Sidebars Archives - Page 179 of 194

June 17, 2026

Big, sow trout will produce millions of eggs during one summer spawn, so releasing them will help the speck population.

Release spawners

In North Carolina, speckled trout begin spawning in April and will continue through September. […]

Take care not to have a jack out of the water long between the catch and the release.

Catch and release

Hard-fighting fish like jacks expend a lot of energy trying to evade capture, sometimes to the point of critical exhaustion. […]

Wolfe recommends targeting species other than specks when the moon is full.

Full moon? Stay away!

Jeff Burleson

For shrimp and small baitfish, summer conditions and famished speckled trout make the early and late parts of the day troublesome. […]

Fish artificial baits slowly for redfish in extremely hot weather.

Go slow in hot weather

Dan Kibler

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. […]

Changes in the tide will push or pull speckled trout and their prey into different areas.

Chasin’ tides

Jeff Burleson

As long as it takes the moon 50 minutes longer than a 24-hour day to orbit the earth, tides will change every day, affecting the lower Cape Fear River and the rest of the world’s coastal corrals. […]

Making sure ponds are fertilized during the summer can help jump-start the food pyramid and produce better-quality fish of all kinds.

Monitor water clarity in fertilized ponds

Jeff Burleson

By July, the heat is on, and primary productivity should be in high gear. Ponds fertilized with high productivity in mind will consume all available nutrients, and water quality must be monitored. […]

The local estuary supplies a virtual buffet for speckled trout.

An estuary built for trout

Jeff Burleson

North Carolina’s coastal frontier is home to some of the most-productive ecosystems in the nation and the lower Cape Fear River is one of them. […]

Protecting a tiny area in each food plot from wildlife browsing will enable land managers to better gauge the effectiveness of fertilizer application and herbicide treatments.

It’s not too late to establish control areas

Jeff Burleson

Spring food plots should be coming up strong now, with deer and other wildlife beginning to show up regularly. […]

Fifteen inches makes a flounder a keeper anywhere along North Carolina’s coastline.

Regs much easier to understand

Dan Kibler

North Carolina’s flounder regulations have become far more simplified in past years; statewide, flatfish are managed with a six-fish daily creel limit and a 15-inch size minimum. […]

Too many fire ants in a farm-pond fish’s diet can be fatal. Treat fire-ant beds with an insecticide as soon as they are located.

Grow Big Fish: Kill fire ants

Jeff Burleson

During the summer, fish eat about everything they can find. Small bream and juvenile bass must stay close to cover in hopes of eluding the larger bass, but all fish will be looking to eat whatever closely resembles food. […]