NC Angler Fishing Articles

How to Build Your Own Cricket Trap

How to Build Your Own Cricket Trap
By Albert McBee

When I was a kid, my father would choose a weekend for a catfishing trip to Lake Texoma, giving me ample notice to catch lots of trotline bait. The pond I liked to get bait from was full of black perch and bluegill from 3 inches to 3/4 pound each. They liked crickets. Lots of crickets.

It took me an hour after dark to chase and catch a dozen crickets to fish with the following morning. Then the perch ate them so fast that I ran out wi... [Read More]

The Majik Drum Rig

What is the purpose of the short leader drum rig with circle hook? That is a legitimate question some of you may have asked. In an effort to save our big red drum, so the spawning stock can increase, the Division of Marine Fisheries closed the season on taking any red drum over 27” in length a few years ago. Since there was an extensive fishery operating in Pamlico Sound on large fish over 27” it became apparent that status q... [Read More]

Spanish Mackerel On Live Bait

From late summer through the fall, the Spanish mackerel is one of the most reliable game fish along most of our coast. From the beach, Stingsilvers and small Hopkins spoons are the lures of choice. Pier fishermen swear by Gotcha plugs with gold hooks. Small private boats and large charter vessels alike spend countless hours trolling gold and silver spoons.

Live bait is another way to target Spanish mackerel, especially the big on... [Read More]

How to Upload and/or Attach Pictures

Step 1: Log in with your username/password in either the Home, Forums, Photos or Classifieds section of the site. Click the navigation bar link to the "Photos" gallery page. Look in the upper right hand menu bar and you'll see the option to "Upload Photos". Select it.
Step 2: You have the option of choosing a category where you want to post the photo. It will automatically also b... [Read More]

The Red Drum...North Carolina's State Fish

When Capt. Owen Lupton and young Rick Cayton caught the first tarpon on a rod and reel in the deeper waters of Pamlico Sound in 1976, a new fishery was created for Pamlico County anglers. The heavy, 20-40 pound gear reserved for offshore excursions through Ocracoke Inlet proved ideal for the newfound tarpon fishing. In the subsequent years, a few local anglers spent thousands of hours battling mosquitoes, dodgi... [Read More]

A 300-Year-Old Bath - A North Carolina Vacation Into History

Rampaging Indians, yellow fever, pirates and drought would be enough to put most towns out of business. Bath – North Carolina’s first incorporated town – celebrates its tenacity in 2005, the town’s 300th anniversary.

Europeans settled on the banks of the Pamlico River in the 1690s, drawn by the access provided by the river and the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean, just 50 miles way. But Indians had lived here for centuries before these French Protestant colonists moved in from Virginia.

... [Read More]

Crossing the Line(s), North Carolina Estuarine Striped Bass.

North Carolina’s Department of Marine Fisheries (DMF) and Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC) have established a complex management system to maintain a massive number of resident striped bass in the Albemarle/Pamlico Sound and Roanoke River. Once reduced to numbers small enough to make recreation fishing hardly worth the effort, “line siders” have now become the shining star of the Tar Heel State’s spring recreational fishery. Achiev... [Read More]

Kayak Fishing: Get To Where the Fish Are

Kayak Fishing: Get To Where the Fish Are
By Scott Hamilton

"I keep my eyes clear and I hit 'em where they ain't." This was baseball’s Willie Keeler's famous explanation for his .432 average in 1897. This applies well for baseball, but not fishing. To be successful, you need to be able to get where the fish are, not be “where they ain’t” and a great way to accomplish this to use a kayak.

As a child, I sat on the bank of many a river and many a small lake with my grandpa trying to catch ... [Read More]

Surf Fishing the Outer Banks of North Carolina

My first experience surf fishing was with my father on Wrightsville Beach, NC in the 60's. He parked our shiny black Ford Fairlane in a gravel parking lot off the beach and we hiked over the dunes to the surf, carrying rods, buckets, tackle box and various other fishing paraphernalia. I remember him catching bluefish, croakers, puppy drum and flounder as I played in the tidal pools nearby. Later, my grandmother would fry the... [Read More]

Fishing for Striped Bass on the Roanoke River

Restoration of the Albemarle Sound/Roanoke River striped bass population has resulted in a world-class fishery enjoyed by thousands of anglers each year. Each spring, beginning in March, striped bass in Albemarle Sound begin their spawning migration up the Roanoke River. The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission opens a limited striped bass harvest season on the Roanoke River for anglers who enjoy turning their catches into delicious table fare. Timing of the striped bass harvest season, along wi

... [Read More]

Pompano Profits

It’s a common joke that fishermen spend more dollars per-pound on their catch than any market could possibly charge. But if there is one species that might put your ledger into the black, it’s the pompano. These fish — which carry the highest market price in the country — are right now feeding in the surf zone from the Outer Banks south, and the best time to catch them is through the first two weeks of October.

A close cousin to jacks, the Flor... [Read More]

Kayak Fishing

Gone are the days when most fishing sports and activities require boats; though there are still some who prefer the traditional boating experience, many have switched to the use of kayaks. Bringing your fishing experience to new and diverse levels, kayak fishing will enable you to reach certain environs that would have been impossible with large boats. You can even paddle into shallow waters such as flats.

Kayak fishing has gained worldwide popularity; especially for those who like the sereni... [Read More]

North Carolina's Pamlico Slam

The mechanical voice of NOAA came across the air ways, “Winds east northeast twenty to twenty five knots for tomorrow.” I dialed the phone to break the bad news to a couple of anglers who had been waiting for six months to tangle with a little tunny at Cape Lookout.

