[gentle orchestral fanfare] - Right off that same creek man.

- Whoo.

I love it.

- Right off that same creek now.

- Look out, oh gosh.

- Yep.

- It's a nice one too.

Oh my goodness.

- Right off that same creek now.

- Let me get my pliers.

Ohh Look at that pretty trout.

- Yeah.

Yeah!

Ugghh!

I'm gettin' hot out here now.

I'm a start sweatin'.

- There he is.

- It's 35 degrees out here, and I'm gonna be sweatin' in about two minutes.

[laughs] Alright, here we go.

Ohh, it's a nice one too.

- Not a bad little fish.

- We got 'em hooked.

- Not a bad little fish.

- Come on.

Alright, little fella.

Come here.

- Here you go Stu, flip 'em up here, and I'll slip the hooks out of his lip there.

- [Announcer] The production of Carolina Outdoor Journal is made possible in part by: - [Female Announcer] Wildlife in North Carolina Magazine.

ncwildlife.org/winc.

- [Male Announcer] And by EZ Bait and Tackle, family owned and operated.

We've been fishing since 2003.

Come see the crew in Goldsboro, North Carolina, and we can hook you up for all your fishing needs.

[light instrumental music] ♪ - Hello, welcome to the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

Well today's program will take us out on a cool day, as we go fishing for some speckled trout.

And Joe, it's called the autumn bite.

- That's right, it was a bite.

And it was cold that day.

It was not cool, it was really really bitterly cold.

It was right before Thanksgiving last fall.

We had a cold front come through the day before, and I mean it was just-- You will see when you look at the footage.

It was exceptionally cold on the surface.

Now the water temperature was still fairly comfortable, and I think in the mid 60's, somewhere there.

And so the fish were really really active, and we just had a great day.

- Any special equipment we needed for that day?

- A lot of clothing.

- Rather blustery.

- We were wrapped up, and-- But just your standard, medium action tackle, for speckled trout.

But we caught some really nice speckled trout that day.

- We'll talk about it on Gear Time.

And Donna's got a recipe today for shrimp cakes.

Is that right?

- Yeah, shrimp cakes is a really delicious recipe from her today.

I tried it the other day, and just tune in.

- Well we got a lot goin' on, so stay right there.

We're going fishing today, on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

- Stuart, we picked the coldest day of the year, with a doubt, to go trout fishin' this morning.

It was a brutal ride down the water way, and we can see the smoke comin' off the water behind us.

But we pulled up on a great marsh here, and I think we'll be able to catch some fish.

- That's right, we've gotta-- The water's still a little bit warm.

- Mm-hmm.

- You know it's still probably at least 60 degrees, somewhere right in that ball park.

Maybe 58, 60 degrees.

We've got a little bit of wind.

The front's pushed off, but you know, the fish should be right up in here.

They should be laid right up on this big mud bank, right here behind us.

- Mm-hmm.

- And we're gonna work this thing over with top water plugs, and some hard jerk baits, and see what we can get done today.

- Well I think even with the cold weather, and we had to chip ice off the latches, on the boat, this morning, and the deck was covered in skim ice, but I think we'll still be able to catch some fish.

- That's right, we're gonna see how tough we really are, this morning.

- That's right.

That's right.

- Alright man, let's do it.

- Let's do it.

[creaking] Oh, god.

- Sorry.

- Walker, he's on.

- I know he is, I got 'em-- - I got one.

There it is.

- Gah lee, the first cast.

The first cast.

- They're right up in there.

There's what we came for.

- What a pretty trout.

- You ready?

Okay, - Yeah.

- I'm gonna reel him over to you.

- Got him.

Yeah.

- Oh yeah.

- Come here, come here fella.

- Come on big fella.

Take it easy.

Yeah!

- There we go.

- That's what we came for.

That's what we came for.

- Not a bad little fish, at all.

[laughs] - Look at all the spots on that pretty thing.

- Yeah.

- He's probably what, about two pounds?

Maybe two and a half?

- Yeah.

Look how wide he is across the back.

- Okay.

- Alright - I'm gonna get, that last little hook out.

