
Big Reds
Season 1 Episode 26 | 26m 42sVideo has Closed Captions
This week, we’ll fish the Pamlico Sound for giant Red Drum.
On this edition of the Journal we’ll fish the Pamlico Sound for giant Red Drum, one of the largest fish found in those waters. On Gear Time our angler’s explain how to rig fresh bait to catch and handle these large fish. And we’ll join Donna Reynolds in the kitchen for a tasty casserole recipe.
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Carolina Outdoor Journal is a local public television program presented by PBS NC

Big Reds
Season 1 Episode 26 | 26m 42sVideo has Closed Captions
On this edition of the Journal we’ll fish the Pamlico Sound for giant Red Drum, one of the largest fish found in those waters. On Gear Time our angler’s explain how to rig fresh bait to catch and handle these large fish. And we’ll join Donna Reynolds in the kitchen for a tasty casserole recipe.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship[gentle orchestral fanfare] - Yeah, I mean, see that?
- I seen mine, he's splashin' on top of the water.
- [Bryan] Yep, certainly not a big drum, you know, an adult fish, but, - [Kurt] Well, let him up here.
We'll get the net on him, and, yeah, he's 20 pounds maybe, isn't he?
- [Bryan] Yep, that's a pretty fish.
- Whoa.
- He surfed right in there.
- [Kurt] Look at all the sea lice on him.
- [Bryan] He's got a bunch, don't he?
- [Kurt] Yeah, circle hook got him right in the mouth.
- [Bryan] Right where it's supposed to go.
- [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 to the Pamlico Sound, and we are ready because, Joe, these are just some giants that we're after today.
- That's right, these are big red drum, and other than the tarpon that we get in the summer time along with these big drum are there, these are the biggest fish that you'll see out in the Pamlico Sound.
But they're big red drum.
It's a catch and release fishery only.
We're fishin' kind of the tail end of the season, early September, mid-September, when the fish are just before leaving to go back out into the ocean to spend the winter.
But I had a great time with 'em.
- Joe, you mentioned catch and release.
Does that mean we had to do something special with our gear?
- You're usin' pretty heavy stout tackle.
You're talkin' fish in the, anywhere from 35 to 50 pound range so you need some pretty stout tackle.
You need to handle these fish especially well.
They're big fish, and you wanna give 'em support.
If you don't have to, you don't really need to bring 'em out of the water.
On this show, we're showin' you how big these fish are so we bring a couple out of the water, but fishin' late in the afternoon.
And just had a great time with 'em.
- We'll talk about that at Gear Time.
Now, Donna's got a recipe today.
She's gonna be making a casserole plus she's gonna be grilling some fish.
- [Joe] Grilling fish with, I think, it's a squash recipe.
Very tasty from her today.
- We got a lot goin' on.
Let's get to it right here on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.
- [Kurt] That's a pretty pot of bait right there, Bryan.
- [Bryan] If you can't catch 'em right there, Kurt, I'm goin' out and buyin' me a new fishin' boat.
- [Kurt] Don't put no pressure on me.
- [Bryan] We've been catchin' right here, you know, just about all summer.
There's been more bait than I've seen in many a year, and they're gettin' bigger, I mean like, the perfect size for drum bait.
- They look like they're the right size.
- Man, if you pancake that 10-footer on them, it'll take three of us to pull 'em in.
- Well, then, we'll have to dump some.
But I don't know but one way, and that's to get as many as I can to start with.
- Well, there you go, they're doin' it for you.
There you go, whenever you're ready.
Look at that, good night.
That's a perfect size little baits right there.
- [Kurt] Yeah.
- [Bryan] Perfect size bait.
- I'm gonna let a few out right here.
- Yeah, yeah, I don't blame you.
They're gettin' out.
You got a hole in there somewhere.
Wow.
- That's good.
We're gonna dump 'em right on the floor right here, and we'll just shovel 'em up and take what we need.
- Okay, and we'll turn the rest loose.
That was a haul right there, boss.
- [Kurt] Make sure you get a lot of net when you grab it because it's old.
- Look at that, whoa, get out of the way of that one.
- Yeah, and get that out of the bottom there.
- Yeah, they're the perfect bait size.
That's just right.
- [Kurt] Ah, now for the tough part.
- That's the way I like it, man.
One throw and go.
