” Wann said to Dixon, “So I just adapted some of her phrases, those words, and that’s how that came into being.”

The song elevates her words “in this kind of Greek chorus sort of thing,” which is the way Dixon, the track’s arranger and producer, said he was hearing it.

And the story contained in the song is one of triumph over challenges, also reflective of Carson’s life. She was a hero, “not just of environmentalism, but the history of humanity,” Simpson said.

“She was a saint and really gave her life,” Simpson continued. “She was dying of cancer when she went to Congress and was put upon, pushed upon. She did not give — she didn’t give an inch.”

Wann said those aspects of her personality, her history and her quiet, solitary life are woven into the song’s first chorus. “That was kind of the first stage,” he said.

“This is creation, don’t let indifference take it away from you
This is your water, don’t let complacency take it away from you.”

— “Edge of the Sea” by the Coastal Cohorts, © 2025 Wann/Dixon/Simpson

Simpson said the above chorus is a call to action. There will always be forces working against the clean and the pure, he said.

Beloved, smeared

In 1962, when Carson’s “Silent Spring” was published, chemical and pesticide manufacturers attacked her, funded disinformation campaigns and labeled her a likely communist. But Carson’s books had already endeared her to the public.

“That book ‘Silent Spring,’ and even her first ocean books sold in the millions,” Dixon said. “She was beloved by certain people; she was just vilified by industry. It was definitely a smear campaign.”

Those trying to smear Carson may, to many, resemble the evil Greed Heads threatening the coastal environment and culture in the “King Mack” storyline.

Wann noted that some in Congress tried to dismissed her, as well.

“They just said that her science was wrong and that she wasn’t telling the truth,” Wann said. “The truth did prevail.”

In 1963, when Carson went before Congress to advocate for federal controls on pesticide use during hearings on pollution, she explained how chemical poisons had contaminated the environment humans depend on — water, soil, air and vegetation.

“It has even penetrated that internal environment within the bodies of animals and of men,” Carson said in her remarks on June 4 that year. She cited numerous sources: radioactive waste and waste from laboratories and hospitals, fallout from nuclear explosions, municipal wastewater and chemical waste from homes and industry.

“When we review the history of mankind in relation to the Earth we cannot help feeling somewhat discouraged, for that history is for the most part that of the blind or short-sighted despoiling of the soil, forests, waters and all the rest of the Earth’s resources. We have acquired technical skills on a scale undreamed of even a generation ago. We can do dramatic things and we can do them quickly; by the time damaging side effects are apparent it is often too late, or impossible, to reverse our actions,” Carson told Congress. “I have pointed out before, and I shall repeat now, that the problem of pesticides can be properly understood only in context, as part of the general introduction of harmful substances into the environment.”

Simpson noted that there are echoes of those times in the current political environment, in which “radical capitalism” is threatening to undo regulations that were based in science.

“It’s an irony, a terrific irony, that the Environmental Protection Agency having been created in no small part because of the wisdom and intelligence that ‘Silent Spring’ brought forth, that the EPA is now, under the new administration, is now being run by undoers, deregulators and representatives of the chemical industry and so forth, and so we’ve sort of come full circle and back to status quo, antebellum and before Rachel’s work helped cause the EPA,” Simpson said.

But, Simpson added, the new song is as uplifting as Carson’s writings.

“Rachel Carson’s spirit is anything but depressing,” Simpson said. “She found miracles in every speck of anything she ever picked up on the beach. And that’s why we love her so, because her heart informed her science about the value and the interconnectedness of all these things. ‘One creature tied to another,’ I think, is Jim’s lyric.”

Wann said he didn’t recall “making anything up” in writing the song, aside from minor paraphrasing of Carson’s words.

“Pretty much all those words are in the preface of ‘Edge of the Sea,’ the very first few pages of the book,” Dixon said.

Dixon acknowledged the song is a celebration of Carson, but is also it’s “sort of a cautionary tale,” especially for those unfamiliar with her work, the fragility of fish and wildlife, and how her advocacy led to a ban on the pesticide DDT.

“They don’t realize she spawned the environmental movement as we know it today,” Dixon said. “And it really was kind of just her doing. I mean, she was very solitary. She was not part of a big group of people working on this problem that she recognized.”

Carolina connections

Carson’s connections to coastal North Carolina were made when the region looked quite different. In 1947, during her tenure with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, she was tasked with writing a visitor brochure for Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge in Hyde County. Simpson said it was “very unlike the standard flat, elemental tour guide.”

It reflected the way she saw the world. “She clearly devoted herself to science writing and everything she did,” he said.

“When we first wrote the show, I don’t think we fully appreciated the light touch as far as environmental matters,” Simpson explained. “In terms of culture, we were looking at our memories of, you know, the old-style hotels and everybody eats at a long table. It wasn’t a world of high-rises and condos and all that.”

“King Mackerel” follows the Cohorts’ efforts to preserve that era and help their fictional friend, Miss Mattie, save her beachfront hotel and pier. The conflict is outlined in “Corncake Inlet Inn” from the original soundtrack.

“We put the contrast in the lyrics: ‘Greed Head sees a barrel of bucks … Cohort sees the geese and the ducks that won’t come back in the fall,’ the change of environment. That’s all true,” Simpson said.

It’s a contrast that’s meaningful to two area nonprofit organizations that have for decades hosted the Cohorts’ performances in Carteret County.

Todd Miller, who in 1982 founded the North Carolina Coastal Federation, which publishes Coastal Review, understood that meaning early on – perhaps, according to Simpson, before the Cohorts had fully grasped it themselves. The Coastal Federation works to protect, restore and preserve coastal water quality and habitats, which are critical to the way of life here.

“Their music and stories are beautifully aligned with our mission — capturing why people love and cherish our coast, even as that love can sometimes lead to its overuse and degradation,” Miller said. “They first performed for the Coastal Federation in the mid-1980s, and since then, we’ve all together become part of a larger coastal cohort. Their appeal runs deep, touching the hearts and minds of people from all walks of life — those of us whose lives are enriched by a coast that is a wonderful place to live, visit, work, and play.”

It’s all those things and a deep culture going back centuries, said Karen Willis Amspacher, director of the Core Sound Museum and Heritage Center on Harkers Island.

“It’s everything we stand for,” Amspacher said. “Corncake Inn is all about place and tradition and memories and holding on to youth and the beach and the wildness of it all.”

She said the connections ring even truer now than years ago.

“The Greed Heads have multiplied,” she said.

Wann said he was recently thinking back on the Cohorts’ 40-year journey, the connections made and the introduction of new songs along the way.

“It’s been just really especially rewarding that there’s still this growth element to it,” Wann said. “Even doing the show, it doesn’t feel tired or old, because partly, I think we’ve heard so many times that someone will come up and say to us, some young person will say, ‘We used to listen to your music on the way to the beach. It was the only music that my parents and us kids could agree to listen to.’ Now we’ve met the third generation, parents and grandparents who know about ‘King Mackerel’ and at some point, someone said to us, ‘You know, you started out singing about the culture here, and now you’re part of the culture.’”

Updated to correct the name of Miss Mattie’s Fish Camp.

What do you think would happen if you took a young guy who grew up as a fishing nut in western New York State and transplanted him to eastern North Carolina?

If you said that he would turn into a crazy fishing adult, just in a different place, you would be correct.

Justin Manners grew up in a small town, west of Rochester, New York, and just south of Lake Ontario. This meant he had access to some of the finest trout and salmon in the East.

“I grew up fishing creek mouths at the lake for king salmon, steelhead, and brown trout. This was seasonal, but definitely what we looked forward to every fall,” Manners said recently.

It was a family experience with everybody pitching in to help each other learn the best way to go about things.

“I grew up fishing with my dad, brothers, uncles and cousins,” he said. “It would be difficult for me to single out one person that was my biggest influence.”

In case you didn’t know, there is a huge variety of fish to catch there.

“Growing up we would fish for anything that would bite. Depending on the season, we would fish for largemouth and smallmouth bass, catfish, northern pike, carp, walleye, perch, trout, and salmon.”

Of all his family members, Manners said that the fishing bug bit him hardest.

“I am the middle child of five boys,” he explained. “All of my brothers fish occasionally, but I wouldn’t call it a passion for any of them like it is for me.”

Manners moved to Kitty Hawk in 2017 and immediately became enamored of the fishing surrounding his new home on the Outer Banks.

“My favorite fish to target are red drum and speckled trout. I am learning a lot and there are still plenty of other fish.”

Manners relocated to Richlands in 2022 to set up shop for an HVAC business.

“I worked my way up in the trade, from helper, installer and technician, and recently became the regional manager for Pro-Serv Food Equipment,” he said of the New Bern-based commercial kitchen service firm. This new relationship was formed through a mutual love of fishing with Jared Shepherd, the owner of the company, but it’s deeper than just fishing. Manners sees a future for himself in the industry.

“I truly enjoy my career in the HVAC field and greatly appreciate the opportunities that I have been given,” Manners said, adding that, since everybody around here needs air conditioning a big part of the year, “I think that’s probably good advice for a lot of young guys looking to get started.”

When he’s not helping people stay cool, you’ll find Manners out on the water somewhere.

“My favorite way to fish is to come up with a game plan for red drum or speckled trout and try to execute that,” he said.

That means he’ll go with a friend or by himself, and doesn’t mind either.

“One of the benefits of being solo is that I can really focus on specific spots and pick them apart,” said Manners.

Whether the fishing is hot or cold, there’s always something to take home from the day.

“I have found that I learn more on the slow days than when they bite anything. The key to consistently catching fish is to learn every time you’re on the water,” he said, noting that fish don’t come and go just for the fun of it — they’re always looking for water that provides them safety, food and comfort.

“More times than not when you find the fish there is a reason why they are where they are: bait, structure, depth changes, grass beds, moving water, etcetera” he explained.

As a proponent of making a plan before heading out, Manners often quotes the old adage often attributed to Benjamin Franklin: “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

He never wants to be out fishing without an idea of what he’s going to be doing beforehand.

“The most important thing to having a successful day is taking all outside factors into consideration and coming up with a plan,” he said.

For now, Manners said he is planning on staying in the HVAC business because he likes what he’s doing, but he also wants to continue learning and pass his love of fishing as well as his experience and knowledge, on to others. He recently got his Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels, or OUPV, license from the Coast Guard, permitting him to operate as a fishing charter captain with no more than six paying passengers.

“I took OUPV/Six Pack course last fall through Carteret Community College and got my Captains License,” he said. “Since fishing is a passion of mine, I would love to make a career out of it in some fashion in the future. I have not put a timetable on it yet, simply because I have a responsibility to give my best effort in my current position.”

In the meantime, look for Justin Manners on social media. He likes to live stream his fishing trips online as Salty Toad Fishing. It’s pretty entertaining.

“Salty Toad Fishing is to share my experiences on the water and help others learn from them, good or bad,” Manners said.

That includes this tip: “It is vitally important to understand why certain spots hold fish. That is the difference between catching fish on a slow day or going home with a cooler full of clean ice.”

Thomas Woo of Wilmington recently landed a white trevally weighing nearly 20 pounds off Wrightsville Beach, establishing a new state record for the species.

Woo landed the 19-pound, 3.2-ounce white trevally, or Pseudocaranx dentex, and also known as striped jack, on May 8. He was about 55 miles offshore, south of the New Hanover County town in 150 feet of water when the fish struck his slow-pitch jig.

The fish measured 32.2 inches fork length, which is from the tip of the nose to the fork in the tail, and had a total length of 37.8 inches.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries announced the new record Wednesday, explaining in a press release that, prior to this, there were no state records for this species in the United States.

The International Game Fish Association world record was set in 1998 in Japan.

The fish was weighed by division staff at the Wilmington office. A genetic sample was collected for the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, as this species is rarely encountered by recreational anglers off the North Carolina coast. When it is, the average size is only 16 inches.

For more information on state record fish, go to the division’s state saltwater records webpage or contact staff at saltwater.citations@deq.nc.gov.

When you head down to the beach and look out at the ocean, what do you see? Birds. Maybe a fish splashing here and there. Mainly though, it’s water spreading out forever in every direction.

There are many methods to approach catching a fish in all that area, but trolling is the one that allows an angler to have baits or lures in the water for the longest period of time.

Trolling is the method to use when you know fish are out there, not necessarily relating to any specific structure, and not necessarily schooled up, feeding in a bunch. Having hooks in the water and working for a long period of time allows us to search along a current seam, temperature break, or offshore weed line, when it’s not obvious exactly where they will be. It’s an especially effective way to cover lots of water.

Keeping it simple

The simplest way to troll, and the way most people do it much of the time, is to simply drop a lure behind a slowly moving boat. A highly effective lure to catch Spanish mackerel, Atlantic bonito, bluefish, or any other schooling fish spread out over a large area, is a deep-diving swimming plug like the Yozuri DD deep-diving plug.

Keep your boat speed about 3 knots (1 knot equals 1.1 mph) and drop the plug behind the boat about 100 feet or so. No need to be too specific. The lure will dive beneath the boat wake and wiggle like crazy. If it’s working properly, your rod tip will throb.

There’s no need to add a trolling weight, planer, or other hardware, but a wire leader might be a good idea if you are fishing for mackerel or if bluefish are around. I’ve even caught king mackerel this way. Use the nylon-coated braided wire called Tyger wire that can be tied like regular fishing line. Tie it to your lure and then attach to a swivel. Attach your main line to the swivel.

When a fish hits, it will be a satisfying bend back of the rod. A nice-sized fish will be attached to you straight up with no intervening gear. It’s a fun way to troll. I’ve also caught fish doing this from time to time with a small casting spoon, a lead-head jig, or a fly on a fly rod, while looking for surface feeders. Even a dedicated caster finds it fun. On a small boat without all the bells and whistles, this is the way to go.

Getting serious

As with all things to do with fishing, however, we can make it as complicated as we want to, and we do when we start to take things more seriously. Tournament king mackerel trolling will easily see six rods being fished at once. If not set up properly, this can result in tremendous tangles.

Most tournament anglers like to use matched tackle and line, so it all behaves the same way in the water. Heavier line may produce more drag than thinner line making it move differently in the water and possibly causing a snag. The rods, reels and lines will all be the same.

Capt. Matt Paylor of Sound N Sea Charters in Morehead City likes to use five lines “staggered at different lengths behind the boat.”

Put the first out at 100 feet, on the other side set it at 75 feet. Bigger boats may use outriggers to increase the spread. Next, they will have a downrigger with a bait set about two-thirds of the way to the bottom.

Some may recommend using two downriggers, but Paylor says, “I rarely do two downriggers, because the chance of getting tangled is too high when using live bait due them swimming around each other.”

Finally, there will be two lines down the center, one 30 feet back and the other 15 feet back.

This staggering of depths and distances helps prevent tangles and covers all the angles from which a fish could approach the trolled baits.

Normally, the bait used will be live menhaden. Troll at a speed that allows the bait to swim without being pulled off the hooks or getting beat up too badly.

“Troll around two miles per hour, but that can vary based on sea condition,” Paylor said, clarifying that rougher seas require slower speeds. “We like to have a few bluefish in the live well also.”

Dead bait options include cigar minnows and sardines, but the best is a ribbonfish.

When a king hits, line will scream off the reel. On hookup with a big fish, the crew will clear the other lines.

“We try to leave one out for a chance to double up. We fight the fish from the bow, so one line can keep fishing out of the stern,” Paylor said.

Trolling with this method can result in some surprising bycatch, such as sharks (too often) but also cobia, amberjack, citation-sized Spanish mackerel and the occasional wahoo.

Mahi-mahi along the weed line

Dolphinfish, or Coryphaena hippurus, aka mahi-mahi, is a species best pursued via trolling. When sargassum weed spreads out along a current edge, it can result in a weed line that stretches miles. Fish can be anywhere along this line.

Due to the prevalence of weeds in the water and the need to clear lines, it may be useful and more efficient to only have two or three lines out. Put one out 100 feet, the other around 75 feet and a third down the middle about 40 to 50 feet back. When a rod gets bogged down with weed it will usually be pretty obvious.

Fish a rigged ballyhoo or cigar minnow using copper wire to pin the nose of the bait to the hook. It’s a decades-old approach that is easily researched on a million webpages. If it’s really weedy, there is a method to rig the hook so the point is inside the bait, similar to a Texas rig for plastic baits.

It always seems that any problem you can encounter while fishing, somewhere, somebody smart has figured it out. Have another rod or two ready to toss a baited hook or jig when a hooked fish comes in, due to the mahi’s propensity for following hooked fish to the boat. You’ll see them darting behind the fish that’s hooked.

Sometimes leaving a hooked fish in the water will hold a school next to the boat for a remarkable length of time. In this case, trolling has not only allowed the angler to cover water in search of a bite but has also actually brought a school of aggressive fish right to the boat.

Be aware of how much fish you can actually use or save in your freezer, and don’t kill more than you need.

When he was young, newspaperman and avid fly fisher Rip Woodin didn’t fish at all.

Instead, he used his talents on the tennis courts of the North Carolina junior circuit, eventually finding himself on the B squad at the University of North Carolina. There he found out that the talent level seemed to stretch on without him.

“I was on the freshman team at Carolina but never got to play a match because I was on the bench picking up leftover balls,” Woodin said.

How does a young man, who is a decent tennis player but doesn’t fish at all, become a lifelong fly fisherman and ardent conservationist in his later years?

Woodin’s life has seen him move three-quarters of the way across the continental U.S. and eventually return to North Carolina. Now he’s fishing waters and doing the kind of work that he never dreamed of back when he was smacking tennis balls across the net.

After graduating from UNC in January 1969 with a double major in journalism and English, Woodin joined the Marine Corps where he enjoyed a pleasant six-week vacation at Parris Island, South Carolina. Later, he spent six years working in Greensboro while also serving in the Marine Corps Reserve.

That’s when, in a twist, Woodin received an offer to join the Air Force and go to flight school.

“(I) probably would have been sent to Vietnam and met John McCain,” Woodin theorized, but instead he stayed in Greensboro until 1976.

“I worked various reporting jobs for the Greensboro Daily News,” he said of the Guilford County paper.

Then in 1976, he moved to Jackson, Wyoming. He became editor of the Jackson Hole Guide and met his wife Jane.

“I was living in the basement apartment of a condo while three women lived upstairs. The other two moved out and Jane moved downstairs,” Woodin said.

Jackson was where they stayed until 1986 and where many of the events that would shape much of Woodin’s later life took place.

“We were married in 1979 and two of our three children were born there,” Woodin said of Jackson, which is also where he first learned to fly fish.

“Paul Bruun was my boss when I first moved out there, and he gave me a fly rod,” Woodin said.

Bruun would go on to be inducted into the Fly Fishing Hall of Fame in Roscoe, New York, in October 2021.

Bruun’s was an opportune gift because, “Jackson is all about fly fishing for cutthroat trout,” Woodin said.

Woodin, with an eye for newspaper design, quickly found that the thrill of fly fishing was the visual aspect.

“The thing that really appealed to me was seeing the fish come up and take the fly,” Woodin said. “When a nice cutthroat trout comes up to hit a hopper, he just rolls up on it slowly, opens his mouth and takes it back down. Then you lift the rod and you’ve got an 18-inch fish.”

There was also an opportune real estate purchase that would come to shape Woodin’s later years.

“We purchased a piece of property that we never developed and when the kids got older and we had moved away, we decided to sell it. Real estate values in Jackson had risen dramatically over 30 years, and after using the money to help pay for the kids’ colleges, we were able to buy a duplex in Atlantic Beach,” he said.

By that time, after having jobs at different newspapers in various states, the move back to North Carolina came with a new title, publisher at the Rocky Mount Telegram.

The Woodins quickly took to the coastal life and they decided if they were going to be spending a lot of time at the beach, they needed to have a boat.

“I went to Jerry at Fort Macon Marina and bought the boat I still have today,” he said.

He found that the variety of marine life and saltwater fishing was something he really liked, and he got into it quickly.

“I bought a saltwater fly rod and starting fishing around here pretty quickly,” he said.

As Woodin progressed with his fly fishing, he started traveling to some pretty far-flung places where he tangled with a lot of different fish.

“The most challenging is the permit because it’s the hardest to catch and the hardest to hook,” he said. “They fight hard and they’re rare. You don’t go out and get 10 shots on permit in a day, you’re usually lucky to get two or three.”

One of the most thrilling species, however, is the tarpon, Woodin said.

“Obviously, because they jump so much,” he explained.

Closer to home, Woodin loves to fish for false albacore.

“The hardest fighter is false albacore. They fight better than bonefish (and I’ve got some big bonefish). But fight wise, nothing compares to a false albacore,” he said.

In recent years, Woodin has blended his experience as a newspaperman and his love for the saltwater environment and fish and applied it to becoming actively involved in conservation with the Coastal Conservation Association, an organization of recreational anglers focused on protecting the marine environment.

“For a while we put out a newspaper, which I edited, and because of my background in writing I wrote press releases and stories,” Woodin said. “I still advise them on good PR strategy.”

He’s also on the board of CCA-NC and an active participant in the state chapter’s activities.

Woodin’s fishing advice?

“The key is practicing your casting and being able to hit your target, but more important is keeping your emotions under control so you are able to concentrate and don’t basically screw it up when staring at a big fish.”

In the end, Woodin said, “If you take care of the fish, the fishing will take care of itself.”

There’s an opportunity for fishing enthusiasts to spend the week learning from longtime captains during the 71st annual sportfishing school scheduled for this summer on the Outer Banks.

A program of the North Carolina State University’s Continuing and Lifelong Education, the immersive five-day experience taking place June 1-5 based at the Hatteras Civic Center offers a “comprehensive journey into sport fishing, blending classroom instruction with hands-on training,” organizers said.

For two days, participants will be in the classroom learning about advanced equipment techniques and fishing methodologies and three days gaining practical, hands-on experience in both inshore and offshore Gulf Stream environments. The week closes with a celebratory banquet.

Instructors include captains Ernie Foster, Rom Whitaker, Ken Dempsey, Dr. Herbert Kirk, and Skip Blaylock, “each bringing decades of expertise and deep connections to NC State. These accomplished professionals are not just instructors but living legends in Eastern North Carolina’s fishing community, having established reputations through successful charters and prominent tournament participation,” organizers said.

The Sport Fishing School originated in Morehead City in September 1962 as a collaborative effort between N.C. State’s Department of Zoology and the College Extension Division, and has evolved into a fishing education program.

“This isn’t just a fishing school — it’s a legacy program 70 years in the making,” said Foster, lead program instructor with more than 50 years of maritime experience and an NC State alum. “We’re not just teaching techniques; we’re passing down generations of wisdom. From understanding the delicate ecosystems of North Carolina coastal waters to mastering intricate fishing techniques, we’re preserving a tradition that connects people to the ocean in one of the most profound ways.”

Open to fishing 18 and older, explore the full program schedule, instructor profiles and registration information at lifelonglearning.ncsu.edu/sport-fishing-school.

Fees are $2,495 for returning participants and $2,995 for new attendees. A discount of $300 will apply to individuals registered at the same time. First person pays the full amount, and each individual after the first person receives $300 off. Discount does not apply to the deposit.

Saltwater fish are tough. They have to be.

Everything out there is trying to eat something else. In that regard, a lot of them are pretty serious about their dental work. Almost any saltwater fish has prominent teeth and the ones who don’t make up for it in some other way.

In order for us to catch these toothy denizens of the waves, we have to be aware of which ones they are, what we need to do to be prepared for them, and how to actually land one when it bites our offerings. If you don’t have the proper tackle rigged the right way, some of these fish will be gone before you even know you had them on. Sharks and bluefish come to mind right away, but there are lots more.

Sharks present a problem. If you don’t want to catch them, they will appear and mess up your day somehow. They will steal your fish off the line and mess up your tackle. If they eat your presentation and you are not prepared, you’ll lose the tackle you spent time and money preparing.

I’ve literally had to hook a shark on purpose with a beat-up old plastic lure that I knew would immediately be gone, just to get it away from a school of redfish I was pursuing. However, if you look at them as a target to be pursued themselves, they can present great sport on their own and a couple of the ones we have are awesome gamefish in their own right.

Blacktips will jump and run like tarpon and give a great accounting of themselves. The big bull sharks will try to tow you across the ocean and there are more big hammerheads swimming just off our beaches than the local chambers of commerce will ever want you to know about.

If you want to get one on the end of a line and actually land it, you need to have the right leader. All the fancy rods, reels, bait, and lines aren’t worth anything if you don’t have the simplest thing correct. Rig a leader for shark fishing with six feet of 14-guage stainless steel wire. Twist one end onto a circle hook of at least size 16/0 (circle hooks are required in North Carolina when fishing for sharks). The way to do it is a knot called a Haywire Twist.

On the other end attach a 300-pound test swivel. Then tie on a 3-foot section of very heavy monofilament and attach that to your main line.

When the fish is boatside, grab your heavy line section, not the leader, with a pair of gloves. Many people will simply cut the line close to the hook. If you are good at it, and you have an extra-long (and extra-strong) dehooking tool (the stainless steel kind that looks like a J hook at the end), remove the hook using that. Don’t mess around if you are not experienced.

Luckily for other toothy critters it’s not quite as complicated as all that.

The next big toothy fish that most anglers will encounter is the king mackerel. A rather specialized leader system is needed to slow troll with live baits the way most of the big tournament pros do it.

You’re going to want No. 4 or No. 7 wire. The clearer the water, the thinner the wire you’re going to want. Attach a size 2/0 hook first. Again, use the Haywire Twist. Now you are going to add a stinger hook. This is going to be a size 4 treble hook. Get the ones that say 4X strong on the package. Attach this to the eye of the first hook so it hangs back about 4 inches. The first hook goes into the nose of your bait, the second hook attaches in the back but some people let it hang free. This is usually the one that hooks the fish when it hits.

I’ve hooked kings on cast lures and jigged spoons when I didn’t have a wire leader. It’s over pretty fast.

This rig will work for you if you’ve never done it before. If you decide to get more serious, as with all other kinds of fishing, there are tricks the pros use that you can get into as you gain more proficiency. I won’t get into it here, but there’s a bunch.

Bluefish are often called “Yellow Eyed Devils” because of their propensity to show up when we aren’t prepared for them and steal the baits and lures we’re using for other species. Fortunately, the fix for them is proportionately easier than what we’ve shown already.

For our purposes, for the size blues we normally see around here, less than 5 pounds, all that’s usually needed will be a length of 40-pound test monofilament attached as a shock leader. Tie it to your lure using a No Name Loop knot. You can attach it to your main line using a Uni-to-Uni knot or simply by using a 50-pound test swivel. If you find that you’re still getting “snipped,” having some stainless steel leader wire that can be knotted on hand can save the day. It’s a product that you tie knots into just like mono and helps prevent bite offs. Get the 50-pound test version.

Spanish mackerel present a different set of problems. They have extremely sharp eyesight and the prey they pursue is often very small. This means that anything that is out of the ordinary or unnatural will be ignored. Or, even more maddening, they will swim along behind it and leave it alone.

This is when I will break out the fluorocarbon. A length of 30-pound test flouro will virtually disappear in the water, or at least the macks don’t seem to mind. Do NOT use a swivel. They will bite that and cut your line.

Cast a small jig or spoon into a melee of feeding fish and you should be okay. Sometimes one will manage to get you anyway. Check the leader for nicks and frays as you go along to stay ahead of them. Going to heavier leader may mean you don’t get any strikes.

Finally, let me add that I use at least 20-pound test leader when I am fishing with topwater plugs during the summer. This way I prevent cutoffs from oyster shells and any other various obstructions that might get in the way. Again, I do not use a swivel. I simply connect the leader to my braided line using a Uni-To-Uni Knot. Seems to me I get more strikes that way.

Having the right leader, no matter what your target is, will get you more strikes and help you land the ones that do.

Featured Image

An angler recently tries his luck from beneath the Scuppernong River Bridge on the the Scuppernong River Boardwalk at the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge visitor center in Columbia, in Tyrrell County. Money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was appropriated to replace the boardwalk, a project that was announced to take place in fiscal 2026. Congress directly appropriated $455 million to the refuge over five years for programs related to the previous administration’s America the Beautiful initiative announced in 2021. The nonprofit National Wildlife Refuge Association has said that continuing resolutions, such as the emergency funding bill signed into law last week, throw refuges into chaos and uncertainty and can prevent new project starts. Photo: Mark Hibbs

Editor’s note: Coastal Review regularly features the work of North Carolina historian David Cecelski, who writes about the history, culture and politics of the state’s coast. More of his work can be found on his personal website.

As I looked through an extraordinary group of historical photographs at the State Archives in Raleigh, I found a group of old photographs taken during the Second World War that surprised me.

Some of the photographs show local fishermen harvesting seaweed in the waters off Beaufort in the summer of 1944. Others show the inner workings of a factory in Beaufort that was established during the war to process that seaweed into a jelly-like substance called agar.

Produced by extracting polysaccharides from the cell walls of certain species of seaweed in the red algae family (Rhodophyta), agar has dozens of uses today.

Many of them are culinary. Others have to do with the pharmaceutical industry, medical research, and health care.

Agar is even used in the textile industry, food preservation, and brewing.

However, if you are like me, you remember agar for just one of those uses. Like medical researchers and basic scientists around the world, my high school biology teachers used agar as a growth medium for bacteria. The translucent gel that lined the bottom of our petri dishes was agar.

By using agar, we could grow bacterial cultures on our own, and our teachers could help us to understand the basic properties of bacteria, one of the most ubiquitous forms of life on Earth.

In those petri dishes, that thin layer of agar served as a solid, stable, and nutritious surface for the bacteria to grow, and one that would not be eaten up by the bacteria before we could plumb its secrets.

In the photographer’s notes on the agar factory in Beaufort, I was also surprised to see repeated references to Pivers Island, the small island that is just across the channel from Beaufort and is home to the Duke University Marine Laboratory and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Beaufort laboratory.

The notes were rather obscure, but they made clear that scientists on Pivers Island at the Duke marine lab and at the U.S. Government Fisheries Laboratory, a predecessor of NOAA, or both had played a central role in the establishment of the agar factory in Beaufort.

I felt a little chastened that I had not previously heard a single word about the agar industry in Beaufort or Pivers Island.

I grew up only 20 miles from both Beaufort and Pivers Island. I even lived on the Pivers Island for four months back in 1981, when I was a student at the Duke marine lab. I was a history and botany double major at Duke.

My mother even went to school on Pivers Island during the Second World War. She grew up out in a rural part of Carteret County, but she attended Beaufort High School during the Second World War.

She was a senior when the school burned down over the Christmas holidays in 1944.

My mother’s class finished its senior year on Pivers Island. Her classes met in buildings that were usually used by the marine lab’s summer students.

On several occasions, I have done historical research in two libraries on Pivers Island: the Pearse Memorial Library at the Duke Lab and the library next door at what is now called the NCCOS Beaufort Laboratory.

Yet I had somehow never seen any historical accounts of the agar industry. Even after I found these photographs and began to look for articles or books that might have discussed it, I found only a couple of brief accounts that were written 75 years ago by one of the scientists involved in the agar facility.

Needless to say, my curiosity was aroused. As a historian, I have always been interested in the ways that our lives are entangled with the sea and I felt as if I had missed something important.

That curiosity led me on a bit of a deep dive into subjects that I could never have imagined studying: the history of agar, the ecology of seaweed, and the story of the wartime crisis that led to seaweed harvesting and the construction of the agar factory in Beaufort.

* * *

I began my research by learning more about agar and its history. With a little bit of digging, I soon learned that China, Japan, and other East Asian countries had been using seaweeds extensively as food, medicine, and fertilizer since at least the time of Confucious.

The invention of agar came out of that traditional knowledge of seaweeds and their uses.

By all accounts, agar was invented in Japan. The production of agar in Japan was first documented by Western observers around the time of the American Revolution, but it is believed that Japanese cooks had been using agar in soups, desserts, and other foods long before that time.

Agar was the first seaweed product that was traded extensively in international markets.

According to a scientific overview of the agar industry published soon after the Second World War, approximately 500 small factories in Japan were making agar by the turn of the 20th century. By then, Japanese firms were already exporting large quantities of agar to Europe and the Americas.

Scattered over the Japanese main island of Honshu, those factories were what we might call “craft industries” today: local and using traditional, hand-crafted techniques, not reliant on electricity or machinery.

Cooks in Japan first used agar in their kitchens, but agar spread from Japan to cuisines in many parts of East Asia and the Pacific. In fact, the name “agar” comes from a Malay word for red algae, agar-agar.

The first use of agar as a growth medium for bacteria was not in Japan or elsewhere in East Asia, however.

That use for agar first began in Germany in the late 19th century. In the 1880s, scientists in the great German physician and microbiologist Robert Koch’s laboratory first used agar as a growth medium for bacteria.

Using agar, they succeeded in isolating the bacteria that caused tuberculosis, cholera, and anthrax for the first time. Discoveries that saved the lives of untold millions.

It was agar’s exceptional ability to serve as a bacterial medium that led to the agar factory in Beaufort.

Prior to 1939, the vast majority of the world’s supply of bacteriological agar came from Japan, where agar was produced mainly from a red seaweed whose scientific name is Gelidium corneum.

With that supply cut off by the war, many U.S. Allies began seeking to develop their own internal sources of agar.

In a time of war, the availability of bacteriological agar was especially important in medicine.

Physicians and microbiologists sometimes relied on agar to grow bacterial cultures in order to identify diseases. More commonly, they relied on agar to produce vaccines and to grow Staphylococcus aureus, one of the leading causes of wound infections, and other bacteria to test the potency of penicillin.

Great Britain was among the first countries that recognized a shortage of agar as a national emergency. Beginning in 1942, British leaders initiated the large-scale harvesting of red seaweeds on England’s west coast and to a lesser extent in Northumberland.

The United States also declared agar a “critical war material” and moved to assure an adequate supply of agar in 1942.

According to an April 1943 AP story, the federal government’s War Production Board, or WPB, froze the nation’s entire stock of agar in 1942, restricting its use to medical and pharmaceutical purposes. In addition, the WPB authorized the creation of a federal stockpile of 750,000 pounds of agar, more than twice what was available in the country at the time.

The AP story also noted that the U.S. had been using approximately 600,000 pounds of agar a year prior to the war, nearly all of it obtained from Japan.

On a quest to develop a domestic supply of agar, the Food and Drug Administration’s E. G. Poindexter seems to have started the inquiry that led to the agar factory on Pivers Island.

On a tour of the southern coast in 1942, Poindexter met with Dr. Harold J. Humm, a young marine scientist at the Duke University Marine Laboratory, which had opened on Pivers Island a few years earlier.

A specialist in marine alga and marine bacteriology, Humm was later the marine lab’s director and eventually founded what is now the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Sciences.

At Pivers Island, Poindexter and Humm discussed the possibilities for locating seaweeds suitable to the production of agar on the East Coast of the United States.

According to an Oct. 5, 1944, Beaufort News article, the War Production Board, based on Poindexter’s recommendation, soon funded Humm to survey sources of red seaweed that could be used to produce agar.

With that support, Dr. Humm explored coastlines from Chesapeake Bay to the Florida Keys and along the Gulf Coast.

He also began experimenting on making agar with seaweeds found in the vicinity of Pivers Island. By June 1942, he was focusing especially on a red seaweed that locals called “red moss” that was common on the area’s beaches at low tide and in local waters up to a depth of about 60 feet.

Dr. Humm described his research on seaweed and agar in an article called “Agar: A Pre-War Japanese Monopoly” that appeared in the journal Economic Botany in 1947.

A few years later, he published a more comprehensive survey of his work on agar and on the history and uses of agar in general in a chapter of a larger scientific work edited by Donald K. Tressler and J. M. Lemon titled Marine Products of Commerce: Their Acquisition, Handling, Biological Aspects, and the Science and Technology of their Preparation and Preservation (1951).

The experiments showed promise. According to Dr. Humm’s findings, two red seaweeds, Gracilaria confervoides and Gracilaria foliifera, both in a genus commonly called “Irish moss,” were available at commercially viable levels in the intertidal zones on that part of the North Carolina coast.

Persuaded by Dr. Humm’s research, a private firm called the Van Sant Co. began recruiting fishermen to harvest the seaweed and also began fashioning a small experimental facility. I am a bit unclear if that temporary facility was located in Beaufort or on Pivers Island.

The company had been established by Harvey G. Van Sant, the driving force behind a biochemical firm called the American Chlorophyll Company that was based in Washington, D.C.

Several years later, in 1947, Harvey G. Van Sant described the American Chlorophyll Company as “a pioneer in the field of processing and refining natural pigments and vitamins” from organic sources for use in “foods, cosmetics, feeds, and pharmaceuticals.” The Palm Beach Post, April 4, 1947.

During the spring and summer of 1943, the Van Sant Co’s scientists also undertook research on seaweed harvesting methods and on the preparation of agar.

That research was done in cooperation with Dr. Humm, as well as with scientists at the U.S. Government Fisheries Laboratory, also on Pivers Island, and other government fishery scientists.

“We Could See Ships Burning”

One of the scientists who supported the company’s agar research was Dr. Herbert Prytherch, the director of the U.S. Government Fisheries Lab. His son later wrote a brief reminiscence of his childhood that gives a sense of what the Second World War was like in Beaufort that is not revealed in our photographs.

In his excellent history of the U.S. Government Fisheries Lab, NOAA scientist Douglas A. Wolfe quoted Herbert Prytherch, Jr.:

“The port terminal at Morehead City [a half-mile west of Pivers Island] afforded safety for a number of ships, and they would stay there until dark of the moon came each month.