- Alright, look at them fangs on 'em.

That orange mouth.

- There we go.

Not a bad trout for the mornin'.

- Not bad.

- Whoop, whoop.

You were gonna release him anyway.

- That's right, we were gonna let that slide back.

It helps if your fingers aren't frozen, doesn't it?

- Yeah.

[laughter] - All right.

Thanks for bringin' that fish in.

- You bet ya.

- I gonna have to take a little break, and let my arm warm up, - Well, I'm gonna-- - A little bit.

[laughs] - I'm gonna take your place.

- Come on up here, and get one.

Alright.

- Well these feels like a trout.

He's got that-- - oh, look at 'em bawlin'.

Yeah, look at him.

- That head shake.

- Uh-huh.

Oh yeah, look at that.

- Whoo!

- I love it.

It's amazing how, when you hook a fish, and it's not cold anymore.

- No.

[laughter] - Oh no, you forget all about that.

- I think this is-- - Here he is.

- Come on, be a big one, be a big one.

Oh, it's a nice one.

- It is a pretty trout.

- This is a nice one.

- Hot dog.

- Ohh, you barely got him hooked Walker.

- Pretty trout, pretty trout.

- Oh, come here big fella.

- Pretty trout.

- Don't do that, don't do that dude.

- Nice, Stu, now that is what we came for there.

- Gah, look at that pretty fish.

- That is a pretty trout.

Look how, - Look at that.

- Lit up he is.

And the hook was just barely - Look at the hues.

- hanging on.

- Look at the purple, and the pinks, - Yes sir.

- On the back right there.

That's about a three, three and a half pounder, right there.

- It sure is.

- What do you think?

Look it.

- That is what we came for - It's what we came for - this morning.

- Here's the best part about gettin' these big ol' females is-- - You know-- - Releasin' 'em.

- Big fish like that, you gotta release him.

You gotta put him back.

Let 'em-- Those are the spawning stock.

That's our future right there, so we've gotta let those fish go.

- Oh yeah.

We keep the little 15 incher.

That's a perfect size to eat, but these big females, - Let 'em go.

- Its gotta be-- - Let'em go.

- Let these things go, and let him breed, and get big.

Alright Big Ben.

Put you back all nice and gentle.

Alright.

[laughter] I love it.

- Thank you sir, thank you.

- Good job.

- Thank you man.

- Got 'em, got 'em.

- Whoa!

- Got 'em.

- Oh, I just had a hit too.

- Ohh, mine just came off.

- Alright.

- But that was a pretty trout, right on that creek mount.

Right on that creek mount - Go on right through there.

- Now I had a hit and missed him.

- Well, I'm goin' right back in there.

- God, the line.

- You know one of the things-- Go ahead.

- Go ahead.

Alright.

Ohh!

[laughs] I love it.

There it is.

- There he is.

There he is.

- Ohh, yeah.

- Nice fish - Alright.

- Nice fish - Alright.

- Yes sir.

- Alright.

Good job.

- Yes sir.

There he is.

They are-- They're right back in there.

- There is a narrow zone in there where these fish are sittin'.

This is a pretty fish.

- Alright.

- This is a pretty fish.

- Come right here.

Come on big fella.

Be a big 'ol five pounder.

- You know Stu, it's kinda funny, we're 20 yards up here, and we get nothin' but blue fish.

20 yards back right there, and that's where the trout are sittin'.

- Yep.

- Not a bad fish at all.

- Look, he swiped at it.

Looks like he caught him, looks like a front hook came back and caught him in the side, but-- - Yeah.

I think the hook slipped out, and caught him in the side.

- Come on big fella.

- And that's why he's comin' in.

- Come on big girl.

- Kinda tough.

- We're gonna let you go.

- Ohh, alright.

- There you go.

Oh, she's still got some fight to her.

- Oh yeah, here you go, Stu.

- Alright slide around this side right here.

Okay, here, I'm gonna bring her right up.

- Okay.

- You're ready?

- Yep.

- Whoop, yep, hook came right into her side right there.

Let me see, let me just get a hold of her.

- Those Barbus-- - Okay now watch out.

