[piano intro] (man) Th at bird flew over an d you hooked up.

We were watchin' him on this side of the boat.

Soon as you see them birds-- Robert's got it go ing on today.

You outfishin' me-- do n't know what I' m gonna do with ya.

Heh heh.

I'm tryin' to bring home some supper.

(man) I think we got supper.

We'll be turnin' th e next few loose.

All right.

(man) Ready for the nut?

(Robert) Yes sir.

(man) Get him up-- did he jump?

I like to watch 'em jump.

He's all under the boat.

(Robert) Oh, there he is.

(man) There we go.

All right.

[light instrumental music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - [Male Announcer] The "Carolina Outdoor Journal" is brought to you by: - [Female Announcer] "Wildlife in North Carolina Magazine."

- [Male Announcer]: And by EZ Bait & Tackle.

Family owned and operated.

We fish from fresh to saltwater.

We provide fishing supplies and advice to every type of angler.

For all your fishing needs, EZ Bait & Tackle.

And by contributions from PBS North Carolina viewers like you.

Hello, and welcome to the "Carolina Outdoor Journal."

Well, today's program, we're gonna be fishing.

We're gonna be fishing bluefish during the tide change.

That's when it's the best-- when that tide starts going, uh--coming in.

Uh, we're fishing Barton's Inlet near Cape Lookout, um, in the summertime when we're catching these 2-, 2 1/2-pound bluefish-- a perfect size to eat, uh, and a perfect size on white tackle to battle, and just a great time.

What about the tackle that we need for this?

Light tackle, and again, they're bluefish, so anybody that's caught bl uefish before knows they need, uh, le ader material.

They have a mouthful of teeth, and they'll cut through just about anything.

But uh, heavy mono, or a light steel leader will work fine.

But light tackle--these are again 2-, 2 1/2-pound fish and just loads of fun.

We catch up with Donna in the kitchen, she's got a recipe with an Italian flare.

Duck pizza, and that's, um , that's different, but we'll--we'll pay attention to her.

You'll wanna take this down--it's gonna be a good recipe.

We got a lot-- it's coming your way, here on the "Carolina Outdoor Journal."

(man) Robert, we're right here off the channel, and the water's about 5- to 6-feet deep where we're at.

But over to the port side here, th e water gets real shallow.

It's probably 2-, 3-feet deep.

The tide's comin' in, and these bluefish are in this little bit deeper water--in 4 to 6 foot.

This bait's sittin' up, and it's shallow in this grass bed, and the bait's gettin' washed out by the tide.

The blues is just sittin' there ambushin' the bait.

So what we're doin' is we're kinda pullin' up right on that edge, and we're castin' into the shallow side, and, uh, you know, it just-- man, soon as it hits the water, they think it's a finger mullet or whatever they're feedin' on.

We haven't seen what they're feedin' on.

But it's a great little drift.

We got the current moving us-- the tide movin' us, and we're gettin' a good drift till we hit that shallow area, and we pick up, move up, and make another drift.

We're catchin' two to four fish every drift and making a little 5- to 10-minute drift each time.

(Robert) They're basically sittin' here waitin' for lunch.

That's it, they're just-- they're just hangin' out.

As the bait washes with the tide, they're feedin'.

We should be where we need to be.

I'm gonna ease up here in a lil' bit more shallow water.

(Jim) I got my drag a little-- th ere he is Robert!

They're up on the surface.

We're in, probably about-- it's about 3 or 4 feet of water.

You can see the shells on the bottom.

I just about got th is one flipped.

[grunting] He re we go... ge t the net.

He's gotcha, do esn't he, Robert?

(Robert) Ye ah, I gotta good on e here, Jim.

(Jim) Th at's a nice little blue.

Nice size on this light tackle.

Boy, he ate that thing as soon as it hit the water.

See if I can get him out.

Nice little fish--oop!

Got away from me-- wa tch those teeth.

rzzzzzz [grunting] Ni ce fish.

This one's takin' it out, Jim.

You got your line-- th at's a nice fish, Robert.

Pretty, couple-pound bluefish-- (Robert) Th at is awesome.

(Jim) Let him swim for another day.

Let me get my hands washed an d see if I can get hooked up.

As soon as that bait hit th e water, he was all over it.

[Jim laughing] Th at light tackle's a lot of fun, isn't it?