“German submarines would lurk offshore, waiting for these ships to leave the harbor. Late at night we would hear the distant thud of torpedoes and depth charges. Next we would hear endless sounds of airplane engines, followed by more explosions. Sometimes on the morning after, we could see ships burning….

“During these days the beaches were black, covered with oil. Many sailor caps were also found, and sometimes bodies.”

By November 1943, the Van Sant Co. had begun to produce commercial agar, though again I am unsure if those first efforts were undertaken somewhere in Beaufort or on Pivers Island.

Soon local fishermen with boats piled high with tons of seaweed were a not uncommon sight on that part of the North Carolina coast.

The fishermen would say that they were going out “mossing.”

“Thousands of unexpected dollars have found their way into fishermen’s pockets and `mossing’ has begun to take its place with clamming, crabbing, fishing, and other industries,” The Beaufort News announced.

Over the course of that fall, the fishermen delivered an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 tons of seaweed to the company’s dock.

For the old salts at least, collecting seaweed was nothing new, though they had never done it anywhere close to that extent. But old timers still used seaweed as a fertilizer in their gardens, and many fishing people used that same red seaweed to stuff the mattresses where they slept at night.

Sometime that fall of 1943, for reasons that are unclear to me, Harvey Van Sant sold the company to a M.W. Stansfield, a businessman who renamed the firm the Beaufort Chemical Co.

Stansfield also purchased a 40-acre waterfront lot a few miles away in Lennoxville, on the far side of Beaufort, and began to build the agar facility that we see in these photographs from the State Archives.

In a Feb. 21, 1943, article in the Raleigh News & Observer, reporter Amy Muse described how the company’s workers followed a method of making agar that was very similar to the traditional methods used in Japan.

“The [sea] grass is spread out to dry and bleach for several days, during which time it is sprinkled at intervals with sea water. Then the cooking: The grass is boiled in a generous supply of water, resulting in a soupy product. This is strained through cloth and poured into shallow pans, where it solidifies like a clear gelatin. It is from this, through a scientific process, that pure bacteriological agar is obtained.”

Muse left out a step or two, a great deal of filtering, dehydrating, freezing, chemical additives, drying, and milling, but that was it in a nutshell.

I have not found historical records on the quantity of seaweed harvested at the company’s plants, or on the quantity of agar produced at them, or of the company’s profits.

However, I do know that the local agar industry was relatively short-lived. With the support of the War Production Board, the Beaufort Chemical Co. seemed to thrive during the war and played an important part in helping the country to overcome its reliance on Japanese agar.

But by the winter of 1945-46, soon after the war’s ghastly ending at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the company’s leaders were already saying that the local supply of Gracilaria confervoides and Gracilaria foliifera, the “red mosses” necessary to make agar, was dwindling.

The company soon shuttered its facility in Lennoxville and relocated its base of operations to the Florida coast. In 1948, the Beaufort Chemical Co.’s directors declared bankruptcy.

At that time, another company, Sperti, Inc., bought the company’s plant in Lennoxville.

Named for its president, a Cincinnati research scientist named Dr. George Sperti, Sperti, Inc. continued to make bacteriological agar and apparently also agar for culinary and other uses for a few more years.

Today Dr. George Sperti is remembered most often for inventing another product connected to the sea– the hemorrhoid treatment Preparation H. The original formulation of Preparation H included shark liver oil as a central ingredient.

Dr. Sperti closed the facility sometime in 1951 or 1952. Then, in the summer of 1953, the company’s main processing plant on Lennoxville Road, abandoned at the time, burned to the ground. The agar industry’s brief moment on the North Carolina coast was over.

* * *

Special thanks to Douglas A. Wolfe for sharing his extensive knowledge of Pivers Island’s history and the work of its marine laboratories with me. 

This is the 2nd in my “Working Lives” series that looks at the stories behind a collection of historical photographs that were taken on the North Carolina coast between 1937 and 1953. 

The photographs were originally taken for a state agency called the North Carolina Department of Conservation and Development. Today they are preserved at the State Archives in Raleigh. 

Campers, cyclists, hikers, birding enthusiasts and other outdoor recreationalists would be required to buy an annual pass to access game lands in the state under a proposal floated by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

The “conservation access pass” proposal targets those users because they are increasingly visiting game lands and utilizing state Wildlife Resources boating-access areas, commission officials say.

“The more people you put out there, the more activities they’re doing,” said Wildlife Resources Commission Land and Water Access Division Chief Daron Barnes. “You see a general degradation of those habitats’ infrastructure and it can impede management activities. So, there is a need for additional funding to address these types of impacts on land.”

Barnes explained to an online audience during a public meeting Tuesday night that hunters, anglers and trappers would not have to buy a pass because they are already “paying in” to access and use game lands, while outdoor recreationalists are increasingly using game lands free of charge.

“We see that number of people increasing year after year,” he said.

The prospective pass program was met with mixed feedback during the meeting, where participants raised concerns about a pass fee potentially affecting outdoor programs, particularly in low-income communities, and safety issues during hunting seasons.

If implemented, conservation access passes would apply at a minimum to commission-owned game lands, which include roughly a quarter, or more than 542,000 acres, of the 2.1 million acres of game lands the agency manages.

In an email responding to questions following the meeting, Carrie Ruhlman, policy manager with the commission’s Office of Conservation Policy & Analysis, said the passes “may also apply on game lands owned by partner agencies/entities.”

“Once a decision is made on whether to move forward with a Pass, the WRC will reach out to those partners to see if they would like the Pass to apply to their property,” she said.

Roughly half, or 1.26 million acres, of game lands Wildlife Resources manages are owned by the U.S. Forest Service. A mix of other state agencies, local governments, private businesses and residents owns a little more than 299,200 acres.

Wildlife Resources owns 70 game lands, 37 of which span a total of more than 320,000 acres across the state’s coastal region.

Under the proposal, conservation access passes would be required for use at all of the more than 250 boating access areas that are built and maintained by the state for vessels that do not currently have to be registered with the agency. Those include nonmotorized water vessels like kayaks, canoes and stand-up paddleboards.

Passes would also be required to use five Wildlife Resources shooting ranges.

Franklin County resident William Teague said he doesn’t have a problem with nonhunters, anglers and trappers using the agency’s shooting ranges or with paddlers utilizing boat access areas.

But the state’s growing population and the demands of development that come with it are crowding out lands on which hunters and trappers can go, he said Tuesday.

Private land “is becoming harder and harder to be able to hunt,” Teague said. “And so it’s kind of forcing some of us to hunt exclusively on public land. There’s fewer and fewer opportunities to hunt and trap, for that matter. There’s plenty of other places across the state that if you’re not a hunter, trapper or angler that you can go and do recreational-type things.”

He was joined by others who spoke during the meeting in raising concerns about recreationalists using game lands during hunting seasons.

Jerry Price suggested certain areas within game lands be restricted for hunting and trapping use only during hunting seasons. Those areas could be rotated between that group of users and recreational uses, he said.

“To hunters, there’s very few places that have good quantities of game, mainly big game deer hunting,” Price said.

Haw River Keeper Emily Sutton said she understands the agency’s need to draw additional revenue to maintain game lands resources.

“But I think charging a fee for the general public to access these public lands, especially in a watershed like mine where there’s increasingly less big tracts of open space for people to explore, like the Jordan Lake Game Lands, is not the way to go about this,” she said. “It will discourage people from coming into those game lands and exploring these big tracts of forests that we don’t have a lot of access to in this part of the state anymore.”

Sutton said tacking fees to nonmotorized water vessels could be a huge hit for outfitters, schools and universities, and organizations like hers that offer free paddle events and clinics.

Anna Wheeler with the Dan River Basin Association agreed.

“We do free paddles for Saturday outings once a month,” she said. “This could really be a situation that gets a little bit expensive and discourages people from getting outdoors.”

The prospective pass fee would impact outdoor programs offered at colleges and universities through the state, according to Nathan Rector, director of Duke University’s Outdoor Adventures.

“My program certainly uses some of these boat ramps and we take multiple groups there and if we had to transfer that cost to our participants, a lot of our participants would just not be able to afford it, and we would really not exist,” he said. “We don’t make money off these things. We’re just offering a resource and so I’m hoping that either this would be reconsidered or some sort of educational nonprofit alternative would be offered to universities across the state.”

The agency is considering a $30 pass fee, but commission officials say they have not settled on a price to present to the voting members, who will consider whether to implement the conservation access pass program.

Anyone 16 and older would be required to obtain the pass, which would be good for one year from the date of purchase.

Wildlife Resources is accepting online feedback on the pass proposal through March 28.  All comments are to be complied and presented to the commission.

Additional information about the conservation access pass proposal is available at ncwildlife.org/conservation-access-pass.

If the plan is approved, passes would be effective no earlier than 2026.

Nobody wants to be a convict. However, the sheepshead is nicknamed the “Convict Fish,” and he is most wanted by anglers.

His black vertical stripes resemble the uniform worn by prisoners in old-time movies, and his ability to steal the bait off your hook — without you knowing it — makes us want to send him to jail.

The sheepshead is one of the best-eating fish we can catch within sight of land, or even standing on land. Their diet consists primarily of shellfish, like crabs, barnacles and shrimp. This translates directly to a fish that is as delicious on the plate as it is complicated to catch.

It takes specialized techniques and some extra knowledge of their habits and preferred habitat to catch them, so a lot of casual anglers may never catch one. Hopefully we can help you change that if you never have. Their pursuit is worthwhile because they are strong fighters, in addition to their table qualities, and it takes some doing to get them.

After the aforementioned stripes, the next thing most people will notice upon seeing one for the first time is the strange teeth that sheepshead possess. They have straight, up- and down-aligned teeth that resemble the mouth of a land-based herbivore — like a sheep, for example. These teeth are a perfect adaptation for the feeding technique they use.

Sheepshead will come up to a rock, piling or other hard structure, and use those straight teeth to crunch barnacles directly off the surface. If you look in further, you will also see hard knobby structure on the roof of the mouth. These are called crushers. Any crustacean that is unlucky enough to find its way in front of a sheepshead will find itself sucked back to them and be disposed of in a way that makes it easy to swallow.

Sheepies also have extremely long pectoral fins and a broad tail. This enables them to be strong swimmers and hold themselves in place as they patrol up and down on hard structure with a strong current running.

These adaptations inform our method of fishing for them. We need to be able to present a crustacean bait in such a manner as to get it in front of them as they swim up and down a piece of structure, and to feel the often-subtle bites.

Best baits are fiddler crabs, sand fleas, and, if you can get them, sea urchins. Fiddlers can be obtained on hard packed mud flats at low tide. All the little holes are made by fiddler crabs. Walk along a low tide and quickly pick them up. Don’t worry too much about the claws, they don’t really hurt.

Catch sand fleas at the beach with a sand flea rake pulled through the sand right in the zone where the waves come in and recede.

Sea urchins have to be purchased at a bait shop, if they have them.

There are two popular ways to rig. First is with a Carolina Rig and size 1 or 1/0 bait hook. Use a 30-pound test monofilament leader and keep it less than 18 inches long. The other way is with a bait on a jig head. There are a couple different brands of bait jigs, a popular one is called the Bait Sweeper. The idea is to get the bait to the bottom and have precise control of where it is. Use a rod that is light enough for you to be able to feel the slightest bite, but just heavy enough to keep your prize out of the rocks or pilings. I like to use a rod with 15- or 20-pound test braided line.

Drop the bait to the bottom as close to the structure as you can. Now slowly lift and drop down on a tight line. This movement will not only alert them to the presence of your bait, but also allow you to feel the lightest change in weight on your line. As soon as you feel anything different, set the hook quickly. Use the rod to lift the fish away from the bottom.

Most you catch will be under 3 pounds and will try hard but not be able to get back down. I have caught a few in my life over 7 pounds. The fight in those was as much like a grouper as anything else. You’ll know right away and they will stay down and try to get you wrapped up. They are formidable.

When you get them in, watch out for the spines they have on their dorsal, ventral and pectoral fins. I dropped one on my foot one time and the spine went right into my toe. That hurt a bit.

Keep a couple to provide some delicious meals. Don’t overdo it. Filet them and take the skin off. The bones are very strong so you will have to work around them. The best way to cook them is with a method called pan roasting. Get your skillet out and melt some butter over medium heat. When it is just barely sizzling, take a piece of meat that you have seasoned with salt and pepper and any other spice mix you like (the one named after a bay that’s not young is great here). Drop the filet in and leave it alone. Don’t move it around. Don’t flip it. Leave it on that side until you can see the opaque coloration on the side come up to just past two-thirds of the way up the side. At this point it will be ready to flip.

You will have a nice brown crust on the side that’s been down. No need to add flour or anything. Put a little more butter in the pan. When you can look at the side and see that the opacity covers the entire side of the filet, squeeze a lemon half into the pan. Baste the lemon butter over the top a few times. Take it out. Put a splash of white wine in the pan and let it sizzle. After a minute take it off the heat and pour the liquid that’s left over the top of the fish.

You just made a dish they’d charge $30 for in a nice restaurant.

Sheepshead should be available all through the season for us in the Carolinas. Use some specialized tactics and see what you can do.

The nonprofit organization that promotes North Carolina seafood is hosting a daylong summit in March to offer consumers an insight into the industry.

“NC Catch Summit 2025: A Day of Seafood Celebration with Carteret Catch!” is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 10 at Carteret Community College in Morehead City.

The summit is being offered at no charge. Register online to attend. The continental breakfast and box lunch are being offered at $20 plus fees. Attendees can add the feature during registration.

The summit “is open to the public and geared toward the seafood industry as a whole, including consumers and folks who just want to learn more about the mission of the Catch movement,” Carteret Catch President Pam Davis Morris told Coastal Review.

The agenda includes discussions on North Carolina fisheries, the value of community-based seafood businesses, seafood trends, marketing strategies, the new commercial fishing academy at Carteret Community College and consumer education.

Carteret Catch was established in 2005 with the goal “to once again make fishing a viable lifestyle and preserve a culture that characterizes the central coastal region of North Carolina.”

NC Catch formed in 2011 in partnership with Catch groups representing Brunswick County, Carteret County, Ocracoke and Outer Banks Catch.

“Fresh seafood is a cornerstone of North Carolina’s economy and culture. Our commercial fishing communities not only embody the rich history that has made the state a beloved destination but provide safe, healthy and sustainable seafood consumers need and deserve to live their best lives,” organizers said. “NC Catch Summit 2025 will empower you to make informed choices and advocate for a thriving seafood industry.”

On the afternoon of March 9, NC Catch is kicking off the summit with the unveiling of a special project recognizing African Americans in the seafood industry.

Related: African Americans in seafood industry heart of new exhibit

Starting at 4 p.m. at Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center on Harkers Island, the program will feature a cooking and tasting demonstration with area chefs, a panel discussion and exhibit opening. Register online for the exhibit opening.

The striped bass fishing season in the Roanoke River has been suspended in what state wildlife officials say is a necessary move because the population has not improved despite previous harvest reductions.

The striped bass hook-and-line harvest season in the Roanoke River Management Area, which runs March 1 to April 30, includes the river, its tributaries from Roanoke Rapids Dam to the Albemarle Sound, and the Cashie, Middle and Eastmost rivers.

Reductions have been made in the Roanoke River’s striped bass harvest over the past three years, but the “population has shown little improvement,” according to a North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission release.

“In 2024, NCWRC biologists observed a continuance of the declining trend in abundance of striped bass during the spawning grounds survey,” the release states. “Low abundance and the impacts of high mortality have resulted in poor spawning success over the past seven years, even when Roanoke River conditions were considered optimal for spawning.”

The agency is working with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries to address the declines of striped bass stock in the Roanoke River and the Albemarle Sound.

Striped bass caught in inland and joint waters of the Roanoke River Management Area must be immediately returned to the waters where taken.

Striped bass in the river upstream of U.S. Highway 258 bridge near Scotland Neck in Halifax County may be fished using only a single barbless circle hook with the use of live or natural bait or a single barbless hook, either no barb or the barb is bent downward, with the use of tackle between April 1 to June 30.

Ben Ricks, the commission’s coastal region fishery supervisor said the striped bass population reductions in the Roanoke River are concerning.

“We are working to understand the mechanisms that have led to the decline in the striped bass populations in the Roanoke River and Albemarle Sound,” Ricks said in a release. “We will also continue to stock striped bass this year in the lower Roanoke River and Albemarle Sound in cooperation with the DMF. We will assess stocking efficacy as striped bass return to the spawning grounds over the next three-to-five years.”

Wildlife officials will assess the next striped bass harvest season before the March 1, 2026 opening. Additional information is available on commission’s striped bass species web page.

Capt. John Mallette grew up fishing, but didn’t come from a fishing family.

Born and reared around Sneads Ferry and the Topsail area, he said his mother worked in real estate in Wilmington and his father was one of Ocean City’s original developers and bought a home there in 1950.

Ocean City was established on Topsail Island in 1949 and was “the first place where Black people could have oceanfront property” in the state, Mallette recently told Coastal Review.

The motel had a pier, and “I pretty much lived on the pier fishing as a little kid,” he continued.

“There was a lady who had One Stop Bait & Tackle in Surf City — Betty Warren, she’s long passed away now — but she would babysit me, basically, and I would sit there and help sell seafood and head shrimp and filet flounder. And then her husband, Preston, would take me out shrimping in the waterway with him, and that’s how I got started commercial fishing and just never stopped. I just grew into it, and started running boats.”

From there, he became a captain and spent several years piloting various commercial, private and charter vessels in Central and South America, Australia and Hawaii. While a fishing guide on a private island near Turks and Caicos, he learned his mother was ill and returned to the U.S. in 2008 to take care of her.

These days he co-owns Southern Breeze Seafood Co. on U.S. Highway 258 between Richlands and Jacksonville. He delivers fresh seafood all over the state, including to a handful of universities such as Elon and North Carolina Central.

“Wednesday, Thursday, Friday I’m on the road for the most part,” he said.

Stories like his are the backbone of an ongoing NC Catch Initiative to highlight African American contributions to the North Carolina Seafood Industry. Established in 2011, NC Catch is a nonprofit organization that aims to educate consumers about the state’s seafood industry.

Mallette and NC Catch President Barbara Garrity-Blake, a cultural anthropologist who teaches fisheries policy at the Duke University Marine Lab in Beaufort, are heading up the project, “Recognizing African American Participation in the North Carolina Seafood Industry.”

The project is the center of a new traveling exhibit, “African Americans in North Carolina Seafood,” that will debut March 9 at the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center on Harkers Island.

Garrity-Blake told Coastal Review that NC Catch wanted to highlight the diversity of people and roles within the seafood supply chain.

“The seafood industry is made up of men and women of various races and ethnicities who harvest, process, transport, buy, sell, and cook North Carolina seafood. We are focusing on Black contributions because African Americans have a history and legacy in North Carolina fisheries since Colonial days, from herring to menhaden, blue crab, mullet, shrimp — all of it,” she said.

For the project, people from the Black seafood business community and researchers worked together to compile narratives, video and oral histories of Black fishers, wholesalers, chefs and others working in seafood to increase recognition of African American participation in the state’s seafood industry. These currently are being housed on the NC Catch website.

Garrity-Blake said that Mallette is a “perfect co-principal investigator because he delivers seafood all over North Carolina and knows so many people in the industry. Right away he had a list of Black practitioners for us to interview,” and the “stories we are documenting are so compelling.”

Among those who shared their story for the project is Tyrone Hightower of Apex Seafood. Also on the NC Catch board, he quit a career in veterinary science to sell seafood at triangle-area farmers markets because he loves interacting with people, Garrity-Blake explained.

“He had a tough time breaking in at first, but Brett Blackburn, a major seafood distributor out of Carolina Beach, helped him out and taught him ‘fishermen’s language,’ like what shrimp counts mean,” she said.

Another is a young shrimper named Nate Ellison, who lives in the unincorporated Carteret County community of Merrimon. He “talked about his determination to maintain working waterfront access at the end of Silver Dollar Road, which was infamously sold out from under his family,” Garrity-Blake continued.

A husband-and-wife team who fish out of Hertford, Herman and Quinetta “Mermaid Q” Manley of Crackn Crab Seafood are featured as well. They “had their crab pots cut, their boat sunk, and their business shunned. But they stuck to their guns and eventually earned the respect of the community. Today they crab, fish, and sell seafood in low-income neighborhoods to help combat food insecurity,” she said.

Project’s early days

Garrity-Blake and Mallette connected during the 2021 North Carolina Seafood Festival, held annually the first weekend of October in downtown Morehead City.

Mallette said he was there to give a cooking demonstration for Got to Be NC, a marketing campaign for North Carolina products under the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and they “just started a conversation.”

Garrity-Blake told Coastal Review that during this conversation, Mallette shared his experiences as a commercial fisherman out of Sneads Ferry, which she said she found interesting.

“Since the last menhaden fish factory in North Carolina closed in 2005, you don’t meet a lot of African American fishermen. Long story short, Capt. John joined the NC Catch board, and we applied for a NC Sea Grant’s Community Collaborative Research Grant — pairing researchers and practitioners — to do this project,” she said.

Mallette also recognized that “African American commercial fishermen are few and far between. And it’s always been that way. The question is, why?”

When he was the captain of larger vessels while traveling around the globe, he said only a few of the American captains were Black. “It was me and maybe two other guys. Literally the only ones.”

So, they started exploring and researching, looking into stereotypes like “Black people can’t swim” and “little things that people would actually take to heart, “Mallette said.

While talking with the old fishermen and fish house owners he grew up around, “It was never, ‘we didn’t have Black shrimp boat captains or Black guys running the boats, because they were Black.’ They tried to give them the jobs, but they wouldn’t do it because a lot of their grandmothers and moms would be like, ‘That water ain’t for us. You stay on the dock,’” Mallette recounted.

They’d pack fish or head shrimp but wouldn’t actually go out on the boats, “and it wasn’t that they didn’t have the opportunities given to them, a lot of it was they were just always told that that wasn’t for them.”

Mallette said he never understood that either, especially once he began traveling.

The best fishermen were Black when he was in Central and South America, the Caribbean, and West Africa. “All through the Caribbean, your commercial fishermen are Black,” he said, but not in the United States. “It’s the one place you just don’t see it.”

About the exhibit

During the exhibit opening that begins at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 9, visitors will have an opportunity to listen to a panel discussion, and a cooking demonstration with Chef Ricky Moore of Saltbox Seafood Joint in Durham, Chef Jamie Davis of The Hackney in Washington, and Chef Keith Rhodes of Catch in Wilmington.

The public is welcome at no charge and are asked to register online ahead of the event.

“NC Catch’s mission is to raise awareness about the superior quality of North Carolina seafood and the importance of supporting the people, families, and communities who provide consumer access to it,” Garrity-Blake said. “Through the lens of North Carolina’s African American seafood legacy, we are ‘taking it to the people’ so they can enjoy the exhibit, hear firsthand stories about Black experiences in seafood, and taste what it’s all about.”

Core Sound’s Exhibit Curator Pam Davis Morris told Coastal Review that the museum is proud to host the opening exhibition and is glad to have provided a supporting role in its development.

“This exhibition dovetails in well with and builds upon previous work produced by the Core Sound Museum such as the popular Menhaden Fishery exhibition, The Local Fisheries Knowledge Project, Community Exhibit displays and many other oral history and artifact-driven projects,” Morris said. “Built as a traveling exhibition, this display will not only be shown at the Core Sound Museum but will travel to other sites as well.”

The exhibit is a kick-off for the NC Catch Summit taking place March 10 at Carteret Community College in Morehead City. Also a no-charge event, the daylong program will look at the state’s fisheries and seafood industry. Register online to attend.

NC Catch held a preview of the exhibit at the University of North Carolina Wilmington Tuesday, followed by a “Chef’s Takeover” cooking demonstration with Davis, Rhodes, and Mallette. 

Garrity-Blake said Wednesday after the event that it “went great.” The program was well attended, there was good discussion and the “food was fantastic.” Mallette prepared shrimp and crabmeat etouffee, Rhodes made a “Soul Bowl” with salmon, black-eyed peas and plantains, and Davis prepared fried catfish with ham hock gravy.

We as anglers spend an inordinate amount of time obsessing about hooks, lines, leaders, baits, lures, rods, reels, and a whole host of different equipment and gear.

There’s one particular item or group of items that often gets forgotten about. It is unfortunate too, because this can often make or break a day on the water more than you might imagine.

Of course, I am talking about food.

Having good food or snacks available will allow anglers to stay on the water longer without getting tired and make everybody happy during slow periods that inevitably come along.

A quick Google search comes up with this result:

“A good fishing trip snack mix should include a combination of protein, healthy fats, carbohydrates, and be easy to eat on the go, typically consisting of items like: mixed nuts, dried fruit, seeds, beef jerky, pretzels, whole grain crackers, granola, protein bars, and even some dark chocolate chips.”

Back in my day when I was a full-time fly-fishing guide, a lady who fished with me a couple of times a year always used to bring some Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies. They, along with those fancy soft drinks from Fresh Market, were always a welcome addition to a day on the water. Thank you, Ms. Janet.

I recently did a very complex scientific survey (I asked a bunch of people I know), about the kind of snacks people bring out with them for a day of fishing and also which things they explicitly avoid. I got some very interesting results.

One of the main things that you’ll find in talking about snacks on boats — and in going fishing — is the displeasure among people about bananas. Bananas are seen as some kind of voodoo and will bring bad luck to all aboard any kind of boat or engaged in fishing or otherwise. I checked a lot of different resources, there is no one source for this belief. Snopes.com literally says nobody knows, so take that as you will.

Another thing that I have found is a strong distaste for things like Vienna sausages and potted meat. Apparently, people were stuck eating these things on fishing trips as a kid, and don’t wish to recreate the situation in any way. I have to say, I agree with them. There is nothing more disgusting than Vienna sausages. Of course, if you like them, there will be no judgment here, but maybe some side-eye. If you offer them to me, I might throw you out of the boat.

Popular choices include things like cereal bars, protein bars and other portable snacks that can be stuffed in a pocket. Once in a while, there are people who will splurge on big-time takeout lunches like fried chicken. Leftover pizza is also a popular choice. But for the most part. you find that easily “hideable” items that are portable and that can be held over time are the most popular choices.

Like anything that we find from individuals, a lot of people have particular choices and even traditions that they follow when it comes to snack time. For instance, Hall of Fame lacrosse coach of Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, Mike Curatola, has a tradition that he and his son Jonny get Swedish Fish candy. They are not allowed to eat any of them until after they actually catch a fish for real, and then they have to eat them head first. I mean, traditions are important.

Kesley Gallagher, from Los Angeles, tells me her husband always brings gummy bears on fishing trips, but when they go to the beach in Malibu for surf fishing, she gets the Hostess powdered mini-donuts. Again, tradition counts.

There can be very strong preferences when it comes to boat snacks. Joel Elliott from Durham says that he has become an “accidental connoisseur of mediocre food.” He even has rankings: First would be the chicken tenders from Publix; next, fried chicken from Harris Teeter, and third, wings from Food Lion. He adds that to avoid the sugar of sports drinks, but to replenish on a hot day, he has started bringing packets of powdered electrolytes and adding them to bottles of water on the go.

My good friend Kristi Irvin says that she always tries to have coffee, water, and protein bars. From personal experience in fishing with her, there’s a lot of coffee, and it’s very strong.

She always has sweet and salty snacks available — like a good mom — when you go fishing.

My friends who are fishing guides have interesting responses to this question. Ryan from Pennsylvania says his schedule is not very conducive to getting good food. It’s what you can get at the gas station or a snack bar, late at night or early in the morning.

Some of the younger guys I’m noticing have Red Bulls and Zyns as a big part of their “diet.”

Freshwater fishing guides, who work on rivers and streams, often have packed lunches and streamside or lakeside cookouts. Not often with saltwater guys will you see that!

Let me just say thank you to all those who participated in my “highly scientific” survey. Your effort and input are very much appreciated.

In the end, the choice of food items to bring on a fishing trip is as varied and complicated as each individual fishing person, so don’t read too much into it. However, I still say that Vienna sausages and potted meat are not on my table.

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is hosting a series of public forums on its proposal to allow people who do not have state-issued hunting, fishing or trapping licenses access to state game lands, shooting ranges and boating access areas.

The proposed Conservation Access Pass would grant non-license holders access to and use of more than 2 million acres of state game lands, five state wildlife-owned and managed shooting ranges, and more than 250 boating access areas to more than 100 bodies of water for non-registered vessel owners.

The pass would allow those who do not have a state Wildlife Resources Commission-issued license to carry out a variety of activities on state-owned and -managed game lands, including hiking, birdwatching, biking, camping, dog walking, geocaching, and foraging, according to the commission’s website.

Pass holders would also be allowed to paddle non-motorized vessels from boat accesses and target shoot at state-managed shooting ranges.

Commission representatives will explain what is under consideration, answer questions, and gather feedback from attendees on the proposed pass program at these regional forums.

The forum in eastern North Carolina is set for 7-9 p.m. Feb. 25 at Pitt Community College, 169 Bulldog Run, Winterville.

A virtual forum will be hosted 6-8 p.m. March 4. Registration is available online.

Virtual forums will be recorded and posted to the commission’s YouTube channel. Comments and questions may be submitted online.

A wise man once told me, “If you get a boat that can do everything, you’ve got a boat that can’t do anything.”

What does that mean exactly? There is no true do-everything boat.

If you own a boat now, figure out what it’s best at and do that. You probably already do. If you don’t own a boat, maybe I can help you with a decision down the road. It is boat show season now after all.

The first consideration for most people is always going to be cost. The boat market, just like real estate, has gone through the roof the last couple years. Having said that, owning a boat is not a very good lesson in economics. For most of us it doesn’t produce any revenue and will continue to cost us money for as long as we own it. The word BOAT is an acronym for “Bust Out Another Thousand” after all. But we can find some decent deals on the used market if we aren’t in a hurry.

It’s important to know what we’re looking for.

I’d say that, day-in and day-out, most people who fish coastal waters within 10 miles of shore can get by with a single-engine, center-console boat that’s 18 to 24 feet long. This type of craft can get us to the inlet and out in the ocean in reasonable comfort, and if it’s too rough for you to be out in that boat, it’s not really going to be a very fun day anyway.

With a boat of this size, you can bottom-fish the inshore reefs, chase schooling fish along the beaches, jig the wrecks for flounder, and a whole lot of other things. But there are realistic limits.

First of all, you will have limited access in areas behind barrier islands and shallow-water situations due to draft constraints (draft is how much water your boat needs to operate). You also have to make difficult decisions if you think about going farther offshore. If you’re not sure about what the weather and waves will be for the ride home, don’t go. If you like going offshore, at some point a boat of this size might not be the best choice.

If you see yourself making a lot of trips beyond 10 miles offshore, such as fishing weed lines for mahi-mahi, tuna, or whatever else might be out there, then something over 25 feet will be a better choice, and you might want to think about two engines.

When you’re 20-plus miles offshore and there isn’t another boat in sight, having two engines is really nice insurance on getting back to the dock the same day. Can you go out there with one? Of course, you can. I’ve done it quite a few times myself. Would I have felt better about it with two? Definitely.

I haven’t mentioned true offshore cabin cruisers yet. The price of these has escalated to the point that I don’t even look at them, and at this point in my life I don’t know much about them. However, I’d say that if you only want to make one or two trips per year to fish for marlin or something that’s over 30 miles from port, you’d probably be better off leaving it to the pros and chartering.

A lot of people own johnboats. They use them for duck hunting, shallow-water fishing, small creeks, and any place you need a durable shallow-draft boat. They can get you almost anyplace. I used one for years. I caught a bunch of fish in it.

They have a couple real drawbacks. It’s tough to cross any open body of water when the wind starts blowing. They’ll bang you around and try to knock your teeth out. They also tend to be loud when you’re fishing shallow places where you’d rather not make any sound at all. A better choice can be the flat-bottom fiberglass skiff. They weigh a bit more, can’t go quite as shallow as a johnboat of the same size, but they can carry more and make crossing open water a little bit easier.

In the past 20 years we’ve seen the rise of the bay boat. It grew out of a need to use the flat-bottom skiffs in areas where larger bodies of water were needed to be crossed and where it was too shallow to use a traditional center-console with a deep-vee hull. Bay boats can often fish in water less than 18 inches deep and will be loaded with accessories that make them fishing machines in protected waters.

On calm days you can even take a bay boat outside the inlet to chase false albacore or something. If you like to bass fish and want to do that type of fishing in saltwater for red drum or speckled trout, this is the style of boat for you.

Finally, we have the flats-style boats with the poling platform on the stern. These will usually have a push-pole and will sometimes also have a trolling motor. This is an extremely specialized style. If you don’t see yourself poling a skiff in 6 inches and sight-fishing shallow water, this is not the one for you. It’s the exact opposite of the big offshore cruisers.

If you just want to do it once or twice a year, this is another situation where you’d be better to leave it to the pros and get a charter.

Hopefully I have helped clear the mud for you when it comes to boats.

Is this all? No way!

I haven’t talked about canoes, kayaks, pangas, cuddy cabins, and at least a dozen more, and don’t even start thinking about sailboats. That’s a whole ’nother thing. But what I’ve hopefully done is to cover most of the styles of boats you might see fishing our coastal waters and help you make a decision if you’re trying to see what you want for yourself.

Now go out and buy a boat, and give me a ride on it!

A wise man once said to me, “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over a man who doesn’t know how to read at all.”

That was Mark Twain. (He didn’t actually say that to ME). So, it stands to reason then, that if you want to learn about cool stuff, then you should read about cool stuff. If you want to learn about fishing, it probably will be a good idea to read about fishing, hence I have had a fishing library for years that I refer to quite frequently.

First of all, let me say that just because a book is not about a true subject, does not mean you cannot learn lessons for life. I was once told by a person I respected that they did not read fiction because there was no reason to, because, “You can’t learn anything from it.” To this day I have no response to this person, because it’s such a dumb statement.

All the great things to learn are wrapped up in fiction. Are you not sure of how you should act when a huge opportunity comes to your door to save the world? Then read the “Lord of the Rings” and see how small people can save us all. If you’re not sure how to treat people below you on the social scale, then read “Huckleberry Finn” and notice how Jim is the only character in the whole story who has any honor.

Finally, some of the most serious lessons we have to learn in life are wrapped up in broad comedy. Remember the TV show “M*A*S*H?” Was it really just about bunch of people in the Korean War? 

Obviously, I have a copy of “The Compleat Angler” by Izaak Walton, but I don’t feel that it talks that much to me, and more recent things will do the job better.

First, let me mention the most-referenced book in my library. You might know me as a fly fisherman. The Lefty Kreh book, “Advanced Flycasting” was like a bible to me for many years. I was even lucky enough to walk into a flycasting demonstration with him one time and he worked with me on my casting extensively. I count this among some of the most important lessons of my fishing career. We lost Lefty a few years back and I still remember all the things he told me that day. Luckily, we have his books.

Something I was lucky enough up to pick up years ago was a book called “Fly Rodding the Coast.” Ed Mitchell wrote about a very basic approach to looking at the water if you don’t have a boat. It just so happens that everything he writes also applies to being in a boat. It has been an invaluable part of my library for years. I also have his follow-up called “Fly Fishing the Estuaries.”

Closer to home, Tom Earnhardt wrote a volume called “Fly Fishing the Tidewaters” that was very helpful to me years ago. Not only in learning how to fish the waters around here, but also as a guide to how to put together a useful book. The chapters on tide and how it affects fish and fishing I found especially helpful. I would stare at the full-color plates of beautifully hand-tied flies for hours to get ideas.

“Prospecting for Trout” by Tom Rosenbauer has been the book that I have recommended to people about learning to fish with a fly rod more than any other. It is a priceless resource and Rosenbauer is a treasure that keeps on giving in the form of his social media. He continues to help people learn to fish and get better at fishing.

I have more books written by John Gierach than any other. His insights and humorous view of the world around him helped many of us get into the right frame of mind when we would go fishing. He recently has also been lost to us, and I think I need to pick up all of the ones that I have and give them a reread.

Anything by Thomas McGuane, from “The Longest Silence” to “Ninety-two in the Shade” to about a million other great things, will enrich your brain and put your mind in the right place.

Probably the most popular fishing story ever written and the one most familiar to people, is “A River Runs Through It” by Norman McLean. More than likely you remember the film and I love it. I recommend everybody also read the book. The movie is adapted from McLean’s life. (It’s pretty complicated). The book focuses on his time as a young man in Montana and his relationship with his brother and his father and how they affected him and the man he became. The final paragraphs are some of the most moving words ever written by an American writer.

There are so many others; I haven’t even mentioned Lee Wulff, Robert Traver, Frank Daignault, AJ Mclane, et al., and specific guide books to fabulous fishing locations too numerous to mention that have been extremely helpful.

My hope here would not be to just give you a list of books to read, although I’m hoping that people will pick them up, but to let you know there is a world of fishing literature that is both helpful and entertaining. I would encourage anyone to collect their own works of fishing books to have as a reference and support authors of all kinds.

You might even already know, or maybe you don’t, but I myself have two books that I have written, for what that’s worth. And of course, never assume that a book that is a work of fiction does not have anything that you can learn.

One of the real pleasures of owning a high-quality fishing library is that you can always reach out to your favorite fishing authors on days when you would not be up to going. Snowing like crazy? Pick up McGuane. Sad or depressed about not getting to go fishing because of some health situation? Grab McLane. Just need a little pick-me-up and a chance to laugh about things? Check out Gierach. That’s what I do.