- I know.

- Here we go.

- [laughs] I'm not gonna catch your finger.

[laughs] Another quality fish.

Another quality fish.

- Look at that pretty thing.

- Yep.

- Alright sweet thing.

- Good deal.

- I love 'em, I swear there's more value to 'em, being able to catch one on rod and reel, than watch 'em sit in a ice chest.

- Yeah that's true.

- Isn't it?

- Let's put her back.

- Alright, come on sweet thing.

You go back and get big.

- And why you're doing that, I am gonna fish on there, and see if there's not one more sittin' right on that bank.

- Oh, come on now.

Let me at least dry my hands off, before you catch another.

- Well you better, you better get your mess together - I'm tryin' - get on the icing here buddy.

- I'm all fired up, and I can't do anything right now.

[laughs] - Aww.

- Right off that same creek man - Whoo, I love it.

- Right off that same creek.

- Look out.

Aww gosh, - yep.

- That's a nice one too.

Oh my goodness.

- Right off that same creek now.

- Alright, let me get my pliers.

Aww, look at that pretty trout.

- Yeah.

- Yeah!

[grunts] I'm getting hot out here now.

I'm a start sweatin' - There he is.

- It's 35 degrees out here, and I'm gonna be sweatin' in about two minutes.

Alright, here we go.

Oh, it's a nice one too.

- Not a bad little fish.

- You got him hooked.

Come on, - Not a bad little fish.

- Alright, little fella.

Come here.

- Here yeah go Stu, - Here we go.

- Flip him up here, and I'll slip the hooks out of his lip there.

- Look at that pretty thing.

[grunts] - you know-- - You know I smashed those barbs down, it makes it easy just to release these fish.

And you don't really lose any fish by smashin' the barbs down.

You just gotta keep your line tight.

And it sure makes hadlin' them at the boat, a whole lot easier.

- It sure does.

- Pretty fish, pretty fish, yes sir.

- Look at that big 'ol yellow mouth on him.

- I know.

- Isn't that pretty?

[laughs] I love that part.

- Alright.

- Alright, go get another one.

- Let's put him back in the water.

- Alright sweet thing.

You go back and have a bunch of eggs, and we'll catch your buddies next year, and we'll release them too.

There you go.

- Good job.

Thank you sir.

- Alright.

- Thank you sir.

- Go get another one.

- Now!

Let's see.

[soothing music] [laughter] - There it is.

- That's a nice fish.

- Look at him out here.

- He just came right to the surface, shakin' his head there.

I think that is a pretty trout Stu.

- That was a real tight fitted bank - Was he?

- Shot too, yeah.

- Alright.

- He was real tight.

- I'm gonna go ahead and get this in.

- Let's see what happens.

Come on in here you thing.

- That's another nice fish.

[grunts] - This is where it pays to have a drag, a nice soft drag - Yeah.

On the reel.

Because of these soft mouths on it.

Oh, look at that one - Oh, [laughs] look at that trout.

- Come on here.

Alright, I'm gonna ease him to you.

- Okay.

- You ready?

- You might-- - I'm not gonna lift him, and watch them hooks now.

Lift him in, if you got to.

Watch the hook.

Whoo!

Alright.

Yeah!

Whoo!

Perfect, oop sorry.

- There we go.

Whoop.

There she goes.

- There she goes.

- [laughter] Alright.

[laughter] Another nice three pounder.

- Yes sir.

- Here you go.

- Yes sir.

Yes sir.

I love it.

- I love it, I love it.

- I swear.

I can hardly stand, I'm 35 years old, and I feel like I'm 14.

[laughter] - Why?

- Alright, let me know what you need to do.

- Quality trout.

Right there.

- If you need to come back here you come on.

- Well alright.

- Okay.

Oh, look at that one.

- Another quality trout.

Another quality trout.

- And who says we don't have trout in North Carolina?

- Gah lee.

Pretty fish.

- Alright hang on.

I'm on-- - He's a little green.

- Okay.

Okay.

There we go.

- Alright.

- I got 'em.

I got a good-- - Another quality fish here.

- There we go.

