Sidebars Archives - Page 22 of 194

June 17, 2026

When fishing from a kayak in the nearshore ocean, try to fish with at least one other fisherman for safety purposes.

Kayak safety for ocean fishing

Part of the fun of tackling big fish from a kayak is fishing with your friends and reliving the experience when telling the story. The first part, fishing with friends, is a key part of safety and the second, reliving the experience when telling the story, means having a safe and successful trip. […]

Using a circle hook allows easier release of big red drum, which can’t be kept longer than 27 inches.

Handling large fish for release

Jerry Dilsaver

The fall fishery off Oak Island for kings and red drum is a fishery for large fish, some of which must be released. Many fishermen keep king mackerel to eat, and that is good as they are very weak after being fought to a kayak and their odds of healthy survival are not good. […]

Artificial, soft-plastic shrimp have proven deadly on a variety of inshore gamefish, especially speckled trout.

Perfect artificial shrimp retrieve and feel the thump

Jeff Burleson

Everything living in or out of the water loves the sweet taste of shrimp, and speckled trout, redfish and flounder can’t let one of these scrumptious critters pass by without trying to make a snack out of it. […]

Tight-line trolling from the bow (above) and long-line trolling from the stern both have specific applications for crappie fishermen.

Tight-line or long-line? What’s the difference?

Phillip Gentry

Newcomers to crappie fishing often hear about tight-lining and long-lining when crappie fishermen in the Carolinas discuss trolling techniques. […]

Prescribed fire, aka controlled burns, is a management tool to improve wildlife habitat, but wild fires may have provided some South Carolina mountain areas with similar results last fall.

Wildfires may have improved some public wildlife habitat

Terry Madewell

No outdoor enthusiast enjoys seeing wildfires rage on public or private land, but in the aftermath, a smidgen of a silver lining can exist. […]

Wildlife openings and some large areas of loblolly pines on Liberty Hill WMA provide great public-land habitat for bobwhite quail.

Liberty Hill WMA is a great “tweener”

Terry Madewell

Biologists Michael Hooks and Charles Ruth of the SCDNR both mentioned Liberty Hill WMA as one of their top picks because of its size, ease of accessibility and land diversity, giving hunters multiple species of big and small game that provide excellent hunting. […]

Deer hunters need to do some map scouting before they try to pinpoint whitetails in the 1.1 million acres of the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests.

Map out western strategies

Craig Holt

With North Carolina’s two largest game lands, the Nantahala and Pisgah national forests, containing 1.1 million acres, the question for hunters is where to go for the best chances of success. […]

Windy conditions are perfect for fishermen to fish spinnerbaits around shallow cover.

When the sun’s missing, main-lake fish crank up

Dan Kibler

About the only time in the fall when you won’t catch bass pro Marty Stone up in the river section of a lake or back in a creek is on days when the sun don’t shine. […]

Sharp hooks will improve performance of topwater baits

Mike Marsh

Guide Rennie Clark uses a topwater walk-the-dog lure as a search-bait. Floating above cover like oyster beds, an angler with one tied on can cover a lot of water in short order. […]

Rig a crab bait by breaking the crab in pieces and hooking it through a solid part of the shell.

When fish get crabby, go with a crab

Mike Marsh

A blue crab can turn on gamefish when other baits are not producing strikes, but many anglers overlook using them. Many fishermen are aware that these crustaceans make excellent bait for red and black drum, they also attract speckled trout, flounder and other game fish. […]