March 2014 Archives - Carolina Sportsman

A Mop Jig and trailer, in crawfish colors, is a great combination for a big March largemouth bass.

It’s March bass madness

I look forward to March like no other month on the calendar, and it has very little to do with college basketball tournaments. […]

Bass make big moves in March

Dustin Wilks

During March, anglers can expect to catch bass on both the upper and lower ends of lakes in the Carolinas. […]

The Yamamoto Chikara is designed to run true right out of the box, and the attention to details — right down to the eyes — is stunning.

Chikara crankbaits

Don Shoopman

Bass fishermen are tying on a hot product from Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits. Surprisingly, it isn’t a soft plastic like the ever-popular Senko. In fact, it’s a hard bait with an attitude. […]

Patterning allows you to learn which shotguns throw the best pattern for turkey hunting.

Turkey patterns and cleaning tips

Gordon Hutchinson

In turkey hunting, preparation is everything.
So thinking about you guys (and gals) who get all heated up over feathers in the spring, I thought I would write about patterning — and cleaning your guns. […]

Garmin’s GPSMAP 1000 series units offer the company’s best technologies in a keypad-controlled design for those who aren’t ready for touchscreens.

Garmin catches up (and then some)

Allan Tarvid

Garmin is bringing its down- and side-scanning sonar technology to the marine electronics market, calling them DownVü and SideVü. […]

Water temperature matters more to Rich Szczerbala than lure colors at Falls of Neuse, but he does like white/chartreuse and black/blue.

Colors are secondary at Falls Lake

Jason Hawkins

Former guide Richard Szczerbala said that finding the correct water temperature — 55 to 58 degrees in March — is the most-important factor in catching prespawn Falls of Neuse bass. […]

Rick Ingle points out a sunken boat, one of many treasures he’s found using side-scan technology on Lake Wateree.

Side-scanning electronics helping crappie fishermen

Terry Madewell

Ken Boone and Rick Ingle, regular fishing partners, use a side-scan graph that Boone said that has opened up a whole new underwater world for him. […]

Eric Fincher’s 89-pound blue catfish, caught Nov. 25, 2006 from Badin Lake, is the reigning state record for the species.

Badin produced state-record blue catfish

Jerry Dilsaver

North Carolina’s state-record blue catfish weighed 89 pounds and was caught in Badin Lake on Nov. 25, 2006, by Eric Fincher. It replaced an 85-pound fish that had been caught in Lake Norman in 2004. […]

Biologists expect a banner season fishing for crappie on Clarks Hill Lake because of the relatively high percentage of larger fish in the poplulation.

A banner year for Clarks Hill crappie?

Pat Robertson

This should be an excellent year for crappie numbers and size on Lake Thurmond, according to Dan Rankin, a fisheries biologist with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, which conducts annual trap-net surveys for the lake’s crappie. […]

Guide Chris Hammill concentrates on big blue catfish on several reservoirs on the Yadkin system, including Badin Lake.

Badin Lake and the Yadkin River system

Jerry Dilsaver

Badin Lake is part of the Yadkin River system that was formed by impounding sections of the river to support an aluminum-smelting plant in the town of Badin operated by Alcoa. […]