[piano intro] (man) Se e the fish?

Ri ght there.

Dust him, dust him.

Yo u got it, you got it.

Nasty, na sty, nasty, nasty, nasty, na sty, nasty quick, nasty!

Again in th ere again, hard, hard, ha rd 11 o'clock.

Th ey're going fr om right to left.

Hard!

Keep it coming!

Co me on.

Trying to get him to go from us Good one!

Oh-ha-ha, it 's a good one.

Oh, th at's a nice one.

Thank you, John.

Watch your back there on your butt.

You're good-- yo u're good.

He's got some shoulders on him--he's pulling tough.

That's a nice one-- bl owing up that one.

- [male announcer]: The production of Carolina Outdoor Journal is made possible in part by: - [female announcer]: The North Carolina Wildlife Rescources Commission.

A fishing license goes a long way towards wildlife conservation in North Carolina.

Over 38,000 miles of managed streams and rivers, and 250,000 acres of lakes and reservoirs.

- [male announcer]: And by: EZ Bait and Tackle, family owned and operated.

We fish from fresh to saltwater.

We provide fishing supplies and ad vice to every type of angler.

For all your fishing needs, EZ Bait and Tackle.

And by contributions from PBS NC vi ewers like you.

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

Today's program is gonna take us to Wrightsville Beach.

We're fishing for red drum and we had one exciting day.

We did and we were-- lot of fun using fly rods, fishing for a good class of puppy drum or red drum, um, 6 to 8 pounds, in the shallows wh ere these fish are feeding, and they're driven in these sh allow waters by the tide and by the bait be ing moved in or out depending on the tide movement.

It's driven by the tide-- You need to know when to be there-- You can get caught in shallows and sit there until the tide comes in.

You have to pay attention to what's going on, but, uh, real productive day.

On "Gear Time," we'll talk about the flies used.

In "Gear Time," th ey'll share with us-- a variety you want to have with you.

But depending on the mood of the fish, what they're feeding on that day, whether they're feeding on mullet, crabs-- that day they actually changed on us so the guys had to adapt to what the fish wanted.

Several times we were surrounded by upwards of 100 to 200 fish.

It's throwing a fly in that they didn't want-- you have to have that selection in your tackle box, and that's what they did.

They'll share that in "Gear Time."

And Donna's got a recipe using duck today.

Yeah, a yogurt sauce wi th duck.

It sounds a little different, bu t let's pay attention.

Got a lot going on-- stick around, it's all coming your way today on the "Carolina Outdoor Journal."

(man) Co uldn't ask for a prettier morning.

No, sir.

Af ter a windy spring, it's nice to see so mething like this.

Absolutely-- this is incredible, John.

I can't believe you got us here on this spot, first thing in the morning like this.

(John) It 's almost too nice.

It uh-- a lot of windy mornings-- lot of blowy days.

Seemed like it went right fr om winter into summer.

Absolutely-- that long spring-- A lot of life up here.

Definitely-- se ems like everywhere from the Keys to Maine did that-- winter to spring-- and everything's ab out a month late, water temps an d fish, included.

Usually, I've seen more fish by now than we have.

But it sure is nice to be seeing all this life.

A lot of mullet up here and... some of those mullet st art pushing a little more wake.

I'm waitin' to see the telltale tail, so to speak.

There you go.

Just really nice in here.

Probably need to stay quiet in here, um, 'cause our voice they'll definitely key on.

Noisy, nasty, noisy, nasty, oh , they're blowing.

Come on-- no isy, nasty.

No, they blew.

Keep coming.

John, I'm gonna make sure that I'm at the ready position.

Yeah, you get fired up on that other fly, but you had it in tight.

You had it in tight twice and they di dn't want it.

I'm in agreement.

One o'clock is fish.

That's probably 50 , 60 redfish right there.

Mullet swirls?

Yeah, th at's definitely mullet.

But this nervous water you're gearing me towards?

(John) Th at's redfish an d they're moving.

They bounced of f a fish.

