Sidebars Archives - Page 16 of 194

June 17, 2026

Stewart Venable’s best fishing day on a river came during the winter of 2016, after he pulled into the mouth of a tributary creek on the Catawba River to eat lunch and saw bait flipping.

February’s Best Bets

What: Largemouth bass, striped bass

Where: Catawba River, upper end of Lake Norman. […]

The men’s GORE-TEX Meridian Drysuit from Kokatat is built to stand the test of any paddling adventure. Exclusive “full immersion” GORE-TEX Pro Shell fabric is tough as nails, yet quiet and comfortable. Latex neck and wrist gaskets, along with integrated GORE-TEX socks, keep you dry. The Competition Cut underarm maximizes range of motion. […]

Marking fish arcs along pronounced bottom structure like a ledge or hump shows why trusting your depth finder is a big key in catching big winter blue catfish.

Trust your electronics for big catfish

Terry Madewell

Guide Justin Whiteside of Rock Hill trusts his electronics to depict exactly where fish are located and where to present his baits. […]

Lake Monticello will produce plenty of healthy, chunky blue cats for anglers like guide William Attaway.

Float position can help trigger catfish bites on a drift

Terry Madewell

Guide William Attaway said a lot of fishermen prefer to drift-fish and typically will use a standard drift rig that typically works well. […]

A big chunk of white perch is one of a handful of great winter baits for Lake Monticello’s blue catfish.

Use different baits for big Monticello blues

Terry Madewell

Guide Justin Whiteside said he begins each day using a variety of different baits to determine what’s working best. […]

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s decision to replace striped bass with hybrid bass in Lake Norman has paid off for guide Bob Curan.

Tagged hybrid program continues

Tony Garitta

Fishing for hybrid bass aka Bodie bass, at Lake Norman is not only rewarding in itself, but it could actually pay off in cash. […]

Spotted bass, white perch and hybrid bass often school together on Lake Norman during the winter and other, warmer months, because of their love of open, deeper water and current.

Norman’s striper fishery finally succumbed

Tony Garitta

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission put a great deal of effort into maintaining the put-and-take striped bass fishery in Lake Norman, but to no avail, finally giving up in 2012. […]

Packs of beagles have to work faster and cover more ground to flush rabbits living in cutovers and give hunters the chance for a shot.

As cutovers grow, slow packs fade

Craig Holt

Hunting with slow packs of beagles used to be the way to go for rabbit hunters, but thanks to changes in habitat, quicker packs of dogs are now preferred for chasing bunnies. […]

Rabbit numbers in the Carolinas rise and fall in cycles; predators aren’t a big factor; it’s habitat.

Rabbits by the numbers

Craig Holt

The most-recent small-game survey conducted by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (2015-16) revealed that the best rabbit hunting occurs in the Midlands (2.19 rabbits jumped per hour). […]

Hunting released quail on a preserve can offer hunters a chance to relive a time 50 years ago when bobwhite was king in the Southeast.

A guide’s recommendations

Phillip Gentry

A guide at Contentnea Creek Shooting Preserve in Snow Hill, N.C., Walter Claybrook has some advice for hunters visiting a shooting preserve for the first time. […]