- [Kurt] Bryan, that outta do it for the afternoon.
Plenty of bait, plenty of chum, just the right size.
- [Brian] Perfect size, yeah, man.
- [Kurt] Got 'em iced down good.
- Well, we'll slip on out of here.
I gotta get the slime off my glasses.
- I gotcha.
- I'm gonna hit the ready.
Pretty work on that net.
- Bryan, while you're gettin' rigs ready there, I'm gonna cut up a little bit of bait here, put it in the chum bag for starters, just kind of leave us a little trail.
- [Bryan] Alright.
- Probably as we're fishin' we'll take these scissors and just cut some baits in little pieces and throw some chunks down there.
- Yeah, man, that's perfect.
Yeah, it's funny, the heads will float, and everything else will sink but, I like to have some stink in the water, - I do too.
- Especially this time of year.
- If it gets too bad and the blues are too bad, we might have to change directions, but there's two of us here.
And if we're fishin' just a couple rods, we can just keep changin' baits out.
- Oh, yeah, yeah, we'll just put out four rods to begin with.
We ought to be in good shape.
I'm gonna put a piece of, you know, like a wind on leader on one of mine just so I got somethin' to hold onto when the fish come up.
But I'm ready to roll.
- Well, I'm gonna have these baits in the sack in just a minute.
We ain't gonna put a whole lot of 'em outta there.
I cut 'em just in half to do this.
When I'm throwin' overboard, I don't give 'em that big a chunk to eat.
- [Bryan] No, no, no, uh huh.
You can see there's bait all around us.
I mean, it wouldn't be any problem catchin' some right here if we needed some more.
- That's right, and we loaded up right to start with though that's always a good thing, isn't it?
- [Bryan] Yeah, yeah.
- Bryan, these baits big enough, pretty much use a whole one.
I kinda cut the heads off.
- [Bryan] I think they're a great size, Kurt.
They were a little bit small, you know, a month ago or so, but they're the perfect size right now.
There you go, we'll fish 'em all the way around the boat.
- We're fishin' as of now.
- Yep, line's in the water at 3:20, pretty work.
Need a couple weights on here, and I'll be fishin' with ya.
- [Kurt] This is what we're fishin' off of, Bryan.
- Yeah, that's live bottom.
I mean, that's a good oyster rock.
It's like all that, two, two or three feet of relief off the bottom.
You know, it comes up, and there's probably a half an acre.
It's a big rock right here.
- Well, so far that's the catch of the day.
- [chuckling] Yeah, that and the crab.
- Whoa, Bryan, behind you, he's on there, boy.
He's on there.
- I can't get another rod over him.
Good night.
- [Kurt] Do you want me to get any of these other lines in for ya?
- [Bryan] Not yet, not yet.
- You gonna steer him around to the front, ain't ya?
- Yeah, I'll take him wherever I want him, Kurt.
- Alright, you drivin'.
[Bryan laughing] - Oh, that circle hook did what it was supposed to, didn't it?
- [Kurt] Yeah, no more than we were payin' attention.
Talkin' about dinner.
- No, I'll tell ya, just about to hit me in the back of the head.
There it is, right there on top.
He's gonna go under.
- [Kurt] All of the sudden I was lookin' at the, - [Bryan] I think he'll make it over these.
It's hard to tell.
- [Kurt] Years of throwin' out for the line.
- Here you go.
Kurt, you might have to get this rod for me right here 'cause he's stayin' right in that same zone.
Oh, he's got a bump on yours, Kurt.
- [Kurt] Yeah, I see that.
- Oh, oh, oh, he got him on, got him on, got him on.
- [Kurt] Hold on, let me get this one.
Let me get maybe this date on.
- He's coming right towards the side.
- [Kurt] Oh, you threw this thing too far.
[Bryan laughing] - I'd say we're in the meat right now, cool breeze.
He's gonna come across this other one.
- [Kurt] I, the best I can do right here, baby.
- [Bryan] It's comin' across this other one.
Did he go under it?
Is he under that one?
- We're tryin' to get clear some lines here.
He's still on it.
- [Bryan] Alright, good deal.
[reel whining as line goes out] - [Kurt] Bryan, we just gonna leave mine out there and hope he stays on.
- He will, let's hope it will.
- [Kurt] Let's handle this fish, and, - I'm gonna stay under you so, - I'll get the net out.
