[piano intro] - [Richard] Good job, Shelley, you're doing great.

- Alright.

- [Richard] Watch the back of the boat.

- Don't go back there, don't go back there.

- [Richard] Back a little bit, oh he's coming our here.

- [Shelley] Whoo!

- [Richard] Look at that speckle.

- [Shelley] Whoo, look at that.

- [Richard] Yes, sir.

Wow, good job.

- [Shelley] Alright.

- [Charlie] Good job, Shelley.

- [Shelley] Check him out.

Whoo hoo.

- [Richard] That's a male, ya hear him grunting?

- Oh, oh yeah.

- [Richard] Big male, trout.

Look at that one.

- [Charlie] Pretty fish.

- [Shelley] That's nice.

- [Richard] Yeah, yeah.

- [Charlie] look at those spots.

- [Richard] Probably pushing 20 inches.

That's what we've been after.

- Very good, alright!

I like it, I like it.

- Yeah, good job.

- [Shelley] Yeah, beautiful color too.

Shining in the sunshine.

- [male announcer]: The Carolina Outdoor Journal is brought to you by: - [female announcer]: "Wildlife in North Carolina" magazine has been delivering stunning photography and informative articles for more than 80 years.

- [male announcer]: And by EZ Bait & Tackle.

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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] ♪ ♪ ♪ - Hello and welcome to the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

Well today's program will take us to the Pamlico Coast Sound and simply put, we're just going fishing.

- We are John, we are not going target any specific species.

What's going to be on the table is a possibility of flounder, trout, red drum, and that's what's so unique about Pamlico Coast Sound here in our North Carolina waters is the variety that you have out there.

So we're going to spend the morning looking to catch a variety of fish.

- And gear time will be real interesting today.

- Well they'll go over the tackle they used and the baits the decide to use and give you some explanation about that.

Just a fun day on the water.

- And a recipe of the day I can get excited about it.

It's creamy shrimp.

- [Joe] Creamy shrimp recipe that Donna's come up with.

I've had it, it's very tasty.

So get ready for that too.

- Alright, let's go see what we can catch in the Pamlico Coast Sound here on the Carolina Outdoor Journal.

- [Richard] Well here we are y'all, we're out in the Pamlico Coast Sound this morning.

It's a beautiful mid July morning.

We're after our mixed bag and this is our first stop of several stops we'll make today.

Got a little bit of breeze, it's blowing about 15 out of the Southwest which is very typical of this time of year.

A little muggy too, but I think we can deal with it and hopefully the fish will be hungry.

- That for sure.

Can't wait to get on something, Richard.

- Alright, let's see if we can't feed them some baits.

- Alright, let's do it.

Sounds like a good day.

- Richard, is there any particular way you like to fish these with these lures out here?

- Well we're fishing in about ten feet of water.

It's not essential to be on the bottom.

You just need to get the bait out there and give it some vertical motion and jig it just like you would any soft classic by popping your tip once or twice and then letting it fall.

Usually your bite will come on the fall every time.

- Yeah.

- Sometimes if you're using a paddle tail style bait we can swim them in and they like that too.

You just kind of have to vary it up.

Really just jigging it with a light jig head is the way to go.

We got he first one of the morning here.

Hopefully not the last.

It looks to be a good speckled trout.

That thing slammed that bait when it was dropping.

- [Charlie] He was eating it, wasn't he?

- [Richard] Here we go, we'll sling him in the boat here in a second.

Oh nice fish, wow.

Beautiful trout.

- [Shelley] Yeah, good job.

Whoo!

Very nice.

- Look at that.

Heck yeah, that's a good way to start the day right there, isn't it y'all?

- [Charlie] Look at that boy.

- Hopefully that's the first of many.

- [Shelly] Nice.

- [Charlie] That's a pretty fish.

- I don't know if this one's going to make it back in the water, that might make it to the grease.

- [Charlie] I think I'd put that one on the grease.

