Top Story - May 14, 2012

The Lull Ain’t Dull
Dates for North Carolina’s spring turkey season are set to ensure that the first peak of the breeding (and gobbling) is finished before hunters are in the woods. Being enraptured by the pursuit of wild turkeys is akin to enslavement by alcohol, cocaine, tobacco, gambling, golf or strange women.

The main advantage turkey hunting has over these other activities is it isn’t quite as hurtful to the pocketbook, although with the price of gasoline lifting off like a Saturn V rocket, it might put a ballpark-figure dent in one’s pocketbook.

Other benefits are that if successful, a gobbler chaser’s reputation will soar among his buddies, plus, a wild bird provides an unmatched feast for the palate compared to bland, grocery-store-bought butterballs.
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Columns

Lunker Lines
By David Fritts
One speed fits all?
Posted April 01 at 7:00 am

Hot Wire

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is considering a proposal to expand youth-only turkey hunting from one to six days. Commission considers expanding youth turkey-hunting opportunities  -  The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will take to its July 5 meeting in Raleigh several proposals for changes to the spring wild-turkey season, including a week-long youth season and allowing hunters to take their 2-bird season limit on a single day.
Doug Parsons of Clinton served on the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission from 2002 to 2012. Parsons resigns spot on N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission  - W. Doug Parsons of Clinton, a member of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission since 2002, resigned on May 3 after his appointment as a district court judge.
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission plans to allow hunters to take wild hogs and coyotes at night, with lights, on public lands. Commission moves toward opening more opportunities to take hogs, coyotes  - The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission took a step toward implementing a rule Thursday that allows for the taking of coyotes and feral swine by hunting on private lands at night with a light. The rule would also allow the hunting of feral swine and coyotes on public lands from ½ hour after sunset to ½ before sunrise with a light by permit only. Night hunting is one means of controlling localized populations of coyotes and feral swine, both of which are non-native to North Carolina and destructive to the landscape.
A happy angler displays a Hatteras bluefish he caught April 30 at Bogue Inlet Pier. Chopper blues appear at central N.C. coast  - Three years ago Hatteras (chopper) bluefish once again began appearing at North Carolina central coast venues. Thirty years ago these large toothy creatures made dependable October and November appearances at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, most prominently at Ocracoke Island. Anglers would catch them by the truckloads, wastefully stacking them like cordwood on the Ocracoke beaches (they’re not very tasty but fight like a shark). And they’d hit any kind of lure from Hopkins to, famously, a strip of flannel shirt impaled on a J-hook.

Must Read

The Spanish Armada
When the ‘prince’ mackerel arrive off Little River, fishermen on both sides of the state line can have plenty of fun.
With fuel prices so high, more and more fishermen are choosing to stay closer to port.It’s a long run from Little River Inlet to the bluewater where the tuna, dolphin, wahoo and billfish swim, and with fuel prices moving into the $4 neighborhood, you can’t blame a lot of fishermen for choosing to stay closer to port. Capt. David Cutler doesn’t have to be convinced that he saves money by sticking close to his home port of Little River along the South Carolina-North Carolina border. In fact, it’s like B’rer Rabbit and the briar patch. Tell him to stay within a few miles of the beach, and he’s right at home – especially this month, when Spanish mackerel invade the waters close to the state line.

Cutler, of Low Country Fishing Charters in Little River, is perfectly happy to mine the tremendous fishery for Spanish that cranks up and will last for the better part of two months, all within a couple of miles from the shoreline, within sight of the high-rises along Grand Strand beaches.

Cutler and Capt. Ed Elliott of Lucky Strike Charters in Little River, are happy to fill their parties’ coolers with tasty Spanish whenever the opportunity presents itself. And that can mean great fishing through June until the real heat of the summer arrives and slows down just about everything with fins.

"They should be here around the end of April; they should show up...

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