North Carolina trout, right there.

- There we go.

There we go.

Perfect.

- Really nice - Perfect, perfect.

- Two and a half pounder.

- Beautiful.

- Three pound fish.

- Beautiful fish.

Beautiful fish.

- Gah, look at the iridescence on that there.

- Look, there it is.

- Purple, pink on it.

- There is not a better fish that swims in salt water, in my opinion.

- Put him in the sunlight here.

Look at that.

- Yep.

- Oh, I swear.

I love it.

- Let's release him.

- Boo.

- Let's release him.

- Alright.

[laughs] There he goes.

Good job.

- Two on at the same time.

[laughs] That's great.

- That's a nice double habit.

- Yeah that's great.

- I'd take this any day of the week.

- Listen to that fish you got.

- I know.

- Man, I think that's a nice fish.

- This one might be a nice one here.

- That's a nice fish.

This one came to the top, shook his head, and I think he's a pretty good fish.

- I think this one might be a - You might have a really - Pretty big fish there - nice fish there.

- I don't think my drive's that way.

You gonna be able to get him in?

- Yep, I got him.

Okay.

- I got him.

- Alright, alright.

- Tell you what-- - God, that's a nice one too, there Walk.

- Nothing wrong with that fish.

- There aint nothin' wrong with that fish.

That's a real nice one.

Gah, look at all this-- Look at the size of the tail on that thing.

[laughs] Look how big his tail is.

That's a bog 'ol fish.

- Come on bubba.

That's a-- - Gah le, it's so cold.

Look at that perfect trout.

It's about three pounds.

- Yeah, there is nothin' wrong with that at all.

- I think the fish you have might be a little better than that.

- I've either gather him foul hooked, [groans] or he's a big one.

- See ya buddy.

Alright.

- Try not to horse him.

- I tell you what, I'm not gonna cast back in there quite yet.

I'm gonna see what you have there.

- I don't know how big he is.

- I'm gonna see what you have.

- I may just have him fowl hooked, you know, I hope he's not.

But let's see what we got here.

I tell you what, why don't you slip right there.

- I've got the pliers ready.

- Alright.

- Go right ahead.

- I oughta lift him up here.

- We're finally gonna get a look-- - Ooh.

- Ooh.

Look at that trout.

- Look at this one here buddy.

- Look at that trout.

- Look at that one.

- Good night that is - That's why we were comin for wanted a big 'un.

- Beautiful, beautiful fish.

- Are there grips on the thing right-- It's on my console right there.

- Look at that trout.

Whoo.

[groans] Come on.

Turn it loose.

- Come on big fella.

We're gonna let you go.

- Get him Walker.

Get him buddy.

- He's gettin' a bogey in his mouth.

[grunts] - Fish didn't-- There we go.

- Look at him.

- Yeah!

Whoo!

- Look at that speckled trout Stu.

Look at that speckled trout.

- Yeah!

Holy mackerel.

- Look at that speckled trout.

- Look at that one right there.

- Good night.

- That's about-- - Good night.

- How big is he, five pounds?

- I don't even guess.

- I think there's a scale on there.

See how much it weighs right there.

- Yeah, He's touchin' the scale right at five-- or what?

Four and three quarters, to five pounds.

Look at that speckled trout.

[laughs] That is the pretty, pretty fish.

- Look at the shoulders on that fish right there.

Look at that fish's been fattin' up - Yeah, gosh.

- Over the winter.

- Beautiful, beautiful.

- That's a nice fish right there now.

How long would you say he is Walker?

[groans] Oh yeah.

- Probably About 26?

- Somethin' like that.

- Look at the big 'ol pretty trout right.

- Alright.

- Look at him Dick.

- Let him come on back together here.

- Let that big 'ol female go, and let her breed.

That's what we do with these big 'ems.

[laughs] Whoo!

- Congratulations.

[laughs] Man that was a beautiful fish.

- Wow!

- No matter where you are in the world, that's a pretty speckled trout.

- Yeah.

God I love it, and we're cold - Good job, good job.

- And all, It's really wow.

- Good job.

That makes this cold weather different.

- Aww.

