January 2013 Archives - Page 6 of 8

Find sign like these mud-caked trees on which hogs have rubbed after wallowing and you’ll know you’re in the right area.

Lotsa sign means lotsa hogs

Even with hogs spread across South Carolina, a lot of people have never seen a wild hog and are surprised to hear of people hunting them. […]

Lake Norman guide Mac Byrum helped write The Catfish Hunters, a travelogue about fishing the nation’s best catfish lakes.

Three years ago, Jake Bussolini, an author based in the Lake Norman area, solicited the assistance of guide Mac Byrum to co-author a book on the science and techniques behind catching giant catfish around the country. […]

Hunting swans on an impoundment doesn’t require as many large decoys as hunting them in fields.

Water spreads bring in bonus birds

Mike Marsh

One of the biggest advantages of hunting tundra swans from a pit blind at a waterfowl impoundment is that ducks may be present. […]

Guide Don Drose shows off a hefty winter striper from Wyboo Creek caught by Jordan Drose and William Hardee.

Stripers on the migratory route

Terry Madewell

It’s hard to predict when stripers’, upriver migration will begin since the biggest female fish are the ones most likely to spawn and that’s the size striper fishermen like to target. Much depends on water temperature during the winter. […]

Clear water and skitterish, winter redfish are a perfect equation for the use of fly-fishing equipment.

Buggy-whipped — How to catch Georgetown redfish on a fly

Jeff Burleson

Undoubtedly, the redfish is America’s true inshore heroine. Known to many South Carolina anglers as the spot-tailed bass, this fish shows up in more anglers’ sights than any other inshore species along the state’s coastline and locally in Georgetown’s pristine waters for good reason. […]

Chunks of chicken treated with garlic powder make a great winter catfish bait around Lake Norman.

Try the garlic chicken

Phillip Gentry

Fishermen who target catfish are no strangers to unusual concoctions, but catfish recipes typically border on rancid — not make the angler hungry for lunch. […]

Good habitat protects quail from aerial predators, such as hawks.

Bringing Back Mr. Bob — Tips on re-establishing quail

Craig Holt

Anyone who loves quail hunting — or longs for the days when bobwhites were widespread in North Carolina — is restricted mostly to preserve hunting, if they want a chance to pursue these fast-flying game birds. […]

Guide Wendell Wilson has regular encounters with big yellow perch like this one from Lake Russell.

Presidential Perch — Fishing tips for Lake Russell’s yellow perch

Phillip Gentry

Of the dozen or so major reservoirs in South Carolina, the baby and beauty of the group is Lake Richard B. Russell. […]

Marine worms make up a large part of a redfish’s diet, especially in the winter.

Wormz!

Jeff Burleson

Inshore redfish must scavenge through the winter, hoping to find mud minnows or mullet, but they also find happiness noodling in the pluff mud, which provides perfect habitat for healthy colonies of tasty marine worms. […]

January brings cold weather, but also great speckled trout action on the western side of the Pamlico Sound and in its tributaries.

Chill out! The Pamlico Sound offers great speckled trout fishing

Jeff Burleson

Even though the deep, dark depths of winter arrive this month, fishermen who target speckled trout can keep their rods ready for some fiery inshore action in North Carolina’s Pamlico Sound.

Wintering populations of speckled trout snuggle in the remote hideaways of the Pamlico, staying warm and gobbling up any available forage. Anglers willing to brave January’s winter weather can locate these tasty opponents with little effort.

Fed by two major river systems — the Neuse and Pamlico — the Pamlico Sound is the largest lagoon on the east coast, covering thousands of flooded acres. In fact, it was once mistaken for the Pacific Ocean by Giovanni de Verrazzano, a 16th-century Italian explorer. […]