(gentle orchestral fanfare) (off camera) - This is a decent fish.

- Great.

I need to get the net for ya?

- I don't think so.

- Nothing wrong with that weight coming through there.

- Jiggled up a little bit here.

- And I think I'll get the net for you.

- Alrighty.

(laughing) That's a nice little, well, there, he's gonna help you out.

- Beautiful.

- Jumped right in there, that's a nice fish.

- Yeah, sure enough.

- And boy, he choked it, too.

- He sure did.

- [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 & 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.

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

Well today's program is all about popping corks.

Joe, this is an exciting show.

- We do, this is gonna be a fun show today, very productive.

It's a method of catching speckled trout that a lot of people use, using popping corks that keeps your bait at different depths.

And you can fish, fish it over structure, grass beds where trout like to hang out, very productive.

The guys will share with us the type of popping corks that they like to use on this particular trip.

There's varying sizes and configurations of 'em, but a very productive and fun way to fish.

- [John] Gear Time today, that's gonna be a lot of information, people.

You may want to get a pen and paper.

- [Joe] Yeah well, again, they go over the corks they use today.

For trout, a lot of times you go with a smaller cork 'cause it really doesn't make a lot of noise, but enough noise to draw the attention of the fish, which is the whole idea.

You're bringing the fish into the noise.

Next thing, you bait and then you hook the fish.

So a very fun way to do it.

- And we talk about trout, that's what Donna's got in the kitchen today.

- That's right, she's got a really special speckled trout recipe for us, and very tasty.

- Alright, it's time to go fishing here on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

- [Voiceover] Let's do this.

It's hard to imagine, it's winter time and we're out here without even a jacket on.

- I know, Gary, this has just been an incredible run we've had.

We're looking at, the weather's cloudy but it's 70 degrees outside.

The water temperature's in the mid 60s, and the fish are just loving it.

- Absolutely.

Well there's a little bit of front and wind, I mean, popping cork fishing, it's always good but it's been exceptional this year.

And certainly under these conditions we should have plenty of trout opportunities on-- - Oh yeah, we'll fill it up real quick.

The bites have been strong and it's just, there's nothing like watching that little cork slip under the water.

It's nothing but fun and I can't wait to get started.

- Absolutely, let's do it, brother.

Let's do it.

Still, we're fishing a D.O.A Deadly Combo today, fishing the old shrimp which has been absolutely dynamite.

You know, it's winter time, we don't have to work these real fast.

Even though the water's warm, fish have been aggressive.

- Right.

- And you know, it kind of like takes you back to your childhood, watching that cork go underneath the water, but you know, let's get these out here, make a little bit of noise, bring these fish up with the shrimp and catch a pile.

- I'm ready for it.

- [Gary] Let's do it.

- [Stuart] Let's go.

Gary, what do you like for a pause between pops on a lure like this?

- [Gary] I think you can get a little bit of variation on it, Stu.

I mean with a little bit warmer water we have, you can be a little bit more aggressive in moving the bait, still maybe three, four seconds.

But you know, if it cools off a little bit, you definitely want to slow that down.

And so with these shrimp, you know, one thing on this shrimp is that it's weighted in the middle so it does a nice slow fall.

More than anything else, you want that cork to straighten up and that gives you an indication that the bait's falling straight down below the cork.

And that's when the vast majority of your bites come.

- [Stuart] Right.

So I like to watch the floater and then take it on the fall.

- [Gary] Absolutely.

That's a decent fish, Stu.

- [Stuart] Decent little guy.

- [Gary] I have to get the net for you here.

- [Stuart] Okay.

Coming around.

- [Gary] Not a bad fish.

- [Stuart] No, that's alright.

- [Gary] Nicely done, sir.

- [Stuart] That's a little better, thank you.

That's what we're after.

- [Gary] Yeah, I got a fish... - [Stuart] Nice little trout here.

- [Gary] Absolutely, Stu, nice work.

- [Stuart] Get him out in back.

Pinned him right in the top of the nose so... - [Gary] Easy release.

- [Stuart] The hook is stuck, there we go.

