Volume 19 Number 5 - May 2012

FEATURES:

	A Sight for Sore Eyes Take a look this month and find Cape Lookout cobia action. Here’s how. Nothing breaks the ice for saltwater anglers seeking big fish like the spring cobia run. The fish swarm the Crystal Coast in May, with the epicenter of the action being Morehead City. While the majority of fishermen soak either live ... Mike Marsh

	Badin’s Spring Formal Despite what you might have heard, Badin Lake stripers are still alive and ready to dance. In the eyes of a striped bass fisherman, there is no more repulsive sight than to be out on the water and find the floating carcasses of your favorite quarry. Fish kills strike a variety of species for a variety of reasons, but they ... Phillip Gentry

	Banking on Billfish The Outer Banks has some of the best marlin fishing on the planet, and May is a great month for the big blue ones and the white acrobats. At the edge of the Gulf Stream, 30 miles out of Oregon Inlet, Jimmy Hillsman struggled to fit the last dolphin into the fishbox. With a limit of gaffers under their belt and the whole day ahead, Hillsman looked up at Jason Snead on the bridge and ... Ric Burnley

	Lake of the month: Lake Gaston This Roanoke River impoundment may have the region’s healthiest bass population. Lake Gaston may be the premier largemouth bass lake shared by North Carolina and Virginia. That’s a bold statement about a body of water just downstream of massive John H. Kerr Reservoir and about half its size. But ... Craig Holt

	Little Lake, Big Slabs The Tar River Reservior has produced the last two state-record white crappie. Here’s how to mine its finny riches. Lightning may not strike twice in the same place, but the old adage apparently doesn’t apply to crappie fishing. Over a period of less than four weeks two springs ago, two Nashville anglers caught state-record white crappie at the relatively small ... Mike Marsh

	The Lull Ain’t Dull Two periods of sparse gobbling each spring worry some North Carolina hunters, but one expert offers tips to tag a wild turkey. 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 ... Craig Holt

	The Spanish Armada When the ‘prince’ mackerel arrive off Little River, fishermen on both sides of the state line can have plenty of fun. 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. Dan Kibler