It's too calm-- th ey're seein' everything.

See they're coming kinda left to right across the bow?

Like they're coming across us and towards us.

Gonna try to give you a perfect shot.

Lead the heck ou t of 'em.

Just keep leading them li ke a--like a quail.

Okay.

I'm ready.

I see a lead fish.

They're coming ri ght at the bow, quartering towards the bow fr om left to right.

Oh, yeah.

A little further-- oo h, look at the tail!

That's a huge fish, dude!

Th at's a huge fish!

Pick it up and throw it in there another 20 feet.

That's a monster.

Noisy, nasty.

Golly, did you see th e tail, Seth?

That was the biggest tail I've seen.

Haven't seen a fish he re that big.

That's why they're eatin' mu llet--they're huge.

May have to throw in th at big rattle clauser and go crazy wi th it.

Try a slower strip.

Got him!

Got him!

Got him--nice.

Pr etty work!

Clear him, fi sh on, man.

Pretty work, Seth-- wa y to go, man.

Thanks, John, good coaching there, chief.

I just haven't se en a refuser ke yed in on his mullet.

Don't know how big th at fish is, bu t there's some tanks.

Haven't seen a tail that big.

Thank you.

Pretty work.

He's moving right.

[reeling] rz, rz...rz Pretty work.

Fish-- John, he's strong and he's pulling hard.

Didn't know he was hooked.

He's not a little guy.

Blowing some water-- th at's a good fish.

Wow, he just rolled.

That was beautiful.

That is a nice fish ri ght there, Seth, pretty work.

This is as good as it gets, brother.

As far as sight fishin' redfish in North Carolina.

It doesn't get any better.

Why travel, un less it's January an d it's freezin'?

Otherwise, he re we are.

I mean, that's si ght fishing at its best.

Pretty work, John.

Real pretty work.

I turned him that time.

Away from the schools so-- th at's a good one.

That's a nice fish.

That's a good one.

He's in the 8, 9 range, I would guess from what I' ve seen so far.

Maybe not quite-- He's turnin'-- he's turnin'.

That's a good fi sh--got some sh oulders on him.

Tell me what to do-- if you want to push off.

I think we're good drifting with the current.

If you wanna get that boga rolling-- Yeah, you wanna stake or hop or drift with the current-- (John) I' m gonna lay th e pole crosswise here.

Beautiful, John.

Lead him over headfirst-- nice fish.

(Seth) Le ader is yours, captain.

Not quite as big as I thought.

Must be the calm water, but he's a nice one.

He won't open his mouth.

(Seth) He chomped th at fly pretty good.

You got all my sl ack there, captain.

What great work, man, thanks for putting us on that school-- can't tell you how fun it was si ght fishin' those reds.

Look at that parasite on his tail with moss growing off it.

What a healthy, healthy fish.

He's got some sea lice on him.

See the sea lice on his gill?

He's fresh from the ocean.

Wow.

(Seth) That's what it's all about-- quintessential redfish.

What's hi s boga weight?

Six.

(Seth) Si x pounds!

Listen to him drum!

Drummin' away.

Yeah, he's got one spot.

One spot on his--on his back.

And look at that spot in the middle.

(Seth) Un believable.

Let's let him go, 'cause I don't think those fish are gonna go anywhere anytime soon.

(Seth) No , I bet we can ge t another one.

That was in credible sight fishing!

He's ready.

Look at that iridescence in his tail.

Lay down on the bottom-- off he goes.

Captain, thanks so much.

Pretty work, man, nice shot-- way to go.

What a way to start the morning in Carolina.

Can you believe it?

I would check that leader, because-- Let's do that.

See if we can't do that again.

There were some tails in there that were just-- Monsters... Frankenstein!

I haven't seen them in here like that.

Whew!

Holy mackerel, that was a nice tail.

Up here?

Tw elve?

Uh, yeah, 11 o'clock right now.

Right tight.

See, I mean, now if I-- They're not doing their supertail thing.

See the fish?

