Fishing Archives - Page 419 of 1072

July 15, 2026

Guide Kevin Davis expects September to be a great month to catch blue catfish like this one at Santee Cooper.

September opportunities

September serves as a wake-up call for outdoorsmen in the Santee Cooper area. The fishing patterns begin to change as the month progresses, with a trend to shallower water for some species and more-reliable, big-fish patterns in deep water for others. Hunting seasons throttle up everywhere around the lakes in September. […]

Fishing deep water and setting up directly over the fish and vertically teasing stripers below is how power-reeling spoons works.

Tips for catching Lake Hartwell stripers on jigging spoons

Phillip Gentry

Power-reeling with big, heavy baits has a track record for catching both big striped bass and big numbers of stripers during the summer at Lake Hartwell and other lakes. Guide Mack Farr said while the technique is not hard to master, there are a few advanced tips that can help your overall success. […]

The Ben Parker Magnum Spoon comes in three sizes between 6 and 9 inches, huge for a spoon but small enough to fit in a striper’s mouth.

Spoon up a striper? Here’s the silverware for Lake Hartwell

Phillip Gentry

The Nichols Ben Parker Magnum Spoon first made a name with anglers when it was used to win a national bass tournament on Kentucky Lake in 2014. In fact, half of the top-10 finishers used it. The same month, a college fishing event on Pickwick Lake was won with the same spoon. […]

Fishermen at Lake Thom-A-Lex must observe some boating restrictions in order to sample the municipal reservoir’s fine bass fishing.

Special restrictions govern buoy area

Tony Garitta

Anglers fishing Lake Thom-A-Lex must observe the restrictions on fishing within the buoyed off area of 100 acres near the water-source intake structure on the lower end of the lake. […]

A variety of lead weights can be used for drifting or bottom-fishing. When paired with a weight trolley, the line will slide, reducing the resistance felt by the fish.

Heavy weights for bottom-fishing

Phillip Gentry

The type of weights used for fishing around inlets where the tidal flow often reaches near-warp speeds, varies depending upon the area being fished as well as who is at the other end of the line. […]

Bull redfish hold on hardbottom areas, like shells or rocks, while they migrate out of sounds toward the ocean in the fall.

For big drum with live or chunk bait, go with a Lupton rig. Here’s how to tie one.

Phillip Gentry

Regulations between states vary, but according to guide Dan Utley, South Carolina anglers have taken the lead from the North Carolina requirement when fishing for bull redfish in the inlets around Hilton Head. […]

Speckled trout are caught along Masonboro Inlet’s rock jetties when the falling tide pulls baitfish and shrimp toward the ocean.

Seine Masonboro Inlet’s jetties for specks

Jerry Dilsaver

The jetties at Masonboro Inlet are oddities along the North Carolina coast, where most inlets aren’t lined with the stone structures. […]

Speckled trout can tolerate waters with a wide range of salinities as long as food is readily available.

Speckled trout biology

Jerry Dilsaver

Spotted seatrout, aka speckled trout, are members of the sciaenidae family, which includes drums, croakers and weakfish. They are prized as gamefish by recreational anglers throughout their range, from the Chesapeake Bay to Laguna Madre in south Texas, and have been occasionally caught as far north as New York and as far south as Mexico. […]

Many charter captains participate in the NCDMF red drum tagging program. The information helps biologists understand red drum growth rates and movement patterns.

Tag, You’re it!

Mike Marsh

Catch a tagged fish in North Carolina’s coastal waters and you may reel in a cash award. The NCDMF’s fish tagging program randomly selects tag numbers; anglers who have turned them in win $100. Of 1,020 fish tags anglers returned in 2015, the program drew three tag numbers for each of four species in the tagging program. […]