Sidebars

Inshore Fishing

Practice casting before the tailing redfish tides arrive

Jeff Burleson

Every year, anglers check tide tables to see when they can target redfish tailing on skinny flats, and opportunities are limited, with only a few days per month when the tide rises above the 5.7 threshold when the sun is out. And shots at fish during the flood can be limited, making casting ability ever-so-important. […]

Freshwater Fishing

Warmouth: more mouth than anything

Mike Marsh

By late May, Northeast Cape Fear River anglers begin catching an abundance of warmouth sunfish. Some anglers call them “more-mouths” because they say they are more mouth than anything else. Another popular name is “goggle-eye.” […]

Inshore Fishing

Don’t clog up redfish on-ramps around tailing flats

Jeff Burleson

The flood tides that affect the coastal region provide easy meals for redfish in the marsh. For anglers who have studied how reads move onto the flats, some of the best places catch a red during the tailing tides is in their staging locations in deeper water. But anglers targeting those areas can ruin their future tailing action.   […]

Inshore Fishing

Get reds on top before they move up on tailing flats

Jeff Burleson

Tailing redfish is one of the most exciting ways to stretch a line in saltwater. It is often more like hunting because anglers are looking for fish across the grassy flats and stalking ever so stealthily. If sight-fishing in shallow water isn’t enough, throwing surface flies to reds will sure get an angler’s blood flowing.  […]

Inshore Fishing

Cape Fear, Snow’s Cut are great flounder habitat

Jerry Dilsaver

The waters of the lower Cape Fear River and Snow’s Cut have long been known as great places to catch flounder — and large flounder, too. The 20-pound, state-record flounder was caught there in 1980, and though flounder fishing in this area isn’t as good as it once was, it is still the primary location for fishermen trying to catch a flounder 10 pounds or heavier. […]