Throughout the course of our lives, we get thrown into situations with lots of different people of lots of different personality types.

Fishing is no different.

A lot of the time, people we end up fishing with become our best friends or lifelong companions. Other times, well let’s say, it’s just not as good.

For every person we meet on a fishing trip who counsels, guides or otherwise helps us, there are, hopefully not too often, one or two who, for some reason or another, don’t keep up their end of the deal. Just look closely for the gems.

True Mentors

The True Mentor is an exceedingly rare type of fishing companion. This is the type of person with whom you can share, and they will share with you, and we can all improve by being together. The arrangement is mutually beneficial.

It’s commonplace for most anglers to only have one, and maybe — but only if they’re extremely lucky — two True Mentors in their fishing lives. Anytime a person like this comes into our sphere of influence, we should consider ourselves blessed.

These are the types of people who determine what kind of an angler — among other things — that you will become. Their influence will have long-ranging effects on you and, in turn, probably somebody that you will mentor in the future.

Meet the Leeches

Conversely, a Leech is a guy who will suck you dry for any piece of information or knowledge that you can be persuaded to part with. This person will take anything you can offer and give nothing in return.

They will end up fishing in your spot while you’re not around, and then not tell you anything in return that could possibly help you in the future.

The worst kind of Leech is the one who doesn’t know anything at all, but they act like they do. Tossing salt into the wound, they then go and share your information as if they had acquired it on their own through years of experience and without the help of any other person.

The Know-it-All

Next, we have the Know-It-All. This person already has the answers to all the questions that ever need to be asked about fishing. The problem here is that this person doesn’t actually know anything and will give recommendations based on something that they heard about on a TV fishing show.

It gets worse, because Know-It-All always assumes that they are correct and whatever you say is wrong. And they continue to mess up all the ideas you have for the rest of the day.

Know-Nothing

In a similar vein, the Know-Nothing will tell you that he knows nothing about what is going on is and is just there to learn.

In reality, like Know-It-All, they think they do know everything and will complain incessantly when you make a decision that they don’t agree with. Then follow with, “Whatever you decide. I don’t know anything, anyways.”

Grumpy Old Man

Let’s talk about the Grumpy Old Man.

This is a person who is not necessarily old but is generally grumpy for some reason, and 99% of time they are indeed a man. 

This person will never be happy.

Go out on the boat and if the fishing is slow, they will complain about fishing being too slow. If the fishing is really good, they will complain that the fish are biting too easily. If he hooks the biggest fish he’s ever caught in his life, he will be complaining about how long it takes to get in. If he’s only catching little fish, well of course he’ll complain about that as well.

Don’t even bother trying to make a lunch for the Grumpy Old Man. You might make the most amazing gourmet lunch anybody has ever heard of or seen and he will complain that it’s too fancy. But woe be to the one who only comes with PBJs!

If the boat is a little older, he’ll complain that it’s too beat up, and if the boat is brand new he will complain that it’s too fancy and you should get something more his style.

The Grumpy Old Man will never be satisfied no matter what you try to do for him.

The Mentee

The Mentee is similar to the Leech in that he personally learns a lot from the Mentor but, unlike the Leech, is fully appreciative of all guidance from the Mentor.

He gives full credit. He loves the feedback. And he will often be the kind of person who becomes a lifelong friend.

A really good Mentee will offer others fishing trips, often taking the Mentor to other places, and even buy really nice meals for the Mentor and the Mentor family. These are the kind of things that come unbidden, and the Mentor-Mentee relationship is often fulfilling for both parties.

These are great opportunities to cultivate lifelong friendships.

Ideal Fishing Companion

Izaak Walton said, “Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter.” He was talking about fishing companions, of course.

The Ideal Fishing Companion is a person to whom and with whom spending time isolated in a boat or another fishing spot is a pleasure.

You will be able to converse about the myriad of subjects that come up when you’re fishing. There can be disagreement, of course, but it will not be disagreeable. Most of the time, the worst thing to talk about is college football or something like that, and if a true political discussion comes up, you can resolve the issue without harsh words.

The style of fishing demonstrated by these kinds of companions is generally similar, and the amount of stamina each has is similar, as well. That’s important, too.

Needless to say, Ideal Fishing Companion is difficult to find. There will be many people who come around but who don’t fit the bill. That’s fine.

Because in the meantime, you have been fishing, anyways, and isn’t the whole goal of this, anyways, just to be fishing?

An old Assyrian proverb states, “The time spent fishing is not deducted from the total time man spends on this Earth.”

I would like to think that is 100% correct.

Featured Image

Kevin Hardy of Wilmar, near Vanceboro, fishes along Cape Lookout National Seashore as a commercial fishing trawler offshore heads southwest. Photo: Dylan Ray

Not too long ago, we talked about descending devices, what they’re used for, why you need them, and a bunch of other things. But what use is a device to save released fish from deep water if you don’t know how to catch them?

So that’s what we’re going to talk about this time. Before you go out there, you need to have an idea of where you’re going, what do you do when you arrive, what baits you need, and probably a whole bunch more things I have not thought of yet.

To start with it, is probably a good idea to have an idea where to look. To help us with that, we asked a very accomplished weekend angler, Paul Gilbert, of Wilmington.

Gilbert fishes with his brother-in-law, Levi Wright, whom he calls “The Captain,” and they will go out trolling surface baits while looking for depth changes with hard structure on them in the form of rock piles and wrecks.

“We start somewhere in the 25- to 30-mile range and put out the ballyhoo spread for the early bite,” he explains.

They have a high-quality depth finder that will show structure changes, bait availability, and even the presence of fish.

“Some of the best ledges are very slight humps on the bottom,” according to Gilbert.

When all the pieces are present, they will go back and drop baits on those humps and see what is there.

“We do a quick drop on each ledge and if it produces, we stay longer.”

Drop a variety of baits on different rigs. Gilbert will rig things such as squid, cigar minnows, and even cut versions of bait stealers they catch, on the old standby Chicken Rig with enough weight to reach bottom 90 to 120 feet down.

There may be a surprise swimming by on the surface. “Keep a light line going if there’s life up top. Keep a pitch bait handy (one that can be deployed quickly on the surface) if a mahi or cobia swims up to join the party,” is Gilbert’s advice.

Another inside tip from Gilbert: “Last trip I brought out some nice palm-sized pinfish and got into the gag grouper pretty good. I caught them with a pinfish trap, and used a Fishfinder rig and 3-foot leader.”

Because the good spots are so difficult to find, Gilbert will stick on a spot until they decide that it is no longer producing. It is an old saying that you should not leave fish to find fish, which means don’t leave the spot until you know for sure that it is no good. There are clear signs that it’s time to go.

The fish that we are targeting will be aggressive and will bite quickly if they are present. If sharks become a problem it’s time to leave.

“When you catch the first shark, think about which ledge to hit next, when you catch the second shark, you go.”

As far as rods go, this is not the place for light tackle. Use a 4/0-size reel loaded up with 60-pound braided line. Too small of a spool will have you cranking for days. It takes a lot of weight to get down sometimes, so a rod with a soft tip is contra-indicated. More people are looking at electric reels when fishing over 200 feet. That’s a lot of reel turns.

Another way to target fish in deep water is by jigging. This allows you to target fish that are more active and higher in the water column. Along with snapper and grouper, you’ll also get hits from different species of jacks, king mackerel, and tuna.

Joel Elliott, secretary and board member of the Hillsborough Sportfishing Club, enjoys going out on the various big party boats around Atlantic Beach and Beaufort and targeting big fish with jigs in deep water.

This is a more involved method of targeting fish in terms of the skill involved to get strikes, keeping lures from snagging on the bottom, and of course being able to land fish on a busy party boat. It’s very rewarding and there are some things that you need to know before you get started.

First of all, you are going to need your own specific rods and reels for the technique that you will be employing. Big spinning rods and reels loaded up with 60- to 80-pound test braided line are a good place to start. Reels such as the 6000 series from Daiwa, Shimano or other manufacturers are recommended and Elliot likes a custom-built jigging rod. Look to spend $300 to $600 to get started.

To target snapper and grouper with jigs, the best way is with a 10-inch Z Man HeroZ tail and 6-ounce jig head. Joel Elliott recommends using jigs with a glow feature when the water is 100 feet or deeper. Let it drop to the bottom then lift and fall, lift and fall. It will feel like a grab in the deep. You will need braided line because without it, you will be missing strikes and losing fish.

Remember: When you’re fishing for snapper and grouper, always be aware of the seasons in terms of what is legal to keep and what is not.

Joel points out that, “A big challenge of jigging off a headboat, is that you want to be able to control the fish and keep them vertically under you as much as possible to avoid tangling up with others.”

Hopefully this will be enough to get you started with deep-water fishing for grouper and snapper. Just remember, always have your descender device and be prepared to release the fish that you cannot keep. Always be aware of the seasons and know what is going on. You don’t need to have a problem with the Coast Guard when you’re heading back in to shore.

Now get out there and load up the boat with some delicious snappers and groupers.

Have you ever seen a photo of a fish that was pulled out of deep water too quickly? Did you notice the poor creature’s bugged-out eyes and surprised expression?

This is a sign of a fish experiencing deep-water decompression, and it is a big problem for catch-and-release situations involving snapper and grouper fishing. Because of this, anglers in the deep-water fishery are required by federal law to have a descending device onboard their boat at all times.

Let’s talk about what the devices are, what they do, how we can get them, and how they are used.

First, let’s talk about barotrauma. When fish are brought up from deep water, they can often suffer severe difficulty after being released. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission defines barotrauma as, “The change in pressure in a gas-filled organ called a swim bladder that controls buoyancy and allows the fish to maintain a certain depth. Fish that are caught in deep water and then released can cause the gas in the swim bladder to expand and in some cases burst.”

This causes significant problems because there are very strict regulations on size limits and catch limits for fish like snapper, grouper, and seabass, among others.

Capt. Tom Roller of Waterdog Guide Service in Beaufort, a member of the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission, states that, “Recreational discards (releases of undersized or unwanted fish) in the fishery are out of control and need to be reduced.”

In response to this stated need, devices have been invented to allow fish to be released at the proper depth so they can swim away alive, rather than be eaten by sharks or barracudas.

Descender devices, as they are known, are hooked to the jaw of a fish and allowed to be pulled down to whatever depth that the fish came from before detaching by jerking the weight away, allowing the fish to swim off. Surprisingly, this works well enough that they are required by federal law to be present on any boat that participates in a deep-water bottom fishery.

“It’s a unique way to release deep-water fish to reduce release mortality that is both efficient and required by law,” Capt. Tom says.

North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Marine Fisheries Special Assistant for Councils Chris Batsavage says that they are required gear for, “Any recreational or commercial fisherman fishing in deep water for fish that are susceptible to barotrauma. Examples of fish include groupers, snappers, black sea bass, and tilefish.”

Further, he adds, “Increased survival of released fish with barotrauma should result in less mortality, which can lead to sustainable populations.”

Of course, there are now lots of products that we can use to help release the fish safely that are used every day. There are literally too many to list.

A bunch of guys have homemade devices that we’re not going to waste time talking about, due to concerns of varying effectiveness.

The main ones that you are going to most readily find are called the Seaqualizer and the Fishsaver.

The Fishsaver is a device that clips onto the lower jaw of the fish using a kind of barbless fishing hook, and you drop it down to the desired depth using weights. A sharp jerk on the line releases the fish. Seems easy in practice, but there’s no good way to regulate how far down the weight goes on the release.

The Seaqualizer, on the other hand, uses a clip on the line that attaches and releases at a predetermined depth.

Obviously, the latter is a bit more expensive, but there’s more technology involved and it offers more control.

You just need to figure out which style you want to use. If you look on the Internet, there is quite a large number of other options to choose from as well, but usually they are adaptations of one style or the other — some more expensive than others. Just make sure you get one that works properly.

Capt. Tom said he has used lots of homemade ones over the years, but Seaqualizer, he added is, “Amazing.”

OK, so now you’re out fishing for snapper in 100 feet of water. What do you have to do to be ready to go?

First thing, it’s recommended to have a separate fishing rod rigged up with a fish-release device, and have that ready go before you even begin.

Then you drop a bait down to the bottom, reel it up a couple of turns, and it’s not too long before you have a bite. Very exciting! Get the fish about two-thirds of the way up, and it just becomes deadweight on the line. You reel in the rest of the way, and when you look at the fish, its eyes are bugged out of its head and the belly is distended from the swim bladder.

It’s a little too small to keep, and rather than mess around, you quickly attach your Seaqualizer to the fish, turn and drop it back to the depth that you just got it from. The device will release, and the fish will be back in its home at the proper depth. You can then continue to safely catch and release fish that are too small, and you don’t have to worry about dumping fish over the side to feed the sharks.

Have a good time catching snappers to bring home for a delicious meal. Just make sure you know the following things:

• Rules and regulations concerning the minimum size, how many fish you can catch, and keep, for all of the various species that you could encounter.
• The seasons, because regulations can change drastically through the course of the year.
• How to use a descending device, and always have one onboard.

MOREHEAD CITY – The state Artificial Reef Program sank a 55-foot trawler at the artificial reef site, AR-305, off Cape Lookout, last week.

The program is part of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries.

The fishing vessel Alexandria Dawn, the latest addition to the artificial reef, was built in 1984, but has been out of use for around a decade, division officials announced Monday. Before sinking, the vessel was cleaned extensively in accordance with Environmental Protection Agency requirements, officials said.

The vessel was purchased and its sinking funded by state Coastal Recreational Fishing License revenues. The Alexandria Dawn is located at 34 degrees 16.653 minutes north, 76 degrees 38.651 minutes west.

The Alexandria Dawn joins three other vessels at AR-305: the 183-foot Spar, the 439-foot Aeolus and the 105-foot Thomas Dann. The site also contains 1,700 tons of donated recycled concrete, deployed in July 2023. The site is approximately 28 nautical miles south of Beaufort Inlet, in 105 feet of water, and is a popular site for fishermen and divers.

An artificial reef is a manmade underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom. In North Carolina, artificial reefs serve as crucial spawning and foraging habitat for many commercially and recreationally important fish species.

First light.

Your buddy told you the dawn bite was amazing. You get up at 4 a.m. and drive to the boat ramp. Grab your stuff and march to the dock.

Everybody is glad to see each other. Fist bumps and high fives are exchanged. Your buddy is impatient and wants to get going. You head out into the beauty of a rising sun. After a bit of a run, during which you notice him taking some tortuous turns to stay in an unmarked channel to get back to what is, pretty obviously, if not a secret spot, then one that doesn’t get much traffic.

He shuts down the motor, grabs his rod and catches a fish almost immediately.

You are left sitting there because you have not prepped your gear, it’s still a little dark and you are having trouble because it’s difficult to see.

“Didn’t you rig up last night at home? I texted you with which lures to have rigged up and how to set them up,” your buddy grunts as he sets the hook into what appears to be another really nice fish. You still have not gotten your lures out of your tackle bag.

It takes you a solid 15 minutes to tie your knots, find your lures, set them up, and finally you notice that, in your haste, (He just caught another one.) you have mis-threaded the line on your rod and have to start all over.

If you recognize yourself here, I’m sorry.

Well, in this case, I would have little sympathy. I am meticulous about setting up the night before. I recently joked with a friend that I have probably spent half of my adult life rigging fishing tackle at the dining room table.

While that may be a slight exaggeration, it is an accurate portrayal of how I prepare. Let’s spend some time and get ready for an early morning fishing excursion.

On the night before, get all the gear you think you might need and get it spread out in a well-lit area. I joke about the kitchen table because that seems to be the biggest, brightest area in my house. But if you have a well-organized work area you usually use, then that is perfect.

Let me point out a potential hazard: ceiling fans. These are the single biggest killers of fishing rods in the home, with a close second being the screen door that swings closed automatically.

Once you have everything spread out, determine exactly what you are going to be doing first thing. If you are going to be running to artificial reefs to bottom fish, then get your favorite rod and the hooks you prefer and tie up those bottom rigs or jigs just the way you like them.

Let me add that if you need to get bait, you need to be procuring that well in advance.

If you are drifting live mullets on Carolina rigs, best bet is to get your cast net out the day before and have a way to keep them alive overnight. If your goal is to be casting lures for speckled trout in the hot creek, then determine your favorite and have that rigged and ready with freshly tied-on leader line.

I like to have two rods rigged and ready with contrasting styles of plugs to hit different situations that may occur. If I’m going to be fishing slow-sinking plugs for the majority of the time, I’ll pick my favorite color and put that on one rod and then I’ll have a topwater plug ready on my backup rod — or whatever I think I might want on that second rod ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Decades ago, I used to fish with a guy who would make a point of chanting, “Down Time!” when somebody would get a tangle or a mess up with their tackle. I still think about this all the time.

Let’s say we’re going to hit the beach on a cold November morning. It’s a nearby beach and we’re going to cast MirrOlures for speckled trout. Prep the gear the night before. Make sure that all is as it should be. No mess ups in the rod, reel or line. Hooks are sharp!

Quality time is spent with fishing companions. Let’s load all the gear, carefully arranging everything in the truck: rods, waders, gear bags, coolers, drinks — it’s quite a logistical operation.

Get up in the morning. Coffee pot was set up the night before after watching the football game, so it’s hot and ready as we walk out the door.

Since everything is loaded up, all we have to do is get dressed and hop in the truck, get to the parking spot, get waders on, grab rods and walk down the sand.

Nobody else has arrived at the spot, but this will change soon. The sun is just a hint on the horizon. Make a cast and hook up on the first shot. All three of us have fish in the first minute of being out there. Each of us lands two fish before any other anglers make an appearance.

Now let’s assume that we weren’t ready the night before.

That first light bite when surfcasting for trout often means everything. And sometimes when additional people start in around the spot where you were just catching them, it slows down.

Each minute that was lost tying a knot in the dark, or untangling lines, finding waders in the garage, or even just waiting for the coffee to brew, could mean the difference between getting those first bites — and often the biggest trout in a school will be the most aggressive — and getting leftovers from somebody else.

You’re out fishing on a beautiful day. You get a strike from the biggest fish that you’ve ever caught.

Get it aboard and you pull out your mobile device and take a photo with the camera that we all have in our pocket these days. You are so excited. You figure this is going to be the greatest photo.

You tell your friend, “I’m going to have this framed and hung up above my mantle.”

When you look at the photo, you realize it’s overexposed, it looks washed out, and the fish looks small and so far away. You decide to take another picture.

Now it’s dead from sitting in the cooler and looks terrible and sad. By missing the exact moment of the capture, you missed the great photo opportunity.

There are a lot of things that can go wrong with the cameras that we use to take snapshots today. It’s way better than it was when we all had Kodak Instamatics, but there’s still a lot of mistakes that can be made. How can we maximize that memory to get the perfect big fish picture?

Let’s be clear: We’re not talking about using the most-costly camera taking the fanciest pictures. Can you get a nice photo with expensive gear? Of course. Can you take terrible photos also? That’s an affirmative.

What we are talking about is using the same camera that everybody has in their pocket today, the mobile phone camera. If you can apply some of these lessons just using the regular camera built into your cellular device, you can get good results and even get frameable artwork that is worthy of being a family heirloom.

Move in tight

I want to start out by saying that driveway shots are right out. Dried-up shots of dead fish are not anything to be proud of. Instead, we’re going to concentrate on catching the moment with a live fish. These are the ones that last and bring back the memories.

First rule: Get close.

No seriously, I mean really close.

Get close enough that the picture of the fish and the person fills the frame and possibly spills over. The closer you can get, the more detail you can capture, then the more impactful the photo will be.

Resident Coastal Review photo expert Dylan Ray recommends to “Fill the frame with the fish. There’s no need to show the legs of the angler.”

A lot of the new cameras have a separate mode just to take portraits, coincidently enough called “Portrait Mode.” This is a setting on the phone that blurs the background of the photo while keeping the subject in sharp focus. This helps ensure a professional-looking photo that makes the subject “pop.” This also allows you as the photographer to get as close to the action as possible and produce a sharp image of the subject.

Make sure that your background is not full of clutter. By this I mean you don’t have extra people or lots of extra things happening. Unless of course you’re doing it on purpose. Sometimes a picture of a stream with the mountains in the background is very impactful.

Note conditions

Speaking of backgrounds, generally make sure that your light is coming from behind the photographer, otherwise the image will get washed out. Having harsh light in the foreground can ruin a photo quickly. Position your subject with the light coming from over the shoulder of the shooter.

Stay steady

Be still. Don’t move. Don’t shake. Even a little tiny bit of shaking will make your photo blurry.

Take many shots. If we are using digital, there’s no reason to not have many different images to use. Just a tiny bit of vibration from operating the camera can sometimes throw it off. Be aware of that. If the boat is moving or if something jostles you, it will also affect the photo. Take lots of exposures.

Editing

Now, let’s assume we have a clean photo with a nice frame-filling image. It’s not blurry and has a nice background with no washing out of exposure due to bad light. What do you do next?

That cell phone camera is an incredibly powerful image manipulator. The fact that it’s in your pocket all the time does not make it any less so. You can do amazing things with just a quick couple touches of some buttons. Let’s look at a couple of my favorites.

The easiest thing to do is to just tap on the button that says “Auto” and it will automatically adjust the light and color on photo. This is effective and simple, but probably not the very best way to do it.

First, I like to crop the image. Even if you had come in nice and close, there is some cropping that you can do to get out extraneous details. It’s also good to realize the size of the photo you want to end up with.

For Instagram images, you probably want it to be as square as possible. For something that you are going to frame, a portrait shot will be best. That is when the longer axis is top to bottom, as opposed to landscape style, which is when the longer axis is from left to right.

Next, let’s talk about color and light. Previously, I mentioned the “Auto” button and how this may not be your best option. Go into your edit settings and there should be a place to adjust the colors and the light. There will be sliders for each setting for things like shadow, light, and color saturation. By simply fooling around with the sliders and experimenting you can figure out what they all do.

If you don’t like the results simply hit the cancel button and start over. This is not film where we have to develop a sheet of expensive photo paper and every mistake equals money lost.

I will generally go down each slider in turn. Experimenting a few times until I get something that looks good to me. Let me add here, that a little goes a long way. You don’t have to make very big adjustments to each setting to make dramatic differences.  

“Using a headlamp will add some nice fill light,” advises Ray.

Get in there and mess around with the settings and see what you come up with. Remember you had to have something good to start out with, and it begins with proper framing, good light, and a smooth shutter control to have a clean start.

Good luck and let’s see what you come up with this year.

Some people will tell you that the best fishing on the East Coast is to be found in places like the Florida Keys, Chesapeake Bay or Cape Cod. I’ll tell you the best fishing that attracts the most high-profile anglers is right here off the coast of North Carolina for two months in the fall.

The awesome run of false albacore off of Cape Lookout is unequaled anywhere in the country from the middle of October to the end of November. Nowhere else can you reasonably expect to see a tuna species running bait in protected waters less than 30 feet deep (and often less than 10 feet deep) with the kind of consistency you can here. Top it all off with lovely clear water and you have a sight-fishing opportunity that is unparalleled for a fish of this type.

So, while I love Florida flats fishing and want to make a trip to Montauk someday, I am perfectly happy in the waters off Cape Lookout. I have caught false albacore, or fat alberts, near the jetty on Labor Day and along Shackleford Banks in December. It’s a long season.

When the bigger fish of over 15 pounds move inshore in early November, many anglers will report hookups well in the double digits. That is enough to tire you out.

You may be wondering at this point what is so great about them? Have you ever hooked a fish from 8 to 15 pounds (on average) that will take off and run more than 100 yards of line off your reel in just a few seconds? All this can happen while using medium-weight spinning tackle or flyrods. That is what false albacore fishing is all about.

Let me give you some background on this fish. This is not the true, deep-water albacore that can be found in a can at your local market. The official name for fat alberts is “little tunny.” You could also call it Euthynnus alliteratus, but only if you really need to impress your friends.

It is not a bonito. It is not a bluefish. These misidentifications lead to much confusion. You will hear many reports on the radio of bonito being caught. That is usually from those not wanting to catch them. Bonito are not good to eat and tend to tear up carefully prepared trolling rigs. The surest way to know if you have a fat albert is to look for the black spots around the pectoral fin and the squiggly markings on the back.

Now let me tell you a couple of things about how to get one of these baddies on the end of your line. I am a fly fisherman. I would rather catch one fish on a flyrod than 10 any other way. However, if you are a first-timer and not a fly angler, do not despair, because these things will hit small jigs as well as, if not better than, any fly ever invented.

The best lures are small split-tail plastic baits around the size of a man’s finger in any color that looks like a natural minnow and the epoxy-coated metal jigs made by different companies, including a local outfit called Beach Bum Lures out of Havelock. Both are available in just about any tackle shop on the coast of North Carolina. Use a 4000 series reel that is capable of holding a full spool of 20-pound test braided line, and a 7-foot to 7 ½-foot, medium-action rod.

Don’t go too light on these fish. If you take too long to bring one to the boat, they might die. No rolling over and giving up for the little tunny.

For fly fishing, I prefer a 10-weight rod. This is heavy enough to cast into strong winds that often blow out of the north at this time of year and to bring the fish up from the depths at boat side without breaking. Plus, it is light enough to cast all day without wearing yourself out.

Use an intermediate line and a leader about 8 to 10 feet long with a 20-pound fluorocarbon tippet. Use a nice baitfish fly tied on a size 1 or 2 hook. Don’t make it too thick. The glass minnows that are the predominant prey species are about the size and shape of a man’s middle finger. Add some flash material to catch the eye of a fast (40 mph) swimming albert.

Now that we are rigged up, let’s go after them.

In the fall, they can often be found outside inlets from Cape Lookout south to the South Carolina line. When you get out, there will often be albacore blasting at glass minnows right there. If that is the case there may be a bunch of boats chasing them.

In this situation the first thing you need to think about is courtesy. Don’t pay attention to the people who are racing back and forth chasing surfacing schools at warp speed. Figure out which way the fish are moving. It will often be very obvious. Get in their line of travel and drift into them from uptide or upwind. Another boat may get in your path. Try to keep cool. People tend to act funny when there are big fish visibly feeding in shallow water.

If you are spin fishing, keep casting around the boat. You will often hook up even if there are no fish showing on the surface. Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they are not there. When you finally get a chance to cast into breaking fish, get your fly or lure as far into the melee as possible.

Start a moderately paced retrieve. You don’t have to rip it in. Keep it in the strike zone. They may not see your first presentation. Get it in there again! There may be hundreds or thousands of fish in front of you right at this moment. When one sees it, you can bet that fly or jig will be inhaled.

Now is when the fun begins! Your hook is in the mouth of a fat albert. The fish will then take off. If you have never fished like this with casting or fly tackle before, you will be amazed at how fast a fish of this size can swim. This is the fastest fish you can regularly catch within sight of land around here.

The first run of a bigger fish will often take close to 150 yards of line. Be calm and let it go. If you are running out of line you may need to start the engine and keep up with your rapidly depleting spool. An albacore may then double back and swim right at you. Keep the line tight and your rod bent, retrieve line as fast as you can. Be prepared for another run at any time. Sometimes the big ones (16 pounds and up) will come all the way in and then do the whole thing all over again.

When it comes to landing a fat albert, no fish could be more accommodating. He has a built-in handle. The tail is very stiff and easy to grab. Get ahold of it and lift the fish into the boat. Work quickly at this point. Have your long-nose pliers available. Get the hook out as fast as you can. I have even switched over to barbless hooks.

If the fish is out of the water too long it will definitely die. They are a proud fish and fight to exhaustion. When the hook is out you can take a couple of quick photos. Then drop the fish headfirst into the water from about waist height. Don’t swish it back and forth. Simply dropping the fish in the water from waist height will allow it to get a fast burst of water and oxygen over its gills and allow it to swim off quickly.

One final note: Don’t let your fish run too far away from you on that initial run. I’ve had a couple taken off of my line by sharks. Needless to say, there are other creatures that also enjoy the pursuit of false albacore.

There are some old fishing maxims that people throw around a lot, and a lot of them are misunderstood.

One in particular that really confuses people is, “Just follow the birds.”

I’ve been riding in the boat with novice anglers as they point out every bird they see as if that will lead them to the Promised Land. While it is true that birds tell us a lot of what is going on out there, it’s important to understand what each type of bird is, how it fishes, and what it means to us as anglers.

Let’s go through the most popular ones that we’ll see on our coast on any given day.

Pelicans

We’ll start with perhaps our most unusual bird, the pelican. As noted by American poet and journalist Dixon Lanier Merritt, “Oh, a wondrous bird is the pelican! His beak holds more than his belican.”

As we see them skimming the wavetops or gliding across a causeway, they are always looking into the water. They can see schools of fish a foot or two under the water and unerringly dive on top of them and scoop them up into their balloon-like bills. I have often seen them diving without a gamefish of any kind for miles in any direction. However, they can be helpful.

I was with a friend fishing a shoreline in the New River near Sneads Ferry and not having much luck. I noticed pelicans diving on mullet schools well out away from the shore. I could see mullet skipping every which way as the pelicans would fly over. We casually cruised over to the area and started making casts with our topwater plugs. We both hooked up on solid speckled trout almost right away and continued to do so the rest of the day.

Another time that pelicans can help us is during the fall migrations. When large concentrations of glass minnows are running the beach, you might see pelicans diving on them. Look for the cloud of bait in the water. If you’re really lucky, you may see them doing what I call “rafting,” where a dozen or more will be sitting on the surface just dipping their beaks into a bait ball of glass minnows or bay anchovies. Either of these situations is often accompanied by schools of feeding false albacore, bluefish or Spanish mackerel, and it’s worth throwing a small jig or minnow imitating fly.

So, the moral here is, if you’re not doing very well, and trying to figure out where your next cast should be, at least let the pelicans tell you where the bait fish are, and hopefully something bigger will be just behind.

Shorebirds

Next is wading birds: herons, egrets and other shorebirds. While not necessarily a bird you’ll be searching for, if you are fishing in a creek or marsh and wondering if there’s any life there, a heron wading the shoreline will at least alert you to the presence of small baitfish. This can be just the sign you need to make a few casts.

I have even pulled into a canal with docks and lifts and was just about to turn around when I saw a heron. I stopped and made “One More Cast.” Boom! A redfish ate my soft plastic jerkbait and I stayed there and caught fish until the tide ran out two hours later. It doesn’t happen a whole lot. But it’s worth paying attention.

Arctic terns are present here most of the summer. They are helpful to a point. They will definitely alert you to the presence of baitfish. But since they can dive under and pick them off with no help from below, they are not always good indicators of gamefish activity below.

Having said that there will be times in the summer when you will see terns diving and Spanish mackerel breaking the surface sporadically. Trolling is a good option in these situations because the fish will be spread out. I still prefer casting a small spoon or fly.

Other seabirds

Another bird that dives deep on small fish is the gannet. These will show up in our waters in late fall as larger schools of menhaden begin to arrive. They will dive from pretty high, cross their wingtips behind them, and enter the water like an Olympic diver. Often, they can go down to depths exceeding 70 feet.

Gannets are a good indicator of menhaden. Northeast striped bass fishermen love them because it will lead them to striped bass and big bluefish. Sometimes large red drum will be under our menhaden schools and possibly king mackerel. But it’s not a guarantee.

I’ve caught more sharks on jigs bumped under these schools than anything else.

Gulls are the No. 1 bird that anglers should concern themselves with.

In the summer we will see a lot of the laughing gulls, they have black heads and make that distinctive “laughing” call. Later on in the summer and into fall, we will see the little gray gulls called ring-beaked gulls.

If you are driving your boat across the water and look up to see a flock of gulls walking along the avenue, it’s worth checking out. They are voracious feeders and are always on the lookout for an easy meal. That means that they don’t often dive into the water like gannets or terns, but when a school of gamefish has baitfish on the move, they will notice and be right there when the minnows push out of the water to escape the jaws below. It is the gulls who will be there to pick up the ones the fish miss out on. It’s pretty frantic.

I always tell people to look for gulls “dancing” on the surface. This is when it’s really on. The action below is so frantic that the gulls don’t even want to pick up and fly up but want to stay as close to the surface as they can. This is a sure sign of false albacore, bluefish, or Spanish mackerel and will often lead to a day full of memories, which is what it’s all about really.

The allure of the coast is not confined to people who grew up on it or near it; it crosses county and state lines and reaches out to people who live far away.

Some people live their whole lives in places like Kansas or Nebraska, and as soon as they see the ocean, they can never go home again. It’s even a theme in literature, for example, in “Lord of the Rings,” Galadriel tells Legolas “Beware of the Sea! If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore, Thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more.”

For most, it’s not quite as dramatic. They come to visit, feel the pull, but can’t leave home, so they visit as often as they can and get as much enjoyment out of it as possible for whatever period of time they are there. And so it is with Neill Pollock. He is from Charlotte.

While that may not seem too far away, it’s still an almost five-hour drive from his home to his favorite place in Atlantic Beach. With gas prices being what they are, it’s a financial commitment as well. There’s just something about the coast that brings him back to spend time with his family and to experience fishing that he can’t do otherwise.

Neill grew up loving to fish but not having many options available to him, “I grew up in Charlotte without a ton of fishing opportunities, so golf course ponds were where I cut my teeth until around 11 or 12 years old.”

It was around that time when he started to get a better fishing education.

“My grandfather, Warren Pollock, started taking me to fish the mountain streams around Linville and Banner Elk. He was always my biggest influence in outdoor activities.”

Neill and his grandfather spent a lot of time together until the elder’s passing in 2017.

“We hunted and fished together growing up, until his age prevented him from going anymore.”

In my columns, I’ve tried to illustrate time and again how the influence of a mentor can drive a young person to a fulfilling lifetime activity. It’s important for us to remember this and do what we can.

These days Neill lives with his family near Charlotte and runs a contracting business.

“Currently, I own and operate a remodeling company. I spent 16 years behind a desk as a graphic designer before venturing out on my own as a real estate agent. A slow market had me doing side remodeling jobs, which turned into the creation of Red Oak Contracting.”

His family likes the outdoors and fishing too, but in moderation.

“I have been married for 15 years to my wonderful wife Missy. We have one daughter, Mia, who is way more into dancing than she is the outdoors, but gets out with me from time to time. She really enjoys float trips on the tailwaters in Eastern Tennessee.”

Neill said he thinks that she’ll get more into outdoors adventures as she goes along. His wife enjoys boating and going to the beach, and they all take trips together to Atlantic Beach several times a year.

Neill has a long list of saltwater fishing accomplishments including an 8-pound speckled trout caught on a topwater plug.

“Fishing on an early summer morning, I hooked by far my largest trout. Would have been perfectly happy if that was the last fish we caught that morning.”

He has the perspective of a seasoned angler and knows that to catch a fish like that makes the entire day and nothing else is really needed. As has been stated in this column before, sometimes catching a fish isn’t the only thing that makes for a good day.

“I think people get too wrapped up in the ‘catching’ aspect of fishing. Sure, that’s what we are out there to do but enjoying the water and surroundings is what we should really strive for.”

In that vein, Neill has a specific type of fishing he enjoys the most, a way that is not known for always producing the most poundage, but concentrates on the method.

“Fly fishing is my passion! There is nothing more relaxing and exciting at the same time.”

Neill says that fishing with a fly rod helps him feel more connected to what he is doing.

“I get the feeling with fly-fishing that you are more connected to the environment and the fish. Due to the fact that to succeed you need to know exactly what the fish are doing, it’s just a more intimate experience with nature.”

Neill gives credit to his friends that help him out when he goes to the coast. He realizes how difficult it is to stay on top of the fish when you have to travel.

“I have to admit, living in the Piedmont, I rely heavily on my connections at the coast for intel.”

Among all the things that you need to know, he realizes that information may be the most valuable.

“Keep your mouth shut when you get info and it will go a long way.”

He adds that we should never be afraid to try something new when we’re out there. You just never know what it could pull up.

“Never be afraid to try something new. Look for new spots on different tides, you might be surprised what you can find.”

Most people probably know that the state fish of North Carolina is red drum, or also called redfish. The state keeps records of catches of recreational fishermen and apparently a whole lot of people who fish in saltwater in North Carolina don’t really catch very many red drum.

Why do you suppose that is?

I expect it is because people go fishing and just look to catch whatever swims by. If you want to catch Mr. Red, you have to target him. Let’s talk about finding them and maximizing the opportunities for you to catch one when you want to.   

Let’s start with everybody’s favorite time of the year, spring and early summer. At this time of year red drum are very active, eat lots of things and can be targeted in myriad ways. My favorite way has always been a fly rod.

I target fish feeding in visible areas on the edges of creeks and flats as they are looking for shrimp and baitfish. In the same places, casting a surface plug or a shallow running lure like a gold spoon in creeks and flats can produce fish as they cruise.

Capt. Rick Patterson of Cape Crusader Charters will target red drum on cut chunks of menhaden at the mouth of creeks on the outgoing tide. He will rig under a popping cork float to keep the hook from catching on the bottom, as there are often oyster shells and lots of other things to get snagged on.

At this time of year red drum will be in the places that you find them. By that I mean that they’re spread out and highly active. As they move from place to place, they will find locations they like better than others. When you find a good spot, they will often return to the same place over and over, so don’t overfish them. You can clean them out.

With that in mind, fishing bait chunks should only be done with circle hooks and the trebles on surface plugs should be replaced with single hooks. These simple changes will make it easier to release fish that you are going to let go. Don’t kill your limit.