Ri ght there.

Dust him--dust him-- yo u got it--you got it.

Nasty, nasty, na sty, nasty, nasty, nasty, nasty, qu ick, nasty!

Again in there, ag ain.

Hard, hard, ha rd 11 o'clock.

They're going fr om right to left.

Hard!

Keep it comin'-- co me on--come on.

Keep it coming-- ji ggle it--jiggle it!

Come on--keep it coming, ke ep it coming.

[light percussion leads acoustic guitar] ♪ (John) Ba ck here.

Oh, th at's a good one!

Oh-ha-ha, it's a good one.

Oh , that's a nice one.

Thank you, John.

Watch your back th ere on your butt.

You're good-- yo u're good.

He's got some shoulders on him-- he's pulling tough.

Yeah, that's a nice one-- we 're blowing up that.

Perfect, man, perfect.

I think your li ne looks fine, but mind it as it's coming out.

You got it.

(John) That's a good fish right there.

Oh, wow, dude, there's five of 'em, I seen 'em.

Perfect, that's beautiful!

Beautiful.

He's a knuckle-buster, John.

That's a good one-- when he rolled, that's a good one.

rz, rz...rz Ooh, he's got some heat.

Thanks for getting us in range-- couldn't have done it.

(John) Was done talking on that last cast.

(Seth) On the backcast, no less.

(John) I was done talking on that cast.

John, that's th e best redfish bi te I've ever had.

Bar none, chief.

Well, you read everything-- they can't eat surface.

They have trouble eatin' on top.

When you see their gi lls pop to eat th at surface fly.

Flarin'!

Oh, my gosh!

When he's on it, just jiggle your rod tip.

Keep it moving like it's hurt-- like he killed it.

I honestly didn't know you could get goose bumps in the summer.

That was incredible.

(John) When he stops again, I bet you can tombstone him.

rz, rz...rz Oh, he's a big one!

Nice!

Fisher, does it get prettier than this?

I don't think so.

Got him doing headstands, John.

Nice.

Then you know he's a little tired.

That's a good one.

Holler at me when you got him in control.

He's still got some back to him.

[reel whirring] rz, rz...rz Oh, he's a big one, John.

Nice, look at the shoulders on that fish.

Surface bite-- that's just out of control.

On the rattle-- rattle crease-- you all right?

He's going under.

I'm coming.

I'm going to try and pull him out.

(John) Ju st watch--I've got tr oller motors and things.

I'm gonna lay my pole crossways, so if you've go tta come back-- He came out-- he glid out.

(John) Le t me get my boga.

I've gotta put it away ev ery time or we'll never ge t a bite.

Whoa!

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!

(Seth) He got off.

How'd he come off the boga?

I've never had one come off the boga.

Never had one come off the boga.

(Seth) They're still hot-- let's get another.

[bluesy guitar leads deep percussion] ♪ ♪ [wind blowing] whh, whh...whh (Seth) That's where they were holding.

They were millin' all over that grass.

So cool.

(John) Fed high, behind 'em.

(Seth) Fi shing this high tide, fl ooded grass.

It's a pretty enough spot.

Got a redfish right un der the boat moving away-- mo ving away.

Missed him-- never even saw 'im.

He was just laid down in that bay.

You had your fly ri ght on top of him.

Never even saw him.

I mean, I literally didn't se e him until he moved.

Got him-- got him--got him.

He's coming at me--got him.

There he goes, John, I gotta pursue him.

That's fine, you're all right right here.

Let him-- oh, there's fish.

There's some fish in here, bubba.

Nice fish, John.

Nice fish.

(Seth) He's going right for that grass--you got a nice one.

Look at him bowing the line, pushing that grass.

Push at him hard as you want, man.

Don't want to get him too wrapped up.

We'll go after him.

Keep tension--keep tension.

We'll go right after him.

I'd rather follow him than lose him in the grass.

(John) Th at's what I'm saying, go tta keep the nose on him, so I can keep a good angle-- yo u're doing perfect.