- Alright, captain, any tricks for me?

- [Richard] Just keep it tight, I'm coming I'm coming with a net here.

- Alright, alright.

Whoo, there he is, there he is.

Oh, don't jump off, jump up.

- [Richard] There you go, good job.

Pretty work.

Good job, Shelley.

- [Shelley] Alright, Richard, thanks.

- I think that trout might be close to 14 inches which is the keeper size, but we'll let him go and try for a bigger one.

- Try for a bigger one next time.

- Catch a big one, how's that sound?

- Alright.

- Yeah, alright.

- Alright.

- Nice Charlie, good job.

- Alright, look at that trout.

- Got us a trout there.

- [Richard] Probably a keeper.

- Eh, he's marginal.

13.5, 14 something like that.

Real typical.

- Eh, we got that other one so we're going to put him back.

- Yeah, real typical of what we catch in the summertime.

- Yup.

- Good job, pretty work.

- Thank ya.

- [Shelley] Got another one I think.

Ah it got away, got away.

- [Richard] Good job, Shelley, doing great.

- Alright, alright.

- [Richard] Watch the back, watch the back of the boat.

- Don't go back there, don't go back there.

- [Richard] Alright, back a little bit.

He's coming out here.

- [Shelley] Whoo hoo!

- [Richard] Look at that speckle.

- [Shelley] Look at that!

- [Richard] Yes, sir.

Wow, Good job.

- [Charlie] Pretty work, Shelley.

- [Shelley] Alright, check him out.

Whoo!

- That's a male, you hear him grunting?

Big male, trout.

Look at that one.

- [Charlie] Pretty fish.

- [Richard] Yeah, yeah.

- [Charlie] Look at those spots.

- [Shelley] He's beautiful.

- [Richard] Probably close to 20 inches.

That's what we've been after.

- Very good, alright!

I like it, I like it.

Beautiful color too.

Shining in the sunshine.

- [Charlie] Well done.

- [Richard] I'm coming with a net.

- Look out, you ready?

He's not as big as that other one.

- [Richard] Face it fish, face it fish.

Good job.

Good job, alright.

Heck yeah.

- There we go.

- You're on a roll now.

- Now we found a spot.

- Little throw back trout but about 13 and a half, 14.

Pretty fish.

- Not bad, not bad.

We'll call it good.

- Good job.

- Alright.

Come back again.

- Alright, Charlie, finally got one on.

I'll get the net, Charlie.

- That's a good fish.

- Yeah.

Coming in, it's coming in.

- [Charlie] Come on baby.

Ain't nothin like these trout.

They got quite a fight to them.

- [Richard] He's got some shelters on him, doesn't he?

- [Charlie] Yeah.

- Ah, he's not quite as big as we thought but he's a descent fish.

- Yeah, it's alright.

Nice summer trout.

- [Shelley] Good job.

- The DOA bait got him.

- That's right.

- They've been pulling this morning.

- [Shelley] That's a good day.

- Beautiful fish, aren't they.

A little purplish on there, purplish here on their tail.

- Alright, buddy, go out and make more.

[light upbeat music] - [Charlie] Get another one, Shelley.

- Flounder.

- Flounder!

How about that?

- Well Shelley, that's the beauty of this fishery, you catch a trout one cast and a flounder the next.

You don't ever know what you're going to have.

- There you go.

- It's that mixed bag variety we like.

- That's a good thing about this area.

- Get that little DOA paddle tail there.

Good flounder, probably 15 and a half, 16 inch fish.

- Nice, really looks good.

- Look how big their mouths are.

- Uh huh.

- [Charlie] Made to eat minnows.

- That fish can eat a large bait fish.

- Oh wow.

How about that.

It looks good.

Looks healthy.

- Alright, well that one's going to make it to the cooler I think.

- Alright, make it to the crate, I like it.

[laughs] - It's a good day.

- Hey y'all we've had a nice morning bite out here with the speckles.