Right now, if we had customers, is when you'd want to someone to get the camera out and have everything ready, isn't it?
- That's right.
Yep, it's a nice fish right here.
This is almost a yearling size here, Kurt.
- Oh, really?
- Yeah.
I mean he's, see that?
- I seen mine, he's flashin' on top of the water.
- [Bryan] Yep, certainly not a big drum, you know, an adult fish, but, - [Kurt] Well, come on up here, we'll get the net on him, and, yeah, he's 20 pounds maybe, isn't he?
- [Bryan] Yep, it's a pretty fish.
- [Kurt] Whoa.
- [Bryan] He surfed right in there.
- [Kurt] Look at all the sea lice on him.
- [Bryan] He's got a bunch, don't he?
- [Kurt] Yeah, circle hook got him right in the mouth.
- [Bryan] Right where it's supposed to go.
- [Kurt] Got him right there in the, - [Bryan] Yeah, right where it's supposed to.
Sometimes that's hard to get out.
- I got somethin' to do it with.
- [Bryan] Good job, that's a little bit better fish than I thought it was.
That fish be in the upper 20's maybe low 30's.
Throw it right in the water.
Still got to get yours here.
- Yeah, we'll get him.
He's still on there, I see.
- Mmm, let me see that there.
Whoa, look at all the sea lice on him, Kurt.
- Yeah, you don't see many that small, double spotter.
But that's a pretty fish.
- Hey, man, it's what we came out here for.
- Yeah, look, there's another one out there.
- I know, why don't you catch him?
Always like to take care of him for a few minutes.
Let me get his tail here.
He took care of his self.
- I saw this one on top of the water way out there a ways.
- [Bryan] I saw his tail out there, yeah.
You want me to cast a few more out, or you gonna, - [Kurt] Well, I'll tighten up the drag on this one, he outta, [upbeat acoustic guitar music] I'll tell you what, Bryan, if we don't wanna handle these fish, we're not gonna take a picture of 'em, we got a dehooker layin' right there.
- We can just pop 'em, pop 'em right out.
- You got it.
It's about 40 pound test on about seven feet, and if you get a hold of that weight, it's 100 pound test.
- 100 pound, is that what you got?
- Just grab hold of that weight, and you'll be good.
- Alright, good deal.
Pretty work, man, that's a double.
That's neat too 'cause that was two different sides of the boat.
So, one of them was probably up there at about six foot, and one of 'em was about nine foot.
- It's a shame to be sittin' here catchin' a fish, and wantin' to be throwin' more out, isn't it?
[Kurt laughing] - Ah, yeah, why don't you hurry up, man?
I'm ready to cast.
There's fish around us.
We need to be catchin' 'em.
We haven't had a south wind in seems like a month, but we got some this afternoon.
I didn't think it was callin' for this much wind.
- It just picked up really, didn't it?
- Yeah, but typically on a south forecast late in the afternoons over here, look at that nice fish, man.
That is a really good fish.
- [Kurt] Mmm, yeah, he is.
- Late in the afternoons it'll pick up over here and blow right on into dark.
- That's a powerful fish right here.
- It's, you know, overcast.
Sun's gettin' lower, it's time.
Mid-September, it's why we came.
- I thought we would've caught some fish earlier frankly.
- Well, we fished on an oyster rock for a little while, and we had some company out there.
And I didn't have a whole lotta confidence, but we moved in here shallow.
God, it's a nice fish.
- I see him waitin' right there.
He's hooked just perfectly.
- Is he?
We'll see if we can get him.
- If he wants to go around here, we'll take him.
Saw some frayed line there somewhere.
- I can see that, maybe it's just your knot I'm lookin' at over there.
There's not many oysters up on this ledge right here.
- Yeah, but we've sure been in some.
- Yeah, we have, we certainly have.
This is my favorite part of it right here.
- He's puttin' on a fight here.
- Yeah, that's what, you know, and they're not gonna run like a tarpon or somethin'.
They just bulldog, and when they get right here, especially, I'll fish a little lighter than you do.
- [Kurt] That's the average fish there.
- [Bryan] Yeah, yeah, 40, 42.
- [Kurt] You get a hold of that weight right there.
It's 100 pound test.
- Oh, he ain't like that, bubba, right in the corner of the mouth, hold on.
