Newsletter - Page 944 of 2139 - Carolina Sportsman

Early season requires plenty of stand options

Hunters need multiple deer stand options in the early season when bucks are most predictable, but wind direction is not. […]

Keep a topwater plug or bucktail ready when stripers school at the surface.

Watch for schooling fish

Terry Madewell

Chuck Porter of Sumter, S.C., has been fishing Lake Wateree for 30 years and has seen the striper action ebb and flow. […]

Hard-plastic diving plugs like Yo-Zuri’s Crystal Minnow are an alternative to live-baiting or trolling spoons for mackerel.

Shimmer and shine incite shock strikes

Mike Marsh

King mackerel are suckers for hard-plastic lures like Yo-Zuri’s Crystal Minnow, and several big advantages exist for trolling lures instead of live baits. […]

A heavy casting spoon like a Stingsilver will draw strikes from mackerel, especially Spanish, as long as you can retrieve it at a fast speed.

Heave heavy metal for harder hits

Mike Marsh

If angler Russ Luhm spots Spanish mackerel schooling at the surface or sees them on his depthfinder as he works a school with deep-diving lures, he’ll fling a Stingsilver or other heavy metal spoon at them. […]

Squid can be trolled on a rig similar to a live-bait king rig to take mackerel.

Speed-rig a squid

Mike Marsh

Any angler who can twist-together a wire live-bait rig for fishing with menhaden can make a rig for trolling squid. […]

A three-way swivel allows crappie fishermen to troll a crankbait at a certain depth and drag along a second lure in slightly deeper water.

Make crappie do a double-take

Dusty Wilson

According to guide Eddie Moody, a difference in depth of a few inches can have a big impact in crappie fishing, and giving the fish something they’re not used to seeing can be the difference in getting bit or not. […]

Huge trees that line the banks of blackwater rivers provide a lot of shade and cooler water where bass are more likely to be active and feeding.

Shadow hunting

Jeff Burleson

The summer heat affects fishing immensely, and not only the fisherman. Fish suffer during periods of temperature extremes, and since they are cold-blooded, they must seek out places with cooler water to thrive. […]

Long, snake-like plastic worms can be deadly on blackwater rivers, where snakes are a regular part of a bass’s diet.

Go big with soft plastics

Jeff Burleson

Topwater fishing can be one of the most fun and easiest ways to catch bass over the summer, but the surface bite will surely short-stop an angler’s time on the water. To keep fish coming into the boat, you need to trade in topwater techniques for a slower strategy: shooting soft plastics into deeper water. […]

Mowing food plots during hunting season will do a lot to encourage futher growth of the forage, as well as providing tender shoots for deer to eat.

In-season mowing? Yes!

Jeff Burleson

Deer are suckers for lush food plots, especially oats and clovers, but these choice forages don’t grow well without a little tender-loving-care on into the season. Few food-plot varieties can be labeled as plant-it-and-forget-it seeds. Stands of oats and clover can be strategically mowed to reduce competition and encourage vigorous growth. […]