One of the things I was well known for was targeting redfish during high tides on the spartina grass flats with my fly rod. I was among a few innovators of this specialized fishery in the 1990s, targeting specific fish, sight feeding in the super-shallow, clear water that is pretty unique to coastal North and South Carolina.

In late summer, an incredible event that happens in North Carolina waters will lead to huge red drum in shallow areas along the Neuse River. You have probably seen the pictures of people holding up redfish in the 50-inch range on their laps. I like to call this style of photos “lap dances.” This leads to huge fish being caught — if you know how to target them.

You’re probably going catch the biggest fish you’ve ever caught in pretty shallow water. It doesn’t even take that much effort if you have a little foreknowledge. Once again, we’ll ask Capt. Rick for a couple of ideas how to look for these monsters.

“You can’t go wrong with cut bait on a Carolina Rig. Shad, mullet, croakers — just about anything will work,” Patterson said. He has specific areas in which he looks for them. “I like to fish the shoals on the main river shore. Long points are good also.”

You can also catch them on artificial lures if you know what you’re looking for, he advises.

“Use popping corks with plastic baits: Gulp, Z-man, or whatever you have confidence in,” he said. “Top water and swim baits if you can find them schooling on bait.”

The latter actually happens more frequently than you would expect. When it does, it’s pretty exciting. Be prepared.

Let me point out that this is strictly a catch-and-release fishery because all the fish are above the upper slot limit and they are spawning. It’s critically important to the overall health of the fishery. Use heavy gear. Get them to the boat rapidly for a quick picture and let them go. The fish should not be inside the boat for more than 30 or 45 seconds.

As the water cools through the fall and into the winter, this is my favorite time to target red drum. It’s not uncommon to catch and release upwards of 30 to 40 or more in a day. The secret lies in finding them in the first place. When you find one you will have found them all. If you don’t find any, you won’t catch anything. It’s an all-or-nothing situation.

Look for deeper holes with marshy areas in channels wending back — the deepest spot you can find. It may only be a foot or so deeper than the rest, but when you find the spot, you’ll know. The fish will pile up inside it and you’ll get plenty of bites in a short period of time. But until you find them, it will seem like there’s nothing there at all.

My favorite type of lure to use is a soft plastic artificial shrimp such as the DOA or Zman. Colors can be anything from kind of bland to fluorescent green. The point is the fish are very hungry but there are not a lot of food options available and they will hit most anything that you can throw in there.

The best bite is usually on the outgoing tide, and be aware that the bottom is full of shells, so be prepared to deal with the shallow water. Don’t use bait in this situation because the fish are so aggressive anyway. It’s a waste of money and time.

Again, let me add to please be responsible for the fish that you’re catching. Release them quickly. You could be catching a lot. Treat them well and they’ll be there for you to catch again and again. A lot of pressure can really clean a school of fish out of an area quickly. A particular area where I used to do this type of fishing all time in the winter is now pretty much devoid of fish due to it being too popular and getting too much pressure. The fish have been cleaned out over the years.

If you can follow these instructions, you are going find that you can catch a few red drum this year. This is not by any means meant to be a comprehensive list of ways to catch red drum, but these are just some quick and dirty ways to target the fish that we love to catch.

Just make sure to take care of them, so we will always have them in the future.

What are your expectations when you’re out fishing? Do you just want to spend the time sitting by the water? Do you expect always to catch the most or biggest fish, or some other lofty type goal?

How we look at the day before we even go out has a lot to do with how the day ends up being in the long run. If we decide ahead of time to take the joy that the day sends us, we will all be a lot happier. Yes, of course we would like to catch a couple fish, or maybe a big fish, but that should not be the ultimate goal of the day out on the water.

Many times, you’re not going to catch anything. That’s the way fishing goes. Oftentimes, even the most experienced and skilled angler can spend the day on the water and not come home with anything but stories.

There were many years that I considered myself kind of a big-time fly-fishing guide. I traveled the around the continent and fished from Alaska to Florida to back home here in North Carolina. I saw a lot of things from a lot of people who showed a lot of themselves.

Among the more notable things that I did was to be among the innovators of the autumn false albacore fishery at Cape Lookout. It’s an amazing fishery if you’ve been around it, and you may know that people come here from all across the country.

These two dudes came down to fish with me from Arlington, Virginia. They talked about all the places they had been and the fishing that they had done. We got out there and almost immediately there was a huge blitz of feeding fish on the surface. Big fish. By the time it was over, four hours later, both anglers had boated multiple fish in the 20-pound class and had seen things that people only dream about: Huge fish blowing out of the water; walls of albacore feeding into the current; huge clouds of seagulls feeding on and chasing bait fish seemingly to the horizon; whales crashing out of the water. Amazing.

Then things changed. It got very windy and the guys couldn’t make any kind of casts in the conditions. It was very difficult and they did not land another fish in the second half of the day, even though they had many opportunities.

That’s the way it goes sometimes. It’s difficult.

When it was over, we were driving back to the dock. I looked to the guys and said, “That was pretty awesome, wasn’t it?” They both looked at me with sadness in their eyes. “What’s the problem?” I asked.

The one guy then replied, “I thought we would catch more fish.”

Baffled, I responded by stating, “Dude, that’s as good as it gets here. That was the show.”

They were not to be mollified.

A man from Durham came to fish with me years ago. The plan was to spend an evening fly fishing to redfish tailing on spartina grass flats, and the following morning casting surface plugs over sea grass meadows.

The evening tide came on and redfish were there just as we expected them to be. It was beautiful. Gorgeous sunset. Tails waving. Everything seemed to be in place. Unfortunately, he did not catch a fish. He had couple of chances and missed strikes. But it was not meant to be.

We consoled ourselves over steaks and potatoes I made for us. The next morning, we started dark and early and were casting over the grass flats as the sun was coming up. We caught speckled trout almost every cast for the first hour and proceeded to find singles and doubles of redfish over the flats the rest of the day. Nothing too big, but pretty steady action. Not outlandish. You wouldn’t say the fish were jumping over the top of each other to get in the boat by any means.

When we were done, he said to me, “That’s the best two days of fishing that I’ve ever had.”

I asked what he meant by that. He told me, “It was the company, the surroundings, and the total experience that made it for me.”

Jule McDowell was his name, and after years of us subsequently fishing together, he recently succumbed to cancer. I think about that day often.

Coach John Wooden, legendary basketball coach of the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins, was known for saying, “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

I have found this to be especially true when talking about fishing, in the sense that what we bring to the endeavor often flavors it and colors our perceptions. Those guys from Arlington had a once-in-a-lifetime experience that most people can only dream about, but because they had their expectations set so high, they could not enjoy themselves.

My friend Jule, on the other hand, just enjoyed being out there, and because of that he had a good time. And yes, he caught some fish, but to him it was about more than simply catching. He enjoyed the whole experience and everything about the day: the ecology, the weed beds, the wildlife – all of it. He took it all in and enjoyed it all for what it was, and he was a happier person because of it.

I miss him today.

Red drum are widely known among coastal recreational anglers as one of the more fun fish to hook, particularly to those who love a good fight.

David Deuel grappled almost a mile down Hatteras Island’s Avon beach before landing the world record drum, a whopping 94 pounds, 2 ounces, in early November 1984.

But for a fish that’s one of the more popular recreational catches in North Carolina — it’s the official state saltwater fish — much remains unknown about red drum, where they spawn, their migration patterns, the distances they travel and where they go.

A two-year pilot satellite tagging study launched this month aims to unlock some of those mysteries.

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries in partnership with the North Carolina Marine & Estuary Foundation, will tag 20 mature red drum, or those stretching more than 32 inches long, collected next month during the division’s annual longline red drum survey in the Pamlico Sound.

This will kick off the first of two phases during the first year of the study, one that includes testing two different tagging methods. The first method will be by attaching the tag with a monofilament leader line through the musculature of the fish, allowing the tag to stream above the back dorsal fin. The second attachment method is the more conventional of the two and would allow the tag to stream closely to the side of the fish without interfering with its fins.

Marine technology manufacturer Desert Star Systems created the solar-powered SeaTag-GEO pop-up satellite tags to send daily transmissions from a fish to the ARGOS satellite to computer software that tracks the fish’s locations.

Each tag is about 7 inches long and weighs a little less than 1.5 ounces. The tags are one-time use.

During phase one of the study, division officials will be able to review the performance of the tags themselves, whether they pop off of a fish on the date they were programmed to detach (up to three months).

Data is collected daily until the tag detaches from the fish. Once the tag surfaces, it will pinpoint its final location and an accurate range of temporal and spatial data from the fish.

“This is an exciting new science for North Carolina that we will hopefully use to answer key questions and more,” said Cara Kowalchyk, red drum project lead biologist with the division. “This first year is a pilot study to learn what we can, but we just want to keep expanding. We want to keep being innovative. We want to provide positive engagement and focus on a species that is economically and socially important.”

The second phase of the project, which is expected to be complete in October, will also take place in Pamlico Sound.

During this phase, 14 fish will be tagged by division officials with the help of local fishing guides, people who know where the fish are and can take those officials to specific parts of the coastline “that we may not get through our predefined survey,” Kowalchyk said.

Tags attached to those 14 fish will be programmed to pop off at various durations, anywhere from four to six to 12 months. The additional tracking time will document more wide-ranging movement of red drum and allow researchers to pinpoint spawning sites and offshore migration locations.

Only trained division personnel will do the actual tagging. At $1,300 a pop, the tags aren’t cheap.

That cost, along with the $65 per tag, monthly subscription required to transmit recorded data from the tag to the software, has been covered by the Marine & Estuary Foundation, which approached the division about a year ago with the idea to use satellite technology to learn more about red drum.

“One of the things that we do frequently is look at the (fisheries) management plans that are developed either by the state or by the federal entities and look at their research recommendations that they put out and say, ‘OK, what are their needs here and if there are needs, can our foundation help meet those needs?’” said Chad Thomas, the nonprofit’s executive director. “So, in this specific example, one of the needs for red drum was to better understand how those fish are moving in and out of the inlet, specifically, where do they spawn, how often do they come inshore.”

Red drum are among five species the foundation “really has a focus on,” he said. The others are striped bass, flounder, weakfish and speckled trout.

“Those are the top five of what we consider our inshore coastal fisheries and whatever we can do to further the science with those five, in particular, and our understanding and our strong assumption is that when you improve the knowledge base for those five, then you’re going to improve the populations of many, many other fishes using those same habitats,” Thomas said. “It’s a great, great opportunity, I think, to look through the species that are so important to North Carolinians and say, ‘OK, how can we get better science?’”

The foundation will eventually have on its website a short educational video about the tagging efforts later this year.

Thomas said the foundation will be developing a budget and “hope to be able to strongly support the project for next year.”

The second year of the study will focus on tagging red drum in the open ocean. Tagging will be divided into two groups of red drum – one north of Cape Hatteras and the other south of the cape. Exactly how many fish will be tagged next year will depend on how much funding the program receives.

“We are going to be one of the first states implementing this, but we would love to lead the way for other states,” Kowalchyk said. “Since the northern and southern stock boundary is the North Carolina, South Carolina border, we would maybe love to participate with South Carolina, see if there’s stock mixing across that border or, with climate change, whether we’re seeing northward movement more regularly to Virginia, and partner with them. Just what we will have this year is exciting on its own and it will provide very valuable information.”

Recreational fishing guides interested in volunteering in the program may contact Thomas at cthomas@ncmefoundation.org or Kowalchyk at cara.kowalchyk@deq.nc.gov

Fish like grass. Not to eat. They’re not cows. But they do find things to eat around the grass.

All the types of creatures that predatory fish like to munch on will be found around grass. The key is to know what kind you are looking at, what kind of fish will be found around it, how they use it, what they are eating, and when they’ll be doing it.

Let’s start inshore and work our way out.

The first type of grass we’ll see in a day is spartina. Pronounce it “spart-eye-na.” It’s a species of cordgrass and it’s all around the inshore marshy areas. You’ll see it growing around marinas, along the roadside, and basically anywhere the water meets the land. Biologists know that it stabilizes shorelines from erosion and creates habitats for millions of small fish and crustaceans. This last part is what is important to us.

Find a creek that meanders back into the marsh. The bottom inside the creek channel will be very mushy. On both sides of that creek will be tall stands of grass that are usually green on top grading to brown or beige at the base. Behind the tall stands will be flats with shorter grass growing on them. All of that is spartina. At low tide, take a look at the areas of short grass growing behind the channel. There’ll be millions of fiddler crabs there. Look around you in the channel. Small fish will be flipping around almost everywhere. Most of these will be mullet. But there will also be the young of spots and other species. Then you add shrimp to this mixture, and you have a veritable living bouillabaisse.

Cold-weather months will see speckled trout in the spartina creeks as they move in from the open water. They will feast on anything they can find. Some days in December and January, large schools of trout or reds will be in the creek that you drive past every day. You can catch them on slow-moving lures such as suspending plugs and soft plastics on lightweight jigs. If the water is deeper or there is more current, use heavier-weighted lures.

As the water gets warmer, expect red drum to be in the same places you caught the trout when it was cold. Popping corks with a plastic shrimp suspended under them will get yanked under on a regular basis when fished with a pop-pause-pop-pause cadence.

As we move out of the marshes and into the sounds we find the seagrass flats. These areas, referred to as “meadows” by the people who study them, grow in areas of higher salinity, clearer water and lower turbulence. Once again you will find an entire variety of aquatic life in these vast ecosystems. Some of these flats extend for miles. Every inch is covered with some life form or another. Crabs and shrimp are present everywhere. Pinfish and small croaker as well. All varieties of small bait fish species from mullet to silversides and bay anchovies will use the grass flats.

When fishing some of my favorite seagrass flats in the summer, I have caught red drum, speckled trout, bluefish, ladyfish, blacktip sharks, pompano, houndfish, and I am pretty sure a bull shark stole my lure off my line one time.

I like to use lures like topwater plugs, unweighted soft plastic jerk baits, shallow-running plugs, and even gold spoons. Keep an eye out, wear polarized sunglasses and a long-bill cap. You never know what you will see because the water is quite a bit clearer than you find in the spartina marshes. You’ll need a shallow-draft skiff to even get to some of these spots.

Even then, if the tide drops while you’re out there, you might have trouble getting out when you want. You can wade, just make sure to shuffle your feet due to the preponderance of small stingrays, which, coincidentally, can attract very large sharks. Oftentimes, you can fish in the water that’s just a few feet deep off the edges. Look for broken bottom with mixed shells and small grass patches if you can’t get really close in. You never know what you’ll find!

The final type of grass we consider isn’t really grass at all, rather it’s a species of algae. Sargassum weed grows in the open ocean, totally unattached to the ground at all. It floats free in the currents. Sometimes it creates huge mats and often you will see it stretching for miles along a current edge.

Many open-water species will use the patches as temporary refuge but there are also many critters that call the sargassum patches their permanent home — odd little things like sargassum fish, porcupine fish, file fish and others. They are totally unique and there aren’t a lot of other things similar to them. Eels also spawn in the sargassum patches before they go back to freshwaters. Sea turtles feed amongst it, there are various shrimp and crabs.

What this means is that in the middle of the ocean, when you may not be seeing much life around, you find the floating weed patches and you have found plenty to look at and fish to catch.

The most popular species to target here is the mahi-mahi, or dolphinfish. Simply stick a frozen cigar minnow on a jig head using the rigs sold in almost all our coastal tackle shops. This simple setup will produce.

If you have a center-console boat of around 25 feet or so, you can get out there many days during the summer. Check the weather reports, but you’ll probably still get bumped around a bit on the ride home.

Mixed in the with the mahi-mahi, you might all of a sudden hook up with something that tries to eliminate all the line off your reel. That’ll be a wahoo or tuna. Hope you remembered to bring a gaff. The same trolling rigs you use for king mackerel will suffice for this fishing most of the time. If you run into a marlin, then I can’t help you. There are some big ones out there.

Take care of the grass. It will take care of you. It provides homes for millions of small and large marine creatures and shows us obvious spots to start fishing for whichever species we prefer. But it’s also a sign of the quality of our waterways. If they start to disappear, it’s time to start asking some hard questions.

When writer Thomas Mcguane noted, “If the trout are lost, smash the state,” he could easily have included seagrasses. North Carolina waters from Virginia to South Carolina are blessed with a large variety of these ecosystems. We need to take care of them.

How much do you really like fishing? What’s the longest you think could go without?

Do you think that if you quit fishing, you would just live your life like nothing happened? Is it really that important to you, or do you just do it for fun? If somebody told you that you could not go fishing anymore, what would you do?

Now for most of you this is conjecture, it is not a situation you have been faced with, and you possibly never will. But on Aug. 10, 2023, I suffered a stroke.

At this point, I can hardly move my right hand at all, and I have limited mobility of my right arm. My core muscles don’t work very well, so my balance is poor, and I have limited use of my right leg and foot.

The most frustrating thing is that I’m sitting here as one of my best friends has had the best fishing of his life catching exceptionally large speckled trout, and I have not been able to join him. I’ve written before about what it is I love about fishing, and I think now at this point, it might be time for me to revisit that due to my current situation.

I used to say that my favorite thing about fishing was the anticipation of going. Now I’d say my favorite thing might just be getting the opportunity to go. We give each other opportunities throughout our lives.

As a coach of high school sports, I have always told my athletes to make the most of every situation, to do the thing that you like to do, and get the most out of it. That is valid for young athletes because, by doing so, it gives them the best chance of success.

At this point in my life, I’ve found that just wanting to go fishing and getting the most out of it would be the thing I would like the most. It’s the thing that I miss the most in my life right now. I don’t know when I’m going to be able to be on a boat right now. It would be kind of dangerous and I would not want to put anyone in a difficult spot. There is some equipment out there that’s supposed to help with holding a rod, I’ve been talking about getting some, but right now it just is not working out.

I miss the time being with my friends on the boat, or in the stream, or just talking about fishing. That’s tough to get used to being without. Maybe you know, I’ve been doing this for a long time, and because of that, most of my friendships revolve around fishing, the act of fishing, or talking about fishing. And right now, we don’t have a lot to talk about. So unfortunately, I’ve kind of lost track of some my friends. I don’t blame them. They have things to do, as do we all, and I’m trying to stay in touch with them as they also are trying to stay in touch with me, but it’s difficult because it’s not the same.

As I’ve been writing this very column I’ve had to adjust my writing style from what used to be, sit down and hammer away and type a whole article in a very short period of time, to struggling with using a voice-to-text keyboard and editing with only one hand. You’ll have to be the judge of whether this is any good, this will be the first column I have submitted that I had not already written previously.

I would give anything to be able to be on the boat right now with the wind blowing through my hair (what there is of it), feel the sun on my face, going out with a friend and trying to pursue our favorite gamefish. But right now, all I can do is keep working on my physical therapy and trying to get better every day.

As I reflect on this past year, I have to thank all the people in my life who have helped me: therapists, doctors, friends, family members and the athletes and coaches I work with. They have stood by my side and have not allowed me to feel sorry for myself and get mad at the world. Yes, it’s difficult, but I’m trying every day.

I also want to thank the editorial staff of Coastal Review for allowing me to continue submitting my columns during all this. I really appreciate it.

I have received offers to go on boats everywhere between Cape Cod and Florida. Hopefully I can make the most of some of those offers before too long. As Thoreau told us, “Be true to your work, your word, and your friends.” Maybe soon I’ll figure out how to actually catch a fish with one hand and see what that looks like.

It appears that what I used to say that I enjoyed about fishing — the anticipation of going fishing — is still the same, because I’m still anticipating the opportunity to go again. Hopefully, that wait won’t be too long.

You’ll be seeing me out there again before too long. I’m not sure exactly when, but I’m doing my best.

Mid-summer, North Carolina coast, 95 degrees Fahrenheit at 11 a.m. Southwest wind blowing doesn’t cool things off. Instead, it’s so humid it just feels like a furnace blowing on you.

You’re out there fishing. Nothing is happening. Even the fish are too hot. You just got out and you feel like you want to keep fishing, you figure something will happen … eventually. Maybe just wait for the tide to turn. In the meantime, we’ll just slather on more sunscreen. 

Let me tell you something, that’s all wrong. There are better ways to do these things that are not only more comfortable but also more productive.

First things first, unless you are 30 miles offshore, by 11 a.m., you should be heading back to the dock. In summer, you should be launching your boat in the predawn hours and heading to your first spot just as the sun is peeking over the horizon. Usually that’s about 5 a.m. or so in the middle of summer.

It means you will be fishing in low-light levels and also during the coolest part of the day. This is when the fish you are seeking will be most likely to be patrolling their feeding zones anyways. Our inshore surface temps can approach levels of 80 degrees or above in summer, especially after the sun has been blasting down for a couple hours.

That same sun blast is also tough on their eyes. Predatory fish see better at lower light levels than their targets. This means they feel confident in approaching prey species without being seen. By fishing at these times, we are focusing on the periods when they feel most confident.

You should also try fishing at night. A good rule of thumb is that when it’s too hot to fish during the day, you should go at night.

If you like to surf fish, nighttime is when big species come to the surf during summer. Cast your favorite surf plug in black, into your favorite spot the middle of a summer night. There’s no telling what you might find.

Fishing around lighted piers and docks is a great way to spend a summer evening. Red drum, speckled trout, ladyfish, jacks, maybe even a tarpon might swim by. Check out the Pfizer pier in the Cape Fear River near Southport. At night it can be loaded with all kinds of active fish. You can catch them on small jigs and plastic shrimp imitations. Ladyfish in particular are known to frequent lights at night. The leaping battler are a delight and those over 20 inches long put up a battle on light tackle that will remind you of their bigger tarpon cousins.

Another good option is to fish just before dark, especially on a day where there’s been rain. I have found that shallows that heat up during the day often will be be devoid of fish in the early evening. However, if it has been raining and cloudy all day, those same places will often have feeding fish move in during the late parts of the day. This is a great time to fish shallow flats for red drum and trout.

Cast a topwater plug around points and drop offs. As it gets later, you may often see fish in places that had none an hour before.

At some point, you will be out there under the sun. You need to be sure to take care of yourself. We all know about sunscreen by now. Make sure you have it on any exposed areas. You definitely want to limit the amount you get on your hands, fish can smell the stuff and don’t like it.

I also wear long-sleeved fishing shirts. These are made out of lightweight material that protects you from the sun while not allowing you to be overheated. The high-end versions of these will have collars that will fold up to cover your neck, sleeves that can be rolled and buttoned up if you need to, big front pockets that either zip or have full closures made of Velcro and even small loops to hold your rod when you need your hands free.

Choose a quality pair of sunglasses to protect your eyes. The less expensive ones you find on the counter at the drugstore may seem okay now, but in the long run they will cause eyestrain and if they are not smooth, they have blurry sections that might hurt your eyes. I prefer to spend the money and get quality sunglasses from the top-end manufacturers. Take care of them and they will last a long time. Make sure you have a way to keep them from falling off your face by using one of the commercially available sunglass leashes or even a piece of 20-pound test monofilament fishing line.

A long-billed fishing cap is a must. It will serve a double purpose. By blocking the sun from your eyes, it allows you to see in the water better to possibly sight fish. Also, it keeps the sun off. If you are follicly challenged, you don’t want a sunburn on your head. This is a good reason not use a visor, you’ll get a tan line that is “interesting.”

One of the main places that old fishing guides get sun-related sarcomas is on the back of their hands. There are special fingerless gloves made specifically for fishing in hot weather.

Finally, the main spots I like to cover with sunscreen, those that often get neglected, are my cheeks below the sunglass lenses and my ears. Getting a sunburn on the ears is unpleasant at best. When they start to peel afterwards, you end up with little flakes in your breakfast. Not ideal.

Fish at night. Get an early start to the day. Protect your skin. Importantly, bring plenty to drink. Pay attention to these details and fishing in the summer can be productive.

And when you can’t beat the heat, sometimes the best option is to just find a nice spot to get out and go for a swim.

I’m sure, since you’re reading this, that you like fishing or the outdoors, possibly even both. If I’m correct, have you ever wondered what the fishing is going to be like in the future, 10, 15, 20 or more years from now?

If you have, have you ever done anything about it?

Seth Vernon is a Wilmington-area, light-tackle fishing guide and family man who not only thinks about fishing’s future, he has decided to do something about it. Having turned 45 in March, his love for his family and desire for the fishing he loves so much to be there for them in the future has led him down a path as not only an outdoorsman but also a respected conservationist filmmaker and speaker.

Growing up in suburban Houston, Texas, Vernon’s earliest fishing opportunities were in local ponds with his boyhood chums. However, his grandfather, James Elon Vernon, or “Red,” as he was known, would transport him to the blackwater rivers of the Atchafalaya River Basin.

“There we would fish with cane poles and live crickets, plugs and casting rods for a variety of sunfish, crappie and bass,” Seth Vernon said.

This would set the stage for a fishing obsession that would last a lifetime. Vernon felt transported in time in the cypress rivers and realized they had been there for a long time precisely because someone in the past had taken time to make sure they would continue to be there.

“Those trips were magical, like being teleported to another world full of wonder and timelessness,” Vernon said.

Learning the trade

Seth Vernon knew early on he wanted to work in the fishing industry. After graduating in 2001 from Appalachian State with a Bachelor of Science in communications, he stayed in the area and worked at Foscoe Fishing Co. on the Watauga River. Later, in 2001, he left to guide anglers in Alaska, but Vernon returned to Boone the next year and went back to Foscoe, working alongside guide Ollie Smith.

“I learned an immense amount of the trade of working in a fly shop and operating a guide service,” Vernon said.

Those years, 1997-2001, also nurtured his love for the abundant variety of species in North Carolina’s High Country. With Smith as his mentor, they fished North Carolina waters and Tennessee tailwaters.

“Our primary targets in the mountains were trout, smallmouth and muskellunge,” Vernon said, adding that, most importantly, he learned about a new way of fishing. “Living in Boone was when I got involved in fly fishing.”

The connections he made there have lasted him, too. “I fish with my friends there as often as I can,” Vernon said.

Going coastal

Experience and connections proved invaluable in his big move to the coast in 2004. In  Wilmington, Vernon partnered with Stuart Smith — unrelated to Ollie Smith — in running Intracoastal Angler, a saltwater outfitting and tackle business. It was during this time that he realized that there was more he’d rather be doing than sitting at the counter. He began working more exclusively as a guide and then walked away from the tackle business altogether.

“In 2006, I launched Double Haul Guide Service to focus full time on charter fishing,” he said, adding that the focus is on inshore species. “Most of the fishing has been light-tackle spin-fishing, but I’m always wanting to push the envelope of what is possible in the way of fly fishing in saltwater.”

He pointed out that one aspect of his favorite style is often overlooked by those not familiar. “In my opinion, the biggest attraction to fly fishing is the visual nature of the pursuit. In saltwater, we’re more often than not ‘sight fishing’ in shallow water to actively feeding redfish, rolling tarpon, or busting albacore.”

It’s more than just catching a fish and seeing how many you can get by the end of the day, he said.

“Seeing a target fish species pursue and grab your fly is exhilarating. It’s a feeling all fly anglers chase,” Vernon said.

In terms of advice for the new saltwater fly angler, Vernon said the real key to consistency is casting ability.

“Distance is king, but there are many situations involving wind and clouds where a close presentation is necessary,” said the guide, who added that an angler must be ready at all times. “Each wind change, target fish or angle of presentation is its own puzzle. Be fluid, learn and adapt to the situation at hand.”

A nugget that could be Vernon’s catch-phrase: “Consistency is a byproduct of being flexible.”

Practice is what is going to make the difference between catching a prize fish or going home disappointed. There is a skill in fly fishing that is important to casting when it’s windy.

“For the new to saltwater fly angler, the best piece of advice I can give is learn to double haul. This is a casting technique that unlocks the hidden potential of your fly rod for improved accuracy, distance and ultimately control.”

Vernon described it as a way to increase the flex in your rod by pulling down with your line hand. That will result in longer casts. Not knowing how makes things more difficult, he said, adding that it’s best to practice this skill before heading to the water.

“Seek instruction from a professional, and when you think you’re ready to apply these new skills to the water, practice some more,” he said.

The Vernon family likes to get out on the water with him whenever they can. Vernon’s wife and daughter are accomplished anglers in their own right.

“I’m blessed that my wife Francesca and 13-year-old daughter Olivia enjoy the water as much as I do. Olivia is getting pretty good walking the dog with a topwater for redfish these days.”

It’s part of teaching her to deeply appreciate the world that she already enjoys so much.

“Olivia has shown an interest in fishing and the ecology of our sounds and beaches. I continue to foster her appreciation for the natural world and its inhabitants,” Vernon said, adding that he hopes the state’s natural beauty will still be there for her in the future. “Our state and its agencies can do better, but the citizens of this state will have to hold them accountable in order to see a positive outcome for the next generation of anglers.”

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries announced Friday that it had recently certified three state record fish: a yellowmouth grouper, a white grunt and an almaco jack.

Officials said the fish were near world record size.

Christopher Hyche of Chapin, South Carolina, caught the 23-pound yellowmouth grouper, or Mycteroperca interstitialis, offshore of Calabash on May 3.

There was no previous North Carolina state record for yellowmouth grouper. The International Gamefish Association world record is 23 pounds, 3 ounces, making Hyche’s fish just 3 ounces shy of the world record.

Hyche previously held a state record in South Carolina for a mangrove snapper. He landed the yellowmouth grouper using a whole sardine and 60-pound braid on a Penn Torque 40 NLD2 reel pared with a Shimano Talavera rod.

Hyche’s fish measured 33.5-inches fork length (from the tip of the nose to the fork in the tail) and had a 25.5-inch girth. The fish was weighed in at Mad Kingz in Ocean Isle.

Joshua Pendleton of Southport caught the 5-pound, 3.2-ounce white grunt, or Haemulon plumieri, near the Frying Pan Towers on May 3.

The previous state record white grunt weighed 4 pounds, 13.6 ounces, and was caught off Morehead City in 2023.

Pendleton landed the fish using fish bite and 60-pound braid on a Fin Nor Lethal reel paired with a Penn Mariner II Rod.

Pendleton’s fish measured 20.38-inches total length (from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail) and had a 15.13-inch girth. The fish was weighed at Mad Kingz in Southport.

Roberto Cancel III of Lillington caught the 33-pound, 12.16-ounce almaco jack, or Seriola rivoliana, off Morehead City on June 2. The previous state record was 26 pounds, 15.6 ounces and was established in 2023.

Cancel was aboard the Captain Stacy when the fish struck his whole squid bait. Cancel fought the fish for more than 30 minutes before landing it on his St. Croix Mojo Jig rod and Revo Toro reel with 50-pound braid.

Cancel’s fish measured 39.75 inches fork length (from the tip of the nose to the fork in the tail) and had a 28-inch girth. The fish was weighed in at Chasin’ Tails and confirmed by staff at the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries Headquarters in Morehead City.

For more information on state record fish, go to the division’s State Saltwater Records webpage or contact the North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Tournament staff at saltwater.citations@ncdenr.gov.

If you were to be stuck on a strange body of water somewhere in the world and told to catch a fish and didn’t know anything about the area, and if I handed you a jig, there is a chance you’d have some success.

Four out of five experienced anglers I surveyed agreed that the jig, in one form or another, is the most popular lure in the world. Plastic tail, feather tail, no tail, metal, skirted, baited or just plain bucktail, these variations, and who knows how many more, are really all a variation on the same theme: a weight added to a hook with some kind of additional attractant added (or not as we shall see).

Regardless of the specifics, the general idea of the jig exists wherever fish swim.

In the waters of the Southeast, the variety of jig that probably gets used more than any other is the lead head with a plastic tail. When they were first introduced sometime in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with a variety of different lures manufactured by Creme and Tom Mann, soft plastic fishing baits began to really carve out a spot in every angler’s tackle selection. Beginning in 1975 with the invention of the Mister Twister, you could say a real revolution began.

Now the variety of plastic tails available for fishing seems to approach the infinite. From products made by huge tackle conglomerates all the way down to guys in their garages pouring their secret concoctions and color blends. With all this variety, how do you choose?

Grab what looks good to you and fish with it. If a friend has caught something with it, grab that. If the guy at the tackle shop recommends it, get that too.

At one time or another there isn’t something that’s made that won’t work. The biggest flounder that I catch every year come on a ¼-ounce jighead with a 5-inch Zman Shadz tail. When fished in marsh channels around oyster bars in early fall, it resembles the silversides minnows that are everywhere at that time.

Retrieve with a snap-snap-pause-retrieve. Use braided line. Keep your rod tip low.

You’ll catch lizard fish, baby grouper, tiny bluefish, big pinfish, then the flounder and yeah … I guess you can catch some speckled trout and redfish doing this, too. Trout will hit with a slight tap. Lizards will grab and go. Big flounder will just feel like you’re snagged.

Have a net handy.

The classic style of jig is the bucktail. It’s simply a jighead with a deer hair tail wrapped around the hook and attached with thread. It was the first lure I ever caught a saltwater fish on (a striped bass on the Jersey Shore) and there’s a chance that more fish have been caught using one over the centuries than any other artificial fish enticer.

You can add a bit of shrimp, a squid strip, a piece of pork rind (which is how I used to do it), or just fish it plain. It works.

Cast it out there and snap your rod tip to make it bounce. Be prepared for anything that doesn’t feel right as it drops. A pause, a tap, a grab, some slack, then set the hook quickly. You don’t have to fall backwards out of the boat like some guy on a bass fishing TV show.

Quick, snap the rod-tip up. If your hook is sharp, it will find a spot. If you miss. Let it drop. A lot of times they will come get it again.

The last cobia I caught was on a bucktail jig with a plastic tail trailer. I don’t get to go offshore very often and when given the chance to go with a friend I accepted the invitation with enthusiasm. It was a perfect June day with calm seas and clear skies. We ran out to a wreck in 70 feet of water and shut down. Our goal was to see if we could get some amberjacks to smack a topwater plug but there were none present.

After a bit I looked down and saw three dark shapes swimming about 20 feet down. “Cobia!” I yelled as I grabbed a pre-rigged jig rod. I flipped it out and watched it sink to their cruising level. One rushed out and grabbed it and there it was. After a battle that saw a bunch of line disappear off the reel, I was able to get it boat-side. A true trophy caught on a jig.

There is a hybrid style called a jigging spoon. It’s not really a jig in the truest sense of the word, but when worked off the bottom, that’s what it is. It’s a metal lure with enough weight and density to get to the bottom quickly. When bounced off the bottom in our waters, it can produce almost everything that swims around a reef or wreck. A trailer is not needed. Snap your rod-tip up and pay attention to the line as it drops. Sometimes it will simply stop falling. Other times you’ll feel a little tap.

I’ve caught king mackerel that take it on the full run and kept going. Once in a while you’ll hook “something” that you never see. It’s just a phantom that pulls and threatens to bring you in.

These jigging spoons are sold in a variety of brand names. On our coast, the Stingsilver is quite popular. I recommend changing out the treble hooks to O’Shaughnessy-style singles in size 1/0 or 2/0. Expect to catch gray trout in the spring (some big ones have been around again), sea bass almost anytime, and of course, bait stealers and bottom dwellers of every variety.

If all you had in your tackle selection were these three types of jigs in a variety of weights matched to the depth and current speed — lighter for shallower and less current; heavier for deeper and faster — you could catch any fish that swims anywhere in the world.

Second in a series

Previously we’ve talked about catching, keeping, and using live mullet. This time let’s discuss crustaceans.

Crabs and shrimp are a huge part of the diet of the fish we pursue. We’ll take some of the things we’ve already learned, put them to use on a different species, then learn some new tactics.

According to a very scientific poll I conducted (I asked some guys I know), shrimp is one of the top forage items for inshore game fish species (Usually. Depending on time of year, availability, location, etc.). The trouble for anglers is that they are expensive to buy at the bait shop.

Depending on location and time of year, you can expect to pay upward of $5 a dozen at peak availability and up to $10 per dozen when they get scarce. They can be caught by anglers.

You have to be prepared ahead of time, and you can’t really predict when they will be in places where we can catch them. The same cast net we used for mullet will work. Shrimp need to be in shallow water for cast-netting and it helps if you can see them.

If you are in a shallow creek and you spot them flipping and jumping, get the cast net out. My problem is that when I am in shallow water, my boat is too small to bring a cast net all the time. So, the Boy Scout motto is useful here. Throw the net on top of where you see them jumping. Quickly get them into a livewell with fresh recirculating water.

The best way to fish them in shallow creeks is under a popping cork. Use a size 1/0 single hook and place the hook under the horn. Do not pierce the dark spot that is the brain or it will die immediately. If trout, reds, or flounder are present, the cork will disappear quickly. Any that are left over can be frozen and used for a future bottom fishing trip. The biggest ones should be separated from the rest and brought home to be used for shrimp cocktail.

Flea treatment

Another crustacean that a lot of fish think is a delightful snack is the little beach-burrowers called mole crabs, or popularly known as sand fleas. They dig into the sand right in the wash where the waves lap the beach. Fish such as red drum and pompano will get very shallow and grab them if they are unlucky enough to get swept out.

They can be caught in a couple ways. You’ll see kids at the beach scooping them with their hands when they are building sand castles. This is a valid method for anglers, if we don’t need too many, or if they are abundant enough — then we can just grab them whenever we need them. But it can be hit or miss.

A more dependable method is a sand flea rake. They’re sold everywhere. They’ll last you forever with a little care. You can also make your own using plans you can find everywhere on the internet.

The idea is to scoop into the soft sand where the waves are running out and get the fleas burrowing there. Then you simply put them into a bucket. They’ll last you all day.