(Seth) Th e one you hooked-- Well, you know, I had this fly on and it's a tough grass fly 'cause it wants to snag, and I missed-- had the hooks in one and then missed two because it was on the grass.

Right, right, we kept hooking and fo uling in that grass, but you got him well.

All kinds of tight shots.

I want him out in that open... out of this grass.

Okay, hold up for a sec.

What do you think, Jo hn, you ready?

Uh, yeah.

I got him.

Stay up there just so we don't get out in the open.

I got him, I think.

(Seth) Where's that boga?

(Seth) We ll done.

Pretty work.

Good cast.

I'm gonna pull th at rattle clauser ou t of his mouth.

Check that leader.

Sure, bro.

You plowed on that-- don't think I'm gonna change it.

I'm just gonna not move it much.

Look at that-- he just swallowed that thing.

What's he got?

Little over 6.

Nicely done!

Nicely done-- wh at a beauty.

Let's let her back, see what else is goin' on.

Ooh-wee!

Wo nder if that fi sh is tired as we are from ch asing him.

He's rarin' to go.

Heh, kickin'.

All right, buddy.

(Seth) Go back and visit his fr iends--well done!

Pretty work, cap.

Good teamwork.

Good te amwork!

Well, we owe Fisher one.

Can't take all the credit-- definitely found these fish.

We had to change flies several times, but still had a good day.

We really did and that proves you need to have a good selection of flies any time you go-- for any species of fish-- but particularly drum.

We had a beautiful morning, as you could see.

The fish were all small mullet.

They had to adapt-- they had to change their patterns to--to go more towards what the fish were on.

Drum feed typically down-- uh, bottom feeders.

They really love crabs.

That's a great pattern to use for 'em.

That day, we actually caught fish on top-water baits, and the guys will talk about that on "Gear Time."

Let's go to "Gear Time" and find out more.

[light percussion leads acoustic guitar] ♪ John, thanks-- I just want to--want to say thanks for such an incredible day today.

That was incredible fishing.

Well, I'll tell you, it's probably the nicest day this year yet, as far as wind conditions and at the right time of day.

Summer's here--we've been waiting a while, and it showed up.

But you know, for sight fishing here, uh, in North Carolina, I don't think it gets a whole lot better than that.

Came in here with 8-weight rods, um, you know, weight-forward lines, and throw in your rattle shrimp, We worked on this together a little bit.

Heck of a job on that fly.

I like the improvements-- the exception of not having a weed guard.

I know I said no weed guards when we first started, but later in the day when they pushed up in the grass, I think a weed guard woulda been beneficial.

(Seth) Wh at about those fish ea tin' mullet on that low tide?

Well, you know-- and the crease fly came through again.

Um, throw the creases at them.

You know, redfish having trouble eating on top is a fallacy-- it's not true.

We just proved th at today.

Keying in on those mullet, I mean, this makes enough commotion-- has enough flash-- that they really find it on top.

And chase it and basically attack it.

Now, th ose tailers we saw, the crab would have been great in that low-tide experience.

And they stuck there tails up, but as sure as the wind came up-- They don't like their tails out of the water.

I think this was our best bet as far as a go-to fly-- the rattle shrimp-- for searching, flashing cloudy water, little bit of noise, and a good hook.

Great--great fly.

Great hook.

Coulda used, probably, a weed guard.

I do like, however, when we got to, uh, that high-water situation, we were fishing the flooded grass there at the high tide.

You know, our options changed-- we got into a fly that had a little better design as far as having what we call th e "monomustache."

Still breathed well, carried its own weight in the grass, got down for those fish to be able to root on it, and, uh, pretty grass-friendly.

A little bit better-- I definitely got frustrated with this fly in the grass that wants to snag everything.

With a weed guard, we might have had the ultimate.

But, you know, our backup was just fine, all in all.

I'll say one thing-- that's probably the best day of redfishing I've seen in North Carolina as far as a complete tide phase.

Thanks for a great day.