What do you say we go in there and hit the shoreline for some flounder and puppy drum?

- Alright, let's see what we can get.

- And we can always catch some more trout too.

- Some pretty trout we got this morning.

- Yeah, they were nice.

It's been a pretty morning out here so let's head in there and make the move.

- Alright.

- Sounds good to me.

- Wow you all, that was a heck of the ride coming in from the sound.

I bet it's blowing 25 plus out there and we're coming in from offshore to fish these marshes, these banks.

That's really our only choice now.

Sure glad we're in this Grady-White.

A lot of other boats might not have been able to make that ride.

- I'm glad you got us in safe and sound, Captain, so we can try some more spots then.

- Alright, let's do it.

Okay, y'all, we've moved in shore a little ways we've been fishing the bank for a while now.

We had a really pretty morning out there in the open water but as the afternoon has progressed the wind has steadily picked up out of the south.

We've got about a 20 knot southerly breeze now which is making fish a little more challenging.

However, now our place you can go and get out of the wind and find nice clean, clear water to catch flounder.

We just found a good area and hopefully we'll catch nice fish here.

- It looks pretty good so maybe we can get one.

- This will be the lucky lure.

- Why don't ya all catch them?

[laughs] - Alright.

Flat fish here coming in .

Not too bad.

Decent fish.

Yeah man, look at that one.

He might be big enough.

- [Charlie] He might be.

- Look how big their mouths are, Charlie.

Isn't that amazing?

- [Charlie] Yeah, they can eat a lot of stuff.

- I think he'll be about 14 to 15 inches, somewhere in that ballpark.

There's a lot of fish this size in our estuary here.

- That's great.

- What do you think?

- Oh yeah, I think that's a keeper.

- Yeah, he might be.

- [Charlie] Southern flounder.

- Yeah, definitely a southern.

Most of what we catch in the Pamlico.

- [Charlie] That's right.

- Want to put him in the box or let him go?

- Well I probably need to measure.

Okay y'all, that fish is just over the 15 inch mark so I think we're going to out him in the cooler.

We don't let too many of these go if they're big enough.

- [Charlie] That's mighty good eatin.

- Thanks, Shelley.

- Another one for dinner, good job.

- [Richard] Y'all most of our founder fish in the summer time, when we flounder fish we use artificial bait.

It's a lot like bass fishing.

I tell people it's a lot like bass fishing with a plastic worm.

I like to keep out tips up high drag the bait across the bottom real slowly, and when you feel that bump, that characteristic flounder thump on your line if you have your line tight throughout your cast you want to just stop, drop your tip and give it a little slack.

You don't have to turn the bait over or feed them or anything like that just set your tip and then set the hook.

That's really all the hesitation you need to hook a flounder.

It's tough to do.

It takes a lot of practice in order to master it but when you get good at it it's a lot of fun to feel that bite and know that he's got your bait in his mouth.

- And boy, they've got some big mouths.

- They've got huge mouths and they can eat a very large bait for their size.

But generally we're up here fishing the shallow water along the shorelines looking for places where there's a little bit of current flow.

A little bit of moving waters.

And generally these flat fish are hanging around these areas.

The bank we were on earlier was a little bit shallower, it was a little bit of a sandy bottom on it.

When I say shallow I mean two to three feet.

This place we're at now, it's deeper, the bank's steeper.

And it's about five to six feet right off the bank.

Which is going to typically be a better trout area.

You can still catch flounder and puppy drum here but the trout really like these deeper banks and they tend to congregate around deeper areas.

Deeper points and deeper banks versus shallow, sandy areas like where we were in earlier.

So just a little difference in the bottom can make a difference in your species.

- Here we go, got something, got something.

Whoo hoo!

- Nice flounder, nice flounder.

There you go, good job Shelley.

- Whoo hoo!

- [Charlie] Yes sir, great job Shelley.

- Alright, yeah.

- Pretty, pretty.

Jump the bait off.

- There you go, good job.