Some cultures eat them by deep-frying. I can’t get past the sand that inevitably gets left behind.

We can fish with them in a variety of ways. We can put one on each hook of an old standby two hook bottom rig and toss it out there. That might work. But let’s be more specific.

Let’s say we want to catch some fish in the surf. Pompano might be our top target. The best pompano fishermen use custom rigs tied with circle hooks in size 1 and 1/0 using two or even three at a time. Hook the flea through the tail and fish in the trough between two bars. It’s going to be a spot where the waves don’t break as much and is the spot where all the best beach fishing is going to take place.

Sheepshead will often be seen hanging around pier pilings and can be difficult to catch. Be prepared with sand fleas and fish them using the new style bottom-fishing jigs that are known as sheepshead jigs, or bottom sweepers. They will stay in place as the waves go in and out. Set the hook quickly and get them away from the pilings.

Fiddler on the hook

Our last crustacean of note is going to be the fiddler crab.

This is a popular bait to use for sheepshead around bridges and dock pilings all along the sounds and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. You will see them on mudflats waving their claws in the air at low tide.

It takes a little fore knowledge and some planning to find a hard bottom flat you can access and the time of the day it will be exposed. Then it’s simply a matter of rounding them up. It’s usually a two-person game, at least. You need to walk toward each other on the flat to get them in between.

I’ve read in old issues of Field and Stream about using a couple two-by-fours laid out on the ground to corral them and herd them. Simply pick them up. I know they’ve got that big claw that looks a little scary. It can’t really hurt. Maybe a little pinch some times. Nothing scary.

Now find a dock or a bridge where they are known to be found. Pull off the big claw and put the hook of a bottom sweeper jig through that hole. Drop it to the bottom. Little nibblers will poke at it. A sheepshead worth catching will grab it. A bonus catch will be black drum.

Those are some baits to use when the fish are feeling a bit crabby. Chances are, you won’t be after you get done fishing with them.

First of three parts.

There are probably as many ways to catch a fish with a hook and a line as there are different species.

I prefer to use a fly rod most of the time. Casting different lures like plugs, jigs and spoons is very popular. But there is no denying that if the ultimate goal of a day on the water is to bring as many fish to hand as possible, then the number one way to do it is by using living examples of the things the fish actually eat.

Live bait.

It doesn’t just look, smell and move like the real thing, it actually is the real thing.

A live bait on a hook even emits distress vibrations that attract predatory fish. That makes it irresistible and can often result in immediate hookups with the target fish.

Having said that, there are a myriad of bait options out there. As an angler you need to know what fish you are targeting and what types of things they like to eat.

You can usually buy almost any bait you need at a local bait shop. Part of the excitement however can be catching it before you head out. There are times when doing so can be completely out of the question.

If you want to catch a big trout from the pier in early December, you will need healthy, live shrimp that are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain in our waters at that time. An early call to your local shrimp shop will be needed to reserve and you might need to have your credit card handy to pay the hefty fee. Otherwise, with different bait at different times of the season, you have options.

Except for the aforementioned shrimp, I would bet that a live mullet spends as much time being used for bait as any of the other options combined. They are readily available and seem to swim on the surface all the time so as to present an easy target for capture. Most everything will eat one, including the “glamour” inshore species of trout, flounder and red drum.

The pursuit of mullet means you will have to have a couple things ready and know how to use them. First is a cast net. If you have never seen one in use then you must be new here. They are ubiquitous in coastal waters worldwide and invaluable in the pursuit of small fish that school in shallow water.

The need to practice beforehand should be obvious the first time you see somebody use one who hasn’t. The preferred shape you want to see when the net spreads out on the water is a lovely circle commonly called a “pancake.” This pancake shape gets more and more difficult to achieve as the net diameter increases. Without practice, this shape will oftentimes more resemble a banana than a pancake.

I would suggest starting with a 6-foot diameter. Smaller is effective and bigger starts to get more difficult. Watch some videos. Practice in the yard. Then get out on the water and look for the fast-moving wakes a school of mullet make when streaking just under the surface. First time may not be so great. As you gain proficiency, it will be better.

The next thing you need is something to keep them in. A plain bucket of fresh saltwater will be okay for a quick place to hold them if you are walking a shoreline. But in order to stay alive all day, they will need oxygenation.

Most boats have livewells of some kind. Some work better than others and some don’t work at all. Make sure yours is in proper working order, the water recirculates as it should and the aerator sprays. This keeps the water fresh and your mullet lively.

When shore fishing, you will need to buy a bucket aerator. It’s a small device that is readily available. It consists of a small plastic box that holds the batteries and a small pump and usually has a metal clip that can be used to hang to the side of a bucket. Attached to this will be a couple feet of clear vinyl hose that goes into the water. At the end of the hose will be a small “oxygen stone” that supposedly promotes oxygen into the water but really acts as a weight that keeps the end of the hose where it’s needed instead of flopping all over.

Let me add that you need to have a lid on the bucket because mullet are very good at jumping all over the place.

What do we do with these mullet now that we have them? The short answer is, it depends. Things like target species, water depth, and bottom composition are contributing factors that will determine the methods used.

Deep holes at the mouths of creeks are a good spot to find almost anything. Often there will be a smooth bottom with relatively few obstructions. A Carolina Rig consisting of a hook attached to a heavy monofilament leader attached to a barrel swivel and then tied to your main line will catch whatever swims there and is also a great option for an inlet or along the edge of a drop-off in the surf.  A circle hook is often the best option to avoid deep-hooking any undersized fish, due to that style of hook lodging in the corner of the mouth and not getting deep-hooked.

An option to think of when using Carolina Rigs around heavy structure like a reef or wreck is to use a leader line that is lighter than the main line, so when it gets snagged on something, it can be broken off without losing the entire rig. In shallow marsh creeks, the bottom is often full of oyster shells that will steal your entire set up. For these areas it is best to use a popping cork. Attach your hook to a heavy leader and then tie that leader to the bottom of the cork. Once that’s done, tie your main line to the other end.

Cast this rig upstream of you in a creek and as it drifts with the current there is a good chance something will grab it. The bait being suspended off the bottom should prevent it from snagging most of the time.

When you become proficient at catching your own bait, you will then be able to use that information to become better at capturing your ultimate targets too.

A coastal North Carolina fisherman who died this week in a boating accident was honored Friday in the House of Representatives.

Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., rose during the morning session to remember the life of Chad Dunn, 36, who died Sunday in a boating accident in Oregon Inlet. Also killed in the accident were 65-year-old Capt. Charlie Griffin. Coast Guard officials said the pair departed from Virginia Beach and were enroute to Pirate’s Cove Marina in Manteo for repairs.

“He was taken far too soon,” Murphy said. “As a member of the fishing community, Chad was beloved by those who knew him as well as his passion for the sea. Whether casting lines into the oceans depths or navigating tumultuous waters of life, Chad approached every challenge with courage and grace.”

Murphy said that while the sea may have claimed Dunn’s physical existence, “his spirit remains in our hearts, our minds, especially those in the boating community and fishing community of Oregon Inlet and the Outer Banks. I pray that God brings peace to his loved ones in this very difficult time.”

At the time Dunn and Griffin were reported missing, visibility was a little over half a mile, seas at 4 to 6 feet and winds of 10-15 knots, Coast Guard officials said.

If you do research on plug fishing, you’ll find all about old lures like the Heddon Lucky 13, Creek Chub Pikie Minnow and other classics of the genre.

Which came first is a matter of debate that goes on still. Basically, they started out as carved-wood replicas of baitfish and were created primarily for freshwater bass fishing.

There’s a famous story of James Heddon whittling on a piece of wood, tossing it in the water when he was done, and watching as a bass came up and swallowed it. This may or may not be actual fact, but the point remains that carved-wood fishing lures have caught a lot of fish over the years.

Today your plugs are more than likely made of molded plastic, tested in a tank at a research lab, and can do everything from dance on the surface to dive down more than 30 feet deep. Let’s take a look at popular plugs used for inshore fishing on our coast and how we fish them.

Let’s start on the top. Topwater plugs come in quite a few styles. For our purposes we will focus on two, poppers/chuggers and dog walkers.

Poppers and chuggers are pretty much the same thing. The main difference I’ve ever seen is what the manufacturer seems to want to call it. Maybe there is a difference in the noise they make. I can’t tell a difference.

I’ve used big bottle poppers made by Yozuri to catch amberjack on nearshore reefs. The bottle popper is so named due to the shape that resembles a Coke bottle. It has a big hollowed-out face and makes a lot of noise that can call in fish from quite a ways. It’s a good choice in deeper water when you know fish are staging off the bottom and looking around. The noise will bring them running.

When speckled trout are in the surf and the water is not too cold, they will come up for a popper as well. The distinctive sound will get their attention and the shape and movement as the plug is twitched across the surface will trigger a strike. The other type of topwater we like to use is the dogwalking style. I like the Rapala Skitterwalk, others prefer the Mirrolure She Dawg.

Work it by twitching your rod tip with a slight amount of slack line between twitches. The slack allows the lure to change direction and when done properly, it will dart across the surface in a zigzag manner. Darting along, making a slight splash — they have rattles inside to make noise that is great for attracting attention in shallow waters. I’ve seen red drum and trout move from 40 feet away to come and smash them.

Fish will target prey species that are having a difficult time and a dogwalking plug must really look like an easy target.

Next, we will consider swimming plugs. This style was really popularized with the Rapala Finnish swimmers introduced by the Normark Corp. in the 1970s. Now they are made by every tackle company.

Popular models include the Rapala X Rap, Shimano SP, and other similar. It’s basically a long, thin minnow-shaped plug with a plastic lip on the front. When pulled through the water, the lip will produce a wiggle and a vibration.

This style seems to be best in clear waters between 5 and 12 feet deep. You can catch fish simply by reeling the line in with no embellishments. I have found that adding a pause after a twitch will trigger strikes and any kind of hesitation will usually be when a fish bites.

I’ve caught speckled trout, red drum, striped bass, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, king mackerel, bonito and even flounder and, of course, lizardfish with them in saltwater. A good point to realize is that by varying the size of the lip, we can make the lure work at different depths. A smaller and thinner lip will work shallow, while a longer and thicker lip will dive deep.

Smaller diving plugs like the Yozuri DD series can be trolled with a light rod. The big, deep-diving plugs pull so hard that a pretty heavy rod will be needed just to fish them, whether trolled or casted. But they can get down to fish holding in deep water that might not be able to be accessed in other ways besides a deep jigging approach.

Finally, we will take a look at the lipless darter plug. These will be cigar- or teardrop-shaped and they usually sink at rest. The sink rates will vary with the brand and model. We usually will fish slower-sinking plugs as the water gets colder through the fall. After casting, a quick twitch of the rod tip makes it dart. Pause. Twitch again. Pause again. Twitch, twitch. Pause, etcetera. The strikes come on the pause.

Most speckled trout anglers fishing in creeks in late fall and winter will be using the teardrop-shaped darter plugs such as the Mirrolure MR 17. If you see anglers lined up and casting to a slough on the beach in October and November, they will primarily be using the cigar-shaped versions like the Mirrolure 52, even though some larger versions of the teardrop-shaped plug are starting to become popular as well.

If fishing in a creek with faster current, use the ones that are weighted a little more and sink a bit faster. I’ve caught fish on them right through January in fast-moving water. You can find the darter that matches your water conditions and fish moods by using the ones with more or less weight and slower or faster sink rates. Darters are some of the most popular styles of plugs used for speckled trout fishing all along our coast.

By being aware of these different types of plugs and knowing how to fish them and when, you can catch fish in almost any situation.

A final note on topwater too, many anglers look at them as some kind of stunt, or that it only works at low water or during low-light periods. When the water is hot and there is a lot of bait around, I consider topwater plugs the best way to fish. In an informal poll I took of experienced recreational and professional anglers, they were overwhelmingly listed as their most effective style of plugs. Keep that in mind when choosing how to proceed.

Manufacturers of plugs used by the author and those polled were the following:

• Mirrolure.
• Rapala.  
• Yozuri.

I hear all the time from people how they love winter: That first snowfall, Christmas decorations, sweater weather.

It’s something they love. Look, I get it.

After months and months of oppressive heat, winter is a welcome break. But I have to tell you something, by the end of college football in January, I’m done with it. I’m ready for warm breezes and wearing shorts and T-shirts. Going fishing in January can be exercise in frustration.

If you don’t have a boat with a cabin, it gets cold. I don’t love it. Piloting a small skiff across open water can be chilling — to the bone. If you must do it, here are some things to think about.

First of all, you want to make sure the wind can’t get to you. You have to have a warm shell of some kind. We used to call them “windbreakers” when I was a kid. It won’t matter how thick a sweater you have on, if the wind – “The Hawk,” as Chicagoans might say — gets you, you are in for an uncomfortable day.

How should you bundle up from bottom to top then? First, you need a lightweight layer, close to the skin. Long johns, we used to call them, and maybe folks still do. Now, the lightweight modern materials are better, warmer and keep moisture away from the skin.

All the big manufacturers of outdoor clothing make what is referred to in the business as “base layer” clothes. Get the kind that is made for coldest weather and not for jogging or skiing. They’ll be lightweight but offer more warmth than those old red flannels your grandfather had.

Next, a pair of pants made out of polar fleece and a fleece shirt. We’re talking about layers to trap the warm air in and keep cold out.

Then, for pants, you’ll want something more than just a pair of jeans. I have insulated winter pants. For your top half, a sweatshirt that will fit over everything. Then add your wind shell. Alternatively, if you can find it, a snowmobile suit like they wear to zip around frozen lakes in Minnesota can be especially useful if you do a lot of winter fishing.

In addition, get a pair of warm socks and some boots or shoes that are waterproof. The old-school white boots are good, just add a comfortable insole. They don’t have much cushion in the bottom.

Another handy item is a neck gaiter. The same companies that make the summer sun-protection sleeves for your face also make warm ones with fleece linings for winter. This can make the difference in a good day or a miserable one.

Make sure your jacket buttons, snaps or zips all way up to your face, and keep it zipped while driving.

Now why would I, a professed hater of winter, even want to venture outside during January? Believe it or not there is a decent speckled trout bite.

As far back as you can go in the same creeks where you caught them during October, they’ll most likely be there now. I mean all the way back. Back where the creek is so narrow two boats can’t pass at full speed without spraying each other with their wakes.

Fish a lot slower than you did in the fall. They’ll hit many of the same lures. I’ll often use a ¼-ounce jighead with a Zman Shadz plastic tail — experiment with colors. The water will be quite clear, so garish colors might be too bright and not attract strikes.

Except for the days that they will.

I also like the heavy-weighted Mirrolure Mirrodine plug. Pink seems to be a triggering color. Let the current swing them. With the Mirrodine you’ll have to cast it upstream or it just swings out too high in the water column. A jig you might be able to cast it in any direction you want to cover water. Depends on how swift the current is. On a strong tide you’ll have to cast upstream.

You want to think of the fish as just kind of sitting there and not really interested in chasing. They want it to come right near them as they hold in the current.

Strikes will not be very forceful. Sometimes it will be nothing more than an extra weight. Set the hook quickly. Don’t be too forceful, but be fast.

Every winter there is a monster trout or two caught around here. In February 2022, a new state record 12-pound, 8-ounce state record fish was caught in Pamlico County by Todd Spangler of Merritt, and in November 2022, Cathy Jones of Belhaven caught an 11-pound, 3-ounce fish not too far away from the other.

Imagine seeing a 33-inch trout roll up next to the boat and realizing your net might be too small. Even more reason for getting out there when things get colder.

Another thing that’s happening the past couple of winters has been a bluefin tuna bite. This is not in narrow creeks unfortunately. Those doing it are usually in the most seaworthy boats. I say usually because once in a while there is a story of someone going out and catching a monster in a smallish center-console all by himself.

A father-and-son team from Virginia were in a 22-foot Grady White when they got one estimated at more than 1,000 pounds out of Oregon Inlet. The fish was bigger than the piloting area in the boat.

Usually, however, you’re going to be pursuing them in bigger boats. The guys who are out there every day are normally in the bigger sportfishermen, with cabins and enclosed piloting areas — not just for comfort, but for safety. However, I know a few guys who do it a lot in 25-foot center-consoles and have caught a few worth talking about.

Any bluefin is worth talking about, actually.

Just like in any winter fishing, the key is to dress warmly, stay dry, be prepared for any situation.

I’d say the key to having a good time on the water in winter is to be smart and safe. That water is cold. Anything under 60 degrees Fahrenheit can suck the strength out of you really fast, and all those clothes and boots you wear will make it extremely difficult if you should fall over.

The official recommendation is to wear your personal flotation device 100% of the time when the water is below 65 degrees.

The fish are out there, if you know how to safely pursue them and have the correct gear, you’ll do fine.

Finally, let me add that this is the second anniversary of the Angler’s Angle. The editors of Coastal Review have been exceptional to work with and we are lucky to have such an excellent resource. It’s been a great relationship and I’m looking forward to continuing.

Fishing means a lot of different things to people. For some it’s a simple escape from the hectic world, for others a way to connect with family, still others have managed to use it as a way to earn a living in the world. For Dave Rohde of Kitty Hawk, it’s not hyperbole to say that fishing saved his life.

The fish-rich waters of the Northwest is where this story begins. Born in Pocatello, Idaho, and raised in Seattle, fishing was part of Rohde’s life from the very beginning. His father would shepherd him around to local fishing holes.

“I started fishing when I was 5 or 6 years old and my dad would take me to stocked farm ponds to fish for trout,” he recalled recently.

Ironically though, Rohde’s father didn’t fish much himself.

“My father was supposed to be a fisherman. In my 18 years in his house, I only saw him fish once, but our house was loaded with antique bamboo fly rods by famous makers such as Horrocks-Ibbotson and other famous rod builders.”

When confronted with the problem of catching fish, Rohde figured it out one way or the other.

“I was a completely self-taught angler and I would fish the streams around my house in Seattle with eggs and worms until I graduated to Mepps and Panther Martin spinners,” he explained.

Later, he found advice in the printed word and outside helpers: “I learned mostly from Boys Life and the Scouts.”

Like many in the armed services, Rohde’s family moved around a bit, first from Seattle to Puerto Rico and then to the Tidewater, Virginia, area. Rohde didn’t fish much in Puerto Rico but a new passion found him while there.

“From 19 to 24, surfing dominated my life, and when I was in Puerto Rico, surfing was my focus.”

Once the family moved to Virginia his passion turned again to fishing.

“As soon as I returned to the mainland I was back at it.”

Then in 1976 he met the woman who would become his first wife.

“When I was 24, I met my wife to be, Gretchen Majors.” This relationship would change his life in more ways than he could ever had imagined at that time. Rohde met a man who would teach him the fishing and outdoors skills he still uses.

“Her father was a gentleman named Ergo Majors III. He simply became my life mentor, taught me how to fly fish, tie my own flies, shoot clays and load my own shells,” Rohde said. “This man was as important to me as my own father. He was larger than life to say the least.”

And then Rohde’s star began to rise in the surfing community.

“By this time, I was a well-known West Coast surfboard builder and I split my passion between fishing and surfing.”

While out West, Rohde started to fish some legendary waters.

“I started going to Mammoth, California, fly fishing the Kern Valley rivers, and to Northern California to chase steelhead,” he said.

But then it all came apart.

When his marriage ended messily in 1980, it affected him deeply.

“When my marriage fell apart, I went on a mini self-destruct and ended up in my dad’s house in Norfolk, Virginia. I really didn’t fish much for three or four years,” Rohde said, adding that he found solace in drinking and drugs at that time. It took an outside force to bring him out of it.

“The company I was working for, Wave Riding Vehicles, moved their factory to the Outer Banks and it was game-on with fishing again,” Rohde said.

Among those in the sport, Rohde is a well-known name for his surfboard-shaping prowess, and a WRV board bearing the Rohde name is highly coveted.

“I started fly fishing the bass ponds in Currituck and chasing bluefish on the beach,” he said, and that is what brought him out of a very dangerous time. Rohde figures that if not for fishing he may not be here today.

“I got sober in 1994 and started fly fishing for stripers around Oregon Inlet. By 1996, I was doing wade trips around the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center. I’ve been guiding on the Outer Banks ever since,” he said.

Then in 2000, Rohde met Joanne Lassiter, and he called her a great influence who made him a father with her son, Alex Lassiter.

“I had him since he was 10 and I raised him like he was my own. He and I would go surfing and fishing together all the time,” Rohde said.

But then a few years later, tragedy hit and again threatened to pull Rohde apart.

“Alex passed away from a very rare cancer in 2013, and I stepped away from guiding for six years,” Rohde said. But once again, his lifelong passion found him and brought him back. “After we lost our son, fishing and surfing saved me. Fishing brought me mentally back from the abyss of loss and depression.”

Rohde has been fly fishing for a long time and has a few words of wisdom for those getting into the sport: “The only way to get better at anything, and especially fly fishing, is practice and a good mentor.”

Having a good place to practice also makes all the difference, he added.

“My father-in-law introduced me to the San Diego fly fishers. We would go to Balboa Park on Sundays and there would be a ton of guys there that would work with me on my cast. There is no substitute for this. YouTube videos will not make you a good caster.”

Lacking a professional club of outstanding fly casters, just get out there on a pond or lawn or wherever there is enough room, he advised.

“I think the most important thing in saltwater fly fishing is presentation. The ability to cast the right fly that swims properly, to the right spot, is the key to success. And if you can’t cast over 30 or 40 feet, you’re going to be out of luck quite often.”

These days, Rohde keeps busy with a multitude of projects. He’s guiding still around the Oregon Inlet area, but there’s more.

“I supply all the local shops with flies. I still build a few surfboards. But I do it all part-time now,” he said.

And fishing remains a favorite pastime, but he’s also found new passions.

“My preferred method of fishing is fly, but I probably actually spin fish 70% of the time. Totally situational,” he said.

That other more recent driving force of late has been Rohde’s soft spot for animals. He is involved with animal rescue and specifically saving the feral and abandoned cats that proliferate all along the North Carolina coast.

“I’m quite an animal activist. I do trapping for the local animal rescue groups, and I’ve saved several cats myself,” he said.

And for those reading this who might feel they’re in a dark place like he once was, Rohde offers encouragement.

“I’m not shy about getting sober. If I can do it, anybody can,” he said.

As you walk across the dunes, the sun’s glow is just below the horizon. It’s a crisp November morning. The water temperature is in the lower 60s. In front of you is a perfect spot for speckled trout to congregate on their beachfront migration.

The surf is barely waist high. You step into the water and your waders wrap glove-like around your legs. The current is moving to the left. Make a cast, slightly to the right to accommodate for the current. There are breaking waves just close enough to reach with a long cast. Just to the left of them the water is smoother.

Cast again into the edge of the breaking waves. Twitch, twitch reel.

The top crescent of the sun is just now peering over. Thump! You set the hook onto a solid fish. It turns and tries to run into deeper water but your drag is set properly and your knots are well tied. The fish bulldogs into a wave, you wait until the next one comes in. Get the fish swimming towards you and surf it onto the sand. A sleek 3-pounder.

This scenario is common wherever speckled trout are present on the North Carolina coast. Many people pursue them every year. Many are successful. Many more are not. The reasons for both are myriad.

The tackle, lures, location and timing all come into play. Get one of them wrong and you are out of the action. I am going to try to help the angler up his odds of success.

If you are a novice surf angler, this will dramatically close your learning curve. If you do this once a year on vacation, you will know some of these things, but there is more. If you are an accomplished speckled trout angler but don’t surf fish for some reason, this will be a way to take what you know and apply it differently. If you are a veteran surf angler who lives near the beach and fishes the run every day, give me a call and tell me what I’ve gotten wrong!

There is not enough space to give a comprehensive breakdown here, just a quick summation. A person could write a whole book about this subject. (I did actually. It’s called “Speckled Trout from the Surf,” and it’s available wherever you might buy a book online).

Start with the conditions. Ideally you want light winds or winds from behind. This will keep the surf down and allow the water to be clear. Not crystal clear, it gets difficult to fool them when it’s too clear. I guess it’s easier for them to see what’s wrong. Lower waves also make it easier to wade out a little farther, which means we can get our casts out past that bar. Sometimes those first three cranks of the reel handle are when you’ll get strike after strike while others, who may not be able to get out as far, won’t.

In that regard, let’s talk about gear that maximizes distance. You want a rod about 8 feet long with a fast action that is rated for 10- to 20-pound test line. Rig this with a light spinning reel in the 2500 size range. Fill your reel with 15-pound test braided line. This set up will allow you to cast light lures a long way.

But which lures should we be using?

I prefer to use a plug most of the time when surf fishing. I — and a lot of others — still prefer using the old style Mirrolure 52 MR. But there are lots of new options. The size XL Mirrodine plug by Mirrolure has been a popular choice that I’ll probably give a slot in my tackle box this year. The Rapala Sub Walk is a good option as well. What you want is something about 4 to 5 inches long with a compact shape and a little weight to it so it casts well without tumbling.

As far as color, in the surf, anything with red in it seems to do the trick. There are probably scientific papers written about it somewhere, but all I know is that red gets bites. Next, if I had to choose another, it would be pink and there are plenty of fish caught around here on the old black and gold combination.

Finally, a few words about location and time. If you have a beach vehicle with four-wheel drive AND a beach driving permit from the town in which you’re fishing, driving the beach at low tide will give you a good look at beach shape.

Look for the places where the outer bar is broken and there is a slough in to the beach. These will be the prime feeding locations. Some spots are better at higher tides while others are better at lower. Some spots have almost no water on them at low tide, so you might have to find another. Piers, jetties, and rockpiles will block the water and create holes nearby so they are always worth checking out. In fact, if you don’t have a beach vehicle, you can catch fish merely by driving from pier to pier until you find something that’s worth checking out.

Often, regardless of tide, the best time to be fishing the beach for fall-run speckled trout is dawn. I prefer to be rigged and ready the night before, so the moment I step out of the truck all I have to do is put on waders and get going.

Your first casts should be hitting the water while it’s still dark. Hopefully you scoped it out the day before and you know where you’re casting. Pitch it out there as far as you can, start reeling slowly, twitch the rod tip. Twitch again. Continue a slow retrieve.

Twitch, reel, twitch, twitch. Thump!

Feeling that thump in the dark is a whole new world. No way of knowing just what you have until you set the hook. It could be a 6-pounder. It could be a 12-incher. Have to get out there and find out.

MOREHEAD CITY – The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries recently established a new state record for Seriola rivoliana, otherwise known as almaco jack.

Matt Frattasio of Massachusetts caught the 26-pound, 15.6-ounce fish Nov. 8 near the D wreck off Morehead City. There was no previous state record for the species in North Carolina. Georgia and Florida’s state records stand at 7 pounds, 0.7 ounce, and 35 pounds, 9 ounces, respectively.

Frattasio was aboard Riptide Charters fishing in around 80 feet of water. He landed the fish using live menhaden and 50-pound braid on a Daiwa Saltist MQ 14000 reel paired with a Hogy Tuna jigging rod, according to state officials.

Frattasio’s fish measured 36.4 inches fork length, from the tip of the nose to the fork in the tail, and had a 26-inch girth. The fish was weighed and identified by fisheries staff at the Division of Marine Fisheries headquarters in Morehead City.

For more information on state record fish, visit the division’s State Saltwater Records webpage or contact the North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Tournament staff at saltwater.citations@deq.nc.gov.

People are always saying things about how they are going to take the thing they love to do and turn it into their life’s work. Most of us never act on it. Tim Still of Havelock has, and by all accounts seems to be doing well at it.

Next time you’re in a tackle shop, look at the selection of casting spoons, chances are, Still’s Beach Bum Lures will be represented on that rack. Still has taken his avocation and turned it into an ongoing vocation. It’s not many of us who can make their love of fishing into a successful career. 

Originally from Salisbury, that’s where Still was introduced to fishing by his family.

“I grew up pond and river fishing with my family for crappie, bream, catfish and white bass,” he recently told Coastal Review.

It was his father’s best friend, Mr. J.C. Campbell, who taught him about doing more than just sitting and waiting.

“He only used artificial baits, which I found more interesting because he was constantly moving around the pond looking for fish rather than waiting.”

Mainly, Still enjoyed pond and river fishing for panfish as a kid, but the saltwater was always there, an annual event.

“Once a year we would go to Virginia to fish for spot and croaker,” he explained.

As he got older, Still developed into a good athlete, good enough to play three sports in high school and to play college baseball.

“In high school, I played football, baseball and indoor track; I played college baseball at Wingate University,” he said, referring to the private

He was also good enough to pursue a career as a baseball player for several years. But like most of us, he had to come back to Earth and get a job. For a while the sports world continued to keep him busy.

“After baseball ended, I was a sports writer at the Sun Journal in New Bern, then at the Daily Reflector in Greenville,” he recalled. Then a career change landed him in Charlotte, where he worked for Wachovia, now Wells Fargo.

But another change was in the works.

Still made untold numbers of trips to the coast from Charlotte and developed a real love for casting to schooling fish from the beach.

Spanish mackerel and false albacore will bite anything shiny when they are visibly feeding close to shore. The problem was, Still said, many of the products available to do the job were made with poor finishes that flaked off after a few fish strikes, along with cheap hooks and split rings that bent or rusted quickly.

Still decided to do something about it.

“I started Beach Bum Lures Fishing Co. in 2019, full time in 2021-present, designing lures for saltwater fishing,” said Still.

The way Still figured, even though quality finishes and hardware might cost a little more, he could still get into the market at a lower price point than some of the mass-produced casting spoons. He began to produce higher-quality lures with longer-lasting paint jobs, nicer sharp hooks, and split rings that don’t break. He does it all himself.

At first, Still’s output was just a way to pay fishing expenses, but he gradually shifted to a full-time operation.

“I manage sales, design, quality control and customer service. From start to the order being delivered, I handle pretty much every step in the process,” he said.

That vertical integration – cutting out the middle man — helps keep the lures competitively priced.

“The plan is to handle distribution, production, and anything else independently, rather than through a distributor,” he said.

Still shares his home in Havelock with Shirley, his wife of 24 years, a Vanceboro native, and his three younger kids.

“We have six kids, three are adults, three in school. The younger kids all enjoy fishing and really like being close to the beach,” Still said. “I will fish for just about anything if I’m able to use an artificial bait.”

But he has definite favorites: “Spanish mackerel and false albacore are at the top of the list.” And fishing from the surf or shore is what he enjoys most.

“I prefer being on the sand rather than a boat or pier. I like the challenge of coming up with a strategy,” he said, adding that surf fishing is definitely not a game of numbers most days. “The key to my and many others’ success is putting the time in and being OK with the fact that some days, you’re not going to catch them.”

That’s a pretty good outlook to remember no matter what kind of fishing you’re doing. A big key to success in surf fishing is being aware of the variable conditions that will affect fish location and their feeding mood.

“Understanding the wind direction, water temperature and clarity are vital for the type of fishing that I do and those three things are everything,” he said.

If you understand how these three things combined with tide affect the fish you seek, you greatly enhance your chances of success. The only way to know this is by being aware of what is going on through time on the water.

In terms of the future, Still sees himself continuing to grow his business, expanding beyond North Carolina. “

The market is wide open,” Still said, noting that he has a lot of new product in the pipeline. “I’ve only sold 10% of my designs this season. I will introduce them a few at a time, adding onto already-established patterns.”

Anglers who know are likely looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Fall is here. Days are getting shorter. Temperatures are dropping. Women — and men — are getting their favorite sweaters out of their closets. It’s happening. Fishing is going to start getting dramatic around here.

The decreasing photo period each day drives fish to start making decisions and preparations that will put them in obvious locations for us to target them. Let’s take a look at a typical fall day and see what we can do.

We check the forecast and it looks like there will be light north winds blowing for a couple days and continuing into the day we want to fish. Let’s take a look at the tides. We’re going to have a rising tide in the morning with full high around 11 a.m. Check the current and tide heights. Not going to be too high and the current will be moderate. That means if we get started around 7 a.m. the current will be moving nicely but not too strong and the tide’s not going to be so high that the fish can disappear on us at the peak.

Now, let’s make a plan.

Let’s assume we have a center-console boat from 18 to 22 feet long. We can cover a lot of ground in a boat that size. Not shallow-draft enough to fish way back on the flats. Not big enough to really fish offshore. Just medium enough to get around.

We’ll find a place where there are channels through marsh grass near a river mouth. Speckled trout will stage in these areas. It just so happens they bite quite nicely on a morning incoming tide. Let’s be there first thing and have a variety of jigs in different weights and plastic tails in various sizes and colors.

We’ll find a spot in a channel where the water is deeper on one side and quite shallow on the other. These neck-down type of zones are where they will congregate. We’ll anchor upcurrent of the deeper area and make long casts.

Try to be quiet with the anchor. If the fish are there, we should get bites right away.

We catch a couple and the bite slows down after 30 minutes. Quietly raise the anchor and slowly move down current a little ways to cover water we have not reached yet. Again, we quietly drop the anchor and repeat. We’ll do this all the way down the channel. As long as nobody blows through the middle with their big motor on full blast and scaring all the fish out and swamping us with their wake, it should be fine.

I don’t know anybody who would do that anyway (or maybe I do).

As the tide nears its apex the bite starts to slow. Time to do something else.

There’s a creek nearby with a nice hole at the mouth. Let’s cast-net some mullet. We’ll rig them on Carolina Rigs. (You do know what Carolina Rig is don’t you?) Fish the mullet in the hole. Anchor on the upcurrent side again and let the baits sweep down in the hole. Set the rods in the holders with circle hooks.

Oh, one is going down. Come tight. It’s a nice flounder. Is the season still open? It’s not. Let him slide back.

Now the other rod goes down. After a battle with a little more spunk, it’s a nice red drum. This is shaping up to be a good day.

The water is starting to get a little shallow for our boat. Time for another change of venue. Let’s head toward the inlet.

We’ll change out our rods for ones rigged with small metal jigs and 30-pound test fluorocarbon leaders. We changed the treble hooks to single hooks last night to make it easier on the fish and on us when unhooking the potential toothy critters we might encounter.

Spanish mackerel are jumping just outside the inlet. Pull up and cast our jigs in the school. Reel as fast as possible. Right away we’re both hooked up to nice sized macks. They are in the 18- to 20-inch range. Nice fish. They are spunky and fight hard. It feels like a snag when we hook up because they swim so fast.

A huge school of similarly sized bluefish suddenly starts blowing up all around us. Gulls are screeching and diving. Minnows are fleeing. It’s mayhem. The blues look to be around 25 inches or so. Maybe a little bigger. Five-pounders at least. When they bite, it’s a circus. They jump like crazy when hooked and try to take fingers with them. Use the pliers to get the hooks out. There’s fish blood and minnows all over the boat now.

Then we see a bigger set of splashes off to the side of the bluefish school. False albacore have moved in. It’s been about a year since we’ve seen these brutal battlers. Time to get our fishing line stretched out.

We move the boat in close and … the same guy who almost swamped us in the trout channel has cut in front of us. After mumbling a few choice words about him, we spot another group of albacore. We both launch casts and hook up at the same time. Both fish are now screaming line off our reels. After a 10-minute battle we are able to land our fish.

Look around. It’s over. The tide has bottomed out. It’s been a great day. We hang out for a while, hoping that something will start again as the tide stats to come in. But nothing’s really happening.

This is a typical day this time of year, repeated all along our coast. It pays to be prepared to do a variety of things over the course of the day. Because a variety of things is pretty much what we expect to see.

Make the plan. Execute the plan. Be prepared with options to the plan. That makes for success on the water during autumn.

A Southport angler has landed the first state record puddingwife wrasse, or Halichoeres radiatus.

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries recently certified the state record fish and it may break the world record, too, officials said.

Connor Stone of Southport caught the 3-pound, 11-ounce fish 10 miles off Southport on July 27.

Stone plans to apply to the International Game Fish Association for the world record. The current certified world record puddingwife wrasse weighed 3-pounds, 8-ounces and was caught off Key West Florida in 2003.

Stone’s fish measured 18-inches fork length, from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail, and had a 13-inch girth.

Stone landed the fish using a Fiblink Signature rod and a Fin-Nor LTC16h reel with 50-pound braid using squid as bait.

To establish a state record fish, the fish must be weighed in on certified scales at an official North Carolina weigh station, and the angler must apply to the Division of Marine Fisheries for staff review.

Anglers can review all state record requirements online at the State Saltwater Records webpage.

For more information on state record fish, you can also contact the North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Tournament staff at saltwater.citations@ncdenr.gov.

Tonya Sanders had had enough of the online trolls.

She simply wanted to share her fishing feats on social media, her capabilities as a recreational angler, and exchange fishing tips with others who enjoy casting a line as much as she does.

But as anyone on social media knows, there are plenty of keyboard warriors itching to pounce at the opportunity to belittle, discourage and insult.

As she ramped up her online presence earlier this summer so too did the negative comments.

Sanders was called a “prop” by a poster who accused her of not catching the fish she was holding in one photograph. Another commenter mocked a different photograph, telling her she looked like she was posing for a glamour shot.

The online harassment took a particularly unnerving turn when one man commented about female breasts.

“I just didn’t realize it would be like that and maybe that was my fault because I was just being happy-go-lucky and not really diving too much into the social media aspect of putting myself out there as like, ‘Hey, I caught this and I’m proud of it. Does anybody else want help learning how to do this?’ Or, maybe someone else would give me pointers,” Sanders said.

So what if she’s wearing makeup, she thought.

