Sidebars Archives - Page 165 of 194

June 18, 2026

Electric-assist reels will help winch up bottomfish and give you more real fishing time during a trip.

Winch them up

When bottom-fishing with live or cut baits, the use of electric-assist reels, such as this Precision Auto Reel HT, can help an angler land more big fish from deepwater ledges. […]

Quality optics — scope, rangefinder and binoculars — are essential to long-range set-ups.

Mike Cox of Awendaw has the mind-set of a long-range hunter when carrying a deer rifle. While he also loves the close quarters of bowhunting, he goes to great effort to set up his gun stands so he is from 180 to 250 yards from where a deer is likely to be first seen. […]

Warm-water discharges will concentrate baitfish, and blue catfish, like these two caught at Lake Wylie by guide Chris Nichols, will not be far away.

Here, kitty, kitty

Dan Kibler

While fishermen who frequent warm-water discharges are most often targeting largemouth bass, spotted bass or striped bass, there’s no doubt that fishermen targeting catfish can get just as much benefit out of the artificially warm water. […]

A ‘story card’ kept in a stand or blind can eliminate guesswork when it comes to estimating range and ballistics when a deer appears.

Don’t dodge the bullet

Terry Madewell

Mike Cox of Awendaw said another key ingredient in the long-range pursuit of a whitetail is the rifle and the specific bullet used. […]

Grains planted to be flooded in a waterfowl impoundment can’t be cut or otherwise scattered before hunting or it’s considered illegal baiting.

Pond management: Time to draw down established ponds

Jeff Burleson

In order to have a healthy and productive fish pond, manipulation exercises should occur almost every month of the year, and winter might be the most-important season to conduct pond-management activities, specifically winter drawdown. Pond levels should be dropped from November through February. […]

Crops left through the early fall will be dove magnets when the second and third segments of the season arrive.

Manipulate crops for late doves

Jeff Burleson

Dove hunting captures almost every hunter in the Carolinas around Labor Day weekend, but the later seasons attract the true dove enthusiasts. […]

Guide Walter White likes a surf spike with PVC pipe to hold the rod and a metal rod to stick into the sand.

Spike it in the sand

Mike Marsh

While many beginning surf fishermen use PVC tube rod holders with an angled cut in the bottom, Walter White said there are other styles that are much more efficient. […]

Hunters can have good hunting on small tracts of surburban or relatively urban land if deer like this nice buck killed by Rives Cathey have cover, food and waater.

Tactics for urban deer hunting

L. Woodrow Ross

If you are a bowhunter, you may have an undiscovered bonanza closer to home than you think. You need to take an analytical look at the small, urban woodlots that you have passed by on the way to your “out-of-town” hunting spots. […]

The Manns Harbor Bridge is one of two spans that carry traffic across Croatan Sound from the Dare County mainland to Roanoke Island and Manteo.

Fishing by ‘sound’

Jerry Dilsaver

Roanoke Island is surrounded by the Roanoke, Croatan, Albemarle and Pamlico sounds, and fishing sounds is different than fishing rivers or other coastal bodies of water. […]

With deer becoming more comfortable in urban and suburban settings, hunting opportunities increase.

Circumstances favor increased urban huntings

L. Woodrow Ross

It’s no mystery why the number of urban and suburban deer hunters are increasing. While deer are a favored species, when numbers soar due to lack of predators, the results are undesirable. […]