(Robert) Go od day of fishin'.

rzzzz, rzzzz (Jim) Ya might have to tighten that drag.

Heh, heh...heh!

Oh yeah!

Here, lemme get th e net for ya.

All right.

Watch that mouth.

(Jim) Th at's a nice little fish.

(Robert) Yeah it is.

(Jim) Wh y don't you throw that one in li ve--we'll eat him for dinner.

I like fresh bluefish.

Put a couple in there.

A lotta people don't like bluefish.

I kinda like 'em when they're fresh.

They don't freeze real well, but-- see if I can get one of those big boys now.

Everyone just jumped over there.

They're here in shallow water-- we're in about 4 feet of water, right on the edge of the channel.

Boy, he hit it as soon as it hit the water.

Look at em!

(Robert) As soon as it hit the water-- Ooh, he's a good one too.

(Jim) You might have to go around the boat with him.

(Robert) He's a nice one, Jim.

(Jim) Heh, heh...heh!

You got him now, Ha, ha...ha!

(Robert) Wo w!

(Jim) They like that bright, chartreuse one, don't they?

Look at 'em out there on the surface.

Lemme go out here and catch his brother.

rzzz, rzzz...rzzz There he is-- oo p, missed him.

No, came back.

rzzz, rzzz...rzzz He hit at the boat.

Hah, hah...hah!

(Robert) Wo w!

(Jim) Oo p, I lost mine.

He bit the tail off--I'm gonna re load while you get that one.

Look at him.

He's right there on the surface.

rzzz, rzzz...rzzz I think I'm gonna have to go to one of those tough tail.

You need the--you ready fo r the net, aren't ya?

(Robert) Th is is fun on light tackle.

(Jim) Ye ah, yeah, it's a lot of fun on the really light tackle.

Nice fish.

(Robert) Yes, it is.

(Jim) Wa tch his teeth-- he 's gonna get ya.

Get a hold of 'em before you ge t your hand around his mouth.

There ya go.

crrck, crrck...crrck All right.

Throw him in--we'll keep a few, th en we'll start releasin' 'em.

Watch your rod.

I'm gonna have to put one of th ose tougher tails on my stuff.

They're chewin' mine off.

(Robert) Got one.

(Jim) Al l right!

That bird flew over, an d you hooked.

Like, we were watchin' 'em on this side of the boat.

Soon as you see them birds.

(Jim) Ro bert's got it going on today.

You outfishin' me--I don't know wh at I'm gonna do with ya.

Heh heh.

I'm tryin' to bring home some supper.

(Jim) I think we got a couple for supper.

We'll probably be turnin' th e next few we catch loose.

(Jim) You ready for the nut?

(Robert) Yes sir.

(Jim) Get him up-- did he jump?

I like to watch 'em jump.

He's under the boat.

(Robert) There he is.

(Jim) There we go.

(Robert) All right.

(Jim) Get a hold of 'em good-- so he doesn't get a hold of you.

(Robert) I don't want him to.

He's got some good teeth.

(Jim) Ni ce fish.

Nice class fish on this tackle-- th at's all you need.

Turn 'em loose to fight another day.

(Robert) Right.

(Jim) We'll probably catch him again in five minutes.

(Robert) Heh, heh.

(Jim) You got one right at the boat!

Look at him right underneath 'em!

(Robert) Look at 'em followin'-- the other fish are followin'.

(Jim) Th ey're tryin' to take wh atever he's got in his mouth.

Whoa--oop, there he is!

Missed him again.

Oh, I got him this time.

Yep, there he is.

Look at all of 'em, Robert.

There was a dozen underneath 'em.

You throw out there, I guarantee you hook up.

Nope, take a little drag that time.

Made him mad.

He's underneath the boat.

See if I can get him out here.

(Robert) Got him?

(Jim) He 's got me right now.

(Robert) Heh, heh.

(Jim) Up in this shallow water-- we 're in 5 feet of water.

There he is-- th is is a little one.

I say that, bu t he's pullin'.

He's not too small.

rzzzzz Oop, lost him--you got a quick release that time.

It's all right, there's plenty of 'em there.

♪ ♪ [bass and drums lead upbeat arrangement] ♪ Robert, you know--you come out here with this light tackle, you need a good 25- to 40-pound mono leader 'cause these fish will bite through that, the bigger ones especially.

