[gentle orchestral fanfare] - You just gotta go lighter and lighter and lighter to match what you're catchin'.

- Alright, Stew, I think I'm gonna have a, well maybe not.

- [Stew] Look at that big ol' thing.

See that right there on?

That's a nice fish, right there.

Look at the tail on that fish.

[laughs] I love it.

That's a big ol' North Carolina ladyfish.

- [Bryan] Alright, I'm gonna bring him in there for you, Stew.

- [Stew] Got him, alright.

- [Bryan] Yeah man, nice fish.

- [Stew] Look at that big ol' fish.

Look at the eyes, look how big the eyes are on that fish.

Alright, I'm gonna get this little X-Rap out of his mouth.

Alright.

- Pretty work, Stew.

- Look at that big ol' pretty thing..

It's probably about two and a half pounds.

- Look at the eyes on him.

- Pretty green back.

- Or her.

- That's right.

That's a nice fish, right there, buddy.

That big ol' mouth.

- Yeah.

- I'm gonna dip her in the water.

- Good work.

- [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.

Today we're fishing for a seasonal fish, of you will, Joe, ladyfish.

- Yeah, it is a seasonal fish.

It's really a summertime fishery.

Today we're fishing outside of Wrightsville Beach, along the Intracoastal Waterway using fairly light tackle, lures that, basically subsurface lures, a great fish to use topwater lures.

But they are very acrobatic.

They have soft mouths, so you're gonna lose probably more fish than you actually catch, but just a great summertime fishery.

Lots of action.

- We'll have an interesting Gear Time today.

- Right, the guys will share with us the tackle they use, of course, and some of the stick baits that they used.

They top about the topwater baits that you can use for 'em too and just a lot of fun.

- And then Donna's got a recipe today using duck.

- A seared duck recipe from her, a little special, she's got a little addition to that, I'll hold off and I won't say anything about it, but just pay attention to that.

- Well we got a lot going on today, so let's go to work on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

- Stew, we've got a beautiful morning here on the Intercoastal Waterway.

It's the beginning of August.

Got fish breaking all around us.

Let's tell us a little bit about what we're gonna do today.

- What we're gonna do is, we're gonna throw little ultralights, little six pound test outfits, little hard jerk baits, at ladyfish.

We've got a bunch of bait running right up and down this bank right here, and these ladyfish are nice.

They're abundant, there's a lot of them here in the summertime, they're only here for a short time.

So it's a good opportunity to get out here, catch something different that you don't catch all the time.

And they're really fun 'cause they jump all over the place.

- Fantastic.

- Yeah and then we'll get 'em out here, and we'll throw in these baits right here 'cause we've got 'em bustin', like you said earlier on the boat.

[Bryan laughs] I'm starting to itch right now, so, let's see if we can't get us one.

- [Bryan] You got it.

- [Stew] Look right there, look at those baits right there.

Come on big fella.

- [Bryan] Oh man, there he is.

He is on it, he is on it.

- [Stew] Throw it, throw it.

There it is, there it is, got him.

- [Bryan] Very nice, Stew.

Beautiful.

- There he is.

Oh it's a blue fish.

It's a big ol' blue fish.

[pole reels] Guess this is the, the byproduct of a... Little top ore, ain't too bad.

[clears throat] Kinda byproduct of a ladyfish trip right here 'cause you're-- - [Bryan] Stew, you want me to BogaGrip him or net him?

- [Stew] BogaGrip him.

I should have him pretty good.

[pole reels] It's a nice little fish.

Take him for a little topwater bite.

- [Bryan] Very nice.

- [Stew] Let's see.

He ain't a bad blue for a summertime.

Look at that thing.

[water splashing] Them hooks.

- [Bryan] Want me to just swing him over?

- [Stew] Yeah, just swing him in, there you go.

Perfect.

- [Bryan] Very nice, Stew.

- [Stew] I'll take that as a, that's not a bad bluefish for a topwater bite.

Look at that thing.

Oh, easy there big fella.