“I guess maybe it doesn’t look like I’ve been fighting a fish,” she said. “I have no clue.”

But Sanders firmly believes she would not be reading the same derogatory comments on her posts if she were a man.

“So, I decided that I was going to make my own group,” Sanders said.

The Facebook group would be open to all anglers, regardless of gender or experience level.

“But it’s specifically a safe haven for women to be able to post their catches or to connect with other anglers,” Sanders said.

Within the first four weeks of creating Female Fishing Fanatics earlier this summer, Sanders’ Facebook group had grown to more than 320 members and counting from across the country and as far away as Thailand.

She’s garnered the support of local businesses who’ve joined her group, donated prizes to be handed out to the winners of raffles she’s hosted — just a way to keep things fun — and been welcomed by owners of businesses she and her fiancé, Rob Lissor, feature in what they plan to turn into a traveling-angler-type series they’ll share on the group.

“I knew I was going to have to put in a lot of work and sharing, but I did not expect it to take off like it did,” she said.

This is not where the 37-year-old Wilmington native ever thought she’d find herself.

She’s been fishing throughout the area since the time she was a toddler being toted around by her father, a man who, after learning he had a baby girl said, “That’s OK. I’ll take her fishing anyway.”

Sanders doesn’t claim to be an expert angler. She does not own a boat.

That doesn’t hamper her desire to fish. On her days off she can be found fishing in Wrightsville Beach for sheepshead or in Fort Fisher for drum, depending on the season.

She was fishing in Town Creek, a blackwater river meandering through Brunswick County, during a telephone interview with Coastal Review.

She stopped mid-sentence, the conversation going silent, before apologizing and explaining, “I heard drag screaming and that’s my favorite sound.”

Sanders and Lissor were in the midst of featuring The Gator Hole Country Store and Tackle, a convenient store in Winnabow that proudly advertises the sale of cold beverages, cigarettes, live bait and tackle.

It was Aug. 30, the day before the remnants of Hurricane Idalia would blow in from the southwest after making landfall Aug. 29 in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 3 storm.

“We got a hurricane on our doorstep and we’re out here and, you know what, this is what this is all about,” Lissor said. “I’ve had a rekindle of love of fishing since we started this.

“Speaking as a male in an administrative position in a female group, the amount of support that we give our members and that our members give each other is something that I’ve never seen before in any Facebook group. We are uplifting and caring and we encourage everybody to post and we celebrate those posts. There’s no negativity whatsoever and that’s what’s drawn people to us. It’s been a heck of a ride so far and we’re loving it.”

Jaime Short, who co-owns The Gator Hole with his fiancé Nicole Pruitt, said he teamed up with Sanders and Lissor for the love of fishing.

“We just like to see people have fun and go out fishing,” Short said. “We just want everyone to enjoy the water. It’s fishing. It’s supposed to be something that everyone goes out and enjoys. I get out-fished by Nicole, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries recently certified a new state record red hind, scientifically known Epinephelus guttatus.

Christopher Rocci of Morehead City caught the 10-pound, 2.4-ounce fish July 27 45 miles offshore of Beaufort Inlet.

The previous state record red hind weighed 9 pounds, 12.1 ounces, and was caught off Wrightsville Beach earlier this year.

Rocci’s fish measured 25.5 inches total length, from the tip of the snout to the tip of the compressed tail, and had a 20.25-inch girth.

The fish was landed using a Penn Ally II rod with an Okuma SLX-50WII reel with squid and pinfish on 80-pound braid.

For more information on state record fish, go to the division’s State Saltwater Records webpage.

The stereotypical image of the fly angler may be that of an older man with a faded-out vest and a well-worn, long-brimmed cap, stalking a trout stream somewhere in the hills.

In saltwater fly fishing, you might think of a leather-skinned gentleman, who squints all the time due to a lifetime spent in bright sunshine looking for fish.

Kristi Irvin of Kitty Hawk is here to break all your stereotypes.

She’s young, doesn’t have leathery skin, and rarely — if ever — squints.

In the past few years, she’s gotten into fly fishing in a big way and has cashed the receipts to prove it. Her fly fishing journey has taken her to some pretty special spots and aided her with some personal healing, as well.

Like so many who grew to be accomplished anglers, Irvin grew up in a family that fished together.

“I’m from central Pennsylvania, and I grew up in a large family of avid fishermen,” Irvin told Coastal Review.

It was her father, Scott Pecht, however, whom she credited with really getting her going.

“My father would take us on several trips a year to fish in Canada. I remember the excitement of being allowed to go out in the boat with my dad,” she said.

Back home in Pennsylvania, she was almost always in or near the water.

“I spent my entire childhood swimming, tubing and fishing in the Juniata River,” she explained, adding that her desire to be around the water directly contributed to her passion for fishing. “My love of fishing really is a byproduct of my love and need to be in the water. Looking back now, my life has always involved being near water.”

That included water-themed sports.

“I swam for years at the local swim club and was on the crew team,” she said.

Call it destiny? Her career path steered that way for a time.

“I even worked for a few years at a lake, running the bait and tackle shop,” she said of the lure.

Fly fishing was something she was interested in early in life, but she thought it seemed too difficult. Still, the allure of handmade flies was fascinating.

“My fly fishing interest started when I was a teenager. I was always very crafty, and I remember being fascinated with flies.”

But even with all the fishing they did, nobody in her family fly fished, so she was not able to really get started.

“I thought it would be too difficult to master the art of casting without any help. So, it was another 20 years before I picked up a fly rod,” she said. But she got there eventually.

Nowadays, Irvin fly fishes exclusively.

“I am the only one in my family that would call themselves a fly fisher. To my knowledge, I don’t think my father ever touched a fly rod,” she said, adding that once she got into it, fly fishing gave her focus through difficult times. “I have faced significant loss and some very hard days, and fly fishing has brought me back to life.”

The joy she gets from fly fishing is real.

“I literally feel giddy every time I go out,” she said, expressing what is true for many of us.

Irvin said she feels lucky to have met fine guides and instructors who have helped her.

“I credit every one of the guides that I’ve fished with for my growth and knowledge. Many have become friends and mentors, and I call on them often for advice and guidance,” Irvin said.

And Irvin said she respects the knowledge they have gained through their time on the water and their ability to pass some of that wisdom along to others.

“I respect their skill, knowledge and willingness to teach me. I love that I can learn from guys that have been fishing longer than I’ve been alive,” she said.

As we all know, the best way to get good at something is to get out there and do it.

“It’s a privilege to hear about their memories and watch them fish with a skill that is only earned through a lifetime of experience. It’s humbling,” Irvin said, noting that she prefers saltwater. “Although I learned to fly fish in freshwater for trout and smallmouth bass, I have become a saltwater gal.”

She likes being right in their element as the fish feed and hopefully grab her fly.

“I prefer wading in big water, hunting fish and experiencing the huge tug and run of a big saltwater gamefish,” Irvin said.

Fishing has led Irvin to destination around the world, as shown by her trips to Germany and Nicaragua just in the past year. “I love to travel. I love to fish. Life is short. I will travel and fish and make memories.”

Irvin’s family includes two grown kids who also enjoy getting out on the water, son Wyatt and daughter Brinley go out with her quite often.

“They prefer offshore fishing, and I have taken them on many trips,” she said, adding that these varied experiences helps them become better people themselves. “I want my children to know from my example that doing what makes you happy has a ripple effect on the entire world. I want them to see me actively pursuing an activity that requires effort, learning, humility, respect for the environment, and patience.”

Irvin said she tries to embody those traits by creating and learning to create more, including her love for tying flies, which she said goes along with knitting socks and hats that she wears on her winter fishing outings. It’s the same passion and challenge of learning that keeps her intrigued, she said.

“The end result of catching a fish is an indicator of how well you have prepared and educated yourself for that moment.”

It’s no secret that I love to go fishing. I don’t always keep fish, but when I do, I have a variety of preparations that are my go-to methods.  

Let me start off by stating that your fish should be fresh. Either eat it the same day you caught it, or if you can’t do that, freeze it as quickly as possible in well-wrapped packages using freezer zipper bags within another freezer zipper bag with all the air squeezed out of them.  

There are plenty of other methods but don’t forget about the fillets. Use within a month or so or else the quality will decline.  

If you buy fish, make sure of its freshness by checking that the eyes are clear and the gills are red. It should be firm and not smell. You shouldn’t smell anything. The so-called “fishy” smell? That’s spoilage happening. If you shop at a fish market or a supermarket that has a “fishy” smell, don’t buy from there and find a different place.  

Now that we have that taken care of let’s check the cooking methods.

Fried right 

Everybody loves fried fish. For good reason. It’s delicious. But if it’s not done right, it can be disappointing, oily, mushy, and not satisfying.  

Use an electric frying pan, Dutch oven, or a wok. Pour in enough canola oil to cover the bottom up to about an inch in depth. Set the thermostat to 375 degrees. If you don’t have an electric pan, monitor the heat with a cooking thermometer of some kind.  

While waiting for the oil temperature to come up, prepare the fillets. Have three bowls. In the first one put flour, in the second a beaten egg or two, in the third, breadcrumbs or cornmeal — I prefer panko breadcrumbs.  

Using a fork or tongs, dip the fish first into the flour, just enough to coat, then the egg and then finally the breadcrumbs. Set aside until you have four or five pieces. Don’t do more than that or else the temperature in the pan will decrease when you put them in.  

It’s going to sizzle … a lot. Don’t put a solid cover on the pan, the crust will get soggy. Cover it with one of those screen things from the kitchen supply section.  

Cook the fish on the first side until it’s a nice golden brown on the bottom. If the oil gets too hot it will burn, so watch it carefully and adjust the heat as necessary. It should take a few minutes. When it looks nice and brown on the down side, flip using a wire spatula. It won’t take as long to cook on the second side.  

When they’re done put them on a rack or paper towels to dry. Salt immediately. This is an important step and if you want to know why, ask the experts like Alton Brown or Kenji Lopez-Alt. Serve with whatever kind of sauce you want. I make tartar sauce using mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish and a dash of mustard. Serve fried fillets on a quality, toasted bun with a slice of cheese or on a plate with coleslaw on the side.  

Can’t go wrong.

Pan-roasting 

My second favorite is called pan roasting.  

Get a nice nonstick pan. Get it hot enough to melt butter and sizzle a little. Not rip-roaring hot, that’s too much. Once the butter is hot enough to sizzle, drop your fillets, preseasoned with whatever you like, into the pan and leave them alone.  

You want the fish to cook on one side until the fillets are opaque almost all the way through. As long as you keep the heat at a reasonable level, they won’t burn.  

Leave them.  

Don’t touch them.  

Don’t flip them.  

When the fish has turned white almost all the way, and maybe just a little bit of translucency left on the top, then quickly flip them using a plastic spatula.  

Add a quarter cup of white wine, some more butter, and the juice of a whole lemon. Use a plastic spoon to flip the lemon butter over the top of the fish for 30 seconds. Then quickly remove to a plate.  

Yeah, that’s good. It should have a nice brown crust on the side that was down first, and the lemon butter should permeate throughout. Pour whatever is left in the pan over the fish and watch it disappear. 

Fish cakes 

A good friend turned me onto some fish cakes that have become a favorite meal.  

Set your oven for 400. Place the fish on a baking sheet. Season the fillets anyway you like. I also put a half stick of butter on the pan. Bake for 10 minutes.  

When you pull the fish out, it’s going to smell amazing. Not time to eat yet though. The fish needs to cool for about 30 minutes.  

Place in a bowl or plate and into the refrigerator. When cooled, transfer everything that’s in the bowl to a big mixing bowl. Put in a half cup of mayo, a cup of breadcrumbs and a couple tablespoons of whatever seasoning you used before. Mix it all up using a silicone spatula. If it looks a little dry and it’s not holding together add a little bit more mayo, not too much.  

When it’s all holding together form 4-ounce patties. Yes, I use a scale! Put them on a plate and back into the refrigerator for another 30 minutes. Don’t worry it’s worth it.  

Now get your nonstick skillet. Set to medium heat. Put some butter in the pan. When it sizzles add the fish cakes. Cook slowly until golden brown.  

Try not to move them around too much. You only want to flip them once. Should take four minutes or so per side. Remove from the pan and put them on plates. Leave the pan on the heat. Add the juice of one lemon, a splash of white wine. A tablespoon of butter wouldn’t hurt either. Let it sizzle in there for a couple minutes.  

Any busted off pieces of fish cake, leave them. You could also add a few chopped shrimp. When the sauce is getting a thicker consistency, pour some out onto each fish cake, make sure everybody gets enough or they’ll get mad at you. 

If you have leftover fish cakes — it happens — there is one more thing to do: Melt some butter at the bottom of a saucepan. Put a crumbled fish cake in the melted butter and cook until the individual pieces are crunchy. Then pour a high-quality canned potato chowder over the crunchy fish cake pieces.  

The melted butter and crunchy fish pieces will fill the chowder and I’m pretty sure you might have a hard time finding a better soup at a lot of restaurants. 

There’s more, but that should get you started. Let me add that these are big favorites, and you need to make sure you have enough for everybody or there’s going to be trouble.

If you’ve ever wondered about who the people are who make the fishing regulations, what they are like, and if they actually like fishing, then you should know that Chris Batsavage has been working his way up the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries’ ladder for 25 years.

And he loves fishing.

“I started working for NCDMF in 1998 as a field technician in the Wanchese Field Office. I was also a fisheries biologist there and later in Morehead City where I moved in 2005,” Batsavage recently explained to Coastal Review.

Many who know him probably remember his work as the lead on the division’s flounder team, but that may not reflect the depth of his work and the breadth of his expertise.

“I served as the lead biologist for southern flounder and represented NCDMF on multistate technical committees for summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and spiny dogfish,” he said.

He is currently the special assistant to councils with the division, working with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

Batsavage has been fishing his whole life and has developed a passion for the marine environment that has become his life’s work.

Growing up inland in Virginia, his first fishing was freshwater-oriented.

“I grew up in Leesburg, Virginia, which is about 40 miles northwest of Washington, D.C. Most of my fishing was in area farm ponds, creeks and the upper Potomac River, targeting bass, sunfish, crappie and catfish.”

Batsavage credits two childhood buddies with getting him going.

“My biggest influences in fishing were a couple of my friends that loved fishing. We fished as often as we could and learned a lot from each other, despite the relatively limited fishing options,” Batsavage recalled.

And as is the case for so many, the lure of saltwater fishing was difficult to resist.

“Our family would vacation at the Outer Banks and Chincoteague, Virginia, which is where I learned to fish in saltwater,” he said.

Later on, Batsavage’s career allowed him to get deeper into the saltier side of the sport. Eventually, his freshwater pursuits were supplanted.

“I moved to Greenville, North Carolina, to attend graduate school at East Carolina University, and then moved to coastal NC for work, so I’ve done much more saltwater fishing than freshwater fishing over the last 25 years,” said Batsavage, who is now 50.

Batsavage now lives in Morehead City with his wife Tina and son Sheldon, who is just a couple of months shy of 14.

“They both enjoy fishing and spending time on the water.”

Apparently, similar to his counterpart Dr. Cooper on the TV show, “Big Bang Theory,” young Sheldon demonstrates genius, but his genius relates mainly to catching big fish.

“Fishing is by far my son’s favorite hobby, and he’s an excellent angler. He’s already caught several southern flounder over 5 pounds and a 41-inch red drum. I learn as much from him as he learns from me,” Sheldon’s father remarked.

As for dad, he enjoys fishing the shallows.

“I mostly fish in the estuaries and nearshore ocean from boat and shore. I have a 21-foot skiff, which is pretty versatile for fishing these areas,” he said.

And Batsavage pursues any and all fish species that can be caught in coastal North Carolina waters.

“I target a variety of species including speckled trout, flounder, red drum, weakfish, sea mullet, Spanish mackerel, and sheepshead. Striped bass was one of my favorites when I lived on the Outer Banks during the late 1990s and early 2000s. I also try to go shad fishing in the coastal rivers in the late winter and spring,” he said.

And his preference is fishing with lures rather than bait.

“My favorite way to fish is casting — jigs, spoons, plugs, etcetera — to the variety of species found close to my home. The number of species to fish for was limited where I grew up, so I don’t take the variety of available species around here for granted.”

Most likely, as a consequence of his recordkeeping for the division, Batsavage has a specific method of tracking his fishing trips, a database of sorts. A trove of data that would probably help us all.

“I wish I was more consistent with my fishing success, but the key to helping me with fishing is keeping a logbook,” he said. “Recording the times of year, weather, tides, water conditions, fish caught, and gear used from past fishing trips has really helped me learn the patterns for different species over the years.”

His data spans decades.

“I started keeping logbooks in the late 1990s, so it’s also interesting to look back to see how things change annually and over time,” he said, noting there are also other advantages that give him an inside track on the fish. “Another thing that has helped me with fishing is what I’ve learned about fish as a fisheries biologist and manager. Knowing the life history and habitat preferences of fish has made me a better angler.”

It goes the other way too.

“Conversely, recreational fishing for most of my lifetime has helped me as a fisheries biologist and manager by gaining a better understanding of the recreational fishery,” he said.

Batsavage’s logbook helps in myriad ways, but most especially in preparation.

“Having a plan with fallback options before I go fishing has worked well for me, that’s where the logbook is a great asset,” he said.

But initial plans don’t always work out, though they often lead to educational opportunities.

“Time and weather windows are often narrow, so fishing options can be limited. You can’t fish for everything on a single trip,” he said. “Of course, the plans don’t always work out, but if I had fun and learned something, then it was a good trip.”

As for the long term, Batsavage sees himself fishing and having fun with his son Sheldon through the years.

“I hope to be retired and still fishing with my son 20 years from now and to have more time to travel.”

MOREHEAD CITY – The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries recently certified a new state record red hind, or Epinephelus guttatus.

Harrison Bachmann of Wrightsville Beach caught the 9-pound, 12.1-ounce, fish offshore of Wrightsville Beach on June 30.

The previous state record red hind weighed 7 pounds, 11.2 ounces, and was caught near Frying Pan Tower in 2022.

Bachmann’s fish measured 25 inches total length, from the tip of the snout to the tip of the compressed tail, and had a 23.25-inch girth.

The fish was landed using a Penn Carnage III rod with a Penn US Senator 113N reel with squid on 50-pound test.

For more information on state record fish, go to the division’s State Saltwater Records webpage or contact the North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Tournament staff at saltwater.citations@ncdenr.gov.

It happens all the time. An angler will be fishing some nice clear water, and a fish will swim to within 15 feet, the angler will never see the fish, and at the last second, the fish will bolt.

This will produce a big splash, a puff of mud, and a confused look on the face of the angler, who will likely say something like, “I never even saw that fish.”

Chances are at some point he looked right at it and never recognized it. Either he could not discern what he saw, didn’t realize it was something more than a log, or just as typically, he didn’t have the right gear to help him pick it out through all the obstacles that prevent fish from being seen in the first place.

Let’s talk about the gear, the obstacles, and how to put them together to help us see what’s right there. Remember that, as Henry David Thoreau told us, “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”

You hear people use the word “literally” quite a bit when they are speaking in figurative terms:

“He literally threw me under the bus.”

“I was literally over the moon about my new girlfriend.”

But believe this, I literally will not go fishing anywhere, at any time, for any kind of fish without a pair of polarized sunglasses. They not only keep the sun out of your eyes, but also hooks’ points, branches, bugs, and — most importantly of all — they help you see into the water.

I have stood on a fishing pier and watched as a school of speckled trout moved into the beach on a sunny day with a rising tide and pointed them out to people who could not see anything until I caught one. Then all they wanted to know was what I caught them on without even noticing that I was casting to a huge school of fish.

With the right sunglasses they would have seen them.

None of them possessed a pair, and none of them caught a trout either.

There is always a glare on the surface that prevents you from seeing what’s on the bottom. Fine if you are after flying fish, I guess, but most fish are on the bottom, or close to it, most of the time. Without a pair of polarized lenses in front of your eyes, you will never know what’s out there.

I have found that the sunglasses you buy at the beach store are not worth the $20. I prefer the higher-end brands that are sold at fishing pro shops. They’re a little pricy, but you’ll have them a long time and they do the job a lot better.

My favorite are the brownish-colored lenses for my fishing inshore and in freshwater. The gray lenses are supposed to be better for offshore work, but I feel like I’m seeing things as well as I need to.

The most common occurrence is to not see fish that are right there. Another is to see things that are not fish at all. Seaweed swaying in the current, logs, practically anything that you might find in the water has been mistaken for a fish.

The primary thing you will notice, almost 100% of the time, is that a fish will be moving and going somewhere. There are instances here and there where they will hold in a current, but even then, you will most likely see them sway back and forth as they check out food items or just ride the current looking for the best seam to sit in.

When you spot the fish, you then want to catch that fish. Right? I mean that’s what we’re here for.

First thing to remember is not to take your eyes off after spotting. It will simply go away. I don’t know how, but they just disappear. Lock on. Now, get ready to cast.

You should already have made sure your tackle was all in order. If spin fishing, have the bail open and the line resting on your finger ready to go. When fly fishing, make sure you’re not standing on the line, hold your fly in your non-casting hand, then flip it out before you start your back cast. Don’t make a lot of weird movements with your rod tip, that will cause it to get tangled.

Pick a spot in front of the fish. Don’t cast right at it. They don’t like it when stuff lands on top of them. Figure the average size of the fish you are targeting. Trout, red drum, bonefish, things like that, about 2 feet long or so. Tarpon, permit are probably going to be longer. Then double that distance from where you see the fish.

Different circumstances may have you extend the distance of your lead. Bonefish are notoriously spooky and may need a 10- to 12-foot lead.

I cast 10 feet in front of a giant speckled trout in Mosquito Lagoon that spooked while the line was in the air.

The situation should dictate your choices. Have your cast land beyond the line the fish is traveling and retrieve so it will coincide with the business end. If your target changes direction, don’t snatch back and recast, wait until it is clear then recast. Keep your cast low and be aware of wind direction.          

I was once standing on a flat in front of multi-million-dollar homes in Honolulu and watched as a beautiful 6-pound bonefish worked its way down the sand in front of me and gazed in awe as it came to my fly and sucked it down.

Later that same day a group of 10-pound-plus bonefish wended their way towards me. I made a perfect cast and watched as the biggest one peeled off and came right to my fly, only to break my heart as it turned up at the last second and peeled off.

Heartbreaking. I can still see it.

That’s the true treasure of being able to see the fish you’re pursuing — moments that make your heart race and stick in your vision forever. When you get to the point that you’re seeing everything you’re looking at, then you will find that the way becomes clear.

Remember when you were in high school and there was that young male coach who was always quick with a smile, a joke, and a kind word for everybody?

Josh Helms is that guy at Havelock High School.

In between his work as a P.E. teacher, coaching soccer and spending time with his wife Heidi and their dog Beacon, Helms will often be found someplace near the water with a fishing rod.

After spending most of his life bouncing around the country as his father, Dave Helms, was transferred from one Marine Corps duty station to the next, he’s settled down at Havelock, bought a house in New Bern and is fishing every conceivable spot between Beaufort and Johnson City, Tennessee.

Like so many of us, Helms got his start in fishing when his father would take him.

“I started fishing probably when I was about 7 years old. My father got me going and taught me the basics on how to fish for catfish, blue gill, and other typical pond fish.”

A little later on he had a revelation.

“Saltwater fishing didn’t surface for me until I was 11. My dad first took me to the beach fishing for red drum in the surf, and that’s where the addiction for saltwater fishing came from.”

He couldn’t get enough.

“After that, I would be asking him every weekend if we could go,” Helms said.

But day to day, after school and whenever he could, “Most of my fishing done as a kid was pond fishing.”

When Helms was younger, he did the typical odd jobs teenagers take.

“I worked as a busboy during high school summers. While attending college and playing soccer at Methodist University, I worked as a camp counselor for Morehead City Parks and Rec,” he said.

Helms sees his family as frequently as he can.

“My parents live in Maysville, and we get together often. I go fishing with them as much as I can but they’re pretty busy,” he said.

While his father continues to be his biggest influence, Helms had made some great friends along the way who help. That includes friends from college, among them a former colleague at Morehead City Parks and Recreation.

“Are you ever really done growing? Because as I’ve grown over the years, my buddy Kirk Peterson has really helped open the realm of saltwater fishing to me,” he said, referring to the department’s former program supervisor who now resides in Kinston.

Helms is learning to fly fish too with guidance from another longtime friend.

“Logan Klarzuk (of Boone) has recently gotten me into fly fishing. But we won’t talk about that because it’s still a work in progress … There’s just an art to it that I can’t explain,” Helms said.

Helms does a lot of traveling to satisfy this new artistic passion.

“Some weekends I’ll go see my buddy Logan up in Boone and go fly fishing around there, and in Tennessee or Virginia,” he said.

When you talk to old salts, they will tell you that there is no substitute for time on the water when it comes to achieving consistent results in fishing, and so it is with Helms. He said it’s the key to success, “Because It’s never going to be the same lure or the same perfect weather.”

He’s learned a few things, he said.

“You have to think about how fish will act in certain conditions or which lures to use or even spots to try out as the seasons change. Paying attention to fish patterns over the years and what they like or don’t like is very important.”

And you can’t be afraid to try new things.

“You have to be always evolving, thinking about different ways to even approach a fish. And just be open minded,” he advised.

However the real key to being successful with your time on the water is just having a good time, he said, because you’re not going to catch fish every time.

“Whether it’s with your buddies or by yourself, just enjoy the scenery and kind of get lost in it,” he said.

These days, Helms is delving more into fly fishing. He’s fishing some ponds near his house, really getting into it, and he’s looking forward to getting his fist saltwater fish on fly. He loves to spend time with his wife and dog in the home they recently purchased, and as for the future:

“I’ll keep doing what I’m doing as a health and physical education teacher and a coach for the men’s and women’s soccer teams, enjoy what I have and spend as much time as I can with my family, on the water,” Helms said

July 4 is Free Fishing Day in North Carolina, a day set aside for nearly 30 years so that everyone can fish without having to purchase a license.

Free Fishing Day runs from midnight until 11:59 p.m., but all other fishing regulations apply, such as length and daily possession limits, as well as bait and tackle restrictions.

The North Carolina General Assembly designated July 4 as the date of the annual license-free fishing day in 1994 to promote the sport of fishing, and it’s sponsored by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

“Free Fishing Day is a great opportunity for families to enjoy some quality time together on the water,” said Christian Waters, the agency’s chief of the Inland Fisheries Division. “Fishing is relatively inexpensive activity that anyone, no matter what their age or skill level, can enjoy.” 

The commission offers interactive fishing and boating maps on its website with more than 500 fishing and boating areas, many of which are free, that are open to the public.

The commission noted that many boating areas likely will be crowded over the holiday weekend, and officials urge boaters to be patient, courteous and follow the following boating etiquette tips:

• Be patient and remain calm until an open parking space is available.
• Wait your turn in the launch line. Get in line without blocking or cutting off others.
• Park your vehicle and trailer while someone moves the boat away from the ramp.
• Recruit someone to move the boat away from the ramp while you retrieve your vehicle and trailer.
• Observe no-wake zones and be cautious.

While anyone can fish for free on July 4, a fishing license is required for people ages 16 and older on all other days of the year for both inland and coastal waters in North Carolina. 

Licenses may be purchased online, by calling the commission between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at 888-248-6834, or by visiting a Wildlife Service agent.  

One Carteret County youngster will never have to worry about keeping his North Carolina fishing license up to date.

Evan Kekahuna, 3, son of Chelsea and Lono Kekahuna of Stella, won a lifetime unified inland and coastal recreational fishing license, courtesy of Neuse Sports Shop.
 
His name was drawn from 53 entrants in the Bicentennial Jamboree passport raffle Saturday at the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries’ office in Morehead City. He qualified for the raffle by completing tasks and receiving passport stamps at 16 Jamboree exhibits.

Chelsea Kekahuna said Evan was excited to win and is ready to go fishing with his brother, according to a press release from the division.

“He loves to fish and loves to eat fish,” she said.

Evan Kekahuna received his license, Wednesday at Neuse Sport Shop in Cedar Point, and when his mother asked him what kind of fish he wanted to catch, he pointed to a blue marlin hanging from the ceiling in the store.

The license is valued at $477.

“We are happy to have been a part of this celebration of our rich marine resource in North Carolina,” said Mark Storie, marketing director for Neuse Sport Shop.

A 20-pound red drum swims silently through dark water. Up ahead she sees a flash. She speeds her pace and quickly catches up. There is a small creature struggling to make headway against the current.

With a sweep of her tail and a flare of her gills, she opens her mouth and it disappears. She quickly realizes something is wrong and tries to expel the object, it gets out of her mouth but is still stuck to the outside of her face.  She shakes her head violently in an attempt to dislodge it but to no avail.

Something is pulling her towards a dark object floating on the surface. She takes off swimming in the opposite direction. After a minute she gets a little tired and finds herself pulled back again. The large floating object is right above her now. She makes one last mighty struggle to get away from the force that is pulling her. Free. The object pulls away from her face and she takes off. She has no idea what just happened but she is going to get out of there as fast as she possibly can.

The angler in the boat is heartbroken. He was not expecting to see a fish that big. The biggest redfish he had caught in the past was around 6 pounds. He was using a 6½-foot, medium-action spinning rod with 15-pound test braided line and casting a gold weedless spoon. In the past there was a little bit of a struggle next to the boat but he was not prepared to deal with a fish that big.

Let’s talk about what he did and what, more importantly, he can do differently next time. Newtonian physics may come into play.

First thing first, let’s make sure all of our equipment is in good condition. Make sure your rod doesn’t have any nicks in the graphite. This can happen near the tip when it hits a hard surface or something else hits the rod itself. Eventually the rod will break clean right at that point.

The guides need to be smooth and clear. Many times, I have had to replace rod guides. There are inserts that make them smoother and protect the metal from grooves that can be caused by the line. Impacts will cause them to crack and pop out. This will create a surface that is quite abrasive and will break your line when it’s placed under a strain.

Check your line. It should not be frayed or have extraneous knots. These will break at the worst times. The knots you tie on purpose should be well tied. Practice tying knots until you can tie them without looking.

Finally make sure your reel is operating properly. The handle should turn smoothly. The drag should run out without chattering or catching. Everything should be clean.

Any of these things being out of shape will be a problem when a big fish comes along.

Your hooks should be sharp enough to catch when dragged across your thumbnail. Dull hooks will result in missed strikes. I regularly change out the hooks on plugs and other lures when they show discoloration. I have a pair of well-used split-ring pliers that aid in this operation. I usually replace hooks from the factory with high quality ones from Gamakatsu or Owner. 

In our above scenario, let’s assume that our angler had quality gear, that was well cared for with good line and sharp hooks. What else could have happened? Lots of things.

When you first set the hook into a nice-sized fish, you feel a nice pull and maybe a little headshake. When a big one gets on, the headshakes become heavy. Smaller fish will shake and it feels like a wiggle up the line. When a big fish shakes, it becomes widely spaced thumps. An experienced angler will feel this right away and know that things are different from usual and different strategies need to be used. Inexperienced anglers will just start cranking the reel handle like crazy.

If the drag is clicking, stop reeling. This is the No. 1 mistake. Don’t reel unless you are actually gaining line. If the fish wants to run, let it. Don’t turn the reel handle as it’s going. This introduces twist into the line, which weakens it. It also creates extra force at the hooks point of contact, which will cause it to pull out. This extra force is something to avoid.

After the fish is done with its initial run (the bigger the fish, the longer the run) lift your rod until the handle is pointing toward 11 o’clock. Do not allow any slack and reel in slightly faster than you drop your rod back toward the fish. This allows you to gain line without the drag moving. Keep gaining line using the lift/reel method. Slack is your enemy. Any slack line will allow the hook an opportunity to come out.

As your prize gets closer to the boat it will really get frantic. There are a number of tactics it may use. It may attempt to go under the boat. Counter this by holding your rod well out away from the gunnel. Don’t let the rod or the line contact anything. Rod might break. Line might snap. Another popular method for a big fish to gain its freedom is a last-ditch surge of energy. It doesn’t matter how tired it may seem, there will be energy for a burst. This is the primary time when big fish are lost. The angler will keep pulling or lifting the rod and be reeling the whole time.

This is probably what our angler in this story did. I know this because I’ve seen it too many times. One of the things I do is to slightly loosen my drag when a big fish is boatside. The forces imparted to the line are multiplied when the fish is close.

As professor Sir Isaac Newton said, “The actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal and always opposite in direction.” Just be prepared ahead of time. Never pull on your rod when the fish is running away. Drop your rod tip to the fish as it pulls away while keeping the line tight. Lifting up at this time will result in an unhappy outcome.

Finally, be ready with a good landing net. Make sure it’s big enough and has a long-enough handle. Have a friend who knows how to use it or be ready to do it yourself. A 30-inch redfish or 27-inch speckled trout is not easy to grab.

Here’s hoping you hook into the fish of your dreams this year. The next bite could be “The One.” When it comes, I hope you’re ready.

WILMINGTON – North Carolina has joined nearly a dozen other East Coast states to create a financial compensation program that would cover economic losses within the fisheries industry caused by Atlantic offshore wind development.

The Fisheries Mitigation Project aims to establish a regional administrator to oversee the process of reviewing claims and making payouts collected through a fund paid for by wind developers to commercial and for-hire recreational fisheries industries to mitigate financial loss associated with offshore wind farms.

Kris Ohleth, director of the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind, or SIOW, explained in a telephone interview that the process would operate like that of an insurance claim.

“The regional fund administrator would hold the money, they would accept the claims and evaluate the claims for eligibility and appropriateness and then make a payment to the fisherman based on that claim,” she said.

North Carolina last month became the 11th state to join the project, one of several headed by SIOW.

North Carolina Assistant Secretary for Clean Energy Economic Development Jennifer Mundt said in an emailed statement that the regional initiative “will develop consistent, fair, and transparent compensatory mitigation and compensation procedures.”

Offshore wind development represents a potential $100 billion economic investment and tens of thousands of jobs in the state, she said. Lease areas have been purchased off the state’s coasts of Kitty Hawk and Brunswick County.

“It’s important that we work together to responsibly develop offshore wind in North Carolina so that this new industry augments our existing industries, like the fishing industry,” Mundt said. “We understand that fisheries resources don’t recognize government jurisdictions or the boundaries of a wind energy area. It’s important that we have a consistent compensation structure that works for the entire region.”

The Fisheries Mitigation Project officially kicked off a couple of years ago in an effort to curtail what had so far been a project-by-project, state-by-state approach to address fisheries mitigation from offshore wind development.

Those methods did not work in the cases of South Fork Wind, New York’s first 12-turbine offshore wind farm expected to be operational by year’s end, or for what will be the country’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, Vineyard Wind, off the Massachusetts coast.

“Each of those processes arguably went pretty badly for all the stakeholders involved,” Ohleth said. “The fishermen did not feel that there was consistency or transparency kind of across those projects. They weren’t happy with the outcomes. They weren’t happy with the process. The developers were unhappy, the states were unhappy, essentially no one was happy with how it went.”

New York and Massachusetts are among the states that have joined the project. Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia also are on board.

Protecting their assets

The goal first and foremost of the states is to ensure wind energy areas and the cable systems that will run from wind farms to land are developed in way that would result in minimal impacts to the fisheries industry.

Kevin Smith, principal engineering geologist with Furgo’s Norfolk, Virginia, office, explained how the Netherlands-based company uses geodata to create mitigative-based designs for offshore wind farms that minimize impacts across industries, including shipping, fisheries and the military.

Speaking at the Global Marine Science Summit hosted last month by the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Center for Marine Science, Smith said offshore wind developers benefit from proactively reducing the chances of incurring what can result in expensive and time-consuming mishaps.

Damaged cables represent the No. 1 insurance claim of offshore wind developments, he said.

Cables cost about $1 million per kilometer, or a little more than a half-mile. It can take 40 to 60 days to repair a cable.

The average cost to repair an inter-array cable, which links individual wind turbines to a substation at sea, ranges between $1.8 million and $12 million.

Repairing an export cable that transmits electricity from a sea-based substation to the shore can cost an average of $10-$30 million, Smith said.

Site surveys of wind energy areas take up to five years and include a cable route study, cable burial risk assessment and burial feasibility study.

Site surveys of wind energy areas take up to five years.

The route of array cables from offshore wind areas south of Bald Head Island in Brunswick County has not been determined, but recreational fishermen in the area remain concerned about the possible impacts of installing monopile wind towers and burying cables on the hardbottom habitat.

Cane Faircloth, a fishing charter captain from Holden Beach and member of the North Carolina For-Hire Captains Association, said local fishermen are the best source to guide planners designing cable systems.

“They’re just trying to sell (offshore wind development) to the fishermen, and we need them to understand that we need partners that are going to listen to us and our concerns and work with us to try to mitigate these issues that we’re going to be facing,” he said.

That North Carolina has joined the Fisheries Mitigation Project, “does say that, ‘Hey, they are listening somewhat,’ and I guess they do realize that there are going to be repercussions,” Faircloth said. “I’m glad that the state is open to taking part in it. Communities are going to be affected, and we need to make sure that we try to mitigate this as good as possible and not just give the wind industry a blank canvas to do whatever they want here because this is our home, and we live in a special place. Let’s try not to mess it up.”

There’s also a concern about insurance.

“What we’ve found with a lot of insurance companies is they don’t cover you if you go into a wind farm area,” Faircloth said. “That’s a big red flag for everybody.”

A spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Insurance said boating insurance policies do not fall under standardized contracts.

“If and how an insurance company offers coverage would fall under the underwriting guidelines of each company,” Barry Smith, the department’s deputy director of communications, said in an email. “We’d recommend boat owners shop around to get the appropriate coverage.”

Such coverage may not yet exist in the United States because the need does not yet exist.

“It’s just all too new and I’ve never even thought about it before,” said Gordon Lay, underwriting manager of ocean marine insurance with Century Insurance Group of Westerville, Ohio.

Developing a mitigation plan

Two working groups — a governance working group and a procurement working group — created by the states are working now on writing a request to solicit proposals from prospective regional fund administrators.

Stakeholders from the states, fishing communities and developers are working together to draft a regional funding program to be released by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

The goal is to release the draft in July.

The firm hired to be the regional administrator will report to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority because that state volunteered to take on the role of procurement.

“Overall though (the administrator will) be working for some type of governing structure that has yet to be defined that’s comprised of the 11 states, fishermen and the offshore wind developers in collaboration,” Ohleth said.

What remains unclear now is if the money for the program is paid to the Bureau of Ocean Management, or BOEM, whether those funds may be transferred out of the general treasury.

“We’ll have to figure out exactly how those monies would be transferred in a legal and appropriate way,” Ohleth said.

Gov. Roy Cooper has set a goal for offshore wind to generate 2.8 gigawatts of electricity by 2030 and 8 GW by 2040, enough to power some 2 million homes.

If you’re planning a fishing or hunting trip late this month, or expect to register a vessel, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is advising that you plan ahead.

Those who need to purchase a license, or register or renew vessel registration are encouraged to do so before June 27, commission officials announced Thursday.

That’s because the commission is launching a new license and vessel registration system July 1. As part of the transition, hunting and fishing licenses, including coastal recreational fishing licenses, and vessel registrations will be unavailable for purchase from 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 27, to 8 a.m. Saturday, July 1.

The new system is called Go Outdoors North Carolina, and the commission said it will include new features to improve the user’s experience, features recently highlighted in a Wildlife Commission blog.

The new features include the ability to better manage customer accounts with your license, permit hunt and vessel registration history. You’ll be able to view and print certifications, including hunter education and boater safety courses, and upload documents such as vessel registration documentation, forms, applications and birth certificates.

License and registrations holders will be able to set up auto-renewals to avoid expirations.

Officials said a Go Outdoors North Carolina mobile app will be available beginning July 1 through Apple’s App Store and Google Play and offers the ability to purchase licenses and store digital licenses for yourself and others; determine sunrise and sunset times based on location; find places to hunt and fish nearby; access hunting and fishing regulation information; report big game harvests, even when cell service is unavailable; and share catch and harvest photos with the commission.

Commission officials said the transition would not affect sales of Division of Marine Fisheries’ commercial fishing, for-hire or recreational commercial gear licenses, but those who wish to purchase a commercial fishing vessel registration should renew their Wildlife Commission boat registration before June 27 and bring it with them when they purchase the commercial registration.

License and vessel registration renewals may be purchased online through the Wildlife Commission website, in person through a wildlife service agent, at most Division of Marine Fisheries offices, and by phone, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 888-248-6834 for licenses, or 800-628-3773 for vessels.

People have activities they pursue for a variety of reasons. The ones that tend to get the most enjoyment out of it are not the ones who do it to be better than somebody, or to always win — these people do it for the nature of the activity itself.

It may be no surprise that these people are often highly skilled at whatever the endeavor they have chosen and usually experience success. And so it goes with fishing. Approach it for the intrinsic values and don’t worry about “winning,” the success will follow.

Chris Ellis goes fishing for the pure joy of it, the opportunity to experience things he could not otherwise and share those experiences with his friends and family. It’s not an accident that he also happens to be quite good at it and is one of the people who will be catching fish when others might not. By focusing on the why and the how instead of how much, he gets more joy and hence more success. Fishing is a journey, not a destination. The fish will follow.

A native North Carolinian, Ellis  was born at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and he lived out his formative years in Carrboro. The lakes and ponds of central North Carolina proved to be his training ground.

“I’d do any kind of fishing I could — bass, bluegill, and crappie in local farm ponds, creeks, ditches, or lakes like University Lake or Jordan,” Ellis told Coastal Review.

Ellis credits his family members for getting him started.

“My father Wayne Ellis and grandfather Robert Ellis were my main influences and they took me everywhere. My whole family fished, from my grandparents to my mom.”

Even when he was young, Ellis knew the saltwater would be calling him.

“We’d take weekend trips to Atlantic Beach and Pine Knoll Shores to fish the piers and I loved it,” he said.

Catching spots and blues would have to suffice for a few years though. Like so many, he moved away from home as a young adult.

“After college, I headed to the Midwest, living in the Indianapolis and St. Louis areas for work,” he explained.

In 2000 Ellis started working for Auto Zone as regional loss-prevention manager for 100 auto parts stores in the St. Louis region. He said his philosophy then and now has been all about training and taking care of people.

“Coworkers need to understand the why behind the what of their jobs. If there is no understanding of the end result, it’s just another task,” he said.

That includes treating the people who work for him well, with the understanding that they will then do well. He said that family-style communication led him to becoming the loss-prevention manager for more than 1,000 stores and leading a whole division in the largest auto parts retailer in the nation.

For the past five years, Ellis and his wife Rachel, son Emerson, and daughter Lelaina have been surrounded by water in Sneads Ferry. Ellis takes his family with him to the beach that’s less than 10 minutes away, often to fish, but also many times just to eat ice cream and enjoy the view. Emerson loves to fish the ponds on the golf course where they live.

“My wife and kids enjoy being around the water and love to fish. My son is a lot like I was growing up and spends his free time fishing, if he’s not playing baseball or golf,” said Ellis.

He also has a brother who loves to fish, “Scott and his family enjoy fishing as well.  They mainly fish in Atlantic Beach area where they have a house,” He said. “My mom enjoys fishing when she can get away but not as often anymore.”

There really isn’t any kind of fishing Ellis won’t do but he has his preferences.

“Fly fishing for redfish has got to be my favorite, whether hunting for tailers and crawlers, or sight fishing in clear water,” he said.

And for Ellis, fishing is not just a loner’s endeavor. He said the aspect of time together with others has genuine appeal.

“It’s really a team effort with you getting your fellow angler in the right position to make the cast while poling the skiff,” he said.

The fall run is really where Ellis gets a lot of action, especially chasing false albacore and casting for speckled trout in the surf.  And although there is so much fishing possible nearly just outside his front door, he likes to travel, too.

“We take a few trips a year to West Virginia or the North Carolina mountains to trout fish,” Ellis said, adding that he’s caught some big rainbows out there. He is always attempting to fish beyond what he has already mastered, because he knows that is the only way to grow.

Ellis’ philosophy is reflected in his professional accomplishments. Auto Zone recently made him an offer of promotion, and he and his family are set to move to the company’s corporate offices in Memphis, Tennessee. But he said there is zero chance that he won’t find the best fishing near his new home.

“The key is being out on the water and fishing. Time on the water makes a better angler. Even when you aren’t catching fish you are still learning,” he said. “I think a successful day is being able to spend some quality time with friends or family. Regardless of if you catch fish or not.

“The true test to whether you enjoy someone’s company is if you are able to spend a whole day on the boat with them and want to do it again.”

We all like fishing. At least, if you’re reading this, that is my assumption. I’ll fish for anything that swims.

I’ve been happy catching pinfish and croakers and delighted to catch gorgeous, 6-inch-long brook trout. Most of the time these days, you will find me plying the coastal salt waters in pursuit of inshore fish of one kind or another. It takes a bit of planning and often a bit of effort to figure out where we want to go, assess the weather, get boats and gear prepared, and there is no guarantee that fish will actually be in the place we had planned on them being.

Too many variables exist in seasons, wind and waves to make any saltwater fishing excursion a sure thing. However, there is fishing that is available to most people less than 30 minutes away from most anywhere we might be on the coast: golf courses. It is my fervent belief that the best use of a golf course, and the most productive use of the acreage within, is fishing for the bass that live in the so-called “water hazards.”

As Thoreau would have said, “That golf course is best which is golfed least.”

The ponds aren’t hazards, rather they are treasure chests filled with bassy jewels. They’re always there, don’t have anywhere else to be, are usually hungry, and can get really big. Catching them isn’t especially difficult, but there are things to be considered.

The first consideration is access. The best, of course, would be a golf community where you actually live. If you reside in one of these neighborhoods and have never checked the local bass population, you should probably remedy that sooner rather than later. Also, if you have only ever caught a few small panfish or little bass on worms fished under a bobber, you are missing the very best part. But first, a little science.

Due to the acidity of the soil in most of eastern North Carolina, any ponds or lakes we have in “wild” places will be full of mostly small bass that have difficulty spawning due to the unfavorable pH of the soil and, hence, the water. However, golf courses have fairways and greens that are heavily fertilized, which changes the acid/base ratio to something that’s not always best for the environment but is more beneficial to bass. A bit more alkaline than acidic is best. A pH number between 6.5 and 8.5 is optimum. Under that is going to start trending towards too acid.

Now for the access part. Look for a golf course near you. If you don’t already live on one, try to figure out if somebody you know lives on one.

Another good option is farm ponds and for the same reasons. If there is an out-of-business golf course around you, that might be worth checking into as well. Regardless, if you aren’t sure if you are allowed access, assume you don’t and progress from there.

Now, let’s go with the assumption that you have access to one of these fertile bodies of water. You may want to know what I’m talking about when I say there are better ways to do it. There are plenty of options to fish these ponds but I’m going to pinpoint what I consider to be the best.

If you were to ask me what lure I would use if I had one cast to make into a bass pond, I’d tell you it’s a Senko plastic worm. Furthermore, I’d also say that I would rig it “Wacky Style.” You might be nodding your head now, or you might be wondering what the heck I’m talking about.

A Senko is a plastic worm made by the Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits Inc. It looks simple enough. Practically plain and without adornment. But it has a certain density that makes it sink at a certain rate — just slow enough that the fish can see it and get to it from a ways away. This is accompanied by a captivating wiggle that it has as it falls with a side-to-side motion that is not easily produced by imitators.

You can hook them with a standard weedless plastic worm hook in the Texas fashion, and that is good for heavy weed cover. But most of the time I use the Wacky Rig. You can use almost any kind of hook, but I prefer the ones made specifically for this kind of fishing and that you can find at any tackle shop that sells to bass fisherman or in online outlets.

Simply put the hook in the middle of the worm near the collar. That’s it. It seems too simple, but when you drop it in the water you’ll see that wiggle. It’s pretty cool.

Cast it over toward a log or some floating vegetation. Let it drop. Shake the rod tip a little. Lift and twitch. Let it drop. Lift. Drop. Twitch. Drop. The drop is the key.

You may feel a tick, the line may come tight, it may move to the side, or maybe there will just be a slight weight on the line. Set the hook sharply. You don’t need to haul back freight-train style like the knucklehead TV bass guys. Just snap it back quickly.

Be ready for anything. You could be catching a bunch of “nice” fish in the 2- to 3-pound range, and then … a 9-pounder shows up to the party. When she comes clean out of the water and hangs in the air, it’s a vision you won’t soon forget. When she hits the water again, it will sound like a canoe paddle being slapped down.

Plenty of other methods will work. My absolute favorite is a 6-weight fly rod and a small popper that I make out of craft foam. I carve them using scissors until I get the shape. My friends call them “Marshmallow Poppers.” Walk along the shoreline and cast in a 90-degree arc covering the water in front of you and along the shoreline. A simple waltz time makes a good popping time: Pop, 2,3. Pop, 2,3. They’ll hit it usually on 3.

When I start seeing the first frogs of the season, I like to be on the banks of a pond in the evening.

Finally, try to avoid using plugs with treble hooks. Chances are, you’ll see these fish again if you take care of them. Treble hooks take a bit of doing to get out for a quick release. Oh, and yes, this is going to be 100% catch-and-release fishing. Don’t take Big Momma Bass out of that pond. She’s got too much value to add by making more bass for future excursions.

Say “hello.” Admire her. Let her go. It’ll be cool to know she’s still in there when you drive past later.

Take a young man who is taught that the best things to do in life are in the outdoors, give him the smarts to excel at a major university such as Duke, a business acumen that would allow him to do well in any venture, and what do you end up with?

If you’re talking about Capt. Tom Roller, you get a highly successful fishing guide and award-winning conservationist.

Roller has been guiding anglers to catch everything that swims around the Carteret County area for 20 years. He has a unique outlook that has allowed him to follow his passion to protect and preserve our fisheries, and he has been involved with committees and meetings that have led him all the way to a seat on the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission.

First appointed to the commission by Gov. Roy Cooper in 2020, Roller, owner of WaterDog Guide Service of Beaufort, has been an avid fisher since he was little.

“My Dad says the best and worst thing he ever did was teach me to fish. I was absolutely obsessed since my very early childhood,” he told Coastal Review.

That obsession led him on countless quests to find the best fishing spots.

“When I was a kid, we moved around a lot. It drove me to fish every retention pond, creek, ditch and anywhere I could possibly get outside and explore,” he said.

The Roller family eventually settled in suburban Indianapolis, not exactly known as a fishing hot spot.

“I went to high school in Indiana and lived in the suburbs. When I was there, I bet I fished every single retention pond in a 20-mile radius,” said Roller.

Still, it was saltwater fishing that called to him during family vacations to the North Carolina coast, and it pulled him back.

“In the end, being away from the big water is what ultimately drove me to settle where I wanted to be, near the coast where I spent much of my childhood summers, so I could chase all those big fish I was always dreaming about,” he said. “I’ve lived here for more than 25 years, and I’ve been a full-time guide for 20.”

During that time, he’s developed a philosophy that drives him, and it’s based in sustainability.

“If I had a mission statement, it would simply be, ‘Healthy fisheries take care of their fishermen.’”

Most of Roller’s family share a similar outlook that’s reflected in how they choose to spend their free time.

“Most people in my life are outdoorsy, otherwise we’d never see each other!”

Roller also subscribes to Emerson’s notion of how to have a purposeful life in that he wants to be useful, honorable, compassionate, and to have made some difference. In that light, his passion for fish and fishing has led him to a second calling, that of being an activist and getting involved with preserving the very things that give him so much joy.

“I love our natural resources, and I love the North Carolina coast — and all outdoor places — so much that I have been hyperfocused on being involved in conservation and management, in an effort to hopefully conserve our fisheries and ecosystems for future generations,” Roller said.

That focus led Tom to serve on committees and get involved, where he’s not shy about his passion.

“I’ve served on federal advisory panels for bluefish, Spanish mackerel and king mackerel. In the state I’ve served on advisory committees for southern flounder and blue crab. Currently I am appointed to the main fisheries rule-making body in North Carolina, the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission,” Roller said.

He also serves on the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. And he gets involved with nonprofit conservation groups and is a founding board member with the American Saltwater Guides Association.

His tireless work has not gone unnoticed. He was presented the North Carolina Wildlife Federation’s prestigious Governors Award for Marine Conservation in 2022.

“It was truly one of the great honors of my life,” he said.

With all the different types of fishing possible on the North Carolina coast, Roller said he can’t choose which one he likes best.

“My fishing is based on maximizing access to North Carolina’s super diverse inshore and nearshore fisheries,” he said, adding that there’s an amazing bag of different fish he can pursue on any given day. “I love fishing inshore for red drum, nearshore for false albacore and mackerel, and wreck and bottom fishing for flounder and grouper-snapper species.”

Roller has participated in tournaments from time to time as well.

“I have fished inshore tournaments for red drum but haven’t in a couple years. When I was fishing the local circuits, I did quite well, consistently placing pretty high and winning a couple,” he said.

And, as you might guess, he has a hard time pinning down where his favorite quarry is.

“If you had to ask me to pick something for late summer, I’d say flying to Alaska to fly fish for silver salmon and big rainbows or go offshore of North Carolina and deep drop for a swordfish,” he said, clarifying that it really just depends on the time of year. “If you ask me in the fall, I’ll probably tell you it’s fly fishing for false albacore off of Cape Lookout. In June, I’d tell you it was tossing topwaters for big trout.”

And with his characteristic sense of humor, he added, “Confused? Me too.”

There is lot that a longtime successful fishing captain can teach about having a good day on the water.

“It’s always important to note that the fish, unlike in a lake or river, are not always there. As they say in the Outer Banks, ‘Fish have tails and no homes.’”

How can we relate that to catching fish?

“Make sure your equipment is good, your knots and leaders are strong, your hooks are sharp and your boat and motor are in good working order,” he advised.

Finally, a thought for those who don’t get to fish as often as Roller: “If I was looking for a guide myself, I’d be looking for an older, more experienced professional or a young up-and-coming full-timer who is fishing their face off. Either one will likely give you a great experience,” he said. “Time and days spent, even in a smaller window of time, are invaluable to being a successful angler. In the long term, it’s experience. The accumulation of days simply makes you that much better.”

The speckled trout is among the most popular fish coastal North Carolina anglers pursue, and my favorite way to fish is with a fly rod.

I have not written much about fly fishing here, but this is a good time to address it because the trout are on the move and big fish are being caught. Just remember that fly fishing may not be the most efficient way to catch a lot of these fish, but we do it, as Thoreau said, because we wish to live deliberately with only the essential facts of life and get in touch with nature and ourselves in ways that other forms of fishing may not accomplish.

I am going to assume here a certain level of fly-fishing skill and address specific tactics that work for me.

During spring, there will be lots of trout that use creeks, which feed into larger bodies of water. The water in these areas warms up quickly on sunny spring days and provides lots of varying prey species such as mullet, shrimp and various invertebrates. I like creeks with slower tidal flows.

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. 

-- Henry David Thoreau

It’s kind of like bass bugging. I’ll use the trolling motor on my skiff and set it to the slowest speed. Cast a Deceiver or similar baitfish pattern. Use an all-around type floating or intermediate (slow-sinking) line and cover water in a 45-degree pattern to the shoreline. They won’t necessarily be up in the shoreline cover like bass, but one or two might be. If you find the fish and they are active, the better way to target the bigger ones is with a topwater. My favorite is the Crease Fly. I’ve caught numerous over 4 pounds this way.

Pretty “speck-tacular” to see a 25-inch trout roll up on a popper.

I spend a lot of time during the summer poling or trolling motoring 2- to 5-feet-deep eel-grass flats. It’s really enjoyable to fish a dog-walking style plug and cover a lot of water, but what I’m really doing is looking for fly rod opportunities.

The waters around here aren’t as clear as you’ll find in Florida or along the Gulf Coast, so I find the fish first with plugs, then come back with a fly rod. If there is a concentration of trout, I will position my skiff favorably for presentation. You want to quietly move the boat so the wind is behind you and off your nondominant shoulder then quietly drop anchor astern, so you can cast from the bow and have more room to work.

A fly that makes a little noise will get their attention. There is so much food for them in summer that your fly has to stand out. Use a flashy streamer that wiggles a lot. I find that a fly with a trailer hook will get more solid hookups. I add trailer hooks to all the flies I plan on using for trout by using an offset shank hook as the trailer and attaching it with a snell knot. Make sure you tie it well. There are huge fish on these flats.

In places with extremely clear water — you may need to travel to Florida or Texas for this option but there are opportunities in North Carolina that I have been sworn to secrecy on — we can sight fish for big trout in the traditional manner. Pole the edge of grass flats in a super shallow draft, and super quiet skiff. The trick here is to be able to see the fish before they see you.

In some places you will see the biggest trout you’ve ever laid eyes on as it slowly swims away. You can try a shot at that one, it won’t spook, per se, but it probably won’t eat either. You’ll want a leader of at least 10 feet, a fly that doesn’t make much of a sound when it hits the water, a sharp-eyed friend on the poling tower, or a guide who specializes in this exact type of fishing. Be ready to cast accurately to a distance of at least 60 feet and drop your fly 8 to 10 (or more?) feet in front of her. You won’t get a lot of chances. It’s difficult, but in the right locations, there are gator trout swimming shallower than you’d imagine.

All along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, from Albemarle Sound to the Shallotte River, there are boat docks with lights on them. Search them out at dusk or early morning, and then go back late at night. This is the place to have a real chance at the very largest speckled trout you can ever get on a fly rod. You should be heading out to fish while other people are getting ready for bed.

Find a dock with access to deeper water and good current running along it with a bright white light shining into the depths or a green light shining from below. This will attract shrimp and small baitfish. You’ll know if it’s worth fishing before you even start casting. The sound of feeding trout is like a popping champagne cork.

The biggest trout I catch every year on fly come from fishing under dock lights. I have a couple different shrimp flies I like that I save for when I see big shrimp being chased around. Most of the time I’ll use a size 2 all-white baitfish imitation. If the current is running fast and the fish are feeding deeper, use an all-white Clouser Minnow.

You may be tempted to fish with a lighter rod, such as a 6 or 7-weight, but stick to the 8 and use a 20-pound tippet. The only 8-pound trout that I’ve ever seen personally was caught in my boat by a friend fishing with me at night. That’s a legitimate monster, and if you want to catch one like it on fly, you need to be prepared when she shows up.

In the fall, speckled trout will gather into big schools and move into deep channels. This is the only time some guys around here will ever catch a trout at all. The fish might be migrating to southern waters or just to wintering over creeks. This creates a situation where lots of trout will be in known spots. The water will be deep, often over 10 feet, and the current will be swift, I will use an eight-weight rod with a 350 grain Depth Charge (fast sinking fly line) combined with a Clouser Minnow in red over white, chartreuse over white or any other popular color combinations that people use with jigs.

Anchor your boat in the channel and swing your fly down to them similar to if you were fishing for salmon in a stream. The strikes will come on the swing. Sometimes they will annoy you by short striking. Remedy this by using the flies you already have with stinger hooks.

This is a great time to catch a lot of fish in a relatively short time. When you find them, you can get a strike on almost every cast. Don’t keep more than you need. Coolers fill quickly this way.

I’ve often been surprised by the people I’ve met when I’ve been fishing and didn’t realize who they were until we started talking afterwards. TV stars, millionaires, fly fishing gurus — the list is long and interesting.

Noted shark biologist, writer and scuba pioneer Eugenie Clark once said, “Sharing the fun of fishing turns strangers into friends in a few hours.” If you’ve been surf fishing in the Wrightsville Beach area there’s a chance a future Hall of Fame high school lacrosse coach was standing right there.

Paul Gilbert has been coaching lacrosse at Cape Fear Academy for 29 years. In that time, he has sent many young men along to play college lacrosse and his current team has a few who are being recruited to play at the highest levels. He has impacted their lives forever with his family based coaching philosophy, and along the way winning two North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association Division 2 championships including, “… last season with a win over our arch-rival Forsyth Country Day School in Winston.”

Gilbert’s been teaching history at Cape Fear Academy the whole time. He, his wife, Rachel, and two daughters, Sarah, 28, and Molly, 21, live in Wilmington.

“I moved to Wilmington from Washington, D.C., in 1993 when my first daughter was on the way,” he said recently, adding that the lobbyist life wasn’t for him. He says he “escaped.”

Coach Gilbert loves to fish and has been fishing and involved with lacrosse his whole life. He credits his father and uncle with getting him started.

“I grew up in Armonk, New York. My first memory of fishing was walking through the woods with my father (Tom Gilbert), uncle (John Gilbert) and brother (Greg) to a lake they called Popes Pond in Wilton, Connecticut.”

It wasn’t any high-tech thing either, he explained. “We were using cane poles that they used to give away when you bought a rug.”

Vacations to North Carolina got him the saltwater fishing bug.

“We would go to the Outer Banks during spring vacation when I was little and throw squids (old-timey molded lead casting spoons) that my grandfather made,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert got serious about the sport of lacrosse soon after. He played at noted Long Island lacrosse powerhouse Byram Hills High School in Armonk, New York, where they captured the Section 1 Class B championship his senior year in 1986.

Gilbert has his coaching scheduled around fishing.

“Fall in Wilmington is fishing season. I used to coach fall sports, now fall is reserved for fishing,” he said.

His fall favorite is surf fishing for sea mullet.

“We hit the surf for Virginia mullet after the tourists leave and the holes start to form at the south end of Wrightsville Beach.”

But it’s not just fall. Gilbert stays away from basketball season too.

“In the winter, I mostly fish from the surf for speckled trout with Mirrolures.”

The big surf red drum also get him on the water.

“I will collect oysters and clams in the winter and will walk the surf, chasing the big schools of reds that often congregate,” he said.

Lacrosse season gets going in February, which ends his fishing for a while and marks the beginning of the winter doldrums. But the timing is perfect as the season winds down.

“Lacrosse ends around the third week of May, when the water is starting to warm. The bonito bite is usually on fire and the first Spanish mackerel are starting to show up,” the coach explained.

Gilbert doesn’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. When I talked to him he was telling me about some big flounder he’d caught around somebody’s dock.

He also usually has a bass fishing tournament for his players one day near the end of lacrosse season. They will fish residential and golf course ponds for bass and send him mobile phone pictures. They’ve been doing it for six years. It’s called “Hoist The Harpoon,” and the winner gets to carry the harpoon that is the team symbol for the Cape Fear Academy Hurricanes.

The combination of fishing, family and lacrosse pulls it all together.

Summer will find him offshore.

“My brother-in-law, Steve Wright is my fishing partner. We go out to the 23-mile rock in the summer to do some trolling and bottom fishing.”

The duo does pretty well on deepwater bottom-dwellers.

“He’s the captain and puts us on the fish. I’m the mate and rig the baits,” Gilbert said.

Pier fishing is another bit of fun he indulges in, and he loves to throw Gotcha lures off Crystal Pier when the Spanish are around.

Gilbert also offers a pretty decent bit of coaching to all of us anglers: “Gotta fish where the fish are,” he advises.  “A full box is always good, but a nice day on the water with a friend or two is what it’s all about.”

That philosophy was formed through years of teaching and coaching, and Gilbert doesn’t see himself slowing down quite yet.

“I think I have a few more good years in the classroom and on the lacrosse field. Probably keep doing what I’m doing.”

It’s been a long week. Kids were sick. Boss was a jerk. Dog puked on the carpet.

And it’s only Monday.

But the countdown is already on for the weekend. You’re going fishing with your buddy.

As the week unfolds, it’s perfect every day. You look outside and the flags are laying down, the trees are still. Sun is shining. Everything looks so nice!

You wake up Saturday and everything changes. Flags are sticking straight out and flapping like crazy. Trees are shaking and leaves are falling off. Birds are struggling to make any kind of headway. Yes, it’s our old nemesis, the wind. More fishing plans have been ruined, changed or just plain canceled due to the wind than any other reason.

We have hurricanes, tornadoes, nor’easters, waterspouts and a host of other situations with big winds that mess up our days. Most of the time, however, it’s just day to day. What can we do about it besides just stay home? I’ve always joked that when it’s cold, get a sweater; when it’s rainy, get a jacket; and when it’s windy … get on the couch. But we can still get out there — if we are flexible and willing to change. Let’s look.

First of all, I am not advocating going out in dangerous conditions. You have to determine what kind of days are OK for you and your equipment, boat and even personal health. As we get older, some of us don’t feel comfortable in a boat that’s rocking too much, even though just a few years earlier, we did it with no problem. If you have a huge boat, you can get out on days that a lot of other people would not. I have a small skiff that I use to fish ultra-shallow, but the trade-off is that I have to make adjustments on days that may not bother others.

Kids on board?

Let’s say you have a nice-sized center-console boat that’s around 22 feet or so. You had planned to run offshore a little ways to fish for the spring bonito run at the artificial reefs in 50 to 70 feet of water. This necessitates a run of somewhere in the 5- to 20-mile range to reach fishing spots that are ranging from a mile to up to 10 miles offshore. The forecast had been calling for southwest winds less than 15 knots all week. You get to the dock and it’s blowing over 20.

If you were going by yourself, you’d probably give it a chance, but you’ve got small kids with you. Bonito trolling is a fun and easy way to get some kids a chance to tug on some fast swimmers. But you get to the inlet and it’s just too rough to bring them out there. What are you going to do?

Always make sure you have a backup plan in mind. Some light spinning rods rigged with bottom rigs and some kind of bait. Fresh shrimp is best but is expensive to just have on hand.

A good option is the Fish Bites bait. It comes in a zip-top bag, doesn’t have to be refrigerated, and as long as you don’t open the bag, it stays good for a long time.

Find a nice channel near the inlet. In the spring the bottom of some side channels can seemingly be paved with panfish. The kids will be glad to have some fish to catch and a much better time than getting bounced around in the waves all day.

Feet in the water?

Maybe you are a surf fisherman. You had planned to cast for trout in the calm surf on a cool November morning. You know that if it gets too rough the water gets dirty and it’s very difficult to wade deep in the big waves to make the long casts necessary. Being in the water and fishing right as the sun comes up is very important. It’s always when the trout seem to bite best.

If you get to the water in the morning and the surf is too rough and you have to make alternate plans, the best part of the day is already gone. When you check the forecast the night before, it shows that the wind will shift and be pushing waves into your face in the spot you were going. Our coast is varied. Some beaches face south. Others face straight east. There are others that are someplace in between. With a knowledge of the wind and background on different beach directions, you can alter your plans the night before to be at the spot with the most favorable conditions right at dawn.

Available tools

There are a bunch of ways to figure out the wind and weather for the day you’re planning on. Gone are the days of listening to the NOAA weather radio and waiting for the forecast to start over and the repeating voice to come back to what you want to hear. We can use the internet in a variety of ways.

I like a few apps on my smartphone. With the ones I’m using, I feel pretty confident in what conditions I’m going to see. Fish Weather is my current favorite. It’s uncannily accurate in predictions of temperatures, precipitation and wind. You can dial it in to a very specific place and see what the conditions are going to be at any time of the day. I even use it to figure out what time I need to be crossing a large body of water in my small skiff in order to get back to the ramp most comfortably, even to the point where I’ve crossed safely, put the boat on the trailer, look outside 30 minutes later and seen whitecaps on the surface I just calmly cruised across.

For more general marine weather forecasts I like one called Buoycast. You can pick the various marine forecast zones and see what the wind should look like that day. The best part though is the ability to check the offshore buoys in real time to see what the winds and wave heights are right now.

So, with a little knowledge and planning, and conditions somewhat less than a gale, we can save a fishing day and get out there and enjoy ourselves safely and maybe even still catch a couple fish.

You just never know what kind of work the people you meet on the coast are doing until you get to know them. Dave Bernstein is a highly regarded geospatial mapping specialist who uses high-tech tools to map underwater contours for updating nautical charts.

He also happens to live in Morehead City and is an outstanding angler.

“Through graduate school at NC State University, I had an opportunity to work at the coast in marine science with UNC and NC State,” he said recently, adding that it led to a life on the water. “Through working in the marine labs, I met Chris and Sloan Freeman, and a few years later Geodynamics was formed.”

They three have been working together a long time and it’s paid off. “20 years later, Geodynamics has grown to a leading name in the hydrographic research and mapping industry.”

The company does more than make seafloor maps.

“We also use advanced remote sensing techniques like LiDAR (light detection and ranging) and GNSS (global navigation satellite system) to map the coastal environment by ground, remote aerial platforms, airplanes and helicopters. These terrestrial surveys support coastal engineering, design and construction as well as coastal change and resiliency studies.”

It’s tremendous work and it’s happening right here. But there’s a lot more to Bernstein than his work. He loves his family, and his wife and daughter are extremely important to him.

“My wife of 20 years, Kathy, is a school counselor and career coordinator for Carteret County Schools. Our daughter, Josie, is into gymnastics, but will drop everything to go fishing.”

Josie has always loved fishing, said Bernstein. “I started her at around 4 years old and I think she was guided into it at the right pace.”

Bernstein also loves to get the whole crew out on the boat and enjoy the outdoors.

“We love getting on the water and learning together about our environment, fishing, boating and beaching. You can typically find us somewhere around Cape Lookout,” he said. 

Bernstein is known around here as a fine angler and has competed successfully in regional redfish tournaments.

“I got into fishing some tournaments and taking on some sponsors back in 2004. I never really thought of that as a professional adventure, but more of an extension of the competitive life of sports,” he said. “I did pretty good in tournaments with many top 10 finishes and even won some.”

He credits tournament fishing with making him a better angler all around.

“Redfish tournaments forced me to think more about how to catch fish and why fishing can be good or bad at times,” he said.

Nowadays, he doesn’t fish competitively too often, but he still gets out there from time to time.

“Josie and I enjoy doing benefit tournaments, like the Carteret Cancer Crew Fishing Tournament,” he said.

Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Bernstein said his love of fishing began as a kid on trips to the beaches between Virginia Beach and the North Carolina state line. Fishing brought together the men of the family.

“When I was growing up, we visited Sandbridge Beach. These trips with family were where I learned to surf, fish and grow a passion for the ocean and coastal environments,” He said. “My dad, Dr. Allen Bernstein, and my uncles, Steve and Harold taught me surf and pier fishing. I vividly remember fishing for bluefish, spots, and croaker at the Sandbridge Pier.”

He moved to the North Carolina coast in 2001, saying the area “was a great fit.” And as soon as he could, he got serious about his fishing.

“Once I got my first boat, I quickly built a passion for redfishing. Sight fishing, casting lures, and anything else; I enjoy it all and it’s always different.”

However, he does have his favorite methods.

“I love working the marsh banks and shallows with topwater plugs for redfish. You can hear, and often see, the fish coming in and out of the fringe grass to feed. When they crush your lure, it’s exhilarating!”

He’s learned a lot about it over the years and said the key to consistently finding fish is not to get stuck in your ways.

“Go out and explore. When you learn more about the areas you already know, and find new areas, you build a more comprehensive understanding of the whole system.”

The last part of the puzzle is getting them to bite, figuring out what will make those fish want to feed. 

“Determine what they are eating, and the bites will follow,” he advised.

Recently, Bernstein has been heeding his own advice and expanding his own horizons.

“I’ve enjoyed fishing the inshore waters, but now I’ve been exploring outside the inlets and fishing nearshore waters for cobia, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, false albacore and Atlantic bonito. Wreck fishing is next, but I’ll need a bigger boat,” he said, adding that, “Sometimes my expectation is not to catch a lot of fish, but instead to try something new or just have quality time with my daughter. Then the fish are a bonus.”

Geodynamics, which has seen significant growth in the past decade, is becoming a much bigger operation. In 2021, Geodynamics was acquired and merged into NV5 Geospatial. The company announced in 2021 that the “combination brings together complementary, advanced technologies – Geodynamics’ full-ocean depth sonar-based hydrographic and geophysical surveying with NV5 Geospatial’s topographic and bathymetric capabilities – to deliver detailed insights for a variety of applications, including coastal management, flood monitoring, ecosystem protection, research and more.”

“We’re growing now with some great support from our NV5 team and our 20-person team has quickly jumped to 40.” Bernstein sees this continuing. “Our next 10 years is all about building the team, refining how we manage our work, maintaining the culture, and keeping innovation in the forefront of our work. We have a few new larger vessels coming online in 2023 that are designed to support offshore infrastructure development projects such as submarine cables, wind energy, and sediment resources.”

Bernstein’s family also looks forward to being together more.

“We want to travel, explore the Caribbean and the Mediterranean,” he said. “We’re hoping for more time on the boat and beach, and many family memories to be had.”

It’s getting to be the time of year when people start thinking about getting their boats out. I’m not talking about the diehards who fish all winter no matter what. I’m talking about normal people like you and me. People who may have used their boats sparingly since November, or not at all. We need to get our boats ready for the upcoming spring.

In order to make that a fun and exciting time, instead of getting towed back to the boat ramp and paying for big repair bills, let’s take some time and do some work now. Avoiding big repair bills is a major part of my life. The work we do now will hopefully help to avoid big expenses later. We are going to focus here on trailerable boats, because that has been my experience.

In my nearly 30 years of boat ownership, the number one thing that has been the most problematic has been trailers. Turns out that dipping a metal contraption with moving parts into saltwater time after time is not conducive to long life. Who knew? Fortunately, there are some things we can do to help.

The main thing on trailers that requires time is the bearings on the wheels.  If you don’t have Bearing Buddies or a similar product then you should get them. They are devices that attach to the outermost part of the hub and provide an easy way to get grease packed inside the bearings and the hub. Aside from that, they provide a small amount of outward pressure that helps to prevent water intrusion. Saltwater and metal moving parts are not a healthy combination.

Check your trailer leaf springs. All the little clips should be whole. When those clips start to go, the springs need to be replaced. It’s not that difficult to do. Make sure you have the correct length. Your local marine hardware place should have them. You’ll most likely need a grinder to get everything off. Replace all the hardware. I have also gone to a local tire shop and asked them if they would do the work for me if I bought the parts. Worked for me. Worth asking. The same shop has also replaced hubs for me. Good to know guys like that.

Check the axle. Shouldn’t be any holes or anything. An axle breaking while driving down the road is inconvenient.

Next check your winch. Make sure the teeth engage on the locking mechanism and the strap is sound. Straps usually break right around the hook. Don’t ask me how I know.

Let’s look at the hull. How does the bottom look? Does it need to be refinished? Is the gelcoat dull or even chipped? Getting the entire hull redone is a job best left to the pros. There are a bunch of people doing this work. If, by the time you read this, you determine you will need this done. It may already be too late. They’ll be backed up. You may want to make plans for next season. However, you can do touch up stuff. It’s possible to crawl under and apply a clearcoat to bad scratches. There are epoxy-based hull paints that work really well. I have flipped my small skiff over and redone the whole bottom with a paint called Gator Glide. I needed to remove the engine and poling tower and then it took three big guys to flip it. Anything larger I wouldn’t recommend doing it yourself.

