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	Trolling for walleye May 15 at 7:00 am Trolling for walleye is a productive tactic that more resembles what southerners view as the northern style of walleye fishing. As the waters in Fontana warm through the spring and summer, walleye will move offshore to deeper drop-offs and may be in 60 to 100 feet of water. Guide Ronnie Parris said summer trolling is a great way to catch walleye, provided you can locate fish.

	Fontana walleye? Where did they come from? May 15 at 7:00 am Fontana Lake is a TVA reservoir impounded by Fontana Dam on the Little Tennessee River located in Graham and Swain counties in North Carolina. The lake forms part of the southern border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the northern border of part of the Nantahala National Forest. Depending on water levels, the lake is about 17 miles long. The eastern end is the Tuckasegee River near Bryson City. The lake has many inlets into coves and many islands formed from former mountain peaks, especially near the eastern end. As with most impounded lakes, steep banks are exposed when water levels are low. Several small towns were submerged shortly after the creation of Fontana Lake, including Proctor and Judson.

	A fisherman’s full-service dream May 15 at 7:00 am Almond Boat and RV Park is occupies an important chunk of real estate on the banks of Fontana Lake — just downstream from the junction of the Nantahala and Little Tennessee rivers.

	Southern Fried Walleye - Post-spawn walleye are a May Day staple on North Carolina’s Fontana Lake May 01 at 7:00 am Few people associate North Carolina with a fish that practically defines the word “fishing” in the Great Lakes and upper Midwest. Walleye conjure up images of an angler in a snowsuit with a heavy northern accent trolling rough, open water with crankbaits and nightcrawler harnesses from a big, closed-bow, deep- V boat. Now, picture an easy going, laid-back, slow-talking angler casting a whole nightcrawler threaded on a light jighead from a flat-decked bass boat on a warm spring afternoon, and you’ve got western North Carolina’s version of walleye fishing.

	Crappie expert feels smaller NC lakes need tighter harvest regulations April 21 at 8:16 pm 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.”

	Plinking Crappie — Get Lake Wylie slabs out from under docks March 01 at 7:00 am Slowly motoring up to a marina in the South Fork River, Mike Parrot cut the controls and eased his trolling motor into the water. A past Crappie Masters national champion from Charlotte, Parrott leaves behind his “heavy artillery” when he’s fishing for fun on home waters of Lake Wylie. Just like a big-game hunter who enjoys a day of plinking at cans, Parrott heads for the nearest set of boat docks with only a 5 ½-foot ultralight rod in hand. To catch crappie hiding under the boats and floats that are associated with a good boat dock, Parrott employs the tactic of “shooting” docks — holding the bait, typically a small crappie jig, in one hand while holding the line tight to the spool of an open bail spinning reel with the other.

	Carolina Crappie Association March 01 at 7:00 am Crappie fishing circles have seen a dwindling in size and scope of the national tournaments that used to regularly make stops in the Carolinas. North Carolina and South Carolina boast a caliber of tournament anglers that can compete with anyone in the country. The problem is, where is there to compete?

	How to shoot docks for crappie March 01 at 7:00 am The art of shooting docks is a skill no crappie angler should be without. Shooting a jig allows the angler to present a bait well back under a boat dock or other overhead structure that couldn’t otherwise be reached. Here’s a few simple steps to master the skill:

	Feeling blue - How to up your fishing success for Lake Norman catfish January 01 at 7:00 am In the 1956 motion picture, Gregory Peck portrays the character of Capt. Ahab, who relentlessly pursues the great white whale of Herman Melville's classic, "Moby Dick." The movie is an icon in the film industry and a classic tale of one man's obsession with besting a giant beast. North Carolina anglers who'd like a similar experience without all the drama could do worse than spending a day on Lake Norman with Mac Byrum, a full-time guide who spends his days relentlessly pursuing giant blue catfish that, in the cold of winter, often take on a particularly white color tone. Certainly, the size of the fish that Byrum catches is comparable to that of Captain Ahab, and Byrum himself bears a striking resemblance to Gregory Peck's character.

	The Catfish Hunters January 01 at 7:00 am Three years ago, Jake Bussolini, an author based in the Lake Norman area, solicited the assistance of guide Mac Byrum to co-author a book on the science and techniques behind catching giant catfish around the country. The resulting book “The Catfish Hunters” was published in November of 2011.

	Try the garlic chicken January 01 at 7:00 am Fishermen who target catfish are no strangers to unusual concoctions, but catfish recipes typically border on rancid — not make the angler hungry for lunch. The recipe for garlic chicken that someone gave guide Mac Byrum was different from any he had ever seen.

	Take a shot at Wylie’s early winter crappie December 23, 2012 at 5:00 pm Seasonal patterns dictate the movements of crappie, no matter which lake you are fishing. However, on many clear lakes such as Lake Wylie on the North Carolina-South Carolina border, crappie movements may be more vertical than horizontal as the seasons change. Mike Parrott, a tournament fisherman and past national crappie-fishing champion, said that a particular segment of Lake Wylie crappie takes up year-round residence around larger residential and commercial boat docks.