- [Gary] Certainly.

- [Stuart] He sure did hit it hard.

- [Gary] He did, vanished that cork in a heartbeat.

I don't think he's all that big but nonetheless trout-- - [Stuart] That's not a bad fish.

- [Gary] Not a bad fish.

Yeah, it's a lot of fun.

Beautiful.

He got the full shrimp.

Well... - [Stuart] Not bad at all.

- [Gary] Not bad.

- [Stuart] Fat little guy.

- [Gary] Absolutely.

Just kind of drifted down this shoreline here, Stu, and had a bite there and put the power pole down and had another bite.

Let's see if we can get a little rally going.

- [Stuart] That sounds like a plan.

- [Gary] Boy, that bait.

Did you see that out there by the bridge?

- [Stuart] Yep.

Need a net?

- [Gary] If you wouldn't mind, sir.

- [Stuart] Alrighty.

- [Gary] That was pretty awesome.

We saw the fish come up, blow up on the bait and then blow up on the cork, and then went right ahead and ate the whole thing.

- [Stuart] That's a nice trout, Gary.

- [Gary] Yes, sir.

- [Stuart] Pretty fish.

- [Gary] Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

Male, beautiful fish, male.

I can feel him grunting away.

- [Stuart] And he absolutely choked that one.

- [Gary] Yeah he, there was no doubt that he was gonna go ahead and eat that.

Get down here and get him off easy, nice and gentle.

Might need to get my pliers there.

Yeah, he hit the thing so hard, you know, we saw him come up and go ahead and eat that, try to eat the bait and then try to eat the cork and then ate the bait.

(laughs) Thank you, sir.

Appreciate that.

Get him unhooked here and back in the water.

- [Stuart] Quality fish.

- [Gary] Yes, sir.

- [Stuart] 17, 18 inches.

Very nice.

- [Gary] Excellent.

Beautiful, alright.

Maybe we've got a little rally going here.

- [Stuart] Hope so.

- [Gary] I'd like to see a couple more bites like that.

(Gary laughs) - [Stuart] Yeah well, you know they're juiced up when they hit the cork first and then come back and get the shrimp a little bit later.

- [Gary] Absolutely, great.

Gotta love it, buddy.

Beautiful, nice work, Stu.

- [Stuart] And there was no doubt when he bit that one.

That was a nice strike.

- [Gary] That's the one thing I find so cool with this.

That's a nice fish, Stu.

- [Stuart] Yeah, that's a good little fish.

- [Gary] I'll catch one right behind you.

- [Stuart] Very nice.

- [Gary] Not quite as big but-- - [Stuart] Very nice.

- [Gary] I'll tell you this-- - [Stuart] Cute little fish.

- This cork bite's really, you know, it's a lot of fun if you're a seasoned angler.

You know what I mean?

It kind of takes you back to your childhood.

But if you've, you know, you don't have to be very experienced to catch fish this way.

It's a great way for everybody to come out, young people, old people, whoever.

- [Stuart] Oh yeah.

- [Gary] It's just the ideal way to catch speckled trout.

And obviously we're doing it this morning.

- No doubt, and to me, I like it so much because it's kind of the best of both worlds to me.

You've got the noise and the action of a Topwater bait but at the same time, you've got that soft plastic slowly falling into the strike zone and they love it.

- [Gary] Aboslutely.

- [Stuart] Can't beat it.

- Let's get a couple more.

- Yes, sir.

- [Gary] How about a rag?

- [Stuart] A rag real quick.

- [Gary] Yep, sure enough.

(bright music) - [Stuart] Gary, do you think changing leader length matters much when you're popping cork fishing?

- It can make a bit of a difference.

Two schools of thought on that though, Stu.

One is to keep in mind that the fish are coming to the noise of that cork, so I don't like to, as we see here, get too far away from 'em, too far away from the cork, although you know, sometimes when it's a little bit cooler, a little bit longer leader works a little bit better.

So don't, you know, the one thing is don't utilize the cork as a bobber and try to get your bait right to the bottom.

- [Stuart] Right.

