Volume 15 Number 12 - December 2008

FEATURES:

	Blizzard of Ducks Belly up to the sand bars of Pamlico Sound for fast wing-shooting at redheads, brant and pintails this winter. When the weather turns ugly, head to the Outer Banks for North Carolina’s premier duck hunting. ... Phillip Gentry

	Blue Lips for Bluefish Morehead City anglers risk freezing weather to catch chopper blues. By December many anglers have given up fishing inlets, bars and artificial reefs. They think cold weather means schooling fish have gone south or to the Gulf Stream to find warmer havens. ... Mike Marsh

	Bump in the Night Masonboro is a prime spot to find monster spotted seatrout during the dark days of winter. It’s easy to tell when the speckled trout are biting at Masonboro Inlet. All you have to do is take a look at the boats lined up along the jetties, their anchor ropes pointing out the average direction of friction against the boat hull battled to a ... Mike Marsh

	Late Buck Luck A few simple steps may fool ol’ Mossy Horns in December. Deer are a naturally suspicious lot by nature. ... Terry Madewell

	Mystery Buck The secondary rut was the key factor in this Guilford teen downing N.C.’s No. 3 non-typical. During 2006’s deer season, the best non-typical buck taken by a North Carolina gun hunter was Tommy Ayers’ 172 3/8-inch monster from Stokes County — or so everyone thought at the 2007 Dixie Deer Classic. ... Craig Holt

	The Great Grouper Grope Even though N.C. anglers have few problems catching bottomfish, the SAFMC says they’re overfished. And that means changes are coming. Bait thieves had been pecking at a big chunk of bait that Capt. Mike Webb had positioned beside a rock ledge about 95 feet below the anchored Pelagic Too when they suddenly stopped, indicated by a motionless rod tip. ... Jerry Dilsaver