Headhunter Outdoors Report

 Hi folks, Capt. David here with this weeks outdoors report. The water is cooling off fast but the fish are still biting. The waterway and sound are still full of Reds and the specks are biting too. Howards creek is a usual hotspot as well as Topsail creek. The swing bridge will always have some nice Trout hanging around this time of the year. The reds are still cruising the banks and flats in search of anything they can fit in their mouth. The surf is a good place to fish now with some good Reds and some nice Black drum being caught. If you can find a slough along the beach that will usual hold a fish or two. This is the time of the year when a monster Red drum is possible in the surf! The Inlet bars seem to be the hotspots now and if you can get to Lea island, it’s always hot! Some Flounder are still around but they are getting scarce.

 Folks, if you are new to saltwater fish and want to learn to fish the best advise I can give you is to spend the offseason going to fishing shows and seminars. You could also charter a local guide in the spring or next summer to teach you the waters and the best way to catch fish. We are lucky to have some of the best inshore guides on the coast here at Topsail. Any of the local bait and tackle shops can give you the number of a top-notch guide. All these guys have years of experience and can show you a good time. Remember that the 2 things charter guides can’t control is the weather and the fish, but they can usually find a few hungry fish even on a bad day. All the local guides that I know will flat work their butts off to make sure you have a good time too. Hey folks, they know where the sand bars are too. Heh Heh Heh! Give them a call early and get on the calender before the season gets in full swing because most of us are booked a couple of weeks or more in advance during the summer.

 On the hunting side, Duck season is out till December 13th and stays in till January 24th. They have reduced the Bluebill or Scaup to 1 per day till Jan.2 then you get 2 per day. Boys and girls some of the regulations can be kind of confusing even to me so I would suggest that you check out the Wildlife Resources Commision at www.ncwildlife.org to check the regs out for yourself. Game wardens don’t like the, I didn’t know!, excuse. Deer season is still in and some nice deer are being taken around here. How about sending us your pics! We’ll make you famous.

 I got to tell you folks about my Thanksgiving morning duck hunt. Leon Phelps and myself went hunting and we took my big white lab, Scooter. Well he just turned 3 and will retrieve anything but he just hadn’t got the duck hunting thing yet. We were sitting there in the blind and some Mergansers came in and we pounded two out of the flock. Leon got out of the boat blind and called Scooter and showed him one of the ducks about 20 yards away and he took off. He brought it back and Leon sent him for the other bird about 40 yards away and another perfect retrieve. They got back in the boat and we shot one more bird and got another perfect retrieve out of that dog. I was about to bust I was so proud. Scooter got a hot bath when we got home then BBQ chicken for lunch and was a fat spoiled dog for a day. Every duck hunter with a dog remembers that first retrieve their dog makes and it only gets better with age. Hunting is about memories and I dare anybody to differ! Well thats it for this week,so be safe and take a kid with you!

Capt. David
Headhunter Outdoors
(910) 329-0818