Southeast NC Archives - Page 81 of 117

Smaller black drum can often be found in pods or schools during the winter, in part because the amount of available habitat is smaller.

Chumming can be very effective

For most inshore fishing, anglers locate and then cast to them. Offshore, anglers fish areas where the fish should be and will frequently deploy chum to get the fish focused on the angler’s baits or lures. […]

Black drum are very tolerant of cold-water conditions, even when the majority of forage has left inshore waters.

Look for jumbos closer to ocean

Jeff Burleson

Fishing for black drum over the winter is a staple activity for anglers living along the coast, but many of the big schools of fish are filled with either sub-adults or young adults that will weigh between 2 to 15 pounds. […]

Big, bull black drum are more likely to be caught closer to or in the ocean because of their love for waters with a higher salinity level.

Beat the black drum slowly – The waters of lower Brunswick County will be filled with hungry black drum throughout the winter

Jeff Burleson

February is the coldest month, and most North Carolina fishermen are either dreaming on the couch or gliding stealthily across a narrow lens of saltwater with a school of red drum in their sights. […]

Mark Stacy of Ocean Isle has been catching red drum and trout when he can find clean water.

Find clean water and find reds, specks in lower Brunswick County waters

Jerry Dilsaver

Capt. Mark Stacy of Ocean Isle Fishing Charters said there are some schools and scattered redfish and speckled trout biting in the marshes and creeks between the Shallotte River and the South Carolina state line, despite plenty of dirty, discolored water from runoff. […]

Guide Stu Caulder (right) has had to move from the Cape Fear to the Northeast Cape Fear River to catch stripers because of a lot of cold, dirty water in the bigger river.

Cold, muddy water has moved Cape Fear stripers to Northeast Cape Fear

Jerry Dilsaver

Stripers moving up the Cape Fear River into the Wilmington area have made a bit of a detour, thanks to cold, dirty runoff, and they’re being caught in the Northeast Cape Fear, according to Stuart Caulder of Gold Leader Fishing. […]

Mike Martin of Southport caught this nice speckled trout fishing with Capt. Butch Foster.

Clean water with little current has been equation for good Southport trout, reds

Jerry Dilsaver

Finding clear and fairly still water has been the ticket for redfish, speckled trout and an occasional black drum the past two weeks, according to Capt. Butch Foster of Yeah Right Charters in Southport. […]

Prescribed burning of stands of pines is a primary tool for managing wildlife habitat, including quail.

Recipe for quail-habitat management is complicated

Mike Marsh

John Henry Harrelson, a biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, helps coordinate the Columbus County Quail Co-Op’s habitat-management efforts. […]

This prime quail habitat was created by the excavation of an irrigation pond because the area could not easily be farmed and became overgrown by all kinds of vegetation.

Wastelands are not wasted on quail

Mike Marsh

The excavation of an irrigation pond created some prime quail habitat. The spoil from the pond excavation became a mound at the water’s edge, creating an area that farming equipment cannot easily enter. […]

South of Cape Hatteras, fishermen like Rube McMullan are allowed five black sea bass per day, with a 13-inch size minimum.

Black sea bass rules and regulations

Chris Burrows

Brunswick County anglers are fishing the South Atlantic stock of black sea bass, regardless of where that fish came from or is going. Black sea bass have been divided into three different stocks, the Mid-Atlantic, the South Atlantic, and the Gulf of Mexico. […]