- [Gary] The fish are gonna move up to it.

- [Stuart] Yeah, I've had a little bit of success with a, with a three foot leader this time of year.

- [Gary] Yeah and typ-- - [Stuart] I think that that longer slower fall tends to help a little bit.

- [Gary] You know, and for me, if it was a little bit cooler I would probably be joining you.

It's a little bit warmer, the fish seem-- - [Stuart] There's a fish.

- [Gary] Oh great.

The fish seem to come up a little bit as well, so... - [Stuart] This is a decent fish.

- [Gary] Great, I need to get the net for ya?

- [Stuart] I don't think so.

- [Gary] Nothing wrong with that weight coming through there.

- [Stuart] Jiggled up a little bit here.

- [Gary] And I think I'll get the net for ya.

- [Stuart] Alrighty.

(laughing) That's a nice little, well there, he's gonna help you out.

- [Gary] Beautiful.

- [Stuart] Jumped right in there, that's a nice fish.

- [Gary] Yeah, sure enough.

- [Stuart] And boy, he choked it, too.

- [Gary] He sure did.

- [Stuart] Male.

- [Gary] Nice male, yeah.

Beautiful, beautiful fish.

- Pretty male there.

Alright, that's more like it.

Two fish in... What, a minute?

- Yeah, just like we like to see here.

- Well, he's stuck, too.

- You know, there's something interesting.

We caught fish here pretty quick, which is kind of typical of what we were doing, but two different colored baits.

You got that Fiji Chicken on-- - [Stuart] Nice little fish.

- [Gary] That Chartreuse tail, so giving it a little bit brighter profile.

I got a Glow Gold on, I mean, you know, color doesn't seem nearly to matter as much as the noise of that cork, so you know, everything's working and I'm happy.

- [Stuart] That'll do.

Yes, sir, that'll do.

- (laughs) I think I'm gonna put the power pole down here, we'll stay here for just a second.

Well, it's not taking long now.

- No, that's, got a nice little spot going on here.

- [Gary] Yeah.

- [Stuart] Oh, hang on.

Double.

- [Gary] Double up (chuckles).

You know, while we're cranking these in pretty fast here, Stu, you kind of notice if you look on the side of the boat here a touch, we've got a little bit of muddy water.

I don't know that that's much of a difference except for what I find a lot of times with anglers, they get real concerned.

I mean we've obviously have had a ton of rain this year.

But guys get real concerned, oh, it rained a little bit, the fish have moved out somewhere where it's salty.

Well, you know, especially in the cooler weather, you know, these speckled trout can really tolerate a very, very low salinity.

You know, kind of keep an eye on your wind.

You know, even if you have a little bit of mud in the water, it's not gonna stop these fish from biting.

And a lot of times, this cork bite can really be great because you're adding noise in dirtier water.

It brings that fish to the bait and there you go.

So, well, I'll getting back into catching another one.

- [Stuart] This is good stuff.

That looks like a decent fish.

- [Gary] He's hooked good, I'm gonna lift him right up.

Nice fish, though.

- [Stuart] Yeah.

- Beautiful quality fish.

Nothing wrong with a fish like that, Stu.

You know, I mean that's a legal fish, you know, that's a keeper fish.

I mean you can see how much they've been eating.

They're broad this way, they're broad that way.

You know, it just, it's just, you know.

Just thrilled catching 'em.

- We've got 'em.

This is a good bite we're on right now.

And I need to get back at 'em.

- [Gary] I don't blame you.

Drop her back over board.

Very nice.

Good stuff, buddy.

Good stuff.

- [Stuart] Yes, sir.

Pretty work.

- [Gary] Beautiful.

That was a pretty cool bite.

- That was, the shrimp was sitting almost at the surface and he came right up and inhaled it.

- [Gary] That's great, man.

- [Stuart] And of course, he got me a little bit tangled up here, but we'll take care of that in a minute.

Nice little fish.

- [Gary] Nice little fish.

Yeah, absolutely.

- D.O.A Fiji Chicken doing the job.

Nice little male grunting at us.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- Pretty fish.

