Headhunter Outdoors Report

Hi folks, Capt. David here with this weeks outdoors report. Not much is going on now as far as hunting or fishing goes. Some of the small game species are still in season so check your regulations digest or online. This is a good time of the year to learn about fishing. Several saltwater fishing shows and seminars are available. Check around the baitshops and in the outdoor magazines and publications for dates and locations. One such show is the Cape Fear Wildlife Expo in Wilmington on Saturday and Sunday March 21st and 22nd at the Schwartz center and Coastline Convention Center. Take whole family and check it out!
 Now lets talk about fishing! We have covered rigs,bait and lures so lets talk about finding fish. Folks one of the first things I learned when I started getting serious about catching fish is where they hang out. If you want to catch pinfish, Croakers, Pigfish and Spots, fish the deep water channels. Don’t get me wrong folks, I’ve had some great times catching them but I wanted something a little bigger. Most predator fish such as Flounder,Trout and Reds will be in shallow water and I mean less than 4 feet deep. One day years ago I was sitting in the waterway and kept noticing that the minnows along the bank kept jumping out of the water. I reeled a rod in and cast over to the bank and was rewarded with a big Flounder, Then a Red and another and another! I sat there and caught fish till I hurt. Since then most of my efforts concentrate on shallow water docks and creek mouth’s with good success. I very rarely get skunked if I stick to my gameplan. Now another thing is your boat. If you have a 21 foot center console V hull, that will limit you to the places you can access. Folks ask me on my charters why I don’t use my depth finder. My answer is usually to step out of the boat in 18 inches of water or look down and ask them why should I when I can see how deep it is!  You ain’t going to see anything on a fishfinder in 3 feet of water. A good shallow draft boat is what you need if you want to fish inshore around here. If you can’t float with the motor up in a foot of water you will be missing a lot of good places. Folks I have seen 28 inch Redfish in water so skinny that the fishes back was out of the water. Some of you may wonder why I don’t talk about offshore stuff much and to be honest, semi-ignorance is my excuse and I’m sticking to it! Well thats about it for this week so be safe and take a kid with you!

Capt. David
Headhunter Outdoors
(910) 329-0818