Right in the corner of the mouth.
- [Kurt] If you wanna mess with him right there.
Or release it.
- It's a big male, hear him drummin'?
- [Kurt] Yeah, thunk, thunk, thunk.
- [Bryan] Yeah, let's see if I can change hands here.
- [Kurt] Look at the mouth on that thing.
- [Bryan] I know, he's got one.
Grab him in the tail, look out, baby.
- I didn't get, I didn't get my grab.
- That was a nice fish.
That fish was in the low 40's, beautiful fish.
- You know what we're gonna do now?
- I know what I'm gonna do?
If you get out of the way, I'm gonna cast.
[reel whining as line goes out] - I'll say, watch that rod.
So many times they'll do that, man.
- [Kurt] Old drum will take a run, won't he?
- Yeah, I love that.
There ain't nothin' like a drum bite.
I mean he just, when he takes off like that.
- I'm gonna steer him around this way so if you reel that line in, I'll keep it.
- I wanna watch you drive that drum.
I ain't reelin' nothin' in.
This many drum around I'm gonna see if we can, - [Kurt] I understand.
- Catch us another double.
Got that handshake yet?
- Oh, yeah.
- Classic, boom, boom.
That's the best part of it to me.
Yeah, there's a few fish around right now.
They're shovin' up on this shoal.
We're in about nine feet of water.
And, you know, on a good break right here, and this is drum time.
That sun starts gettin' low.
- Using these rigs we're usin', the circle hooks, I like them when you see that bump one time and start tuggin' at it.
Jump right in the crack right down on it.
You know, that's a good safe rig.
When you get right down to it, these fish would suck in a brick if they want to.
- [laughing] And crush it when they got it in there.
- He's goin', here, look at that.
That drags set at about nine pounds.
- Wow.
- He's goin'.
- I just had another bump on this, - I saw it.
- On that rod about like that was.
- That fish took a good drum run.
He went way out there on it, and I tightened up on him.
- He went away from here.
- Mmm hmm.
- He's pullin' the boat sideways.
Yeah, could be a good fish.
Could be a good fish.
I haven't seen one over 60 this year.
I'd love to see one.
- I hadn't either.
- There's a lot of people that talk about 50 pounders, Kurt.
That's gotta be a big fish, bubba.
- It gotta be as big as a steering wheel in a car, isn't it?
Let him come around that side there.
- [Bryan] Come on.
- Kind of got me jammed up here a little bit.
I know you're fixin' to catch one.
How far out is this green line you got?
- I'll go ahead and grab that one.
I'll move this over here.
We'll keep everything separated.
- [Kurt] I just got my first look at him there.
- Yeah, man, look at the size of the tail on that fish, Kurt.
- [Kurt] I like that head.
Come on, baby, watch out for that.
- This dude right here is nice.
- There he is, Bryan.
- Uh oh, that's not supposed to happen.
- [Kurt] Oh, he ain't hooked very good, Bryan.
- So he's not?
- No, but he's whooped.
- [Bryan] Neither is this net.
- [Kurt] He's whooped.
- Yee haw.
- [Kurt] No, you gotta pull it up straight down.
Listen to him drummin'.
- Yes, sir.
- [Kurt] Pull him right on in there.
- [Bryan] Yes, sir.
- [Kurt] Straight up like that.
[Bryan groaning] - [Kurt] Drummin' like that, he's a male fish, isn't he?
- [Bryan] Yep, a big male, yep.
Look at that, look at him, that muscle, boom, boom, in that air bladder.
- [Kurt] Yeah, listen to him.
- Look at how easy that came out, Kurt.
- [Kurt] Yep, I saw it when it came by.
- [Bryan] Perfect.
- That rig is so good and so forgivin' on that.
Here's a tape right here.
I wanna see how long he is on general principle, and then we'll get him over 'cause we wanna get him back as quick as we can.
- [Bryan] Alright, slide him out just a hair, boss.
To the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail, 47 inches, Kurt.
That's a nice fish, brother.
- [Kurt] They generally run between 42 and 49.
- [Bryan] That is a nice fish, man.
Come here, baby.
You don't wanna grab 'em in the gill plate and touch the gills.
But get 'em right in that hook right there, and you're not hurtin' anything.
Look at the color in that fish.
