Fishing News and Information

	Swarm mentality - Mountain Island lake bream fishing takes off with the mayflies of May Why bluegills? Mayfly carcasses are everywhere. Boat docks and piers are plastered with dead insects. Boats and tarps are covered with them. Carcasses are everywhere — except on the water. Why none on the water? Those that expired over water got gobbled up by foraging bluegills, one of those species of small sunfish widely known as bream. MORE ...

	Bald Head Brawl - The extensive marshes north of North Carolina’s Baldhead Island offer great inshore fishing in the spring The small schools of minnows, swept down the little marsh creek on the falling tide, seemed to get nervous as it crossed a spot just a few yards inside the creek’s mouth. The baitfish knew they were being forced by the receding waters to leave the safety of the deep marsh behind Bald Head Island, and they were moving quickly. But at this one spot where the grass kicked out into the creek a little, every one made a quick dart as if something had spooked them. As guides Rick Bennett and Stu Caulder watched another group of the minnows being pushed out the creek by the tide, the water erupted — a big splash right in the middle of the school of minnows — then the water calmed, and in just a few seconds, it was as if nothing had happened. MORE ...

	Get The Point - ‘The Point’ off North Carolina’s Outer Banks is a bigeye tuna hotspot in May Bigeye tuna occupy the offshore waters off North Carolina’s Outer Banks from spring through the summer, but most of the action is from the second week in May through June. About once every 10 years, large numbers of bigeyes show up all in the same place, with every boat for miles fishing for them and every boat having frequent hook-ups. The numbers are enormous. Bigeyes are bigger than yellowfin tuna and smaller than bluefins. They will school with other tunas including yellowfin, true albacore and skipjack, and with non-tunas like wahoo. Although bigeyes average 100 pounds — twice the size of yellowfins — you can quickly tell the stubby, fat bigeyes during a multi-strike blitz; they charge off straight away on the surface rather than diving. MORE ...

	Cover Flounder and a handful of other inshore fish will make a big appearance in the Bald Head Island marshes this month, while bream are ganging up on the mayflies hatching at Mountain Island Lake. MORE ...

	Cover Flounder and a handful of other inshore fish will make a big appearance in the Bald Head Island marshes this month, while bream are ganging up on the mayflies hatching at Mountain Island Lake. MORE ...

	Roanoke striper fishing is a month of "fishing heaven" according to guide For 325 days, there’s nothing special about the Roanoke River. At least that’s the opinion of Rod Thomas of Capt. Ponytail Guide Service. It’s those 30 days from April 10 to May 20 that make it, according to Thomas, “the crown jewel of river fishing in North Carolina.” MORE ...

	The Matrix Shad There are sound reasons behind the growing success of one of the hottest soft plastics for saltwater and, even, freshwater fish. MORE ...

	Puppy drum cruising in flooded marsh grass between Ocean Isle, Sunset Beach Capt. Mark Stacy of Ocean Isle Fishing Charters said inshore fish have finally settled in to a spring pattern – despite the rapid-fire cold fronts that have been breaking them up and keeping fish and fishermen confused. “Our inside water had warmed to 68 degrees a week ago, and things were looking almost too good,” Stacy said. “These cold fronts have dropped the water back into the low 60s, but it is warming again, just a little slower this time. It bothers the fish for at least a day, but once the sun comes back out, they gradually start biting again and in a few days are going good if the weather allows.” Stacy said the fishing was surprisingly good considering. He is catching lots of red drum and black drum, a few speckled trout and the first of the flounder are biting too. He said the fish know it’s time to be moving and be hungry. MORE ...

	Lake Hickory bass spawn is in full swing; bigger fish in upper end Get 'em while they're hot! That’s the message from bass pro Tracy Adams of Wilkesboro after a couple of days on the water this week catching bass on Lake Hickory. “We’ve got a big wave of bass ready to go (spawn). Oh, boy, the next few days ought to be something,” said Adams, a two-time Bassmasters Classic qualifier who two excellent days on the water sight-fishing for bedding bass on Hickory. On Tuesday, he took Matt Cashion of Cashion rods, one of his major sponsors, and they caught a dozen or so keepers on the lower end of the lake, most of them in the 2 ½- to 3-pound range, but one a 6-pounder. On Thursday, he started on the lower end, then moved to the upper end, where he caught three 5-pounders to go with another dozen keepers. His 5-fish limit for the day: around 22 pounds. MORE ...

	Maiden fishermen win at Falls of Neuse with heavy bag. The 99 teams in the April 20 Carolinas Bass Challenge N.C. Division tournament knew they would need a stringer of 20 pounds or more if they wanted to take the top prize at Falls of the Neuse Lake. For the past two weeks, 20-pound stringers have been brought to the scales with startling frequency in other tournaments on the Raleigh-Durham area lake. Four teams wound up reaching the coveted 20-pound mark, despite a cold front and high winds. Gerald Williams and David Williams of Maiden topped the field with 21.62 pounds, a haul anchored with a 6.42-pound bass. The two anglers received $8,000. MORE ...

	Roanoke River striper action centered on Halifax area this week The striped bass spawn at the upper Roanoke River is two or three weeks away from hitting its full stride, but anglers already are catching fish. “We’ve been having half-day trips where we’ve caught 20 to 50 stripers,” said Richard Andrews of Tar-Pam Guide Service, one of several saltwater guides who spends April and May inland on the Roanoke. According to Andrews, most anglers are fishing from below the Weldon ramp downstream about eight miles to the town of Halifax. “The dominant (size) right now is 16- to 18-inch fish, but we’re catching plenty of 19- to 22-inch fish,” he said. “We’re also catching a few slot fish in the 22- to 27-inch range.” MORE ...

	Crappie expert feels smaller NC lakes need tighter harvest regulations If the face of crappie fishing in the Tarheel State had a face, it would bear a striking resemblance to Ed Duke of Concord, who, as founder of the Southern Crappie Association and its tournament series, has been a major player in the state’s crappie fishing community for over 20 years. Through the years, Duke said he’s seeing an alarming trend occurring on many of his beloved lakes, particularly smaller impoundments such as Blewett Falls, northwest of Rockingham. “For years, Blewett Falls was the premier, unnoticed fishing lake in the Carolinas. It is a small, 3,200-acre reservoir where, if you ever wanted to catch a 3-pound crappie and possibly a 4-pound crappie, that was the lake to fish,” said Duke, who believes part of the problem is smaller reservoirs can’t withstand the fishing pressure they can receive. “It’s nobody’s fault,” said Duke. “With today’s modern technology – the information highway, all these different web sites and chat rooms – as soon as the fish start biting in one location, the next day there’s a crowd.” MORE ...