1/11/2024 0 Comments Slack tide grant fl![]() ![]() A ‘slack tide’ - that short interval when water is almost at a standstill - is the poorest time for fishing. “High tide offers the deepest water and the most habitat for feeding fish,” Currin notes. Marine Fisheries Commission and surf fishing instructor. Timing tides and finding deep water matters almost as much as the season for fishing, according to Mac Currin, chair of the N.C. They want to eat what looks and smells good.” Replace bait that looks washed out or chewed by crabs. “If you use bait (rather than artificial lures), make sure it’s fresh. Up-to-date information is invaluable, according to Malat, and often a local tackle shop, pier, or marina is a great source for what’s biting and where. And sometimes baitfish will jump when pursued by bigger fish.” ‘Slicks’ on the water indicate fish feeding below. Baitfish will follow shoreline contours with the larger feeding fish close behind,” Malat adds. ![]() Identify sections and features most likely to attract fish. Joe Malat, longtime resident of Dare County and director of the North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island, offers sage surf fishing advice. SURFCASTINGĬonsulting local anglers is not always a dead-end strategy for finding fish. Interestingly, many principles applied by surf anglers on a small beach also apply to charter and commercial fishing on larger scales in the open ocean. River discharge (freshwater and sediment), precipitation, and marsh and seagrass habitats also are important. Temperature and food availability are not the only influences on fish behavior and abundance. The best anglers intuitively understand the link between fish and their surrounding environment - and cast accordingly. Nutrients, plankton, bait fish and larger predatory species move along these two powerful “ocean highways.” The cold south-moving Labrador Current meets the Gulf Stream headed north in just two places - near Newfoundland at the Grand Banks and off North Carolina’s Outer Banks - creating two of the richest fishing grounds on earth. Near Cape Hatteras lies Diamond Shoals, an area of shifting sandbars where two powerful ocean currents run head-on into each other, creating a transition or convergence zone that biologists call an “ecotone.” The variety of fish that frequent North Carolina’s coast is impressive and somewhat unique. In winter, bluefish seemingly disappear, presumably headed offshore toward Gulf Stream waters. New Englanders catch them in late summer. By March and April, they are abundant off the coast of South Carolina, then North Carolina. Bluefish appear off the coast of Florida in late winter. Anglers almost certainly will not find them in water above 84 degrees F or below 50 degrees F. Optimum water temperature for bluefish is 68 degrees Fahrenheit (F). red drum, and speckled trout and bottom feeders, such as mullet, croakers, and spot - are migrating, seeking more comfortable temperatures.īluefish are a classic example of a seasonal migrant and a favorite of recreational anglers because of a fighting spirit. Fall and spring are peak seasons for fishing because many species - bluefish. Their body temperatures rise or fall with the surrounding water. They do not consult calendars or show up alongside the beach according to our vacation schedules. Humans can be flexible, but fish are tied directly to water temperature. The expression “being in the right place at the right time” holds true, especially for anglers. And neither the fish nor the fisher were biting. Timing, it seems, matters in both conversation and fishing. What can you tell me?” Without raising his head, he growls, “When you write that article, I’ll be sure and buy that magazine, ’cause I don’ know!” ![]() She interrupts his concentration (and cigarette), saving, “I have to write a magazine article on how fishermen catch fish. ![]() A casual shellseeker on Atlantic Beach ignores the buffsurfers off the Fort Macon jetty and instead catches the eye of a glum surf fisherman in green waders slicing bait on top of a cooler. ![]()
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