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A most memorable Memorial Day Weekend

Story and Photo by Mark Browning Every year my family and I head down to the Dockside Inn and Resort …

Fishing North Carolina in July

North Carolina has many possibilities to consider when choosing a place to go fishing in July. Reflecting on this I consider the first time I remember going fishing. It reminds me that fishing can be as simple or complicated as we make it. There are many small ponds, streams, or creeks in North Carolina that offer a variety of fish to catch including bream, catfish, bass, crappie, trout, perch, and walleye. We can catch these fish in these waters from the shoreline using a cane pole with a string and hook tied to the end of it. Crickets, worms, grubs, or caterpillars are easy baits to find and capture to bait these hooks. This simple way of fishing is often the first fishing memory for many of us.

Drop It Like It’s Hot

Over the last decade, drop-shot or down-shot fishing has proven itself time and again as one of the most effective ways to target finicky fish. Especially during the summer and winter months, when bass are deep and packed tightly on open-water structure, the finesse approach of a drop shot may be the best way to consistently catch difficult fish.

Double Duty

A harbor is a place for marine vessels to find shelter from rough seas. They are usually man-made by the construction of rock jetties, and contain mooring fields, shipping or fishing piers, and boat launches. Harbors often consist of a mud or sand bottoms and are usually fed by rivers or estuaries that attract many different species of fish, such as alewives, mackerel, squid, flounder, and striped bass. But boats and fish aren’t the only thing attracted to harbors: anglers are equally attracted because of the fish-catching potential. Harbors are virtual gold mines when it comes to fishing.

Summer Lake Fishing in New Hampshire

Lake fishing in July in New England is like fishing in March in Florida. Our weather brings hot, steamy days of 80 plus degrees with little wind and some humidity. The waters of our lakes will reach the high 70's to the low 80's and the bass, crappies and pickerel will head to the shade of the Lilly Pads.

Species of the Month: Striped Bass

Striped bass are an anadromous species native to the Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico but have been introduced to the Pacific and numerous freshwater bodies of water, particularly in the South and Mid-west. Striped bass spend their adult lives in saltwater but move into freshwater systems to spawn. When it was discovered that they could survive and adapt to freshwater bodies many wildlife management agencies began stocking the species in reservoirs for recreational purposes and to control baitfish populations that boomed under these man-made conditions. Few freshwater systems are conducive to successful striper spawns; annual stocking is required to maintain these populations.

PICK UP THE GAUNTLET

Fishermen tend to trip and stumble in a rut. Their focus appears to lock in on a limited number of species working the same spots outing after outing and relying on the same basic tackle and bait. Call it a comfort zone in which they eventually become proficient. The thought of expanding their horizons in terms of tackle used or additional species sought seldom motivates them to pick up the gauntlet of other challenges.

The Adventure

When you get to Cabo all you can think about is those monster marlin. It’s 5:30 in the morning. Charles, my son and I are heading to the boat where our crew is waiting for us. The fleet name is SINDICATE SPORTTFISHING. My crew is very professional. The captain is Angel and the first mate is Julio. We picked up ten live bait fish and off we went. We put out the outriggers with two big Griz skirted lures, one red and black and the other bright green and yellow. Then we set the two inside lures. One was blue with a white belly and the other squid color. In the shot gun long line we put a dead bait fish. Now we were ready. It was Charles’ turn. Charles has been wanting a marlin over 500 lbs for a long time, but remember, he is only fifteen.

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508-Pound Blue Tops Emerald Coast Marlin Tourney

The 22nd Annual Emerald Coast Blue Marlin Classic (ECBC), held at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort from June 19-23, featured a total payout of $849,200 and a top prize of $95,040 for the tournament’s heaviest blue marlin—a 508.6-pounder battled in by Paul McMullen aboard Just The Tip.

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2024 BASTILLE DAY KINGFISH TOURNAMENT

Stretching 500 miles across the northern side of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Trench is the deepest in the Atlantic Ocean.

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Why Try Technical Diving?

Tec diving is obstacle-ridden and humbling, but can reignite a fading passion. It can leave you with a sense of accomplishment and a refined set of diving skills. It grants access to depths beyond recreational limits, where lesser-known shipwrecks and deep reefs lie, waiting to be explored.

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