Smaller fish won't bite through leader, but the bigger ones like we're catchin' here-- generally, you'll, uh, you'll have them bite some off.

So we're usin', you know, these soft tails and these grubs.

(Robert) Is there a certain color they like?

(Jim) I think when bluefish are feedin', they hardly care.

As long as it's movin' fast and, um, and the fish are around, I don't think they really, uh, are too hung up on colors, although some days it does matter.

But bluefish, when--they're so voracious they just...

It's just like a while ago--soon as your bait hit the water, they were all over it, chasin' bait.

Anything that makes a splash or any motion gets their attention.

And they don't even look at the color, I don't think.

(Jim) Oh, he's jumping good.

That's what's fun about light tackle.

You know, they jump and give you a little show.

Look at all of 'em underneath 'em there.

(Robert) He's got some buddies-- he's tryin' to throw it away.

(Jim) He's got some friends.

(Robert) We 're gettin' to shallow water-- we 're gonna have to get him.

rzzz, rzzz...rzzz (Robert) Wow.

rzzz, rzzz...rzzz (Jim) Al l right.

rzzz, rzzz...rzzz You can lift his head up.

There we go.

Jumped right in the net, di dn't he?

I got her.

It's a nice class bluefish-- and that--that 3X bait-- he just can't bite it in half.

You've caught numerous fish on there.

They just can't bite it.

He's a nice fish.

We'll put him in the ice box.

All right.

I got him on this little rod.

Now he's takin' drag.

This must be about 8-pound line here.

This is ultra light here.

(Robert) That's an 8-pound test you're using?

(Jim) I think it is.

This is a little, tiny trout rod.

(Robert) He's giving you a fight.

[Jim grunting] Yeah--gonna take a while to get him in on this light line.

This is really light.

Oh, come on, baby!

[laughing] I can't do much with him, Robert.

He might be a little bigger than that small one you just had.

(Robert) Yeah, he looks like it.

(Jim) I got him comin' up now.

(Robert) Give you a good fight on that one.

(Jim) There's a couple behind him.

He's not real big, it's just this tiny little pole makes it a little different.

[grunting] Ag hh, oop, he's not qu ite ready yet, is he?

(Robert) No , not yet.

(Jim) Pu t a little pressure on him here.

rzzz, rzzz...rzzz Hm, hm...hm!

(Robert) He 's fightin' you.

(Jim) Al l right, get 'em with the net, 'c ause I'm not gonna be able.

Lemme get his head up... ri ght when he comes around.

(Robert) Th ere we go.

(Jim) Go od job, thanks.

(Robert) Ye s sir.

(Jim) Se e if I can get the hook ou t of his mouth.

All right Robert, th anks.

Now you can get your hook in-- se e can you catch one.

We'll turn him loose... to swim another day.

Robert, one of the things we're doin' is watchin' the birds.

They're not really feedin' real actively.

Every now and then--we see fish cuttin' the water right there.

One bird is showin' us fish-- look at the fish underneath.

(Robert) You see 'em all out there.

(Jim) Yeah, what happens is that bird-- look at 'em all breakin' over there behind 'em.

(Robert) Is he followin' the baitfish?

That one bird is flyin' high--he can see the fish.

The water's real clear--get your rod and get ready.

He can see the water real clear.

He's seein' the fish that are down there feedin'.

He's just waitin' for the scraps to come up.

Now you can see the bluefish or Spanish cuttin' all over there.

It's a good school-- there they are, right there.

(Robert) You see 'em all in here.

I bet, you cast in there--you gonna hook up.

I can see him on the surface, Robert.

(Robert) Got him, Jim?

Yep, you can see him cuttin' the water.

He hit right here at the boat.

Good jump-- ha, ha, ha.

I love bluefish.

They fight so good for their size.

You know it?

It's a lot of fun to catch-- a great fish to come out and take the kids on, 'cause they don't get bored.

What type of lure are you usin'?

(Jim) I got a little metal on there.

It's actually a little Stingsilver.

And I took the treble hook off and put a single on, just 'cause it's easier to unhook 'em than it is with that treble.

All right-- we're ready for the net.

In you go-- good job.

Good job, Jim-- another nice fish.

Yep, nice little size fish.

Right in the roof of the mouth.

Take that single hook-- pop him right out-- yeah.