Glad you got to come with me-- that was a lot of fun.

See some good stuff-- you got a nice day.

For sure.

Goes to show you need a variety of flies when you're out there fishing.

Donna's in the kitchen.

She's got a recipe with duck breast and yogurt sauce as we continue with the "Carolina Outdoor Journal."

♪ ♪ Hi, today we're going to be making duck breast with a yogurt sauce in the kitchen.

And, um, it goes together really quick and easily and it uses some kind of unusual ingredients, but I think the blend is really nice.

We're going to start out with, um, some In Your Oven breader.

To that we're going to add some cumin and a little bit of garlic salt.

We're just going to add that together.

And then we're going to toss that just to combine our ingredients.

Then we're gonna to take our duck breasts that are dressed, and I've taken off all of the fat on the back or the skin off the back.

And we're going to moisten those, and then we're just gonna toss those with our mixture here and coat it, and then we're gonna place them on our nonstick foil or our lined baking sheet.

And we're gonna bake these at 3-- um, at about 425 for about 15 to 20 minutes-- just until your duck is fully cooked.

You don't want to overcook it.

Remember, when you bring it out of the oven, it will continue to cook for a little bit, so you want to make sure that you're not overcooking it, but you cook it to about 160 degrees.

So once those are brought out, like I said, we're going to bake those at 425 for about 15 to 20 minutes.

And while those are baking, we're going to be making our sauce--our yogurt sauce.

And we're going to use some nonfat, plain yogurt, which adds-- it's a little bit tangy, so it's gonna be, kind of, a Mediterranean, almost, type flavor.

We're gonna use about two cloves of garlic that we have chopped finely.

Then we're going to add some cilantro-- fresh cilantro leaves to this, and about two Granny Smith apples that we have shredded.

You want to make sure that you use those immediately after you've shredded them.

These have lots of juice in 'em--they're great.

It's going to be a nice combination of some tangy, some tart, and some crunch, which will be nice.

So we're just going to mix that together.

And you can make this, if you would like, the day before and let it kind of-- your ingredients or your flavors kind of--what they say-- married or kind of mix together if you'd like.

Then I'm going to serve mine into a little bowl, and we can serve this on top of our chicken-- I mean, our duck, if you'd like.

Or you can serve it on the side.

And we're going to serve ours on the side.

This is what it looks like when it comes out.

You see the duck is nice and golden brown and crunchy on the outside, and then if you'd like, you can top it with just a little bit of the yogurt sauce and perhaps a little bit of the cilantro on your plate to make a nice, little presentation.

I hope you like the duck breast with yogurt sauce.

and I look forward to seeing you here next time on "Simple Cooking."

Thanks, Donna, for that recipe.

That sounds like one I'll have to try.

Joe, between changing the flies and watching the tide, it can make for a busy day fishing.

It really can-- gotta pay attention to your surroundings 'cause you can really be left high and dry, and you'd have to wait till the tide comes back in unless you want to walk out.

John spends a lot of time back there.

He knows when to be there, when not to, when the fish'll be there, what to use, how to adapt to the changes that invariably happen, If you've never done that before and want to try, give him a call-- he's really good at it.

He knows how these fish act back there-- what they do when they're in that feeding mode.

And how to present the fly-- he's really good.

For Joe Albea, I'm John Moore.

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

- [male announcer]: And make sure to visit our website for more information.

- [male announcer]: The production of Carolina Outdoor Journal is made possible in part by: - [female announcer]: The North Carolina Wildlife Rescources Commission.

A fishing license goes a long way towards wildlife conservation in North Carolina.

Over 38,000 miles of managed streams and rivers, and 250,000 acres of lakes and reservoirs.

- [male announcer]: And by EZ Bait and Tackle, family owned and operated.

We fish from fresh to saltwater.

We provide fishing supplies and ad vice to every type of angler.

For all your fishing needs, EZ Bait and Tackle.

And by contributions from PBS NC vi ewers like you.

[light instrumental music] ♪