Sidebars Archives - Page 108 of 194

June 23, 2026

Guide Andrew Tubbs taps the bottom of his boat with a shovel handle to attract the attention of hybrid or striped bass.

I hear you knocking

One of guide Andrew Tubbs’s tricks is to tap on the deck of his boat with a shovel handle when hybrids and stripers are biting slowly. […]

Red drum aren’t shy about crashing topwater plugs, but the position of their mouth on the bottom of their head often results in misses instead of hookups.

Fishing Topwaters

Jerry Dilsaver

Nothing in fishing compares to an aggressive strike on a topwater lure. Fish lunge at them, swipe at them and sometimes even knock them completely out of the water. […]

Andrew Tubbs nets a Thurmond Lake striper for Justin Marsh with a rubber-coated landing net.

Rubber nets won’t rub fish the wrong way

Mike Marsh

A rubber net is one of the best pieces of gear to conserve fish and fishing time. […]

The New River’s fishery is among the best along all of North Carolina’s coastline for redfish, trout and flounder.

New River is a unique coastal estuary

Jerry Dilsaver

There are two New Rivers in North Carolina; one wanders through the mountains in the northwestern corner of the state, and the other begins and ends within the boundaries of Onslow County on the coast. […]

Hunting

Nuisance animals: Know the rules

Jeff Burleson

For the landowners across the Carolinas, more than a dozen furbearing animals cause problems to game species, forests, farm fields and other types of wildlife habitat. […]

A big circle hook and a length of heavy, monofilament leader are standard on shark rigs used by kayak fishermen.

Rigging for sharks

Phillip Gentry

Brad Knight has a pretty standard setup for rigging for sharks when fishing from his kayak. It works, and it’s strong — strong enough that he boated a 140-pound class tarpon three years ago while fishing for sharks. […]

Insecticide treatments are often necessary to protect wildlife food plots.

Check plots for insect damage

Jeff Burleson

Warm-season food plots are challenged every day from weedy invaders, over-grazing and insects. Everything wants a piece of a field full of nutritious soils and palatable plants. […]

Wes Barbour catches plenty of speckled trout along spoil islands, created by a dredging the Cape Fear River shipping channel.

Spoil island specks

Craig Holt

It seems odd to find spotted seatrout 10 miles north of the mouth of the Cape River and approximately 3 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean, but that’s possible near Carolina Beach. […]

Put some “pop” in your fishing

Craig Holt

Popping corks have been around for many years, and they are still just as effective as they’ve always been. […]

Casting to structure on windblown banks or points can often result in good catches of striped bass.

The wind is your friend

Dusty Wilson

Freshwater bass anglers have long known the effectiveness of fishing windward points. The same holds true in many saltwater scenarios. […]