Freshwater Fishing Archives - Page 227 of 290

It takes relatively heavy tackle — rod, reel, line and hooks — to battle a big catfish.

Catfish tackle should be durable

Guide Keith Wall’s tackle is big enough to handle the job of a medium- to magnum-size blue or flathead catfish. […]

Guide Mac Byrum, a latter-day Capt. Ahab, hoists his winter target, the great blue catfish.

Feeling blue – How to up your fishing success for Lake Norman catfish

In the 1956 motion picture, Gregory Peck portrays the character of Capt. Ahab, who relentlessly pursues the great white whale of Herman Melville’s classic, “Moby Dick.” […]

The Catfish Hunters

Phillip Gentry

Three years ago, Jake Bussolini, an author based in the Lake Norman area, solicited the assistance of guide Mac Byrum to co-author a book on the science and techniques behind catching giant catfish around the country. […]

Chunks of chicken treated with garlic powder make a great winter catfish bait around Lake Norman.

Try the garlic chicken

Phillip Gentry

Fishermen who target catfish are no strangers to unusual concoctions, but catfish recipes typically border on rancid — not make the angler hungry for lunch. […]

Nice striped bass like this one caught by the author are becoming more common in the Cape Fear River as efforts to rebuild stocks show some success.

The Striper Watch — Learn how this striper fishery is being rebuilt

Jerry Dilsaver

Jot Owens put his bay boat on plane for a couple of minutes after leaving the Dram Tree Park Ramp in Wilmington. He crossed under the Thomas Rhodes Bridge, pulled the throttle back to just above idle and announced it was time to fish. […]

Stripers caught in the Cape Fear Riverwatch Striper Tournament help biologists with their research through examination and tagging.

CFRW and its striper tournament

Jerry Dilsaver

The first Cape Fear Riverwatch Striper Tournament was held in December 2008, but the annual events are now held in mid-January, with this year’s set for Saturday, Jan. 19, as part of Striperfest 2013. […]

Striper fishing is once again productive on the Santee Cooper lakes; this fish is a great example of the kind of striped bass that’s swimming in Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie.

Sacking Santee Stripers — January is the start of some great winter striper fishing on the Santee Cooper Lakes

Terry Madewell

Santee Cooper was once world famous as THE place to go for freshwater striped bass, but the historic highs of Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie fell to unprecedented lows for years. […]

The rock-arch rapids, a ‘fish ladder’ at Lock and Dam No. 1 on the Cape Fear near Riegelwood, is under construction.

Cape Fear locks, dams and stripers

Jerry Dilsaver

Striped bass were once so plentiful in the Cape Fear region that they were classified as one of the nine major striper populations on the Atlantic Seaboard, but this was prior to locks and dams being built along the river to help with commerce between Wilmington and Fayetteville. […]

Santee Cooper striper fishermen are releasing most of the fish they’re catching these days, but some guides wish creel restrictions would loosen.

Should Santee Cooper striper plan run its course or change now?

Terry Madewell

The increase in the number of stripers in the Santee Cooper lakes is welcome news to fishermen and biologists alike, but there are differences of opinions on what the next step in management should be. […]