May 2014 Archives - Carolina Sportsman

The post-spawn period can produce some great bass for patient fishermen who know why fish act the way they do after bedding.

Don’t hate the postspawn

Many bass fishermen dread the time immediately after bass spawn, referred to as the “post-spawn period.” While there are challenges, there are several really good patterns that emerge. […]

Time for a herring high

Davy Hite

We have had a cold winter and a very up-and-down spring, but there’s one thing that South Carolina bass fishermen can count on this month: May is the month of the herring bite. […]

The Elite 8 has all the fish-catching qualities of the Rogue, but it’s designed to get deep quick.

Smithwick Elite 8 Suspending Rogue

Don Shoopman

It wasn’t too long ago that the Elite 8, the eight best college basketball teams in the country playing in the NCAA’s “Big Dance,” were thrilling fans and television audiences in a hopeful waltz to the Final Four and, ultimately, to the title game at the center of every bracket in the U.S. […]

There are so many choices in boat batteries — which one is right for you?

Marine batteries 101

Allan Tarvid

Learning that all batteries are not created equal can be an expensive lesson. Power your trolling motor with batteries designed to start your engine and they will last for weeks rather than years. […]

Delayed-harvest sections of the Tuckasegee River offers fly anglers some great May opportunities.

Don’t miss May’s offering

Robert Satterwhite

May is an ideal time to be on a mountain trout stream. Wildflowers are in bloom, dogwoods and rhododendron are flowering and a multitude of mayfly, caddis and stonefly hatches are coming off — more hatches than any other time of the season. […]

Guide Chris Orvin said the Santee Cooper lakes and the Santee and Cooper rivers are blue catfish hotspots this month.

If it swims, it’s biting

Terry Madewell

There are times when almost anything worth catching is biting, and May is one of those months at Santee Cooper. […]

Big, spring bluefish show up off Cape Lookout in late April or early May and will usually hang around for a month to six weeks.

Bluefish basics

Jerry Dilsaver

Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) are nearshore pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, with the exception of the northern Pacific Ocean. […]

Fishermen targeting Spanish mackerel in May often run into a cobia or two that are shadowing schools of baitfish.

Look for black submarines

Jeff Burleson

Nearshore waters fill up this month, with big pods of baitfish bringing in predators by the thousands. From bluefish to Spanish mackerel, the action can pick up in shallow-water places just outside of the breakers. […]

Aggressive cutting late in the season will often cause a turkey to shock-gobble, giving a hunter the chance to set up closer to the bird.

Two slam-dunk, late-season turkey calls

Jeff Burleson

Of all the game species with which North Carolina is blessed, wild turkeys are one of a very few that must be pulled into shooting range with a series of calls. […]

Jason Burton pays close attention to current and trolling direction, and it pays off with better catches of Spanish mackerel.

Following directions

Jeff Burleson

Catching Spanish mackerel can seem very easy during the spring and summer when fish are mauling a school of menhaden or glass minnows. […]