All right, your turn.

All right, I'm ready.

Turn him loose.

Oh, he's jumpin'.

He's makin' a fuss, isn't he?

splsh (Jim) Go t him?

(Robert) Ye ah.

Boy, that water's clear, isn't it?

He's not quite ready-- there we go.

(Robert) Beautiful water.

(Jim) Had to catch him again in midair.

He jumped right out of the net.

Turn him backwards.

(Jim) Th at's a nice fish, Robert.

(Robert) Ye ah, it is.

Wanna let him go?

We'll let him swim another day.

(Jim) There he goes, swimmin' off-- just no worse for the wear.

In the middle of summertime, when that tide begins to change, you got about an hour and a half-- it's fishing as hard as you can go.

It really is, and it's funny to be sitting in the inlet, waiting for that to happen.

You can catch a few fish here and there, but it seems when that tide starts movin' in-- and a lot of your coastal fish are driven by tide movement, whether in or out.

But on that situation down there this summer, it's been a good class of fish.

Um, and they've been there all summer, And when that tide starts movin' in, that's the key time to be there.

Of course, the birds'll help you.

That's a big thing, too, watchin' the bird movement.

They'll be diving on feeding fish and-- and feeding themselves, so just a great, great opportunity to have a lot of fun, and it's in protected water-- you can take a small boat out.

Let's find out how to be prepared for this.

Let's go to "Gear Time."

[light percussion leads mellow acoustic guitar] ♪ Robert, we had a good day.

We caught a lot of bluefish.

I know it's probably the first time you come out on light tackle and gone fishin' for the bluefish like we were catchin'.

I was just wondering what you think about it.

Well, Jim, it was my first experience, and uh, it was pretty awesome.

I've never experienced anything like this before-- never caught any blues before in my life.

Really?

I didn't know you'd never caught any.

This was an awesome experience, especially on light tackle.

It was a lot of fun.

(Robert) You don't just drag 'em in.

You fight 'em, and you play 'em, and it was a really good day.

(Jim) Le t me tell you a little about the baits.

One of the things that I found out the last couple years is, there's some new soft baits out, and we were using some ji g heads with soft baits.

This is an example of one of 'em we were using.

You can see that it's tough-- yo u can't break it.

It's not like a normal, plastic soft bait.

It's real buoyant-- it's real tough.

It's great for bluefish, 'cause they can't bite it off.

One of the things I showed you this morning was, we got the jig head and got the bait on it.

We actually superglued the body to the head, 'cause if they get a hold of it, they'll pull it off.

But the superglue holds it to the head.

That's one trick that's good when you're in fish with teeth and they're tearin' your baits up.

Use these new soft baits-- there's a few different brands-- you can go to your local tackle store and ask 'em about it.

We were also usin' some metal, and when it comes to bluefish, any kind of metal us ually works.

The small Hopkins, sm all Stingsilvers, little baits called "mariahs" al l work real well.

One thing I like to do, because bluefish are tough to get off the treble hooks, is, I like to remove the treble hooks to make 'em easier to get the hook out of their mouth.

I take the treble hook off-- put a small, single hook on.

It's easier fishin'.

If you get in 'em really thick, bend the barbs down so you get 'em off the hook and get your bait in the water quick.

And you don't tear the fish up.

Usin' light tackle-- this is a six-pound outfit-- we caught a couple two-, th ree-pound fish on this.

It was a lot of fun-- a lot more fun th an the heavier tackle.

We were usin' some 10- to 12-pound line and rigs, like you're ho ldin' there-- you know, an ything in that size range, from 6- to 12-pound trout rods.

We're fishin' inside.

We're out here in the sound--it's protected.

Um, you know, you gotta watch for thunderstorms this time.

It's late July-- you gotta be careful about thunderboomers .

But a guy in a small boat can come out here and fish.

You don't need a big boat to do this.

Anything that can handle the normal chop in the sound waters is a great rig to come out here.

It's real available-- it's great for the kids, because it's action-packed-- they don't get bored.

And the fish fight really well for their size.

Well, Robert, I appreciate it, man.

Thank you, Jim.

Thanks for comin' and joinin' me today.

Thanks guys, for that valuable information.

We hope you can use it.

Let's catch up with Donna.

She's in the kitchen with a recipe with an Italian flair.