- Quality fish there.

- Whoo hoo.

- [Richard] Okay Shelley, here's your catch.

- [Shelley] Alright.

- [Charlie] There's a nice pretty fish.

- [Richard] Teeth and everything.

- There you go, he's mine.

I love it.

- He's a beautiful flounder.

- You gonna taste good, sunshine.

- Oh yeah.

Good job.

- Thank you, thank you.

Hook us up.

- I'll measure him to see what he is.

I think he's well over but- - What ya got?

- 16.

- Whoo hoo.

- [Charlie] That'll work.

- Put him right on in there.

Put him on ice for later.

Alright.

Another one in the box.

- Good job.

[laughs] - Ah your turn Charlie.

- [Charlie] I've been snake bit all day, but I'm ready.

- What a great day of fishing.

Joe, a variety of fish.

- Well and that's what Pamlico Sound's all about.

If you go down there these species hang together.

You're gonna find flounder in the same water you are the speckled trout, same thing the red drum.

The beauty of fishing the edge of the Pamlico Sound like we did is you just never know what you're going to catch.

And so that day proved it and we had a lot of fun.

- Let's go to gear time.

This is going to be some valuable information for you.

[light upbeat music] - Okay y'all it's been a fun day but it's been a very challenging and windy day too.

The forecast was for calmer winds this morning but it started out blowing and it just kept on blowing all day.

But we were able to make the best out of it.

What you all think about fishing on a day like today?

- Well what we did was to move around and look for spots.

Try different spots and some spots that had been proven.

We fished all kinds of different depths of water.

We kept at it.

Worked hard at it and I think in the end it paid off with a nice catch.

A great day on the water.

It was at least pretty for the most part.

But it was very windy.

- Just to get fish in the box was great.

We ended up with a mixed bag, which is where we kind of thought that's where we'd end up.

But we actually did get them by changing positions and changing different gear.

Tell us a little bit more about the gear we're using.

- Well particularly on a challenging day it does help to have good gear.

We're using Temple Fork Outfitters rods.

Medium light action rods.

With some 2000 Penn reel.

2000 or 2500 size reel seems to be a good size for all of our in shore fishing around this area.

You can spool it anywhere from ten to twenty pound typically.

We're running a 20 pound Fluorocarbon leader.

About two and a half feet of that tied on to a braid using the Uni to Uni knot.

I like to use a loop knot on my artificial bait because that seems to improve the action of the bait a lot.

So that's your real standard in shore set up for a lot of what we do.

You can vary it a little bit here and there but this will catch anything from small speckle trout to a 35 inch drum .

So very versatile set up.

We used mostly plastics today.

Quarter ounce jig heads.

DOA baits.

We used a combination of the jerkbaits.

This is a four inch model.

We also use some of the smaller paddle tails.

Either one of those is fine.

The paddle tails tend to be better baits for your more inexperienced anglers because they have a lot better action.

The jerkbaits you have to kind of pop them and jig them and give them their own action.

But they can be very effective.

Some days they key in on those versus the paddle tails or vice versa.

You just have to be real versatile with your baits and be willing to experiment and also experiment with the presentation.

I would say presentation is probably more important in most days than color.

Another important thing is the size of your jig head.

Go as light as you possibly can.

Usually I'm fishing a lighter jig head than a quarter once.

For a lot of what we're doing.

However, on a windy day you can up size it maybe a size up to a quarter once and sometimes maybe even a little bit heavier.

- We saw the current playing into that too depending on the different locations we were today as well.

- Some of the current got to it, you know.

We were using some of these jerkbaits- caught all the trout I think on these jerkbaits.

- Yeah on that holographic off white color right there.

- [Charlie] Yeah, they really seemed to like that.

A couple were really pretty trout.

- [Richard] Yeah, they were.

Yeah, they were nice.

The right presentation, lighter jig head so you have a better rate of fall.

You're usually going to be in the meat, so to speak.

- Yeah.