- [Kurt] Pretty, how old do you think that fish is?
- [Bryan] You know, a drum, there's no way to tell unless you look at the otoliths in 'em because they're, once they get over a certain age, they grow at different rates.
And that fish can be, you know, 15 years or 40 years.
There's really no way to tell unless you look at those otoliths, which are those rocks in their heads that have rings like a tree.
- [Kurt] I know they got a ring just like a tree ring.
- [Bryan] He's ready to roll, man.
Look at the size of that tail.
- [Kurt] Well, I could feel him.
He can use it too.
[Bryan laughing] He went away from here, Kurt.
- Joe, we had a great day of fishin'.
Call it fisherman's luck if you will, but we caught it just right at the end of the day.
- Right, that's what I wanted to do late in the afternoon.
Most of the fishing for these fish happens at night.
They're active at night.
So, most of the fish that are caught in the summer time in North Carolina are caught at night.
But I wanted to do it during the daytime so you could see the fish, see the surroundings.
And we timed it just right.
We caught our bait mid-afternoon, three o'clock.
Set up and fished to dusk, and just caught enough fish to do the shot.
- Well, let's talk more about the gear.
Let's go to Gear Time.
[cheery guitar music] - Boy, Bryan, that was fun.
- That was a ball.
I love those big fish.
You know, it took us a little while.
We fished deep early, and then moved in here shallow, just on a whim.
And I got in about nine feet of water on the edge of a, on a shoal.
And where it comes up to about five feet, fish were there.
- [Kurt] Fish were there.
Didn't take 20 minutes, we were hooked up.
Soon as we started chummin' a little bit.
- [Bryan] Yep.
- [Kurt] Don't think we hurt any fish.
- [Bryan] No, no, not at all.
- [Kurt] Just put one, two in the boat, I guess, but regular Lupton rig I was usin'.
- Yep.
- The new law that's gonna be in effect, I think, is between seven and seven, that's seven in night to seven in the morning, - That's correct.
- When you're supposed to have a fixed weight six inches or less from the hook at least two ounces with a circle hook bigger than four aught.
And this is a nine or a 10.
Circle hook is defined by the point goin' back to the shank.
- That's right.
- With the barb compressed.
- That is correct.
- Yours is a very similar rig, same type as, - Very similar.
I use a different style hook, so a Mustad hook, true circle, but I do have a fixed weight.
But with this particular rig, I'm able to take the weight off or adjust my weight size.
It's based on conditions.
The same deal, you know, 80 pound fluorocarbon.
Weights don't matter.
It's just good, tough monofilament.
And everything about it meets the regulations.
Now, after seven, which is right now, I'd have to cramp that barb down.
But they work great.
We didn't have any dehooked fish.
- [Kurt] All the fish I've caught this year were hooked right in the corner of the mouth.
- That's right, we're fishin' with fresh menhaden.
We caught that on the way out.
- That's the key.
- I think that is the key.
With so much bait around us, that is the key.
- And actually, when we were fishing, you had me just cuttin' the tail off like that to give 'em a little bit of blood and hook 'em through the head.
- [Bryan] That's correct.
- And when you're reel it in, it's streamlined.
- It comes straight.
There's plenty of bait.
The bait's the perfect size.
You cut 'em with a serrated knife, scissors, a good cuttin' board.
We did use the dehooker some.
- I like to leave the fish in the water when I can.
If it's a photo opportunity, and you got someone I know that had never had a fish and wants to take a picture, you need to get the camera out early.
No need havin' that fish layin' in the boat.
- Oh, no, no, no, you got to get it.
Well, somebody's got to get it while you're fightin' the fish.
- That's right.
- I mean, these are trophy fish.
It's a fish of a lifetime for most people, and we need to take care of 'em.
And this helps in that scenario.
- I can say that last fish I had on I'm glad I had this instead of that rod and reel 'cause he was a tussel, and I know you're fishin' just a hair lighter than I was.
- I fish lighter than a lot of people do, but I like, you know, it's quality tackle.
It'll handle a good, smooth drag.
And, but it is a little bit lighter 'cause I like the light tackle aspect of it.
- We still got time to go in.
We'll be back at the dock well before dark safe.
Just a great trip.
- It's a shame there's not a restaurant between here and the house.
We'd eat something.
- We will, we will.
- Thank you, man, I enjoyed it.
