Newsletter - Page 1089 of 2142 - Carolina Sportsman

Chip Bragg prefers a better than hand-sized gizzard shad to weed out bites from smaller stripers.

Fill up your bait tank with big gizzard shad when targeting Lake Murray stripers

Striper fisherman Chip Bragg confesses catching big gizzard shad might be as tough as catching big stripers on those same shad. […]

Don’t take a chance lifting big crappie over the gunwales. Use a landing net.

Seven tips to better long-lining

Phillip Gentry

Finding success in long-line trolling takes dedication in order to get a system that works. Once you’re comfortable with your system, these tips will help you become a better long-liner. […]

Speckled trout will hit a variety of artificial lures during the winter, their common feature being that they can be fished slowly.

Baits, technique can make a big difference in winter trout success in the Carolinas

Jeff Burleson

Anglers can catch plenty of cold-weather trout along the Carolina coastlines during winter, but they have to be more selective about their lures choices, sizes, and colors than they do at other times of the year. […]

Speckled trout don’t move very far from areas where they decide to spend the winter, so fish them thoroughly and slowly for best results.

Rewards await patient anglers

Jeff Burleson

Over the winter, cold water and lack of food changes the way speckled trout feed. For most of the year, trout feed out of reaction. If something lands on the table, they will gulp it down and look for something else to shove in their mouth. […]

On his home waters, Lake James, angler Glen Grindstaff catches smallmouths as well as largemouths on a drop-shot rig.

How to rig a drop-shot for soft plastics or live bait

Pete Anderson

The drop-shot rig is best known for gently presenting soft-plastic lures, but with a few tweaks, the same setup can present live bait, especially minnows, to bass. […]

Don’t waste your time blind-casting for wintertime bass. Take Glen Grindstaff’s advice and idlearound a lot, using your fish finder to locate schools of baitfish, and then fish around them.

Look for “spaghetti” on your fish finder when deep-jigging for winter bass

Pete Anderson

When bass pro Shane Lineberger idles over deep water during winter, he wants to see multiple schools of baitfish on his fish finder before he stops to make a cast. He knows the spot will be even better when he sees “spaghetti.” […]

Lake Tillery’s deep brush piles might not be full of crappie in February, but there are plenty of bream there to make for some good fishing.

Bet on Lake Tillery bream in cold water

Dusty Wilson

In late fall, when crappie leave brush piles in search of deeper water, most anglers go with them and neglect brush until crappie return the next summer. While those anglers may be following their passion, they’re missing out on some of the best bream fishing of the year. […]

Snow goose populations have skyrocketed over the past 25 years to the point that they were doing significant damage to agriculture and breeding habitat.

Light goose conservation order opens the floodgates for North Carolina hunters

Jeff Burleson

Nearly 10 years ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued the “light goose conservation order” that resonated throughout every waterfowl community across the country. The USFWS pulled out all of the stops to encourage hunters to combat the exploding snow goose explosion. […]

Full-choked shotguns and large, heavy loads of non-toxic shot are the norm when targeting snow geese.

Snow geese require special shot choices, sizes and shotgun chokes

Jeff Burleson

Snow geese travel thousands of miles to reach their southern wintering grounds. After hunters study the flocks and finally get a group to creep into shotgun range, the hard part is over, and hunters need to use their equipment to bring them to the dirt. […]