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June 23, 2026

The horizontal orientation of the hook on Betts’ Flounder Fanatic jig heads allows the fish to get the hook in its mouth more easily.

Fanatic is flounder unfriendly

The correct bait for flounder fishing is, well, a live mud minnow, mullet, menhaden or even larger baitfish, or any one of a number of soft-plastic baits that can be threaded onto a jighead or a swimbait hook. […]

Know when a trout’s a speck

Brian Cope

Fishermen in the Hilton Head area have three excellent nearshore reefs to fish that are close enough to the beach and close enough to each other to be visited in one trip: the Fish America Reef, the General Gordon and the Parris Island Reef. […]

Consider wearing hunter orange on your way to and from your deer stand during bow season as a measure of added safety precaution.

Bowhunting safety rules make sense

Bill Howard

North Carolina had its first fatal hunting accident that involved a bowhunter shooting another hunter by mistake last September. […]

Getting fall food plots in the ground by the first week of September will allow production of forage that will gives hunters a chance to take advantage of deer using the groceries through the fall hunting season.

Plant fall food plots early

Jeff Burleson

Throughout the Carolinas, September still feels like summer, and the only tasty foods available to deer are the soybeans and peanut crops on farms. […]

Young coyotes are especially vulnerable to hunters’ efforts early in fall before they develop their survival instincts.

Take out juvenile coyotes now

Jeff Burleson

Originally from the great plains, coyotes are battling the feral hog in population increases across the South. […]

Trail cameras can give hunters a great look at the bucks on their properties and help pattern their late-summer movements.

Use photo surveillance

Jeff Burleson

Isn’t the easiest way to kill a trophy buck to know when and where he’s going to be the next day? There wouldn’t be any mature bucks left if it was that easy. […]

Hunters can more readily observe bucks’ patterns and habits in the early season when feeding and sleeping are their only concerns.

Hunt those wet spots

Jeff Burleson

Even though fall arrives in September, the thermometer tells a different story. Average daily temperatures remain on the hot side for most of the month, and wildlife are still hovering near one of their most vital assets, water. […]

Squirrels, like these taken by the author, are abundant across South Carolina, especially on some larger WMAs with plenty of bottomland habitat.

Squirrels are abundant statewide

Terry Madewell

Biologist Billy Dukes of SCDNR said that the squirrel population is still super-abundant across South Carolina. […]

South Carolina has great hog hunting on many WMAs, but it’s only incidental to open seasons for other species.

Hog hunting on WMAs

Terry Madewell

Biologist Charles Ruth said hog hunting is a bonus opportunity when deer hunting on WMAs and is often very good. […]

Clinton Bardner shows off a flathead catfish, many of which will exceed 30 pounds and at times push 80 pounds.

Location is everything

Craig Holt

Large flathead catfish hunker down during the day in deep holes and in undercut river banks and don’t feed much when the sun is out, but they become active during evening hours in the narrower sections of the Neuse River south and west of Kinston. […]