Statewide NC Archives - Page 575 of 633

The author used a topwater lure to catch this big bass from a lily pad bed at Lake Phelps.

Paradise at Phelps

If you don’t live in the northeastern part of North Carolina, Washington County’s Lake Phelps may seem to be a long ride just to go fishing. […]

The resin-impregnated wooden handle of this spiral-wrapped Tracy King rod allows for greater sensitivity. “It’s like holding a rod blank,” he said.

No one knows who first described B. Everett Jordan’s largemouth bass as “swimming footballs,” but the depiction is an accurate one given the short, stocky nature of the fish that meander throughout the lake’s underwater gridiron. […]

The author gaffed and lifted Terry Heuser’s N.C. citation-size cobia, caught at Yaupon Reef, into the boat’s ice-storage compartment.

Yaupon Diner

Jerry Dilsaver

The dark shape, slowly circling the live pogy suspended beneath a balloon, suddenly whirled and streaked toward the surface. […]

Two years ago, N.C. anglers had no trouble landing striped bass in the ocean from December through February. Often N.C. boats would reach a limit of striped bass within 30 minutes. During 2007, some N.C. boats headed to Chesapeake Bay to find the fish.

Bugged by Stripers

Bob Goldstein

Theories are rampant as to what caused a major decline in N.C.’s winter striped bass fishery. North Carolina Sportsman asks some experts in this story. […]

This N.C. State University student (or fan) got a thrill by catching a 25-pound king mackerel off Bogue Banks while fishing with Capt. Jeff Cronk.

Two-Front War

Dan Kibler

It’s a terrible thing to be invaded on two fronts, especially if you’re a soldier.

However, it’s a wonderful thing if you’re a fisherman. […]

Watts, a retired Cape Fear River pilot, discovered White Lake’s fine perch fishing last year while checking out nearby Bladen Lakes State Forest Game Land.

Jerking Perch

Mike Marsh

It’s no small wonder White Lake is one of the state’s most popular tourist and pleasure boating destinations. […]

At reefs, flounders may be in the sloughs between the structure or at some of the little ledges near them. Many will be right up against the reefs, according to local guides.

Doormat Daze

Dan Kibler

Like swallows to Capistrano, flounder return to the Cape Lookout area every year. Sometime in mid-May, a few fish begin showing up near reefs and wrecks a few miles off the beach. […]

Good topwater bass lures for Lake Wylie include buzzbaits, prop baits, Zara Spooks or frog imitations. But frogs are best when tossed underneath docks or piers, not in open water.

Topwater Mark

Dan Kibler

To say Lake Wylie has undergone a tremendous transformation during the past half-dozen years isn’t to take away from the transformation it underwent about 80 years ago. […]

Specks such as these should be commonplace in the creeks of the Neuse River during June. With five straight mild winters, N.C.’s inshore trout should be growing to some prodigious sizes.

Speck-ulation

Craig Holt

Good and bad news exists for speckled trout — and anglers — in the creeks near Oriental and perhaps at other tributaries of the lower Neuse River. […]

Backlashes

The pogie battle is enjoined again

Craig Holt

With the passage of the Coastal Recreational Fishing License into law last year, only a few needed changes remain to be made in North Carolina’s saltwater management strategies — if the state is going to continue to allow a relatively few commercial netters to take a large portion of our citizens’ public resources for profit. […]