Author Archives: Mike Shannon

Meet Jesse Bissette

October’s Sea Trail Fishing Club’s Guest Speaker will be Jesse Bissette.

Jesse Bissette is the Marine Fisheries Commission liaison for the N.C. Department of Natural Resources Division of Marine Fisheries.

He will address the “Manditory Harvest Reporting Program”

Patricia Smith, Public Information Officer of the N.C. DNR will also be available for questions.


Jesse began his career with DMF in the Marine Recreational Information
Program — in DMF shop talk, that’s MRIP. As an MRIP creel agent, he
spent his time interviewing anglers for recreational fishing surveys up and
down the North Carolina coast. He also worked with the division’s Observer
Program before moving to Public Affairs where he was the division’s multi-
media specialist.


In his current position, Jesse supervises the Marine Fisheries Commission
Office, working closely with the commission chairman, the Division Director,
and Division staff to plan commission and advisory committee meetings.
He is also part of a Mandatory Harvest Reporting Outreach Team at the
Division. He has been visiting fishing clubs across the state to talk about
these upcoming requirements.


In his spare time, Jesse works with team of folks that run the website
NCFishes.com, an independent project dedicated to photographing all of
the various fishes found in North Carolina waters. Many of the beautiful
photographs of fish found on the Division of Marine Fisheries website were
taken by Jesse.

Background Information: North Carolina is implementing mandatory catch reporting for certain species starting December 1, 2025. Both recreational and commercial fishermen must report their harvests. Recreational anglers are required to report specific species: Red Drum, Flounder, Spotted Seatrout, Striped Bass, and Weakfish. Commercial fishermen must report all fish harvested in coastal and joint fishing waters, regardless of whether the fish are sold. The NC Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) will provide reporting methods, which are expected to include web-based tools and eventually a smartphone app, for the public to comply with this law. 

Bull Red Drum Tournament (REVISED)!

Hey Folks, The Red Drum Tournament has been extended to 4-weeks and now runs through October 19th. The excitment of catching one of these huge fish in our near-shore waters is hard to beat, so get out there and FISH!

This is a member’s-only competition and I know that some of you on this site are not members – so what better time to sign up to be on our club? Annual memberships are only $20. Heck, while you are at it, sign up fpr 2026 as well! There are a lot of exciting opportunities throughout the year. For example, if you missed Captain Tripp Hooks presentation last week, you may be a step back on rigging and tactics for catching these big drum.

If you are thinking about fishing for the ‘Big Reds’, be sure to read the “Important Guidelines” section on the “Tourney Info” page of this website. You need to know how to catch and release these fish without threatening their survival. They are the breeders of the species and their survival is critical to being able to catch keepable slot drum in the future.

Also, if you are entering the tournament, you need to know how to properly record your catch by making measuements that can be documented!

Take my advice, it is really frustrating to catch one of these nice fish and not have a way to measure it!

Club Meeting with Brewski

Steve Brewski will be the guest Speaker at the Sea Trail Fishing Club’s August Meeting to be held at the Pink Palace, Sea Trail Plantation on August 21.

Steve is an active advocate for recreational fishing in North Carolina and will present his viewpoints on the state of the sport.

Be sure to join us Thursday evening, 6:30 to 8:30 PM

Steve Brewster Biography:

I was raised in Rome, Georgia, I inherited a passion for fishing—and conservation—from my grandfather. After high school, I joined the Marine Corps and was first stationed in North Carolina in 2005, serving 10 years with deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Japan.

I caught my first New River speckled trout in 2009—a 28.5-inch fish that made me realize this was home.

Today, I run the YouTube channel  “Fishing with Brewski“ (https://www.youtube.com/@FishingwithBrewski), which started as a passion project and grew into a platform for change. I began attending NC MFC

 (https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/marine-fisheries/marine-fisheries-commission) meetings in 2015 over the flounder crisis and became committed to reform after witnessing repeated illegal activity go unpunished in our broken system.

Thursday’s Speaker is Captain Tim Disano

Thursday at 6:30 is Member’s Night for the Sea Trail Fishing Club at the Pink Palace!

Located at 295 Rice Mill Circle, Sea Trail Plantation, Sunset Beach

Members, Guests and Visitors are encouraged to attend Tim’s talk:

“All Things Redfish”

If you fish for redfish, red drum, puppy drum or bull reds on the pier, the shore, or from a watercraft of some kind, Captain Tim’s talk should be interesting to you.

Captain Disano has talked to the Club before about other subjects and always has presented an interesting discussion. He has been a local fishing guide in the Sunset Beach-Ocean Isle area for several years and knows these waters well.

Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina

CAPE FEAR CHAPTER BANQUET INVITATION

Hi Folks, If you were inspired by Stuart ‘s talk at the last Sea Trail Fishing Club Meeting, or by Laurie Thomas’ write up of the event – or even if your heart and interest is in preserving your right to fish in our coastal waters, then you might want to join CCA-NC, and if you do, there is no better time than during the Cape Fear Banquet in August!

The tickets to the banquet include an Annual membership to CCA-NC, a ticket to a great banquet, free bar, and a subscription to the award-winng TIDE magazine. There is a guest speaker at the event, live and silent auctions, and incredible raffles. I attended the event in New Bern and this is a great value! I will also volunteer to be the designated driver for the first three club members that sign on.!

Here are the details:

When: Thursday, August 14th from 6:00 to 10:00 PM

Where: The Terraces, 1826 Sir Tyler Drive, Wilmington, NC

Price: $90.00

Please CONTACT ME ASAP if you decide to go! Table Sponsorship for the Club is available if we have enough takers of this opportunity!

Contact Mike at immikeru@gmail.com or text me at 919-741-0287

Its About Fishing and Other Adventures

FACTS: Almost 60 million people went fishing last year, most of them in public waters. This is huge. It represents one-sixth of the U.S. population. In each case, there is a story to tell. Kids who went fishing for the first time with a father or grandfather (maybe even mothers these days)! Students from high school or colleges going out with their buds. People on vacation or those in fishing clubs like ours. Its easy to take those days for granted – the moments taken to stop by a lake after work, to visit a local lake, river or stream, to try to trick a fish with a lure or worm.

But public waters and access to them is not a given. Efforts are underway in House Bill HR-1 to sell off or transfer a vast areas of public lands. This item is hidden away among other parts of the bill that have recently gained exposure in the news media.

The Senate no doubt will revise the bill but at this time the other controversial items may well overshadow the potential loss of our parks, trails and wwaterways.

OPINION: Make your concerns known! If you value the future of our natural resouce recreational areas, contact your state Senators. Let them know.