Last week my 24-year old grandson sent me a picture of a bass that he had just caught near his home in Missouri. The bass was nice but his smile was priceless. In addition, it was especially meaningful to me for two reasons. The first was that it was important to him to share his success with me. He grew up without an interested father and I taught him to fish in a small pond in New Bern over 20 years ago. Fishing is a great sport to share with both kids and friends. Remember that we all started somewhere and no matter our ages we should be willing to help those who are starting out. There is no greater feeling than helping someone develop a skill or knowledge and see them start to “get it. Watching a new angler succeed and feeling their excitement will remind you that it’s not always about the big fish. Do you remember why you even started in the first place?

On the other hand, never think that you know it all. That’s not possible, there’s always something to learn. Most anglers fall somewhere between a beginner and expert, but no one wants to stay there. If you want to land at the top of the leaderboard in the Club fishing tournament, or just start catching fish every single time you hit the water then you need to improve your game. How do you do that?  Here are three suggestions.

1. Talk To People. Instead of being an elitist and ignoring the guy sitting on the sand, bank, boat or dock fishing, take a few minutes and talk to them. Anglers could learn a lot in just a few minutes by asking questions. Just a few minutes of talking with them can give you the insight you need to hook up.
2. Find an Expert Mentor. Spend time on the water with a skilled angler in a purposeful way. Don’t just fish with them, observe what they do and ask questions. Most excellent anglers are more than happy to share their expertise on how they locate and catch fish. Most are happy to share details and have no secrets in that regard. In the next breath, though, they might not be willing to tell you about their secret fishing spots. That tidbit of info may be hard for them to give up. If you are in for a paid lesson, there are several very knowledgeable charter captains in the area. Don’t go out with the mindset of just coming home with some fish for the table – or that once in a life-time trophy catch. Use the experience to learn from the expert! Ask questions, look at the equipment they are using, check out the terminal tackle, etc., etc. Get your money’s worth out of the experience!
3. Join a Club. The Sea Trail Fishing Club offers many ways to improve your fishing knowledge. It is a place to meet others that may have more knowledge and experience or, maybe, just different experiences. Sharing stories and ‘hooking’ up with others of like interests is an enriching experience. The Club holds monthly meetings and invites local charter captains to share a little of the local lore. The Club also holds events and schedules charters for its members. For example, last year the Pier Fishing event allowed some members to learn about a whole different kind of angling experience – and at a discount rate! There re also other clubs in the area and many, like ours have websites that open up a whole new realm of angling opportunities.
4. Be a Mentor. Finally, become the teacher or mentor that you had when you were starting off. Once you have gained all of that hard-earned fishing knowledge, be prepared to pass it forward to others! Sometimes that is one of the most rewarding parts of the journey.

Hey Anglers – With the influx of new members to our Club and the warming climate, there have been a great number of new sign-ups for the tourney. The numbers have increased from 86 to over 112 competitors for the various fish species. More sign-ups mean that more places are awarded in each fish category! Here is a short summary of changes that have occurred on the Leader Board:

Mike Griffin posted a 19.5 inch Spanish Mackerel to a category having no previous entries. In the Flounder category there are 16 competitors, so a second place slot went to Mike Antista for a 14 inch entry. Red Drum contestants increased to 21, so Clint Morschauer jumped in at second place with a nice 26-inch catch. Speckled Trout anglers increased to 23, allowing Alan Trojan’s 22-inch catch to take 3rd place in that category.

A new first place 17-inch Sheepshead entry by Clint Morschauer knocked Larry Hershoff off the board by 3/4 of an inch. Tough luck Larry. Here’s what Clint had to say:

“It was 4/17 and I was out with Alan & Gary. Captain Tripp Hooks took us to one his spots along a stretch of docks. I think we were south of the Sunset Beach bridge. We were drifting and bottom fishing our shrimp as close to those docks as we could.  I managed a beautiful cast on a Carolina Rig to an outside corner, let it drop to the bottom where she decided to munch. We all had a great day.”

And in the Largemouth Bass category John Crespin took first place by posting a 28.5-inch catch, outdistancing Robert Levine’s 26-inch fish. I really didn’t expect Robert’s fish to be beat! Here’s John’s account of the catch:

“The fish was caught on 27 March 2023 at approx 5:43 pm in a nearby pond in Sunset Beach. I had also landed 5 other bass prior to catching the big one.  The other bass were between 2 and 5 lbs.    Equipment:  A 6′ 6″ All Star rod GT40X, a Quantum bait casting reel, with 15-lb braided line and a 3/0 Gamakatsu offset shank worm hook. I was fishing a 3/16 oz Zoom Rainbow shad fluke. I was letting the bait go to the bottom and popping it off the bottom and letting it stay in place for 3 or 4 seconds and continued this process and it was working that day.  The big bass took the bait as soon as it hit the water and the fight was on, the bass came out of the water at least three times it was a heck of a fight.  The fight took a lot out of the fish and once I landed the fish, I had to unhook it, take my measuring tape out of my back pack and attempt to keep the fish still and also attempt to take a clear picture (I took 5 pictures of the fish and it moved 4 of the 5 times) and ensuring I returned the fish back into the pond before it was too late.”

