May 2014 Archives - Page 2 of 7 - Carolina Sportsman

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

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. […]

The length of a gobbler’s spurs are a better indication of his age than body size.

Judge a gobbler’s age in the field

Jeff Burleson

Hunters judge turkeys by a collection of characteristics, including weight, spur length, beard count and beard length. Every hunter wants to harvest an old, trophy gobbler, but, knowing a tom’s age is a tough task in the field — before and even after the kill. […]

Cobia can put a strain on tackle that’s not up to the task, but for making long casts, anglers have to give up some heft for action.

Rigging for cobia

Dan Kibler

When cobia fishing, you need to use the proper gear. But that doesn’t mean the biggest rod is best. Lighter rods allow anglers to fish all day without getting tired, and it also gives them better casting distance. […]

Cobia have mouths big enough to swallow a whole crab, so make sure your live or cut bait is big enough to really entice a big, hungry fish.

Orange you gonna use this color?

Dan Kibler

Guide Joe Ward said fishermen can get away with bright, almost unnatural colors on baits destined for a cobia’s jaw because of the gregarious nature of the fish. […]

Fishing Creek isn’t a particularly big lake, but its crappie fishing is second to none in May.

Fishing Creek Lake facts

Terry Madewell

Fishing Creek Lake is a Duke Energy reservoir on the Catawba River that was impounded in 1916. The lake has 3,431surface acres of water and 61 miles of shoreline. Full pond elevation is 417.2 feet. […]

Cobia that move into the Broad River to spawn each spring are a different sub-species from those that spawn offshore in deeper water.

Cobia facts

John Gribb

Cobia were recently added to the listing of gamefish by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, joining spot-tail bass (red drum) and speckled trout. […]

Freshwater mussels of all sorts will attract shellcrackers, which can crack open the shells of the small clams with tooth-like grinders in their throats.

The redear sunfish: nature’s perfect nutcracker

Tony Garitta

The redear sunfish, known scientifically as Lepomis microlophus and informally as bream, stumpknocker, cherry gill, rouge ear sunfish, Georgia bream and shellcracker, is a slab-sided fish with a red or orange edge along its ear flap, a characteristic that distinguishes it from other sunfish. […]

Guide Buster Rush will hook live minnows twice — once through the eyes and then out the body — to help make the bait weedless when fishing around brush.

Minnows can be the key

Terry Madewell

Guide Buster Rush of Camden said that despite the typical success he has trolling on Fishing Creek Lake, fishing minnows vertically over and into brush will often be the key to success. […]

The saltwater nature of the Broad River is one factor that may be a big reason why so many cobia move in to spawn every spring.

The Broad “Non” River

John Gribb

The Broad River is not really a river. Rivers like the Broad, May and Colleton are actually fingers of saltwater extending far inland with very little influence from freshwater influx. […]