Sidebars Archives - Page 109 of 194

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August 30, 2026

Insecticide treatments are often necessary to protect wildlife food plots.

Check plots for insect damage

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. […]

Gulf flounder can often be distinguished from their inshore cousins by three prominent spots in a triangle pattern.

Stock up!

Jeff Burleson

Bottom-fishing around reefs can be some of the most-exciting action of the summer, with big flounder and a wide variety of other species to target. […]

After several lean years, redfish have returned in good numbers to the upper Neuse River near New Bern.

Redfish rebound!

Dusty Wilson

Alongside the Neuse River’s tackle-busting stripers are schools of equally voracious redfish, competing for the same food and or lure. […]

Good electronics are essential for picking out spots around reefs where actual structure is located.

High-definition electronics are critical

Jeff Burleson

Despite the mundane appearance of the ocean’s surface, the sea floor can be lively, especially around places with yellow buoys marked with “A.R.” […]

Speckled trout bite better in moving water, and bridges over the Croatan and Roanoke sounds around Manteo serve as pinch points, concentrating wind and current.

Moving water required

Jerry Dilsaver

Fishermen in the sounds north of Oregon Inlet do not see lunar tides; they lose their influence about half-way to Manteo. […]

The Hatteras Fever II won last year’s Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament with this 465.3-pound blue marlin.

From the literary era of Ernest Hemmingway, to the early days of television to the fast paced, technical-savvy offshore anglers of the 21st century, the blue marlin reigns as one of the most storied big-game sportfish on the Atlantic seaboard. […]

Scented baits like this Gulp! shrimp appeal to a red drum’s extraordinary sense of smell.

Stank it up!

Jeff Burleson

In the fish-eat-fish world, having acute sensory systems is a critical life component for a fish. Their sensory organs are highly developed and unique, and they use all their senses each and every day to eat, detect currents and sense any potential dangers. […]