“I know you all came to fish Harkers for albacore,” I said, “but its going to be blowing pretty hard tomorrow. We could give it a try, but if there’s more east than north in the... [Read More]

3 Color Combinations That Drive Fish Wild and Can Help You to Catch Your Limit

The most successful fishing lures seem to imitate natural forage either in size, color, action, sounds or a combination of these. Some color schemes may also promote visibility by providing contrast to existing visual conditions that the fish (not you) have. This may help explain why seemingly “strange” or “unorthodox” color combinations catch fish. We don’t see what the fish see.... [Read More]

Want To Make An Inexpensive Fish Attracting Lure? Try the CD Flash!

What is free and can also serve as an effective fishing lure? Simple; compact discs (CD’s). Whether from AOL, or any other source, a CD comes with at least one highly mirrored surface that easily attracts fish eyes. If you haven’t noticed already, a CD is flexible, plastic and can easily be cut with a pair of scissors. You can create a shape like a fish, long diamond, triangle,“V”, or any shap... [Read More]

How do I participate in the Forums?

If you are new to online Forums then some of the terminology may be confusing and you many not know where to begin to participate in the forums. Our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section is a great resource for learning more about:

• User Maintenance
• General Forum Usage
• Reading and Posting Messages

Just click on one of those links to learn more, but here is a quick primer on participating in our forums.

Definitions:
Category - A group of discussion <... [Read More]

Fly Fishing Flies - The Difference Between Different Types of Flies

If you go into any fishing tackle shop, you will find a plethora of fly fishing flies. In fact, you might find that the shop has an overwhelming amount of fly fishing flies. It can be hard to know where to even start looking, let alone how to know which flies to buy.

To help you out, here are some basic descriptions of some of the major types of fly fishing flies:

Wet Fly Fishing flies

The flies are supposed to resemble certain insects as they would look beneath the surface of the... [Read More]

Solar Lunar Tables....What is the Theory?

In 1926 John Alden Knight* postulated some folk lore he picked up in Florida and proceeded to attempt a refinement, giving it the name Solunar (Sol for sun and Lunar for moon). Knight compiled a list of 33 factors which influence or control day-to-day behavior of fresh and salt-water fish. Everything was taken into account that could possibly have any bearing on the matter.

One by one the factors were examined and rejected. Three of them, however, merited further examination. They were sun, m... [Read More]

Night Fishing for Specks - Go on Top When the Bite Slows

Night feeding speckled trout chasing live shrimp skipping across the surface are exciting to watch and are usually easy to catch. At times their numbers can be quite large and their rapid popping and slurping while feeding can make the water appear as if someone is repeatedly tossing in handfuls of gravel.

Typically, plastic bait tails or double rigged jigs/worms are the number one choice of most n... [Read More]

Trolling - Methods, Gear and Baits

The fact that fish will strike at moving objects has been known to man since the dawn of time. Evidence of this has been found throughout the world. Polynesians troll pearl shell jigs with tortoise-shell hooks from paddle canoes. Other races trolled from a variety of sail and oar propelled vessels, long before the advent of the motor. Now anglers can troll at various speeds and to depths of up to 60 fathoms with long lines... [Read More]

Maximizing Catfish and Carp Baits - Simulating Ingredients

Do you have a problem with your present fishing bait or recipe? Some catfish and carp baits are very limited in their attraction and catch results, due to their high proportion of insoluble ingredients. It is in fact, the soluble proportion which truly stimulates the fish most effectively into eating your bait and getting hooked!

For example, you may have a very basic homemade bait which catches a few fish, perhaps a chicken meal based bait with added garlic and honey, bound together by semo... [Read More]

Making custom freshwater baits

As my handle (Luremaker) goes, I make custom freshwater spinner baits, buzz baits, bass jigs, and have my own store line of soft plastics and crankbaits.

The make up of a spinner bait consists of basically three parts:

1. the body or head
2. the blade or blades
3. skirt

Now here is where the fun comes (as I call it) or the confusion, the matching of blades to the heads. There is the Colorado, Willow, Indiana, Tomahawk and the Deep Cup Colorado. The Colorado a... [Read More]

Black Pearl Cast Net Throwing Instructions

Throwing Cast Nets 6ft and Larger

We will be using cast net throwing instructions for being right handed, which is throwing from left to right in a clockwise fashion.

1. Place the handline loop around your left wrist, coil your handline (approximately 20-30 ft in length) in your left hand, then grab the net at approx. 12" below the horn.
   
2. Again, with your left hand, grab approximately the middle of the net so that you will have the net looping in a circle type shape and it being doubled

... [Read More]

Albemarle Striped Bass

The Albemarle-Roanoke estuarine stripers live in a vast area of water during the course of the year. Their wintering grounds are directly to the west of the Northern Outer Banks of North Carolina. Such famous beach towns as Nags Head and Kitty Hawk are a stones through away from outstanding fishing. Although boat anglers have an advantage over wade fisherman, shore anglers do stand a reasonable chance to get into fine striper fishing... [Read More]

Snag Proof Frogs - Baits That Catch Big Bass!

It was the late 1950s and Harry Ehlers, an avid fisherman and advertising executive at Solo Marx (better known as Totes, makers of rubber rain boots) observed a boot mold being dipped into plastic. He had the idea to create a fishing lure using the same method. As with many fishing lure businesses, Snag Proof started over the kitchen stove. Mr. Ehlers combined his knowledge gleaned from working at Totes Rubber Company with his love for fishing and created a soft, hollow-bodied frog lure for... [Read More]