- Disappear.

- That was perfect.

- Joe to say it was cold that day's an understatement.

It was right out there.

- Yeah, it really was.

I think we had a cold front that passed through that, the afternoon before.

The wind was still up.

When they picked me up at the dock that morning, it was 32 degrees.

It never warmed up any.

And the wind was probably blowin' 20, so it was bitterly cold on the surface now.

Underneath, obviously the fish liked it just perfect, because they-- For two and a half hours, on that tide change, we-- They were active.

And we had-- We caught a lot of fish.

- You know, talkin' about cathin' a lot of fish, you have got to be prepared for this one.

Let's find out more.

Let's go to Gear Time.

[mellow music] - Stuart, the ride down the water way this morning was chilly, well it was down right cold.

[laughs] The air temperature's in the 30's, but the water temperature's right about 63.

And it's just right for speckled trout, right here before Thanksgiving.

- That's right.

They're startin' to feel the pinch of winter.

- Mm-hmm.

- They feel like it's comin' around the corner.

And we got on a good jerk bait bite today.

- Mm-hmm.

- We threw a couple baits out here today.

Got a couple over here that seem to work.

But the one that really stood out today, was this little guy right here.

The little Repalle Xwrap.

And that little bait seemed to do the trick for us today.

- Well that's just not an ordinary jerk bait.

They actually caught a slash bait.

And in order to make it work effectively, you gotta work it a little bit differently than you would a Merleau, or some of the jerk baits.

Tell us how to do that.

- One thing you need to do with this bait, is you just gotta throw it out there.

And instead of just takin' the rod tip, - Yeah.

- real softly, go ahead and slap that thing.

Slap it a few times.

And let is pause.

And on that pause, is when they're gonna come up and hit it.

- Mm-hmm.

- They make crush it, they make just tick it, but bang bang bang, and reel up to it, and let it just sit there, and hold it.

- Mm-hmm.

- And that's when they're gonna come up, and bite that.

- That's what we were findin' today.

That's a suspending bait, so once it gets down to depth, you hit it a couple of times, it jerks around.

And then, you just let it sit, and they were crushing it when it was sittin' still.

- That's right.

And one thing that helps you do that, is a nice rod n' reel outfit.

I'm usin' a Quantum Catalyst 20.

I've got that paired with a Quantum Cabo, eight to fourteen pound, fast action rod.

- Mm-hmm.

- I think fast action is important.

And we've got the low stretch braided line on here.

I think the combination of all this, makes this bait work good.

Because you got low stretch.

You've got a rod that has a good backbone, so that when you slap that bait, you get that good side to side action.

- The other thing we were doin' with the baits today was, smashin' the barbs down on the hooks.

We were catchin' some really nice fish, three pound range, we had a fish that was five pounds or so, those are the kinda fish that you'll wanna let go.

You wanna release those fish, that's the future of speckled trout fishin' in this state.

And smashin' the barbs down enables us to get the fish in, get the hooks out, get the fish back in the water, where the fish is not harmed at all.

And you really don't lose any fish by smashin' the barbs down.

You gotta keep your line tight, but with speckled trout, you need to keep your line tight anyway, 'cause they've got such soft mouths.

- That's right.

Now we just gotta get back up there, and get a few more of 'em.

- Yeah, this is-- Clouds have moved in now, I think the temperatures continue to drop.

[laugh] But boy the fishin' was hot today, and of all your speckled trout fishin' is the best.

- Man I had a great time.

- It was wonderful.

Nice.

- Can't wait to do it again.

- I enjoyed it.

- Me too buddy.

- Yep.

- Alright.

- Thanks fellas for that information.

Item number one, be sure you bundle up.

Now, we're gonna join Donna in the kitchen.

She's got a special recipe today.

It's all about shrimp cakes.

This is one you'll wanna keep, and use down the road.

[mellow music] - Hi, today in Simple Cooking, we're going to makin' some shrimp cakes.

Great flavors goin' on.

We have some yogurt dip that we're gonna add with it.

And we also have these great cakes.

They have nice-- A lot of crunch, and a lot of flavors.

