Freshwater Fishing Archives - Page 170 of 290

May 8, 2026

Fishing the Catawba Bugger

Mike Marsh

“Let it sink, twitch the line twice, followed by a long trip to take in the slack,” guide Scott Cunningham said. […]

Durham’s Ridgecrest Baptist Church puts on eight crappie tournaments as part of its Outdoors Ministry each year.

Outdoors ministry features fishing events, kids, icons

Craig Holt

Rod King began the Outdoor Ministry at Durham’s Ridgecrest Baptist Church nine years ago. […]

Strong cold fronts will send crappie deep into cover where fishing straight down to the fish may be the only way to get one to bite.

The frequent cold fronts that wash over North Carolina in late February and through March can cause crappie to halt their progression toward the shallows, sink deep into brush or other cover and be hard to catch. […]

Side- and down-imaging technology can help crappie anglers find and orient to fish before even wetting a line.

Sonar on the side

Phillip Gentry

One of the ways that crappie pro Kent Driscoll has stayed on top of tournament leader boards has been by mastering the use of the newest sonar technology, and he relies on it as much as anything in his boat. […]

By trailing a length of logging chain behind the boat, anglers fishing from the bow can go slow even in strong winds.

Dealing with wind

Phillip Gentry

As a tournament crappie fisherman Charlotte’s Mike Parrott is no stranger to fishing when he has to. He doesn’t get the luxury of choosing when tournaments will be held and most times, unless a dire situation exists, it’s time to hit the water. […]

Ronnie McKee has turned a love of crappie fishing into a garage business hand-tying hair jigs.

Stump’s jigs and flies

Phillip Gentry

In a world full of soft plastics where innovation in crappie jigs are the equivalent of a clip-on tie, a dyed-in-the-wool crappie fisherman has a hard time finding a quality, hand-tied crappie jig. […]

Guide Brad Taylor wrestles a Lake Murray crappie out of heavy shoreline cover.

Shallow slab sensations

Terry Madewell

According to guide Brad Taylor, shallow-water crappie action doesn’t last for an extended period at Lake Murray, but it’s sensational when it occurs. […]

Sizes of leadhead jigs and sizes and styles of soft-plastic grubs or hair jigs can have an effect on how deep they run while being long-line trolled in March.

Know when the jig is up — or down

Terry Madewell

Tackle-shop owner Mark Danque of Chapin said one tactic that a lot of crappie tournament anglers use is something every serious crappie angler can do to improve their catches, helping them quickly and accurately target crappie when they mark fish on their graph. […]

Neal Osteen of Hendersonville landed this 51-inch muskellunge, estimated at better than 40 pounds, while fishing in the French Broad River.

Hendersonville man’s French Broad muskie that might have challenged record

Phillip Gentry

Neal Osteen of Hendersonville wasn’t exactly surprised when he landed a monstrous, 51 inch muskie from the French Broad River on March 8, but was still overjoyed at landing his best muskie to date. […]

This beautiful brown trout was caught in Hazel Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which has more than 1,000 miles of trout streams.

A trout angler’s paradise

Robert Satterwhite

It is possible to fish a different trout stream every day for a year and cover only a fraction of the streams in western North Carolina. […]