Newsletter - Page 1178 of 2141 - Carolina Sportsman

Kayaking is just one of the many events that will take place at the Webb Center on June 4 at the SCDNR's Field Day, in honor of the 75th anniversary of the state's first WMA.

SCDNR hosting Field Day at Webb Center June 4

As part of a year-long celebration the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources is hosting a Field Day on Saturday, June 4th at the James W. Webb Wildlife Center and Management Area near Garnett in Hampton County. The Webb Center was the first Wildlife Management Area (WMA) purchased by the State of South Carolina in 1941. Now, 75 years later, SCDNR provides quality public outdoor recreation opportunities on more than 1 million acres of land across the state in the WMA program.

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Cody Durham and Mitch Mincey killed these two 300+ pound hogs in Jackson County on a night hunt.

Western N.C. boar hunt produces two 300-plus pounders

Brian Cope

Cody Durham and Mitch Mincey recently went on a hog hunt in Jackson County, and had a very interesting trip. While most people think of the eastern part of the state when talking about hog hunting, their western North Carolina trip produced some good hogs, but there was more to this hunt than just waiting for hogs to show up. It could have passed as a scouting trip for bears. […]

The NCWRC is hosting some free fishing workshops in June at the John E. Pechmann Fishing Education Center in Fayetteville.

NCWRC offering free fishing workshops in June

NCWRC Release

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is offering two free fishing workshops in June at the John E. Pechmann Fishing Education Center, in Fayetteville.

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A red/orange margin around the edge of the ear gives the shellcracker its name, redear sunfish, and distinguishes it from other bream.

Lake Marion is perfect shellcracker habitat

Terry Madewell

Lake Marion anglers are fascinated by shellcrackers, aka redear sunfish, for a variety of reasons, size being one. For a species lumped in with a variety of sunfish collectively called “bream”, the shellcracker is a giant.

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Paul Quinn and Buddy Bizzell of Edisto Palmetto Charters show off a typical St. Helena Sound cobia.

Cobia season will close June 20

Brian Cope

South Carolina’s cobia numbers have been on a roller-coaster over the past 10 years after a relatively stable recreational harvest through the 1980s and 1990s.

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Even though a huge inshore run of cobia takes place in the spring, fish can still be caught around nearshore and offshore reefs during the same period of time.

Don’t neglect South Carolina’s nearshore reefs when searching for spring cobia

Brian Cope

While cobia move into South Carolina’s inshore waters this month, they can still be caught at nearshore and offshore reefs, and anglers fishing those areas usually don’t have to fight the large crowd of boats that line up in St. Helena Sound, the Broad River, and similar inshore haunts.

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Cobia are suckers for just about any bait or lure cast in front of their noses.

Cobia will hit bait or lures

Brian Cope

While Buddy Bizzell usually prefers live or cut menhaden for cobia bait, he said cobia aren’t picky about what they eat. A number of other baits are good choices.

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Capt. Buddy Bizzell ties an inflated sea turtle float behind his boat to attract curious cobia to his anchored area.

Cobia are an unusual pelagic species

Brian Cope

Cobia, rachycentron canadum, are a pelagic fish — they travel the open ocean — but unlike most pelagic species, cobia also inhabit inshore waterways like the Broad River and St. Helena Sound, at least for short periods of time.

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A live shrimp suspended under a popping cork is a live bait that’s hard to beat on spring speckled trout.

Top live baits for speckled trout

Phillip Gentry

The audacity of man to believe he can create a fishing bait better then God’s own hands never ceases to amaze die-hard, live-bait anglers, especially when speckled trout are concerned. With bait moving back into the estuaries, here’s your pick of the best live baits for big specks.

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Rising water temperatures and increasing hours of daylight each day are two main factors that send speckled trout toward spawning areas in the spring.

Understand a speckled trout’s circle of life and catch more fish

Phillip Gentry

While most of you are humming that song from “The Lion King”, the circle of life for speckled trout begins in South Carolina marshes when two environmental factors signal mature trout that it’s time to get busy.

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