[bait rattles] There we go, you got it.

Nice little fish.

I'll take that.

[water splashes] Alright, perfect.

- [Bryan] Very nice.

- [Stew] Take one.

- [Bryan] Take one.

- [Stew] Start the day off.

Now we just gotta get those ladyfish to bit up like that.

Check that later.

Oh yeah, sure looks good.

Man, they're right here.

- [Bryan] Yeah, they're flashing right in front of the boat.

- [Stew] God, they're right here in front of us.

I mean, 20 feet.

Come on, boys, come on.

Hit that thing.

Come on, hit it, hit it.

What I gotta do to get you to eat?

I know they can't be as smart as tarp.

[laughter] 'Cause I'll never catch 'em.

Come on, come on now, eat that thing.

I'm just gonna burn one through here real quick, see what happens.

Come on, big boy.

Oh, that didn't work.

Man, they're right here.

Look at those mullets comin' across, from the deep.

- [Bryan] There, look at that!

Yeah.

[laughter] Look at that, right on, good job.

Let me put the pole down here.

- [Stew] Look at that, listen to that run.

If you, oh!

God.

Did he break you off?

Or did he just come off?

- [Bryan] I think he broke me off.

Be interesting to see where.

- [Stew] Let's see where it broke, god almighty.

At the knot.

- [Bryan] At the knot.

Oh, I'll let you tie on the rest of the leaders.

[laughter] - [Stew] That's four.

[laughter] - [Bryan] Ladies are making me look bad.

[laughter] - [Stew] Alright, look.

- Coming at the boat.

- Go ahead.

- [Bryan] Did you see that jump?

- [Stew] I didn't see it, but I heard it.

- [Bryan] [laughs] Check it out.

- [Stew] There we go.

He's probably gonna take off on me.

[pole reels] Oh that's a nice one, too.

Pick it out, here it goes.

Yeah.

Alright, let me get the BogaGrip.

Oh yeah.

That's a pretty one, there.

Oh.

[laughter] - [Bryan] So much fun.

- [Stew] That is the best part about it.

He's probably gonna come up again out there.

Alright, good job, Bryan.

- [Bryan] Thank you.

- [Stew] He's got the hot hand today.

I knew you had a bite.

- [Bryan] [laughs] Oh, that's funny.

- [Stew] Lay him out right there.

That's a nice one.

Listen to that drive.

[laughter] Look at 'em all shining.

[pole reels] How much fun is that?

- [Bryan] Great, what a nice bite.

Shaking his head a little bit.

- [Stew] Just match the rod to the fish.

Little dials to your fish and you can make any fish fun.

You just gotta go lighter and lighter and lighter to match what you're catching.

- Alright, Stew, I think I'm gonna have it, well, maybe not.

- [Stew] Look at that big ol' thing.

See that right there?

That's a nice fish, right there.

Look at the tail on that fish.

- Woo!

- I love it.

It's big ol' North Carolina ladyfish.

- [Bryan] Alright, I'm gonna bring him in there for you, Stew.

- [Stew] Got him.

Alright!

- Yeah, man.

Nice fish.

- [Stew] Look at that big ol' fish.

Look at the eyes, look how big the eyes are on that fish.

Alright, I'm gonna get this little X-Rap out of his mouth.

Alright.

- Pretty work, Stew.

- Look at that big ol' pretty thing.

It's probably about two and a half pounds.

- Look at the eyes on him.

Or her.

- Pretty green back.

That's right.

That's a nice fish right there, buddy.

That big ol' mouth.

God, I'm gonna dip her in the water.

- Good work.

[light music] - [Bryan] Stew, it's the beginning of August, and we're out here, gettin' lucky with a few lady fish.

Do these fish stay around throughout the summer?

How long are they here, and how can someone go about targeting these fish?

- [Stew] It's a real short season on these guys.

They're really only here for, really for maybe a month and a half.

You know, thick enough that you can actually come out here and fish for 'em.

And the way I like to target 'em is just real light outfits.