- We were able to kind of do what we needed to do today despite the challenging conditions.

I really enjoyed it.

- Very good, very good.

- Thank you, Richard.

- I had a great time with you all.

- Thank you, it was a good time.

- We'll do it again sometime - It was a good time.

- If you could get the wind to cut down just a little bit, Richard.

- I'll work on that.

[laughs] - If you want to experience the Pamlico Sound then I urge you to give Captain Richard Andrews a call, his number's right there on your screen.

And while you jot that down we'll catch up with Donna.

She's in the kitchen, she's got a recipe today for creamy shrimp.

[light music] - Hi, here in the kitchen today we're making a creamy shrimp piccata.

Great recipe.

Quick and easy, you'll think you're at a fine dining establishment but you'll be in your own kitchen, which is great.

We're going to use some olive oil in our pan.

We're going to heat it up.

We're going to go ahead and saute our shrimp until it just turns pink and then we're going to remove it and make our sauce.

Then we'll add it back in there.

[sizzling] - [Donna] This will cook up really quickly.

So this'll just take a couple minutes to get nice and pink.

We'll remove it from our pan and then we'll go ahead and start making our sauce.

I'll tell you what's going to be in our sauce.

We'll let this cook just a little bit more.

We're going to use some butter, some scallions.

We're going to use some garlic, salt and pepper.

We're going to use some lemon zest.

Some white wine, it's going to be great.

Then we're going to cream it all together with some heavy cream.

So it'll be awesome.

So we're going to go ahead and take this out.

And we'll put it right here, we'll put it back in because we're going to warm it up again.

So we'll pour this all out.

Then we will add in our butter.

Going to get that going in our pan.

Then we're going to add in our scallions.

Get those sauteing up.

And our garlic, just want to make sure that your pan's not too hot.

You don't want to burn your onion or your scallions and your garlic because then it will become kind of bitter.

So we're going to get that going.

Add some garlic in here.

Some minced garlic, a little bit of salt.

And some cracked black pepper.

Which is always good.

Then we're going to add in some lemon zest.

So what we're going to do, we'll take our lemon and we're going to use our little zester, our microplane.

And we're just going to grade it along.

You don't want to get into this white part, which is called the piff because then it'll be kind of bitter so we don't want that.

We just want the nice yellow flesh and it's going to add some great flavor to your dish.

And that in there.

Then we're going to use some lemons.

So I have this great little tool that I love to use.

I just put my lemon wedge in here.

Half and then I just squeeze it, it gets all the juice out.

It's awesome.

Give that a squeeze.

And then we're just going to give that a good stir.

Then we're going to add in our white wine to this.

And our capers which are going to add a nice little salty to it.

And we also are going to have some pasta going on our stove.

Add in our heavy cream.

Just about a cup of heavy cream.

And some Parmesan cheese that's been shredded.

Give that a stir.

Toss our shrimp back in here.

Then we'll take our cooked pasta and pop it into our pan and give it a stir.

So it'll coat all your pasta.

It'll be great.

Then pour it into individual bowls or you can serve it in a platter or a nice big pasta bowl like this one with some chives or some fresh chopped parsley and some extra zest if you like.

So I hope you enjoy the creamy shrimp picatta and I look forward to seeing you next time here on Simple Cooking.

- Another great recipe and you'll find that one in our cookbook and you can get that online.

Joe, it just goes to show you never know.

- Well you never know.

And about the Pamlico Sound the variety is out there.

It's different seasons you may have a better chance of catching trout.

Likewise with flounder.

But the approach we had that day was to go and catch what we could catch because they do inhabit the same bays the same points and everything else.

Every other habitat out there.

So that's what we decide to do and it proved to be beneficial.

- And that's why so many people come to North Carolina fishing.

- There's no question about it.

We got the variety out there.

All you need is a pretty day.

- There you go.

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 has been delivering stunning photography and informative articles for more than 80 years.

- [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] ♪ ♪ ♪