Inshore Fishing
Rubber band makes a cheap flat-line release
A No. 32 rubber band makes an inexpensive and dependable release for a line running the short distance to the propeller wash from a rod set in a stern holder. […]
Sidebars
Inshore Fishing
Use fresh bait
Tarpon with a hearty appetite migrate up the eastern seaboard in the summer in search of large schools of mullet and menhaden. […]
Sheepshead
Best sheepshead baits
Most fishermen think of fiddler crabs as the top sheepshead bait, and they catch fish with them. Fiddler crabs are most often seen just above the water’s edge in salt and brackish estuaries. […]
Inshore Fishing
Rolling versus feeding behavior
Tarpon rise to the surface for several reasons, alerting onlookers at great distances. Most of the time, tarpon breach the surface gulping air — otherwise known as “rolling.” […]
Inshore Fishing
Sheepshead – the convict fish
Sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus, are often called convict fish due to the vertical black bars on their sides. […]
Inshore Fishing
Using artificial lures
Typically, tarpon tackle in the Carolinas is fairly simple, with some big, strong hooks and a livewell stocked with spunky 8-inch mullet, but Capt. Steve Roff routinely catches tarpon on artificial lures. […]
Inshore Fishing
Release spawners
In North Carolina, speckled trout begin spawning in April and will continue through September. […]
Inshore Fishing
Catch and release
Hard-fighting fish like jacks expend a lot of energy trying to evade capture, sometimes to the point of critical exhaustion. […]
Inshore Fishing
Full moon? Stay away!
For shrimp and small baitfish, summer conditions and famished speckled trout make the early and late parts of the day troublesome. […]
Inshore Fishing
Go slow in hot weather
Most fishermen equate hot weather with more-active fish, but that’s not necessarily so. According to guides Fred Bricketto and Tom Siwarski, you need to fish very slowly during the summer. […]