- I did too, it was just great fun.
Beautiful fish, always amazing when you hear him down there.
[imitating fish drumming] - Them big males are great.
- Thanks, fellas, for that valuable information.
Now, if you wanna go on a trip, call the number that you see on the screen there, and I promise you you'll have a good day of fishing.
Now, Donna, she's in the kitchen.
You're gonna like these recipes today.
First, she has a recipe for squash casserole, and then she's gonna be grilling some fish.
This is one you'll wanna remember so stay right where you are as we go to the kitchen with Donna on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.
[upbeat instrumental music] - Hi, today in the kitchen we're making a squash casserole.
In the middle of the summer when you have so much squash in your garden that you don't know what to do with it.
And people are givin' it to you, and you're tryin' to give it to others.
Got a great recipe for you.
These are great.
You can make them up and go ahead and freeze 'em so you'll have 'em in the dead of winter when you want some summer taste.
So, what we're doing here is we're sautéing our sweet onions and our squash.
So, we just have this sautéing in our pan until it's soft.
And we're gonna add a few seasonings to this.
We're gonna add a little bit of salt to this, and I like to use sea salt 'cause that's what we have at our house.
And then, we're gonna add some cracked black pepper, and then we're going to add a little bit of some poultry seasoning.
So, this'll give you like some oregano and some other seasonings that are really good but that's all mixed together so you don't have to think about all the individual spices.
So, we're just gonna give this a stir, and we're gonna let this continue to sauté until it's nice and soft and ready to go into our casserole.
So, we're gonna go ahead and start mixing our other ingredients together while this is sautéing.
We're gonna add three eggs, I mean, two eggs to our dish.
We're gonna add a little bit of sour cream so it's gotta be good.
and some hush puppy with onion mix.
So, what a great combination.
So, we're gonna add our sour cream.
It's about a third, 3/4 of a cup of sour cream.
Just give that a stir.
Stir all your wet ingredients together first.
And then, we're gonna add in our one bag of hush puppy mix with onions to this.
We're to stir this together until it's well mixed.
Then, we're gonna add in our zucchini, I mean, our squash and onions.
And you could use zucchini in this too.
You could do a combination if you have both in your garden, and you don't know what to do with it all.
It would be great to combine them both.
So, we're gonna add in our squash.
I think it's about ready.
We had started it before.
It takes about five to 10 minutes depending on how large you slice your squash.
I wanna put zucchini in this, I think.
So, we're just mixing that together.
Then, we're going to add in our squash and onions.
Give that a toss until it's all combined, and then we're gonna put this in a two quart container that we've sprayed.
And so, we're gonna coat this with nonstick spray, put our mixture in here, and then we're gonna top it with some shredded cheddar cheese, which makes everything great.
And bake it at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes until it's nice and bubbly and cooked throughout.
And you can see, it's nice and cheesy on the top.
You can use it, it's a great side dish for some grilled fish or maybe some grilled duck breast that you might have or some quail.
It's just a great side dish to bring back summer to use up all that squash that you might have.
And I hope you enjoy it.
It's a great squash casserole so I hope you enjoy it.
And I look forward to seein' ya here next time on Simple Cooking.
- Thanks, Donna, another excellent recipe.
Joe, I wanna go back.
You know, people wanna have their pictures made with this fish, but you got to handle it properly.
Tell me about that.
- That's right, these are big fish as you saw, and so you want to give, if you take them out of the water, give 'em support under the belly and up toward the head 'cause it weighs so much.
You know, you don't wanna dangle 'em by the lip.
They're just too big for that.
I think you'll cause more harm than good so give 'em support, take your picture real quick, and get 'em back in the water.
We have probably the largest population of big drum anywhere in the country.
People come from all over the country to fish 'em, and so we need to be protective of 'em.
When they're in the Sound in the summer time, they're actually spawning, at different times during the summer.
So, they spend the winter out in the ocean in deeper water, and then move in every spring in May.
Spend the summer months in the Sound, throughout the Sound.
And so, it's a great fishery.
Just be cognizant of what you're fishing for, and, like I said, most of the fishing's done at night.
More and more, I'm hearin' more and more are being caught during the day, but just a great fishery, and we need to take care of it.
- Another reason why people come to North Carolina to fish.
- Absolutely.
- For 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.
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