We're using a six pound test, little bitty rods that you can throw little baits with.

Probably about the same stuff that you would really use for maybe a heavy bream rod.

You know, something like that.

Because they're gonna run good and stuff, you just have to make sure you've got enough line on there.

But, oh, god.

Mighty.

He popped it right there and I missed him.

But I like to throw-- - [Bryan] I need to start fishing in the deep.

- [Stew] I like to throw these little jerk baits, these little Rapala jerk baits at them, which is what you and I are usin'.

Just nice and small so they can get 'em in their mouth.

That way you can get a good hook tag 'cause they're hard to keep hooked, 'cause of that soft mouth and the way they jump.

- [Bryan] Oh that's her, that is her.

- [Stew] Yeah, there she is, there she is.

- [Bryan] Very nice, Stew.

- [Stew] She's coming to us.

[pole reels] Here she comes, let's see.

Yup, that's her right there.

Oh wait, what is it?

What have we got this time?

There she is.

It's a Spanish.

- [Bryan] It is, Spanish mackerel.

- [Stew] Wow.

Ha.

Well it's a variety show.

Not only do we get ladyfish, but we get blues, Spanish, oh.

Only got 15 pound, you might be able to just swing her in.

There we go.

- [Bryan] Making sure we don't lose that bait.

Nice work, Stew, we got a little variety goin' on today.

- [Stew] [laughs] Yeah we do.

We're targeting ladyfish and we're catching ladyfish, bluefish, Spanish.

We'll take it on six pound test.

Ain't nothin' wrong with that little fish.

Look at the spots on him.

- Pretty little thing.

Thank you, there Mr. Spanish.

- [Bryan] Yes sir.

- [Stew] Nice little bonus to throw in there.

Alright, good job.

- [Bryan] Alright.

- [Stew] Something to add to the list.. - [Bryan] You got it, very nice.

- Couple ladyfish, nice blue, nice Spanish.

We'll take it on a six pound.

I'm surprised he didn't bite me off, I've only got 15 pound leader on here.

I do have a little nick, I'm gonna have to change that our right there.

There he is.

- [Bryan] Very nice, Stew!

- Alright.

Oh yeah.

- Oh, man!

Making me look good.

- [laughs] Yeah, no doubt.

[laughter] That's part of it with these guys.

- [Bryan] They've gotta jump.

- They will throw a bait in a heartbeat.

Doggone it.

Man.

Alright.

- [Bryan] [laughs] Making me look good.

- [Stew] I know, I swear.

God almighty.

I thought I had him.

When he didn't come up right off the bat, I thought I was gonna have to hook him.

- [Bryan] He's going in the grass.

- [Stew] How 'bout that?

Oh that was beautiful.

Good job.

- [Bryan] You got a keeper?

- [Stew] God, he was jumpin' all over you.

- [Bryan] He was, he's coming at us.

- [Stew] He's coming right at you, get ready.

Reel, reel, reel, where is he?

- [Bryan] He's right there.

[laughter] - Oh my goodness.

[laughs] How fast was that?

Wew!

That was great, good job.

- I could barely keep up with him there.

- [Stew] Wow, that was great.

- [Bryan] It's ultralight tackles, is where it's at.

It really is.

- [Stew] I swear, thought he jumped four times in the first five seconds.

[pole reels] Listen to the drag.

Oh yeah.

Six pound test.

Three pound, two and three pound fish.

Oh.

- [Bryan] Oh boy.

- [Stew] I got the Power-Pole down back there.

- I see it.

- [Stew] There you go.

Alright, good job.

- [Bryan] Alright.

Hang on.

- [Stew] You think he's ready?

- [Bryan] Yeah, I think you can get it.

[water splashes] - [Stew] Do that.

[grunts] Got him.

- [Bryan] Very nice, Stew!

- [Stew] Yeah!

Good job, my man.

- Good work, good work.

- [Stew] Good job.

- [Bryan] Well that was great.

That bite was fantastic.

- [Stew] God, did you see him below?