Clean up all your vinyl. Make sure all cleats and eyes are sound. Should be good.

The engine is the last thing. There are certain items that need to be taken care of every spring.

First change the spark plugs. Do not skimp. If it says to get the expensive Japanese plugs then get them. Change the lower unit oil. If you don’t have one, get the kit from the boat supply place. It pumps the oil in under pressure and makes sure you have the right amount. You put that red Sta-Bil gas preservative stuff in the tank back in November, didn’t you? Of course, you did. If not, then put some in right now. I use the Star Tron fuel stabilizer additive every time I fill up too. There are plenty of brands out there. Pick one and stick to it.

I will usually take the time to clean the carburetor on my older engine. A fuel injector cleaner additive like Lucas is not a bad idea for newer motors. You are going to want to change out your fuel filters now too.

Check the water pump assembly. Hook the engine up to a hose and turn it on. Water should come out of the hole in a strong stream. If not, check the outlet with a piece of heavy strength monofilament fishing line. If that doesn’t do it, you might need to change the water pump. Worth getting done. You can do it yourself but if you don’t feel comfortable, now’s the time to get it done at your mechanic shop.

For your first shakedown cruise of the year, plan to stick close by and it’s good to have a friend in another boat nearby, particularly if you have not been out in a long time. But if you’ve done all the little jobs listed here it should be OK. If you don’t live near the coast, go to a lake, or someplace where you can take it out, do a few short runs at medium speed — out and then back again. If all goes well, let it loose. It’ll feel good to have the wind in your face again.

Finally, a primer on launching and recovering at a boat ramp. First, have all your preparations done well in advance of actually entering the launch area. Get all your lines set up. Make sure the plug is in. Put all the gear in where it needs to go. Do not block the ramp.

Now pull your vehicle as close to the ramp as you can then turn the wheel, so you are pulling straight away from there, or as nearly so as possible. Some ramps you might need to back down from quite a ways away.

Some folks can back a boat using their rearview mirrors. Others might find that challenging. Nevertheless, the point is the same. Put your hand at 6 o’clock on the steering wheel. Whatever way you move your hand from there, that is the way the rear of the trailer will go. Small movements are key and the right answer is always to go slower rather than faster. It’s good to become proficient at this before you even get to a boat ramp. Practice in the same place you learned how to drive as a teen, the high school parking lot. When you can back your boat in between two cones every time, then you are ready for the ramp. 

When recovering, after you get the boat on the trailer, hook up the safety chain before pulling forward. I’ve seen straps break and boats come off on the ramp. Pull forward until you are completely away from the ramp area. Do not block the ramp. This is the main thing that causes issues between people at busy times.

One last thing, if it is a low-light situation and your headlights come on automatically, turn them off when on the ramp. They’ll be shining right in the eyes of anybody who is waiting to go next.

The season is coming. Get your boat ready. Get your boat ramp skills up to par.

Have a great spring!

Next time you drive across the Oregon Inlet Bridge, take a look down and toward the sound. Is anybody kayak fishing with a fly rod? If so, chances are Capt. Harry Meraklis is nearby, directing them and showing them where and how to cast.

Meraklis is a 100% fly fisherman and has been guiding fellow fly anglers on the Outer Banks for 11 years.

He grew up in the Pittsburgh area. “I actually tied flies at about 12 years old in our basement in Pittsburgh, PA. My dad Sam would wake me up at 4 a.m. on weekends and we were off. Mostly we’d be fishing from his johnboat mounted on the top of his painting van.”

Mr. Sam has been gone for a long time, “… but if he knew — and I hope he does — that I was a fly-fishing guide at Oregon Inlet he would light up in a smile.”

Later on, Meraklis met another friend who influenced him quite a bit.

“My friend Don Beideman reignited my passion for fly fishing streams in central PA later in life, and I have not picked up a spinning rod in quite a while,” Meraklis said.

Even though he grew up in western Pennsylvania, saltwater fishing has been Meraklis’ passion for a very long time.

“My dad started bringing our family to the Outer Banks in 1960. We would wade fish Oregon inlet and surf fish,” said Meraklis.

He couldn’t stay away and later bought a home in Kitty Hawk, where he would eventually move full time.

“I’ve been a homeowner and frequent visitor of the Outer Banks for most of my life and have lived in Kitty Hawk for well over a decade,” said Meraklis, who added that he’d been guiding ever since. “I work for OBX On The Fly, a fly shop and outfitter located in Manteo, and am a fly guide and instructor. I primarily wade fish from kayaks.”

Meraklis will usually launch from the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center and uses motorized kayaks to hit a shopping list of spots that are within easy reach.

“Electric motors extend our range and get us from point to point swiftly,” he noted.

Meraklis’ target species are the usual suspects for inshore fishing in North Carolina: redfish, speckled trout, flounder, striped bass, sheepshead and bluefish.

“I love to hunt the flats with a fly rod,” he said.

Meraklis offered a couple of tips for those wishing to try fly fishing from a kayak.

“A stripping basket can be the ticket when drift fishing in a kayak. We frequently have stiff winds that can wreak havoc with your line management by blowing it out into the water and tangling it,” he said.

As anyone who has done it can tell you, having a knot in your fly line when you finally see your prize swimming in front of you can make you say things that would render your grandma very disappointed. He added that if you don’t have a stripping basket, “A wet towel draped over the floor of the kayak at your feet can also be quite effective in reducing tangles.”

The windy conditions on the Outer Banks can be a challenge for those used to fly fishing in small streams, but there are tricks to help a caster unused to the windy conditions.

“A water load cast is when you lay the fly line onto the water and use that tension to flex your rod. This keeps the wind from blowing your line all over and can be a quick and effective way to deliver your fly.”

Keeping your line tight to the fly is imperative in detecting strikes and setting the hook.

“It is really important to keep your rod tip down and point in the direction of the fly to increase your chances of a good hook set and catch more fish,” advised Meraklis.

Another tip from Meraklis for those who have never saltwater fly-fished before: “Practice your cast before you get out here! The longer you can cast, the more water you can cover, which means more time your fly is in the water.”

Meraklis has even devised his own fly. “I created the Dirty Harry about a decade ago and have not used anything but that fly since. It imitates any of the local bait merely by varying the color and how it’s fished,” he said. 

Crawl it along the bottom to imitate a crab, move it quickly through the water when minnows are on the menu, and when shrimp are around, a twitch-twitch-pause retrieve will do the job. These flies are sold at the fly shop in Manteo and Harry donates $1 from every sale to the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Adopt an Oyster program.

Meraklis offers one last tip for light tackle anglers in his exceptionally busy area.

“At Oregon Inlet, avoiding boat and kayak pressure is key. It does no good to find fish, only to have them shut down by inexperienced or inconsiderate anglers,” he advised.

And one bit of advice that can help to consider no matter where or how you fish: “Picking the right time on any particular day, in conjunction with a tide that has good current flow is key. As a wade fisherman, hunting the flats in a stealthy manner, and committing to a good flat can pay off in a big way.”

Sharing these nuggets of wisdom is a family tradition. As Meraklis’ father did, he has passed that love down to his sons and grandson. When you teach them right, they will get the love themselves.

“My grandson cannot wait for me to visit so he can go fishing with ‘PaPou,’” Meraklis said proudly of Sammy, who lives near Philadelphia. “The kid’s got mad skills for a 5-year-old. He has his own Trout Unlimited tackle bag full of goodies and loves to select his next lure or fly.”

One of the things we get told by old-timers (of which, I must confess, I appear to be now) is, “Find the bait, you’re doin’ great.”

Yes, if you find massive schools of baitfish and there are fish crashing into them in every direction, it’s seems to be a good adage to follow. But what about days when there are signs of feeding fish, but it is not so obvious what they’re feeding on, and then you’re not sure if you have the right lure type to match.

You can meet any inshore fishing situation with a small assortment of lures. I will go out on a limb and say you can catch any fish that swims inshore in any circumstance with three lures — and one extra sub-type that I just really enjoy. If you grab these lures, you will never be caught unprepared.

First, and most obvious I think, is a jig. I’d say that a plain white jighead with white bucktail has probably accounted for more fish caught in the history of angling than anything ever invented or yet to be. I’d go a little further and add a soft plastic wiggle tail instead of the bucktail, just to take advantage of some modern technology. 

Any of the brands you see will work. Let’s stick with white for now but choose any color that will show up in the water you are fishing: Light colors are for clear water, dark colors for stained water, bright colors for muddy.

If you suspect that minnows are being chased and fed upon, retrieve so it stays in the upper part of the water column. Add a little twitch so it appears to be having difficulty swimming. This is the key now. Predators go after prey items that are having a bad day. It might be due to an injury, sickness, or it just might be its time. Whatever. If a minnow is having a tough time, be sure that a predatory fish is going to target it. I’ve always figured that nothing ever dies of old age in the ocean.

A jig can be hopped along the bottom to simulate shrimp or other crustaceans that move sporadically along the bottom. Shrimp also swim pretty quickly, with a couple quick spurts of energy and then a drop. This movement can easily be simulated with a jig. Finally, if crabs are on the menu, a jig can literally be crawled along the bottom. Add a little hop now and then to attract attention. I caught my first bonefish in this manner many years ago.

Hard plastic swimming plugs account for a big percentage of the fish I catch every year.

Q: “There are literally thousands of them on the market, Capt. Gordon. How do you choose which one to use?”

A: That’s an excellent question. If I had to pick just one to fish every day, on the Southeast Atlantic coast, it would be the Mirrolure MR 27 with the pink and chartreuse. It has great action on the twitch, twitch, pause, retrieve. Anything will eat it. I’ve caught striped bass, speckled trout, red drum, croakers, lizardfish, ladyfish, jacks, pinfish, and probably at least one or two others that I can’t think of right now. When a fish sees it doing that weird duck-and-dive motion on the twitch, it is seeing an easy target: a baitfish of some kind, that is having a tough time getting anywhere. It represents calories to gain that will not amount to a large expenditure.

This is what fish do. They can’t actually do algebra or calculus, but they are always figuring how much a certain prey item will add to their caloric total for the day without subtracting too much. Combine this with how exposed they will be to predators. If they can get an easy meal without being too exposed, they will focus on that. The MR 27 presents an easy target and a meaty profile that fulfills all those requirements. 

The bonus option is a topwater plug. I prefer the ‘walk-the-dog” style. My favorite being the Rapala Skitterwalk version. Great for water under 5 feet deep with a grassy bottom or one that has a lot of snags like oyster shells and things. The side-to-side walking motion presents an illusion of an easy target, and the large profile looks like a big meal. Big fish eat these. Sometimes, it’s the only thing that works. It just gets their attention.

If you know for a fact that fish are targeting shrimp, and sometimes even if they are not, you cannot beat a plastic shrimp imitation. The most well-known and the original being the DOA shrimp. There are other brands. They’re all knockoffs of the original. I resisted using these for years. They look like what a kid’s toy shrimp would look like, if there was such a thing. These work. Inshore fish of all species and sizes will gulp them down. I really like the sand-colored ones with the green tails and the all pink. For sight fishing in clear water with a light spinning rod, there is simply nothing that works better. Cast into sloughs and channels and let the current sweep it along.

Most popularly, use under a popping cork in creeks, and on flats. The noise gets their attention, the shrimp get whapped. I’ve even seen guys use them on a Carolina Rig while surf fishing. Trout, redfish, striped bass, bluefish — basically, if there are shrimp in the water and there are gamefish around, the plastic shrimp imitation should be the No. 1 go-to. These things are even my best fish catchers when targeting fish in shallow creeks during cold water periods when a shrimp hasn’t been seen in months. They just like shrimp so much, they can’t resist.

With a selection of these three lure types — plus the bonus — I feel pretty confident in saying there isn’t an angling question that can’t be answered. Yes, there are about a million others. I didn’t mention spoons, spinnerbaits, metal jigs, and a bunch of others. But the ones I mentioned will match any hatch you see to get started. Add to your selection as time — and your wallet — permits.

Solitude is often a big reason people give for getting out on the water to do some fishing.

Unfortunately, many people can only go fishing on the same days that a whole bunch of others can. Weekends, and especially holiday weekends, will find waterways jammed with boats and anglers wrestling to get into the same prime locations — not conducive to solitude. 

The beauty of living and fishing in North Carolina is that there are great opportunities here in winter. You can find action on a variety of species without the crowds and often catch more than you would have at the more popular times. I have been in some amazing speckled trout bites in January and not seen any boats anywhere, in places that in October would be overflowing with other anglers.

In winter you need to be prepared for more than just catching fish. The weather is your biggest adversary. Things change quickly out there.

First thing is to get a marine weather forecasting app for your smartphone, or have the marine forecasts from the National Weather Service bookmarked. Watch it. It’ll change. Whatever it said about the weather for the days you want to fish, the closer that day becomes, the more the chance it’s going to change.

It’s not because they don’t know what they’re doing. Quite the contrary, they’re exceptional in my experience. It’s that fronts move around and form so quickly that things that they saw at the beginning of the week are not so by the end.

Remember that the same wind that creates waves that splash you with warm water in July and just get you wet, is now going to be moving cold water that can give you hypothermia in December and January. Dress appropriately. Start with a base layer, a long-sleeved shirt made of a moisture-wicking material. Then I will wear a fleece vest with a microfleece hooded sweatshirt over that. Finally, top it off with a waterproof windbreaking layer. You also want to have bib rain pants and waterproof footwear for venturing into the open ocean. This is not the time to be getting soaked by stray waves.

There is good action for anglers in winter with black sea bass. This is a feisty bottom-dweller that resembles a small grouper. Here, they are usually found quite far offshore but move closer during winter. As a bonus, they gather into pretty large schools, so there is a good chance that if you find one, you’ve found a bunch and can fill a fish box quite readily.

Capt. Tom Roller of Waterdog Charters in Beaufort tells me that, “The best places to look are reefs and wrecks in 55 to 80 feet of water from 10 to 20 miles offshore. The fewer people who are fishing there, the better the action will be.”

He’ll use double-bottom rigs with whatever weight you might need to reach bottom and circle hooks baited with squid or cut fish. The circle hooks are required in federal waters because there is a chance you will catch grouper, which must be released, or undersized sea bass which you must also let go, as well as any other fish you don’t wish to keep. With a circle hook it’s easy to get them off the hook safely.

Another piece of gear you will need is a “descending device.” This is a dedicated pole or line with a minimum 16-ounce weight, or a weighted container, with at least 60 feet of line that is capable of returning fish back to a depth of at least 50 feet. These devices allow for the safe return of fish that exhibit signs of barotrauma. This is commonly seen by the stomach protruding from the mouth, bulging eyes and distended intestines. The descending device that Roller uses is The Seaqualizer.

Regulations for sea bass in waters south of Cape Hatteras allow you to keep seven fish per day at 13 inches or better. North of there you can keep 15 fish per day at 13 inches long. Note that this is correct information at time of publication but the regulations seem to change every year, so make sure to check before you go.

Let me add that I am a pretty dedicated catch-and-release angler who will put a sea bass in the cooler without thinking twice.

Offshore bottom fishing in the summer around artificial reefs often needs a traffic cop and stoplights. In winter, you can often have the same place all to yourself. If you are prepared with the right equipment, are dressed properly and know what fish you are targeting, all the preparation can be worth it.

Holiday notes

A couple of holiday notes to end the year with: First let me say how much I’ve enjoyed writing The Anglers Angle this past year. I’ve gotten a lot out of it, and I hope you have too. Thank you to the editors of Coastal Review.

Next, Christmas is coming up and I wanted to hit on some gift ideas for anglers either to ask for or to be given. The number one on the list as far as I am concerned continues to be the Gerber multitool with the snap-out pliers and easy one-hand operation. I never go anywhere without mine and the few times I forget, I always wish I hadn’t.

I asked a few friends what they wanted but didn’t get last year. Here’s what they said:

• Kesley from Los Angeles said, “A record-breaking Lahontan Cutthroat Trout from Pyramid Lake in Nevada.”
• My buddy Bo from Newport wanted a 25-foot Contender but would have settled for a nice rain jacket.
• Capt. Rick specifically asked Santa for a new Ranger bay boat but he’s still waiting.
• Josh just wished for more time on the water.
• John asked for a nice custom-made fishing rod.
• Capt. Seth from Wilmington asked to take a fly-fishing trip to Cuba.
• Owen from Morehead City wanted a Daiwa Saltiga 10 for the really big ones, I guess he’ll have to settle for the little ones.
• Capt. Matt cleans so many fish these days that he wanted an electric filet knife to make things go a bit faster.
• Chris from Sneads Ferry wanted a season pass for the pier so he can go every day.
• Capt. Dave just wanted one more bonefish trip, and really, you can never have enough of those.
• Rip asked for an iBobber wireless sonar system for his smartphone. 
• Lastly, Capt. Tom asked for good health for himself and everybody else, which is really the correct answer after all.

Here’s hoping for a great Christmas and excellent winter fishing weather so we can get out for those sea bass, or maybe some trout, red drum, bluefin tuna …

In any field, there are people whose accomplishments make them iconic. Kareem Abdul Jabbar or Marlon Brando might come to mind in their respective professions. Or you might think of presidents or captains of industry. On the coast of North Carolina, longtime outdoor writer and Brunswick County native Capt. Jerry Dilsaver counts as one of these people.

Dilsaver is a freelance writer for newspapers and outdoor magazines, and there’s a chance you have seen his articles in Kayak Angler Magazine, Southern Kayak Angler Magazine, TIDE Magazine, Waterway Guide, Coast Magazine or This Week Magazine. In addition, he manages the outdoor page in the State Port Pilot newspaper in Southport.

Dilsaver’s involvement with fishing and the water is a multigenerational affair starting with both his grandfathers, continuing through his father and to the present day. His grandfathers, David Fulcher and John Dilsaver, both moved to southeast North Carolina at the end of the 19th century. They worked on, in and around the water as shrimpers and commercial fishermen. Jerry Dilsaver’s father, Floyd Dilsaver, learned about fishing and shrimping early on.

“I grew up in a fishing family. My Dad was a shrimper and later became the manager for the shrimping company located in Southport,” he told Coastal Review.

John Dilsaver stayed active until late in his life, working as a shrimper until his final few years. Jerry Dilsaver counts his father as the primary influence in learning all there was to know about the water.

“My father and I fished together all the time,” he said.

Dilsaver’s father passed away in 1987 after many years living in Southport, which the younger Dilsaver still considers to be his hometown, even though he currently resides in Oak Island.

Dilsaver’s interests were always diverse.

“As a young man I raced motocross professionally for several years, promoted concerts, built nuclear power plants, guided duck and goose hunts and more,” he said.

He didn’t find his lane – and his life’s work — until he graduated from East Carolina University at the age of 33.

“I was a late bloomer, and after graduating from East Carolina, I became an outdoor writer and photographer.”

Dilsaver’s journalism career started with a now-defunct North Carolina-based outdoor magazine.

“My first staff job was in 1986 with Carolina Adventure Magazine, and I stayed there until 2002,” he said, adding that his departure was to join a bigger operation. “I began working for the Sportsman Magazine Group. I was on staff at North Carolina and South Carolina Sportsman Magazines and did occasional work for Louisiana and Mississippi Sportsman Magazines.”

The skill that most likely gave rise to Dilsaver’s career, setting him apart from a sea of fine outdoor writers and sharers of fishing reports and stories, was his real-world success in fishing. His list of tournament wins and first-place finishes in season-long fishing tournament tours may be impressive enough, but when you add that he was named Angler of the Year by the U.S. Anglers Association in 1998 and then elected to the Southern Kingfish Association Hall of Fame in 2007, then his stature becomes clearer.

So, when Dilsaver offers fishing advice, pay attention.

“The key to consistently scoring with fish is to not get lazy. Some fishermen get complacent and take shortcuts and this will turn into spooked fish, strikes not happening, gear breaking and such,” he offered.

Dilsaver also recommends knowing your equipment, understanding how it works and how to best use it.

“The way a person gets better at fishing is like anything else: practice, practice, practice. You can learn new things from a book, TV or a seminar, but they won’t work consistently for you until you have practiced enough that they become second nature.,” he said.

A recurring theme is that there is no substitute for time spent on the water. But Dilsaver notes that success isn’t necessarily measured in pounds and ounces.

“I consider having a good time as the most important part of a day on the water. This means leaving prepared, giving it your best and not letting your occasional mistakes or things you can’t control bother you,” Dilsaver said.

Further he said that while it’s nice to release a bunch of fish or invite a few home to be the guests of honor at dinner, the number and/or species of fish you catch shouldn’t be how you judge a fishing trip. 

“I’ve had some great trips where we caught few or nothing.”

These days, Dilsaver has backed off from tournament fishing. He plans to participate in kayak tournaments close home, but the traveling tournament fishing lifestyle is something he’s not pursuing anymore.

“My fishing fleet has been downsized to a 16½-foot flats boat and several kayaks. I really enjoy kayak fishing and have even been known to take it into the nearshore ocean occasionally to fish for king mackerel,” he said.

Dilsaver has been taking the time to appreciate more subtle styles of fishing, including stalking tailing redfish with his wife, donna Mooneyhan.

“We are fortunate to live near some productive water and it’s easy to slip the boat in during the late afternoon while most are calling it a day and enjoy the serenity of an uncrowded marsh,” he said.

The Dilsavers enjoy the technical aspects of sight fishing.

“This isn’t just casting and retrieving, but involves spotting the fish and then moving to within casting range without spooking them.”

One bit of Dilsaver wisdom to remember every time we get near the water: “Fish will teach us new things almost daily.”

If you’re an angler, you have more than likely at some point in your life been approached by a person with a clipboard in the parking lot of a boat ramp, asking you about your fishing day. What were you fishing for? How long did you stay out? Did you catch anything?

This person is doing what is called a creel survey for the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries. The data they collect on recreational fishing data includes effort, catch and participation. It’s important in determining how much pressure is being put on our fish populations by recreational anglers.

If you have been surveyed in Dare County, there is a good chance that you have been questioned by a good-looking young guy named John Petrigac. He has been living and working on the Outer Banks for five years now.

Along with his girlfriend, Candace Burns, Petrigac gets out on the water as much as he can. And as evidenced by the 30-inch speckled trout he caught this past summer, it appears he’s got some things figured out.

Petrigac grew up in Pittsburgh fishing with his grandfather, also named John. “My grandfather is the reason I started fishing. When I was about 5 years old, he started taking me to a local lake to fish for bass and panfish.”

Of course, this grew into bigger and longer excursions.

“As I got older we would take trips to our family camp in West Virginia where I spent all my time on a boat with him fishing for smallmouth bass,” Petrigac said.

Petrigac’s grandfather passed away a few years ago but he still impacts young John’s life every day. These idyllic settings would lead to even bigger adventures.

“I got my first taste of saltwater fishing when we took a family vacation to Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, and hired an inshore charter that took us out to catch redfish and trout.” The memories of that trip became indelibly stamped into his brain, “I won’t ever forget the first redfish I hooked into,” Petrigac said.

That first red became a turning stone for Petrigac. As with many other people, the saltwater fishing bug got under his skin.

“After that, I made it my goal to move to the coast. It took me a few years, but I eventually moved to Myrtle Beach,” he said.

Petrigac attended Coastal Carolina University where he studied marine science and eventually got his master’s.

“While I was in school, whenever I wasn’t studying or working, I was fishing,” he said.

He worked at a tackle shop in Myrtle Beach and got all the information and knowledge he could.

“For a few summers, I soaked up as much from the locals as I could,” he said.

That knowledge all paid off when John first moved to the Outer Banks. He got his job with the division and decided, just like in college, if he wasn’t working, he was going to be fishing.

“Since I have moved to the Outer Banks, I have been hooked on kayak fishing in my Ascend 12t sit-on-top,” he said.

You will often find him plugging along in the backwaters where he continues to catch speckled trout and red drum.

“I like to spend early mornings on the grass flats chasing trout and drum but will occasionally switch it up and fish structure for sheepshead,” he said.

Like most of us he has preferences in the way he likes to fish but is prepared to switch up when necessary.

“I like to throw topwater as much as I can, but obviously that is not always what the fish want so I’m not afraid to throw a popping cork or weedless jig over grass beds to get bites,” he said. 

Petrigac also occasionally gets the opportunity to get out in the ocean. “When asked, I won’t hesitate to jump on a friend’s boat to go bottom fishing for sea bass or look for cobia,” he said, adding that autumn will see him surf fishing. “Come fall, I shift my focus to the surf, for trout and redfish.”

Because Petrigac fishes out of a small craft most of the time and is covering water with a variety of species, he has to be ready for anything.

“The most important thing to having a successful day on the water I think comes down to two things: having a game plan and knowing how and when to adjust your game plan when it doesn’t work out,” he said.

You just never know what each day will bring and not being able to go 30 mph to cover different areas forces an angler to lock down on presentation and finding out what is really going on.

“The key to consistently catching fish is paying attention to weather and environmental conditions and how that affects the fish, as well as having the knowledge about the fish you are targeting,” he said.

If you’re lucky, in a few years you might get a chance to fish with Petrigac. He figures he will end up being a charter captain.

“What good is all this fishing knowledge I am getting, If I don’t pass it on in some way?” he explained.

Petrigac said he will most likely be getting a bay boat so he can really get out and cover water and learn more about the entire Pamlico Sound. He’s looking forward to getting married and having kids in the future so he can pass along his love of fishing to them. Staying in North Carolina and the Outer Banks is pretty much where he sees himself.

“No reason to leave as far as I can see,” he said.

Keep an eye out for Petrigac if you see somebody doing creel surveys in Dare County. He’s a good man to get to know.

When a kid asks you, “Can we go fishing today?” There is only one correct answer.

You drop whatever else you have planned, and you go. So, you pack them into your bass boat and drive to the lake and spend the day pounding the water like you always do, the kid gets bored, falls asleep in the boat, whines about being hungry and tired, and you get annoyed at them for not having as much fun as you.

Has that happened to you? Probably has.

Let’s go back to the beginning. Let’s talk about bringing youngster out for a day fishing and having a good time while doing it.

Main rule: Be flexible. Have a variety of activities and options planned. Their idea of a day on the water may mean something different. They may not even have an idea of what it looks like. All they know is you like to do it, and now they want to do it too. If something is not working out, be prepared to do something else. It may not even be a specific fishing thing. It might be as simple as goofing off and looking for snails, shells, turtles or whatever. It should not be the same as what you, a grown adult who has a longer attention span, has in mind for a fishing trip. Honestly, it shouldn’t really be what you consider a “real” day.

I might consider a neighborhood pond as the best type of early fishing trip. If you have something like this where you live, or have access to ponds, this is where the ideal first fishing trips take place. You can pull your vehicle up to the water. Have coolers packed with snacks and drinks.

There are fish that are easy to catch and lots of other things. Set them up with a light rod. The push-button type reels seem to be the easiest for kids to master. Be prepared to deal with some issues inside the hood if the line breaks. Which it can. Spend a couple more bucks to get one that will operate more dependably and provide fewer maintenance headaches.

If the water is full of panfish, tie on a small hook, size 6 or 8, bait with a piece of worm. Attach a small float and teach them how to cast it out. Let them do it. Give one or two demonstrations, then sit by and let them figure it out.

The first bite won’t result in a hookup (most likely), they’ll be too involved with everything else. When they do hook up, it will be pretty unceremoniously cranked in. Make a big deal of it. Make sure they want to do it again.

Some kids will find that catching the one fish is enough for now. Others will be so entranced you can’t tear them away. Either way enjoy it. Inevitably they will tire of it. Now is the time for snacks, drinks, sandwiches. Frog hunts. Turtle watching. Maybe just walking around the pond. Golf carts make it fun too if you have one available to you.

Take a kid to a beach. Find a quiet sandy shoreline. it’s probably better if it’s not on the open surf — someplace with a gentle current and no waves. Get a light rod with small, hooked bottom rigs. Let them cast it out and slowly reel it along the bottom. The strikes will be sharp and feel like something bigger. There will be a variety of catches. Pinfish obviously. A good candidate for a kid to learn about how to safely handle a fish. Small sea bass provide a nice tussle. A ladyfish or two might show up and give a nice aerial show. Bluefish are ever-present, and also give a good chance to demonstrate how some fish have scary teeth.

When they get tired of fishing you are still on a beach. Time to look for sand dollars, shells, and who knows what else. I’ve seen sharks on these little beaches, most small, some not really all that small, and that provides a bunch of excitement. There are birds everywhere. Always something. And as always, lots of food, drinks, and if they start to get a little tired, call it a day and save some for next time. There’s plenty more out there.

It’s amazing how much fun you can have with a 10-year-old and a school of croakers. We had graduated to regular spinning rods by then. The panfish in the local pond were becoming boring. Had to branch out. We launched the skiff at a popular local boat ramp in Atlantic Beach. After a short run down the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, I pulled up in front of an oyster bar that grew alongside a channel leading into a marina.

We had 1/16^th-ounce jigs with nylon tails that are sold two to a pack. I added small pieces of shrimp to the hooks. After casting towards the oyster bar, we would retrieve slowly. The bites were not long in coming.

With the 5.5-foot, ultra-light spinning rods, the little silver wonders gave a good account of themselves. A couple of 12-inchers fought hard enough to pull a little line off the 1500 series reels rigged with 6-pound test braid. We caught fish for a solid hour. They were still biting when I heard, “Can we go get some ice cream?”

Of course. I pulled the anchor. Zipped back to the boat ramp. We were at Dairy Queen in 25 minutes. I’ve caught giant salmon and rainbow trout in Alaska, huge redfish on fly in Louisiana, wild brown trout in Montana, and yet I consider this the most wonderful day of fishing in my whole life.

This time of year, the only sounds greeting the sunrise over Lake Mattamuskeet are the soft plop of a fish landing back in the water after a jump and the rustle of wind pushing the grasses lining the shore. Just the spiders and tree silhouettes are visible at this hour of grayness.

As the sun breaks the horizon, a few hidden birds vocalize their presence. Shortly after sunrise, fishermen arrive and begin casting lines into the dark water.

Lake Mattamuskeet covers about 40,000 acres, making it North Carolina’s largest natural lake and a commanding presence in mainland Hyde County.

“It’s the second largest natural lake east of the Mississippi (River),” said Kelly Davis, who was the longtime biologist for Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge.

In the eastern U.S., excluding the Great Lakes, only Lake Okeechobee in Florida is bigger.

In the winter, the stillness disperses as the lake attracts about 240 species of raucous birds, many of which stop to rest there on their migrations. But some are also year-round residents, Davis said.

And she would know. As the refuge biologist, she managed the waterfowl impoundments around the western, southern and eastern sides of the lake.

The refuge includes the lake plus an additional 10,000 acres of surrounding land — the impoundments; a visitor center with mounted local mammals and birds, along with interactive exhibits and a gift shop; and the headquarters for the Mattamuskeet refuge, which also includes Swan Quarter and Cedar Island refuges.

The impoundments are a habitat managed specifically for wildlife, with native grasses, reeds and hedges grown for waterfowl consumption.

“You can manipulate the water levels in the impoundments, and by doing so — during the growing season particularly — you can influence the types of plants that germinate,” Davis said, adding she evaluated the impoundments and wrote an annual management plan for them.

Like any other wetlands, they try to go through natural succession and get “woody” with time, changing from just grasses to include more cattails, wax myrtles or red maples. Setting back this succession to maintain the wetlands means setting units on fire every four to eight years.

“You really want to set the table and have a smorgasbord ready for when thousands and thousands of migratory ducks, geese and swans show up ready to eat,” she said.

Birdwatchers flock there in winter, utilizing the wildlife viewing areas on Wildlife Drive, the nature trails and the two photo blinds on Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge for observation and photography.

The biggest migratory waterfowl is the tundra swan, which nests in Alaska and Canada and comes to Mattamuskeet and Pea Island refuges for the winter.

Duck species include the northern pintail, the green-winged teal, gadwall, ring-necked and wood ducks. There are both resident and migratory Canada geese, of which the latter return to nest near the Hudson Bay in Canada, Davis said. People might see snow geese from the Arctic; warblers from Central and South America; wading birds — some of which are migratory and some of which are not; and raptors.

“Our raptor population always picks up a little bit in the fall and winter,” she said, because they prey on the other birds that arrive. Raptors include the northern harrier, red-tailed hawk, bald eagle and osprey, plus several owl species.

In her work, Davis completed an annual vegetation survey for the lake, conducted aerial surveys of waterfowl in the fall and winter, did alligator surveys, banded “a lot of waterfowl” and counted shorebirds and waterbirds. Osprey production surveys consisted of climbing up into the nests and banding ospreys, she noted.

“When you work on a refuge, you do management, you do biology, you do public use, you do it all,” Davis stated. “National wildlife refuges are wonderful places to live and work. Our property adjoins Mattamuskeet refuge in a few places. The lake and refuge are great neighbors.”

Multiple theories abound as to how the expansive body of water formed, the most popular of which include a fire burning deep in the peat and a meteor strike. “We know Mother Nature created it,” Davis noted. “It’s not a human-made lake.”

Researchers from the University of North Carolina took core samples of the lake sediment not quite 20 years ago and found an ash layer in places, Davis recalled. That would suggest a fire occurred, “whether it was a peat forest or meteorite” that burned.

Mac Gibbs, the former Hyde County director with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension, said no proof of a meteorite strike had been found. His opinion? “I really think it’s from the fire that burned the peat soils down to the poor mineral soil.”

It’s not hard to imagine, as even today, the area is prone to massive fires that sometimes burn deep into the peat — organic matter within the soil. In 2008, the Evan Roads Wildfire burned more than 40,000 acres and “burned down 2 and 3 feet in the soil,” Gibbs said.

The fire theory also lines up with area Algonquian tribes’ oral tradition, which maintains a fire caused the depression that filled with rainwater, forming the lake. It was the Native Americans who named the area Mattamuskeet, meaning “dry dust.”

No rivers, springs or other waterways feed the lake, so its water did come from rain, runoff, groundwater, a receding ocean or a combination of those.

Gibbs said the lake’s average depth was historically about 4 feet, “so it’s a very shallow lake.” He estimates the current average depth around closer to 6 or 7 feet because of sea level rise and other contributing factors.

Much of the lake’s base is organic, although some parts are sandy and some parts are clay. “The northwest side of the lake has sections that have very peaty bottoms,” Davis said.

Sandy soils in places suggest the area was at one time a beach. Geologists maintain that about 75,000 years ago, “that’s where the sea level was,” Gibbs said of the lake area. The ocean began receding and did so until about 14,000 years ago, at which time it reversed course and started rising.

“Fourteen thousand years ago, the sea level was about 200 feet below where it is today,” he said.

Rivers provided drainage from the mountains and Piedmont area, depositing rich topsoil in the area around the lake, which functioned as a delta “just like the Mississippi Delta,” Gibbs described.

“We’ve got some of the richest farmland in the United States, we can grow crops that rival the Midwest,” he said.

For that reason, developers tried to drain and sell land throughout northeastern North Carolina, from the Great Dismal Swamp to Lake Phelps and Lake Mattamuskeet. “It’s been a history of the whole area,” Gibbs said, noting that enslaved people were forced to dig the canals to drain the land.

Developers later succeeded in fully draining the lake several times in the early 1900s and tried to sell it off as farmland — a plan that never came to fruition. “I think mosquitoes had as much to do with it as anything” Gibbs opined. “It was a disappointment at that point in time; it just didn’t work.”

According to a 2016 Our State article by Bryan Mims, the cost of keeping water out of the lake via miles of canals and the three-story pumping station was also prohibitive.

The pumping station was built in 1915 as the world’s largest.

The U.S. government acquired the lake, dedicating it as a wildlife refuge in 1934, and the pumping station was converted to a hunting lodge until 1974. The former pumping station has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980 and is now state property.

“Hunting is a big part of Hyde County’s economy,” Davis said, noting that duck hunting and bear hunting are popular, and most hunters pay to hunt on private property.

The refuge runs a small waterfowl hunt near its headquarters, managed on an automated lottery system people can enter for a two-day hunt in December or January, Davis said. The hunt takes place on a 4-mile strip of shoreline that has 16 hunt blinds, including one Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant hunt blind. Hunting is prohibited in the refuge outside of the specified time frame for those lottery winners.

Bank fishing and crabbing are permitted year-round from N.C. 94 and in a few other places on the refuge, while most other fishing is limited from March to October.

Eugene Grays was bank fishing soon after sunrise on a late-September day. He placed one small, round, silvery menhaden fish onto his hook from a bucket of the live bait fish that he’d caught earlier. A rockfish had just broken his line by swimming under the culvert below N.C. 94, which runs north to south across the lake.

“He was a whopper,” Grays lamented the loss of the rockfish. He and his older brother Theotis Grays caught white perch and crabs another day and were currently fishing for white perch and rockfish.

The brothers grew up in Fairfield, the town directly north of the lake. Their father taught them to catch, clean and cook fish, and Eugene Grays recalled coming to the lake as young boys and taking home for lunch whatever they had caught.

He currently lives in Maryland, having moved there to work for the government, but he’s now retired and visits home as often as possible.

“I come home to go fishing,” he said. “There’s nothing like home fishing.”

Many others are similarly drawn to the lake to fish and catch the renowned, massive lake crabs.

“Out-of-towners come all the time,” he said, listing Elizabeth City, Wilson and Raleigh as some of the places from which people come. “They eat everything they catch.”