♪ ♪ Hi, today, we're making duck pizza in the kitchen.

This is a fun little recipe and a great way to use duck in maybe a unique way.

We're going to take our duck breasts that have been dressed, and we're gonna place them in some plastic baggies.

And then we're going to use our meat mallet.

This is a great way to get out your frustrations.

And we're gonna flatten these to about one-fourth of an inch thick.

So we're just gonna pound those out.

And then we're going to mix our in -your-oven breader together.

We're going to put in a little bit of black pepper in this and some garlic salt and a little bit of fresh oregano.

Just put those over there.

Then we're just gonna kinda toss that to mix all of our ingredients.

And then we're gonna take our duck breasts, and we're gonna place them one at a time into our mixture here-- into our bags.

And we're gonna shake to coat these.

ksh, ksh...ksh And then we're going to kind of shake off the excess and place those on our baking sheet that I've lined with some, um, nonstick foil just 'cause I think it's easier for cleanup that way.

I'm gonna do the other one.

And you can do-- um, I think this recipe is for four servings.

And um, these are great because you can use them as one whole serving for your duck breasts.

You can use this as one serving, or you can cut these into bite-size pieces and use 'em, like, for little appetizers.

So once these are, um, coated, we're gonna bake these at 425° for about 10 to 15 minutes, just until your duck is cooked thoroughly.

We're gonna bring these out of the oven, and then we're gonna top 'em with, um, pizza toppings.

And you can use whatever you happen to like.

These are just some suggestions, but feel free.

So I'll go ahead and show you.

We'll just go ahead and pretend that this is, um, done.

We're gonna top this with some pizza sauce, or you can use some leftover spaghetti sauce-- whatever you happen to have.

It's pretty-- and then we're going to put on some zucchini.

You can sauté this a little bit or microwave it, if you'd like yours a little bit softer.

I kinda like mine a little crunchy, so I'm not gonna cook mine.

Then we're gonna add a little bit more sauce, so that our onions an d our mushrooms will stay on.

And we're just gonna use some mushrooms.

And I just bought mushrooms that were already sliced 'cause that's easier, and we're, you know, tryin' to get in and out of the kitchen pretty quickly.

You can also buy onions that are diced and sliced and peppers that are already chopped and mixed together in your produce section, which is really kind of nice.

It makes it a quick meal if you're trying to do that-- get in and out of your kitchen.

Then we're gonna top it with a generous amount of mozzarella cheese that has been shredded, and like I said, you can buy this shredded as well.

Using this nonstick foil is great, 'cause if you line your pan then you don't have to worry about cleaning up.

And your cheese sticks to the foil and not to your pan.

So we're gonna bake these underneath your broiler for about five minutes, just until the top of your cheese is melted thoroughly and nice and bubbly and a little bit brown.

So that's all you do.

This is what they look like.

I've just cut mine in half so you can see.

But you can cut this into thirds, if you'd like, and use 'em as appetizers or as a whole meal.

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

Thanks, Donna, for that recipe.

If you missed an ingredient, you can get it at our Web site.

Joe, midsummer-- good time to catch a bluefish.

Well, this summer particularly, and a good class of bluefish.

That incoming tide is, again, as I mentioned earlier-- a lot of your saltwater fish fe ed during that time, and it's a lot going on-- th ey're in a feeding mode, so it won't ma ke fishing any easier.

Yeah, it does, 'c ause the fish are around you.

You can cast out to 'em, and as long as you can get a bait that looks like wh at they're feeding on, they're gonna hit it-- and just loads of fun.

We didn't try it on an outgoing tide.

I'm assuming the fishing could be as good.

But we hit 'em on an incoming tide.

And for about an hour-- hour and a half-- it was as good a fishin' as you want.

A number of fish jumped-- light tackle matched with it, and you can just have loads of fun.

Another good day in North Carolina.

For Joe Albea, I'm John Moore.

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

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

The Carolina Outdoor Journal is brought to you by: - [Female Announcer]: "Wildlife in North Carolina" magazine.

- [Male Announcer]: And by EZ Bait & Tackle.

Family owned and operated.

We fish from fresh to saltwater.

We provide fishing supplies and advice to every type of angler.

For all your fishing needs, EZ Bait & Tackle.

And by contributions from PBS North Carolina viewers like you.

[light instrumental music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