- Yeah, nothing wrong with that at all, Stu.

- Pretty fish.

- [Gary] How about another one?

- [Stuart] Works for me.

(Gary chuckles) Pretty little fish.

- [Gary] Yeah.

Beautiful.

- [Stuart] Very nice.

- Nice little, you know, keeper style fish.

You know, kind of interesting on this, we've seen it a couple times.

I'm gonna drop him back in the water, but you know, with these shrimp, you know, that hook gets in there and a lot of times it'll do that head shake and that shrimp comes loose, it's pretty easy to slide right back down over the hook and right back into action there.

So a little riggin' stuff, right back and ready to rock and roll.

Excellent.

- I had another one of those I'm-not-paying-attention bites.

I missed one while you were-- (Gary laughs) Sent that one off.

- [Gary] We've gotta stop.

We've gotta stop talking to each other.

We're missing fish.

- [Stuart] Yeah, I know it.

(Gary laughs) It's the old saying, "Shut up and fish."

- [Gary] Yes, sir.

Well, how about that, right at the boat?

- [Stuart] Nice bit there at the boat.

- [Gary] Cool, decent fish.

Decent fish.

Here's another one of those where just, you know, maybe 14 1/2, 15 inch fish.

You know, keeper if you were frying out today, but just, I mean, they're so fat this year, so healthy.

I mean that's just a beautiful fish.

- That is.

- I love the color on that, really nice.

Get that little bit darker coloration on this tonic water.

Good stuff buddy.

- [Stuart] Great work.

Alright, my turn now.

- [Gary] Excellent, we've got a little bait working this shoreline here.

We ought to keep in 'em.

- They have a go popping.

Joe, a lot of people doing that now?

- Yeah, it's a real popular method of catching trout and it's because you can catch a lot of trout at times with them.

And you can fish different water depths and just by making adjustments as you go.

And that method also draws drum, they catch drum and a variety of other fish but if you ever want to go catch speckled trout and try it, it's a lot of fun.

I mean, you can see it's very easy to do.

Just make a cast out with a cork, it holds it at a certain depth, you pull it.

And so that combination of a good looking bait matched with that sound, and it works.

- Alright, Gary's got some more information.

Gear Time, it's gonna be really good so let's catch up right now and go to Gear Time.

(bright music) - Well, Stu, greatú morning of fishing.

- Absolutely.

- Well, we've been out a couple hours.

We've got a little front coming in, we've got some rain coming so slid out a few hours this morning and put a bunch of trout in the boat.

- Can't beat it.

- Absolutely.

Using the corks, I mean it's a great technique.

It obviously works really good, worked good for us, works good for lots of folks.

You know, utilizing this cigar style float, I think, you know, folks get a little too carried away about thinking about the cork, but you know, something that makes a little bit lighter noise this time of year, a little bit less noise.

- Right, it's just enough to get their attention, but it's not so much that it sounds artificial.

And running a little bit of a different size leader also can make a nice difference from time to time.

- [Gary] Right.

- I like running a longer leader myself, just 'cause I think it helps that bait get down closer to the bottom and it extends the fall a little bit.

- Yeah, absolutely.

And you know, somewhere between two and three feet.

And we both had a little bit of distance but I don't think that, don't have to worry about getting a tape measure out and kind of get that distance, (Stuart laughs) and you're pretty good to go.

So baitwise, we used three inch D.O.A Shrimps.

They're lightly weighted.

You know, that's a great fall.

- It is, and it's almost perfectly horizontal.

It's very, very slow, and this time of year, when you can get that nice slow fall on a bait, it really draws the fish up.

- Absolutely.

We're using some brand new TFO rods.

They're medium-light action seven-foot, 2500 series reels on here.

I still like to use the (mumbles).

You know, with the popping cork.

You know, we've had some pretty good bites.

And you can kind of get that hook in the fish a little bit better, but you know, definitely don't want to get too heavy on the rods.

You know, if you get off that medium, medium-heavy, you're not getting a distance on these lighter baits.

And these nice light rods is really enjoyable on the fish.