.The weather is great now and Spring has arrived! Speckled trout are starting to show up in numbers and although the number of catches may not be as great as in the Fall, there is still plenty of action. The amount of bait that trout feed on is also increasing. Count these as small mullet, mud and glass minnows and, of course, shrimp. Water temperatures are rising too and specks like ranges from 55 to 65 F. Tides also play a part in the temperature ranges. So as the tide falls and the warmer water filters out of the shallow marsh areas. In a Carolina Sportsman article (April 2021), Captain Tripp Hooks recommended fishing along the ledges of the ICW and the Calabash, Shallotte and Lockwood Folly Rivers. He targets 3 to 7 feet of water along grass lines and shell banks. Although he prefers live bait good artificial baits like slow-moving, suspending lures may also be effective. Options include Rapala X-Raps, MirrOlure 17 MRs, and the like.

From time to time we have heard that the best fishing is on the falling or outgoing tide while others have said that the incoming tide is best for one reason or another. But almost all agree that the rising or falling tide is always better than the slack or dead tide. Obviously moving water is best whether it is during the tidal movements or due to water moving out of rivers or creeks. However, there are times that the angler’s choices are limited due when the sun rises or sets, or when the wind and rain are due, or even to one’s personal schedule.

One of the most important things, reports Brian Cope in April’s issue of Carolina Sportsman, is knowing where enough water is present on either tide, and knowing how long you can fish without getting your boat stranded. But Brian also cautions against leaving your honey hole too early on the falling tide. Bait and game fish are both moving out of the shallows and in the frenzy and the predator specie will not pass up an easy meal. It may not be obvious to everyone but creeks and marsh outlets closer to open water will drain last as the tide goes out. The tide lag may be 15, 30 or even 45 minutes, so make a game plan designed to hit your hot spots at the right time and then stick to it.

On the incoming tide, the opposite is true. The closer one is to open water, the sooner hungry fish will arrive to feed on baitfish, fiddler crabs and shrimp. As the fish move into the shallows with the incoming tide it may be difficult to stay in the “zone”, so it is sometimes more successful to move with the tide. Whether the tide is incoming or outgoing, it is best to keep your eye on your depth finder!

P.S. Don’t miss this week’s Sea Trail Fishing Club meeting at the Pink Palace in the Sea Trial Community! Guest Speaker, Donald Coldwell, will give a presentation on boating safety.

You can check out this week’s Agenda on this website.

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Did you all notice Alan’s post on Facebook about the 28” trout reported by Captain Tripp? As water temperatures rise, speckled trout are aggressively hunting down meals as bait begins to hatch in spring. Wyatt Parcel of SaltStrong believes that this is one of the best times of the year to hit the water in search of your Personal Best fish.

Usually, smaller paddletails and lures are the way to go in the spring, however, “Big” is the way to target larger trout on the lookout for high-calorie, easy meals. If you see mullet leaping out of the water and running away from predators, this is an indicator to rig up a larger 5- or 6-inch paddletail and target hungry trout. During this time of year, 1/4 oz. to 3/16 oz. jigheads or weighted hooks are best because the fish are moving toward deeper pockets of water this time of year. Check out the deeper holes just off the flats or on ledges leading into a flat. Trout are ambush predators with an angled jaw designed for coming up from below and striking bait. The larger speckled trout are likely to strike your lure as it drops to the bottom rather than when you jig it to the surface.

Spring is also one of the best times of year to break out the topwater plugs because trout are more than willing to get up and after bait swimming near the surface, especially in the mornings or evenings as they slide up into the shallows to look for larger baitfish. Top water lures that have a rattle better mimic the sound of baitfish. Trout are very sight-focused hunters and will be attracted to something moving quickly that is also creating a disturbance along the surface of the water. Often, trout will continue following a lure until it decides to fully commit and strike the lure. Even if a fish pops the surface behind your topwater it is a good idea to continue working the lure because the trout may not give up easily!

Future Fishing Forecast for this week:  During the last few days we have been blasted by high winds which have made fishing difficult to impossible. Going into the week the winds are expected to die down considerably and rain is not expected to be much of a problem – so fishing should improve.  Recommendations are to fish areas at creek mouths and marsh inlets. Areas with structure (I.e. oysterbeds and docks) and protected from the winds should be the most productive. Winds in the early part of this week are expected to blow out of the S and SE, changing to the NE in the latter part of the week. As noted last week, the artificial bait of choice would be 4-inch paddle tails. But the 4-inch Z-Man Minnow has also been reported as a good choice.

One of our recent Club speakers mentioned favorite knots. I generally get by with the Uni Knot, the Double Uni knot and the Loop knot. With top water lures, a simple Uni knot suffices, but I use a Loop knot on soft plastics to allow for more action. When tying braid to leader the Double Uni knot provides good strength and a trim appearance. I use a 7/11 ratio of wraps (mono to braid) for luck.  The FG knot is said to be stronger and more streamlined than the Double Uni but it is a little harder to tie for me. Still there is a good video that is intended to make it simpler.  (See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPTzkep9xlI)

 Below are some of the best visual guides that I have found for learning these knots.