- [Bryan] She went three times, and I think on the fourth try hooked up.

It was great.

- [Stew] That was great, man.

Alright, good work.

- [Bryan] Pretty fish.

- That a pretty one.

Look at that, they're so muscular.

Feel how dense they are.

Feel how tight that fish is across his back.

Just all muscle.

- [Bryan] Speed machine.

- [Stew] That's right.

Look at them big ol' eyes, what a pretty thing.

Thank you there, Miss Ladyfish.

Alright, let's get her back in there.

- Joe, the ladyfish is just a good sports fish.

- No question about it, and I think on any tackle, but of course you, as we said, always make your tackle with the size fish you're gonna catch.

Again, this is a seasonal fishery, it's just in the summertime.

They're here and they do provide a lot of action.

- You talk about action, you gotta be ready for that.

Let's go to Gear Time.

[cheery guitar music] - Stew, we've had a great day today chasin' these ladyfish around.

We tangled with a lot of fish, we landed a few less, but what a fun day out here on the water.

Tell us a little bit about some of the lures that we used, and the techniques, and how to go about settin' up for the ladyfish.

- Well once thing you, one thing you really need to understand is when you go for these fish is they really are hard to catch because they jump, they got soft mouths, and they're always gonna throw your baits.

I think we probably had a good handful of fish, and only caught a few today.

It's a little tougher than just going out and catching fish 'cause they come back and hit over and over.

These guys had a big mouth, but are soft, and when they start jumpin', start throwing that bite all over the place, like you had one throw a bait probably 10 or 12 feet today.

All the way out of the water, which is kind of cool.

- [Bryan] It was.

- Not cool in a good way, but cool to see.

[Bryan laughs] But what we were using today mainly is, the main bait we used today was a little X-Rap.

Tend to be a great little bait, and white.

They were piling on that thing pretty good.

I modified it a little bit, trimmed the lip down on it just a touch so it would run a little bit shallower.

It seemed like these fish were feeding up on the surface.

We saw 'em busting on the water, that's how we found most of the fish today.

And I was using just a little Quantum reel, a little Catalyst 10, six pound test.

Little four to eight pound class Quantum rod in a 6'6" length with some suffix brain and a six pound so we could throw it really nice and far.

And you just kind of get that bait out there, bang it around a little bit, look for the blowups, throw on the blowups, and hopefully the fish will find it for you.

- Well with the number of hookups that we had, we had quite a bit of leader chafe.

Can you tell us a little bit about the leaders that we're using and the knots we're usin' to tie to that braid?

- Basically what I like to do is I'll use a Spiders Hitch up top, just to double up the braid.

Because what that'll do is make that braid diameter a little bit bigger.

Then I'll treat that doubled line as one line, and tie a double uni knot for my connection from my braid to my fluorocarbon.

And we're usin' a 15 pound fluorocarbon leader, and quite a bit, probably a good three and a half foot leader 'cause as you saw, the eyes on these fish are big.

They've got big eyes, they're sight fish, they're probably, not being able to see a leader this small, but a big thick leader, they probably would see it.

So that's kind of the connection I like to have from the braid to the fluorocarbon.

The Spider's Hitch, double uni knot, then tie right to your braid, and just tie directly to your plug.

- Now while we threw the X-Rap for the majority of the day, we did go topwater for a little while, and had some fun watchin' some, quite a few topwater strikes.

Do you find these to be affective lures for the ladyfish?

- I really do.

It's always good to have one tied up.

I think that one is a little ExcaliburSPO, a little mini version.

I like to have one tied up because sometimes these fish will pop up out of your range.

And they may be a little bit out of the range on these light lures.

So you can really whip that thing out there, and you may not catch them all, but like we had a couple just blow up on it, one knocked the bait right out of the water.

- Oh yeah, it's amazing, amazing.

I see you also have a soft plastic.

- Yeah, just in case.

You always gotta have the old DOA Paddle tail out there, you never know.

- Fantastic.

- But it was a good day on the water.

I was glad to get to come out with ya.

