Al Seashore Park anglers try their luck at surf-casting, a popular
pastime up and down the North Carolina shore.
SALT OR FRESH WATER -
THE FISHING IS TOPS
T.ir II <*<* Is wlio uanl real fishiii»'
need not letivt* file lioiMlers of I lieir
они
stole to toekle anything from
roinliou trout to turpou.
BY BILLY C.\ R >1 1C II
Л
EL Ill
F NORTH CAROLINIANS have
a favorite hobby, the best guess
probably would be that it is
Ashing. And for good Ashing most
of the anglers will tell you there
are few states that can match the
Tar Heel attraction.
Fishing in North Carolina is
unique. You can catch something
the year ’round, and from April
through October there is variety
without end from the Gulf Stream
to the Great Smokies.
Life Magazine recently made the
mistake of attempting to select the
ten I >e.st fishing spots in the coun¬
try, even apologizing at the time
for the multitude of famed angling
joints that had been overlooked,
ncidentally, North Carolina, no
one knows why, didn’t break into
the top ten.
Hut this is not an attempt to
rectify Life's mistake or make their
same error by trying to choose the
top ten or even twenty fishing
spots in the Old North State. Here
are merely a few facts about North
Carolina fishing and what the
angler may expect to find.
Take Cape Hattcras for instance.
Here is the meeting place of the
southern and northern fish. Here,
loo, the Gulf Stream swings in to
within 10 miles of the coast and
some top flight deep-sea fishing can
be found.
Along the coast, pier fishing is
quite popular at all the beaches. If
you’re looking for charter boats
and guides, they are available at
Hattcras, Mantco. Ocracoke. Ore¬
gon Inlet. Beaufort, Morehead City.
Swansboro, Wrightsville and Caro¬
lina beaches and Southport to take
the sportsman out for offshore or
"inside” fishing. Boats from Manteo
and vicinity fish in famous Oregon
Inlet for channel bass, blues and
bonito or go outside to the Gulf
Stream for dolphin and other big
game fish.
Off Diamond Shoals lightship in
the coastal ship lane, boats from
Hatteras troll for dolphin, bonito.
wahoo, tarpon, amberjack and
barracuda. Similar fish may be
taken off Morehead City and
Beaufort near Cape Lookout. Boni¬
to. Spanish mackerel and blue fish
are the principal catches of the
Wrightsville Beach fleet with
sailfish being encountered occa¬
sionally.
Favorite spot with many salt
water fishermen is Southport.
From there boats leave for Frying
Pan Lightship. Every fish known
to the Gulf Stream has been
caught on these shoals with em¬
phasis on the amberjack, dolphin
and barracuda. The best bottom
fishing to be had anywhere along
the North Carolina coast is found
over the shallow reefs.
Surf-casting for channel bass is
enjoyed all along the 300-mile Tar
Heel coastline, especially around
the beaches and many inlets. Those
who go for trout, croaker and
other sound water fishing may get
their fill in Roanoke, Albemarle,
Pamlico, Core, Bogue, Wrights¬
ville and other sounds as well as
near the mouths of large rivers.
Fighting striped bass, known
locally as "rock." are found in
most sound fishing, and for 45 days
each spring there is a steady run
of these fighters in the Roanoke
River near Weldon.
Yet, no matter how good the
salt water fishing may be, among
most true anglers there is also the
challenge to tackle fresh water
fish and North Carolina doesn’t let
the angler down here either. Hun¬
dreds of miles of rushing, tumbling
woodland streams and 75 beautiful
mountain lakes, most of them liter¬
ally alive with scrappy game fish
of a dozen different species, make
western North Carolina truly an
angler's paradise.
The section is most famous for
its trout fishing, the cold, crystal-
clear streams which cascade down
from its towering peaks providing
the ideal habitat for rainbow,
brown and brook (or speckled»
trout. But the lakes, along with
the streams and rivers of a more
lazy disposition, are correspond¬
ingly well stocked with large- and
small-mouth bass, crappie, bream,
and even the kingly muskellunge,
a member of the pike family found
nowhere else in the Southeast.
For every fish taken from these
waters, two or three are planted in
its stead from the never-ending
supply turned out by seven fish
hatcheries in western North Caro¬
lina. The Federal Government
maintains a hatchery at the head
of the Davidson River to stock
( Continued on page 18)
THE STATE, July 15. 1950