So let's go ahead and get started.

I have chopped up my pound of shrimp.

And it's in my bowl.

We're gonna add to that some cilantro that we have chopped.

We're gonna also add some green chilies to these.

And green chilies really, they're not hot.

They just have a lot of great flavor.

We're gonna also add some Mexican corn, some red onions, that we have chopped.

And you wanna make sure that it's chopped pretty finely.

We're also goin' to add some roasted red bell peppers, which add lots of great flavor.

They're a little tangy.

And one egg.

Some Dijon mustard.

So you can see we've got lots of flavors goin' on, in here.

And some mayonnaise.

Just were gonna mix all that together, and then we're going to add some onion hush puppy mix to this, as well.

So it's gonna hold all of it together, and that egg's gonna help bind it, as well.

Great colors too, if you notice how the pretty colors that are in here.

We're going to add about three fourths of our package of hush puppy mix, with onions.

You'll also have that great onion mix, as well, flavors.

So we're gonna mix all that together.

Let me turn up my heat.

We're gonna pre-heat some oil here.

I used a mixture of olive oil and cooking-- Just vegetable oil.

'Cause olive oil doesn't have as quite smoke point, highest smoke point, as vegetable oil does.

So, you don't wanna scorch anything.

So we're just gonna mix that together until it is thick.

And you-- if you're in an area where there's a lot of humidity, or you're making it during that time, you may need to add a little bit more of the hush puppy mix, just to get it to bind well.

So, we're just gonna have that like all mixed together.

And then I'm just gonna use my hand, you can use a scoop if you want.

And we're gonna form these into some patties.

Like hamburger patty size.

Also if you want, you can use-- Make them smaller, like the silver dollar size, and serve 'em as appetizers, which would be great as well.

We're just gonna flatten those out.

And then I just like to put mine in my hush puppy mix, some addition on my-- on my wax paper here.

And then I like to coat 'em.

And then we're just gonna drop those into our hot oil.

And cook them until they're nice and golden brown.

Probably about five to ten minutes, because depending on the thickness of your patties, because you wanna make sure that shrimp gets cooked, but it cooks really quickly.

So we're gonna turn those over, cook them on the other side.

And you're ready to go.

Like I said, if you make 'em the silver dollar size, they'd be great for some appetizers.

So let's take a look, and see what they look like, when they're all finished, and they come out.

We have the great crunch on the outside, that hush puppy mix, will make.

And then you have all the tender great vegetables inside.

We're gonna serve it on a corn relish.

It's a tomato corn relish, where it has tomatoes, and corn, the green chilies, and red onion.

Just a great combination, and a little bit of Basel in there as well.

Along with our yogurt dip.

So it's a great combination of cold, hot, and crunchy.

So I hope you enjoy the shrimp cakes.

And I look forward to seein' you next time, here on Carolina Outdoor Journal.

- Once again, thanks a bunch Donna, for an outstanding recipe.

That's one that you'll want to keep, and try a little later on.

Joe, let's go back down to the coast.

Now, it was bitterly cold because of that cold front movin' through the day before.

- I'll tell you how cold it was, I love to catch speckled trout.

And it was so cold after we finished shooting.

Now the bite kinda diminished as the tide started changin'.

But it was so cold, we we're all ready to go in.

It was that cold.

The windchill factor had to be around zero.

But it was worthwhile.

I mean you could see the quality catch of speckled trout, and anybody that speckle trout fishes, could recognize that.

- Is this a fishing trip you'd recommend to our viewers?

- Oh, absolutely, just bundle up.

[laughs] - Bundle up.

[laughs] With Joe Albea, I'm John Moore.

Thanks for joining us today, on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

- [Announcer] Make sure to visit our website for more information.

- [Announcer] The production of Carolina Outdoor Journal is made possible in part by: - [Female Announcer] Wildlife in North Carolina Magazine.

ncwildlife.org/winc.

- [Male Announcer] And by EZ Bait and Tackle, family owned and operated.

We've been fishing since 2003.

Come see the crew in Goldsboro, North Carolina, and we can hook you up for all your fishing needs.

[light instrumental music] ♪