East Central NC Archives - Page 47 of 112

Chris House of Wilmington shot this drake ruddy duck or “butterball” on a New River diver hunt.

Fill out a bag limit with oddballs, butterballs

While most of the ducks on the New River are lesser scaup, other oddball ducks can help fill out a daily bag limit of six that can only include two scaup. […]

Juvenile redfish won’t migrate very far from the backs of coastal creeks during the winter, because they’re attracted to warm water.

Puppy drum are homebodies

Mike Marsh

Most of the red drum that David and Tammy Baxley and their charter clients catch during the winter are too short or too long to keep. […]

Anchor Worms

Mike Marsh

Infestations by parasites that anglers call “anchor worms” become more prevalent in red drum during the winter. […]

Speckled trout and redfish are on the move around Swansboro, changing locations as the weather changes, and they're biting all the while.

Unsettled weather has White Oak River reds, specks moving and feeding

Jerry Dilsaver

The unsettled weather has reds and trout moving around in the White Oak River, creeks and marshes around Swansboro, trying to figure out where they want to be, and fishermen are taking advantage – at least Capt. Dale Collins of Fish or Die Charters. […]

Speckled trout fishing in the waters around New Bern has been tough to beat for about five weeks.

Head to New Bern for hottest cold-water trout fishing

Jerry Dilsaver

Speckled trout came to New Bern as an early Christmas present, but fishermen are still upwrapping them through the first handful of days after the new year. […]

The author caught this big Lake Hartwell striper on a tiny bait -- a crappie jig tipped with a minnow.

Smaller baits producing bigger fish on Lake Hartwell

Phillip Gentry

“Match the hatch” is normally a phrase spoken by mountain trout fishermen, but Lake Hartwell guide Preston Harden has been using the idea to catch bigger-than-average striped bass, hybrid bass, spotted bass and largemouth bass. […]

Even in winter, speckled trout will sometimes become active enough to provide for some great fishing.

Chill out with Harkers Island specks – Don’t put your trout tackle aside just because it’s January; they’re probably biting around Harkers Island

Jerry Dilsaver

As he stowed the last of the fishing tackle, Capt. Noah Lynk of Harkers Island remarked that the tide was still a little low to get into several of the smaller creeks he intended to target that morning. […]

A brace of lesser scaup, aka bluebills, is a distinct possibility for hunters heading to the New River.

Go take a dive! Big, open-water hunts for diving ducks is what North Carolina’s ‘coastal’ New River is famous for

Mike Marsh

North Carolina’s New River of the east is a wide, salty estuary, quite a contrast to the winding, freshwater New River of the state’s northwestern corner. […]

The author admires a nice shellcracker caught on a pretty day last January, proving that it takes no special skill to put fish in the boat.

Crack Murray’s shellcracker code – Light tackle and rocky or shell bottoms make for great Lake Murray shellcracker fishing

Brian Cope

January’s cold weather pushes many outdoorsmen indoors to wait for the coming spring, but that’s a mistake for fishermen longing for that familiar tug on the business end of their line. […]

SCDNR has stocked 17,000 trout in the lower Saluda River.

SCDNR stocks fish in lower Saluda River by helicopter

SCDNR News Release

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources stocked approximately 17,000 rainbow and brown trout into the lower SaludaRiver near Columbia on Dec. 17 using a helicopter and a specialized lift bucket. […]