- Very good, and the sensitive tip really helps, too.

'Cause sometimes, you're gonna get a bite that with this popping cork that's very, very slight.

- [Gary] Right.

- [Stuart] And that nice fine tip helps us feel those.

- [Gary] Right.

- [Stuart] Even if you should per chance not see them.

- Right, absolutely.

Absolutely.

But you know, colorwise, we both used a couple different colors, but the color of bait I don't think makes a whole lot of difference.

We've had a lot of rain.

Sometimes I've gone to the little bit brighter baits, and sometimes the darker baits as well show up against the stained water.

You know, if we don't have rain for a few days, the water gets nice and clear, a little bit more natural baits.

But don't get hung up on the color.

It's the technique that really puts the fish in the boat.

- Absolutely.

- Well, Stu, great day on the water.

I appreciate it, always a pleasure fishing with you, man.

- [Stuart] Take care.

Appreciate it.

- [Gary] Yes, sir.

- Had a good time.

- Great.

- We thank you for that valuable information.

Now if you want to go, give Captain Gary a call.

And I promise you you'll have a great day on the water.

Now we've got those speckled trout.

Let's get that special recipe from Donna in the kitchen.

(bright music) - Hi, today in the kitchen we're making a speckle trout and spring vegetable recipe.

This is a really fun recipe to make.

I have this beautiful speckled trout which I have sauteing in my pan right now.

I've got my cast iron skillet hot and I've got one that's already finished and one that we're still searing.

So we've got that going.

We have another pan going with some leeks in it and some olive oil that we're just gonna saute those.

You can see we're getting some nice golden brown already on those leeks which is great.

We're gonna add in our asparagus.

All these great spring vegetables are gonna be awesome.

We're gonna also put in some artichokes.

And these are, you can use fresh artichokes, or you can use artichokes in a jar.

But make sure they're not the marinated kind, they're just plain in their own juices.

So we're gonna pop those in there.

You can cut those if you want, you can dice them up if you want.

We're gonna add in some wine, and then you can cover this and let it steam up a little bit.

We're also gonna add in some fresh parsley and some fresh thyme.

The recipe's gonna have some great flavors going on and some great smells in your house.

We're gonna also do a few cloves of garlic.

And the way I like to do mine is I like to just take my garlic bulbs and then I just cut off the very end and then I just put my, put it underneath my knife and I just smash it down.

And then the rest of the peels come right off.

And we don't need to chop this 'cause we're gonna bake it, too.

So we're just gonna do the same thing to these.

It's a great way to get out your frustrations, too, if you have any, not that you do.

And it comes right off.

So a quick and easy way to do that.

Then we're going to top this with some lemons and a little bit of butter.

And we're gonna put some salt and pepper in it.

It's just a great recipe.

Quick and easy.

Goes together, and then we're gonna put a little pepper and a little salt.

And then we're gonna add these great pitted Kalamata olives.

We're just gonna add a little salt to this dish.

Some great flavor.

We're gong to take our fillets that are already seared, put those on top, cover this, and put it in your oven for about 15 minutes until your fish is fully cooked and your vegetables are tender crisp.

Great quick and easy dinner to make.

So you can see, it's a beautiful presentation, kind of a wow factor.

Quick and easy though, which is all what we like.

So I hope you enjoy this speckled trout.

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

- Thank you Donna, for another great recipe.

Joe, popping corks, that gets it done.

- It does, and you know, and one thing where it works really well is grass beds.

And today, they had a few areas that they had some grass but it keeps the bait, you can adjust your cork, to keep the bait just above the grass.

And so it allows you to fish areas that the trout love to hang out in, particularly in the summer time, and be able to fish and not get hung up all the time.

So yeah, very productive way to do it.

And speckled trout's one of our favorite fish.

And if you've never tried it, give it a try.

- A good day, and at the Neuse River, too, right?

- Oh yeah, the Neuse River's got a good population through the years, of speckled trout, and a good destination.

And Gary, Gary knows how to catch 'em.

- 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 & 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.

[light instrumental music] ♪