October 2015 Archives - Carolina Sportsman

Paddlers can pile all kinds of stuff into their kayaks, but an emergency signalling device, food and water, and a knife are have-to-have items.

The stuff we really need

Let’s face it. Kayakers are on par with just about anyone when it comes to “stuff”. The late George Carlin did a comedy routine about stuff; it was spot on. […]

Bass are much more active during the fall when temperatures are dropping than in early spring.

Jerk a knot in him – follow this expert’s tips on jerkbait fishing in the fall

Davy Hite

When you talk to bass fishermen about fishing a jerkbait, they talk about the early spring, prespawn period when the water is cold. […]

Stanley’s Ribbit Runt

Don Shoopman

Ann Thomasson Wilson knows a good artificial lure when she sees one. […]

Modern fish finders offer nearly photographic images of what’s under your boat, but if you are letting the computer decide what it shows, you aren’t getting everything out of your investment.

High-tech developments haven’t changed sonar basics

Allan Tarvid

Current-generation sonar units show the underwater world with a level of realism fishermen could only dream of 30 or 40 years ago. […]

The author shows off the kind of king mackerel that fishermen expect to catch off Oak Island in the fall.

Fall kings make U.S. Open wide open

Jerry Dilsaver

North Carolina has two migratory groups of king mackerel, scomberomorus cavalla, one considered an offshore group that moves to the warm waters near the beach in spring, summer and fall and then retreats to warmer offshore waters near the Gulf Stream during the winter, and the coastal migrators that migrate up an down the coast, from Florida to Virginia related to water temperature and abundance and absence of forage fish for food. […]

Gunsmith Mark Sloan examines a powder measure, a tool that has largely been replaced by cylindrical powder pellets.

Modern tools of an old trade

Phillip Gentry

Black-powder hunters used to be burdened with carrying all types of gear into the field for the inevitable misfire and cleaning. […]

Roger Metz and his daughter, Jordan, got revenge on this Chester County buck with a flintlock muzzleloader in 2005 after it rammed his brother, Paul.

Adventures in black powder

Phillip Gentry

Among his many talents, Roger Metz is a great storyteller. He tells this story of a black-powder 2005 deer hunt in Chester County. It has a happy ending for everyone except the deer — and Metz’s brother, Paul. […]

When shrimp leave inshore waters in the fall, artificial lures will begin to outfish live baits for trout.

Lures often outfish live bait during fall

Craig Holt

Although a live shrimp under a popping cork is probably the best bait for speckled trout from May through September, most shrimp leave North Carolina’s inland waters after the first big fall cold fronts. […]

Proper planting equipment can produce better crop yields in food plots because of the machinery’s effectiveness.

Specialized planting equipment equals more-productive stands

Jeff Burleson

Deer hunters looking for a way to increase the availability of food on their land without spending enormous amounts of time and money on corn and sweet potatoes can start a food- plot program, and it doesn’t have to be real expensive, either. […]

Tying on lures with a loop knot (see diagram below) allows them to produce maximum action.

Loop knot creates more action

Craig Holt

Many anglers have been fishing with someone, casting identical lures, with one angler catching fish and the other catching nothing. […]