We had a little weather change on us today.

That kinda made things tough, but a bad day on the water's better than any day at work.

- It's always fun, Stew.

I really appreciate it.

- Alright, man, had a great time.

[cheery guitar music] - Hi, today in the kitchen, we're going to prepare a seared duck breast with a cranberry chutney.

It's a great recipe, it goes together really quick and easy, and it is so tasty.

So let's go ahead and get started.

I have my duck breast marinating in the reserve juice from the crushed pineapple that I am going to use in my chutney.

So we're just gonna turn that to go ahead and marinate both sides, and get them nice and moist.

We're going to take our chicken breader, and we're gonna put it out on our wax paper.

And then we're gonna take our duck breast, and we're just going to dredge them in the chicken breader until they're coated well.

And then once they're coated, we're going to put them skin-side down in our oil, which is heating in our castiron skillet.

'Cause we wanna use a skillet that can go from stove-top to oven, 'cause we're gonna finish this in the oven.

So we're gonna put that in there, we're gonna do our other one.

And then while these are searing, we're gonna go ahead and make our chutney, so that we'll be all ready for when our duck breasts are finished.

We're gonna shake off our extra, place those in there and we're gonna let those cook until they, about five minutes on each side.

You just wanna sear it so you're searin' those juices, and then we're gonna finish it in the oven for about, at 425, for about 8 minutes, just until it is cooked throughout or however you like it.

If you like it medium or medium-rare, you can cook it a little less if you like medium rare.

So anyway, we have our chutney going here in our saucepan.

We have a can of whole cranberries, and then a can of pineapple, crushed pineapple in here.

To that we're gonna add about a fourth of a cup of brown sugar.

And stir that in.

We're gonna add some ground ginger.

You can use fresh ginger if you have it.

I've used a little bit less if you wanna use fresh 'cause it'll be a little stronger than the, than the dried ground.

We're gonna also add some green onions to this.

And some jalapenos that we took one jalapeno, I seeded it and deveined it, and then I chopped it up finely.

So it's gonna add a little kick to it, which is gonna be great.

And you can make this chutney ahead of time if you want, which is nice too and it would probably be even better because then it would sit and kinda marinate a little bit, and those flavors could marry together.

So we're just gonna stir that until the sugar is dissolved, and then you're ready to go.

So it's quick and it's easy.

Like I said, I would do it the night before, or the day before just to get that out of the way.

And then you can use it to, you can use it on your duck breast, you can use it on sandwiches.

It's a great chutney just to have in your fridge.

So, while this is searing, I'm gonna go ahead and show you what it looks like when it's done.

What I've done is I've served it over some polenta.

And this is a firm polenta that I rolled into a roll, and then I sliced and grilled.

And then, I have my sliced duck breast on top, and then I'm gonna top it with our chutney.

You can see it makes a beautiful presentation, and it's gonna add some great flavors that are gonna mix together, and it's gonna be wonderful.

So I hope you enjoy the seared duck and the cranberry chutney, and I look forward to seeing you next time here on Simple Cooking.

- Thanks, Donna, for another outstanding recipe.

Joe, the ladyfish, a lot of people fish for them at night.

- Yeah, that is, there is a nighttime fishery for that fish.

They are drawn to lights on the piers and docks at night.

I think because a lot of bait fish were brought into these areas too, so they're pretty smart fish.

They show where the food is.

But irregardless, if you catch them at night, catch them during the daytime, the really are fun, a light tackle.

And when you catch them on these stick baits, whether it's subsurface or on top of water, they hit with such a band and then they have soft mouths, like we said earlier.

So you gonna have a lot of fish that'll jump and throw the hook, and surprisingly even the treble hooks.

It's amazing how they can throw your treble hooks out.

But a great summertime fishery, that's the only time they're here, when it's warm, really when it's hot, during the hot months of the year.

But loads of fun to catch.

- And it's catch and release.

- Yeah, they're not edible, but pretty much a catch and release fishery.

- I'm John Moore, we thank you 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] ♪