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August 27, 2026

Speckled trout can tolerate waters with a wide range of salinities as long as food is readily available.

Speckled trout biology

Spotted seatrout, aka speckled trout, are members of the sciaenidae family, which includes drums, croakers and weakfish. They are prized as gamefish by recreational anglers throughout their range, from the Chesapeake Bay to Laguna Madre in south Texas, and have been occasionally caught as far north as New York and as far south as Mexico. […]

Many charter captains participate in the NCDMF red drum tagging program. The information helps biologists understand red drum growth rates and movement patterns.

Tag, You’re it!

Mike Marsh

Catch a tagged fish in North Carolina’s coastal waters and you may reel in a cash award. The NCDMF’s fish tagging program randomly selects tag numbers; anglers who have turned them in win $100. Of 1,020 fish tags anglers returned in 2015, the program drew three tag numbers for each of four species in the tagging program. […]

A chum slinger helps fishermen toss chunks of croaker or other fish overboard to set up a chum slick.

Chum slingers

Mike Marsh

Croakers make great bait for red drum, and they also make good chum. The Longer Life Bait Slinger was a great tool for tossing chunks of fish far out into the water to attract big red drum. […]

Hunt early and often with other shooters for the best dove results.

Plan dove days strategically

Jeff Burleson

Dove season begins this month across the south, and the first few days — if not opening day — are the best times to take a limit. So does it work out that way? Is it the timing of the migration, the amount of birds available, or what? […]

Big bucks can thrive on small tracts of land that many hunters overlook, especially those closer to developed areas that traditionally are not hunted.

It’s not too late to look for land

Jeff Burleson

Every now and then, hunters get stuck in a predicament close to the opening of deers season when their opportunity to hunt a property vanishes. It’s tough to shoot a wallhanger without having a tract of land to hunt. […]

Caring for your hunting land as if you own it is the best way to be allowed to use it on a long-term basis.

Respect land to sustain its use

Jeff Burleson

Labor Day arrives this month, along with the onset of the first major wing-shooting opportunity, dove hunting. Dove season brings out anybody and almost everybody with a shotgun. […]

The SCDNR offers a handful of special youth dove hunts across the state.

Take advantage of youth opportunities

John Gribb

A good dove shoot is a great way to introduce youngsters to hunting. The S.C. Department of Natural Resources provides a perfect venue where conditions and bird counts are generally good to excellent depending on the weather, for the exclusive first-day use of parents with children. […]

Fishing deep water and setting up directly over the fish and vertically teasing stripers below is how power-reeling spoons works.

Tips for catching Lake Hartwell stripers on jigging spoons

Phillip Gentry

Power-reeling with big, heavy baits has a track record for catching both big striped bass and big numbers of stripers during the summer at Lake Hartwell and other lakes. Guide Mack Farr said while the technique is not hard to master, there are a few advanced tips that can help your overall success. […]

The Ben Parker Magnum Spoon comes in three sizes between 6 and 9 inches, huge for a spoon but small enough to fit in a striper’s mouth.

Spoon up a striper? Here’s the silverware for Lake Hartwell

Phillip Gentry

The Nichols Ben Parker Magnum Spoon first made a name with anglers when it was used to win a national bass tournament on Kentucky Lake in 2014. In fact, half of the top-10 finishers used it. The same month, a college fishing event on Pickwick Lake was won with the same spoon. […]