Rigs will be fished at various depths, from near or at the surface down as far as 25 or 30 feet.

Lloyd Eastlack at Bug 'Em Bait Company in Wilmington (800-242-2493) keeps tabs on king-fishing action along the Cape Fear coast. Rob Bierstedt at Onmyway Charters (910-798-6093) is a veteran captain.

OCTOBER
Flounder
Southport Area
Flatfish are big business along the Brunswick County coastline in October, as fishermen from Southport west to Holden Beach, Ocean Isle and Shallotte spend countless hours on the water. Inshore artificial reefs are good spots to start. The McGlammery and Yaupon reefs off the mouth of the Cape Fear River and the Brunswick County reef off Lockwood Folly River are great places to fish live menhaden or finger mullet on the bottom in search of big fish that have already made the transition from inside waters to the ocean, where they will move offshore for the winter.

Back in the skinny water, fishermen need to target the mouths of creeks that empty into the Intracoastal Waterway or rivers like the Cape Fear, Shallotte and Lockwood Folly.

Flounder will position themselves along dropoffs and cuts where they can intercept baitfish that are being pulled out of flooded marsh areas as the tide drops. When it's rising, fish parallel to the bank and keep your bait up against the grass.

Live finger mullet, mud minnows and smaller menhaden are preferred baits. For up-to-date fishing information, call The Rod & Reel Shop in Supply at (910) 842-2034 or Wildlife Bait & Tackle in Southport at (910) 457-9903.

NOVEMBER
Largemouth Bass
Shearon Harris Lake
Shearon Harris Lake is one of North Carolina's best bass fisheries, producing good numbers of fish and an awful lot of big fish.

One of the best times to fish is in the fall, when fish move out of deep water and start to feed around the deep edges of the hydrilla beds dotting the shoreline.

Guide Phil Cable (919-815-1185) has had tremendous success working the shoreline for big bass. One November several years ago, he treated a guest on his boat to the sight of 5- and 6-pound fish coming over the gunwales at regular intervals.

The key to Cable's working patterns is to find the right kind of grass on the right kinds of banks. He looks for short, main-lake pockets with steeper banks where the hydrilla doesn't run out very far -- horizontally, that is. Most of the lake's grass will grow out to about 6 or 7 feet, leaving a distinct grass line on the deep end.

Cable parallels the grass lines with spinnerbaits, jigs and Senko-type plastics.

DECEMBER
Striped Bass
Outer Banks
The fall and winter striper run on the Outer Banks is something to behold: schools of fish a mile long and 400 yards wide, with fish up to 50 pounds caught regularly.

The return of that fishery has revitalized the strip of sand from Kitty Hawk south to Cape Hatteras at Buxton. Surf-fishermen can expect good action from mid-December through January on most any section of beach. Casting bucktails and spoons to feeding fish is the normal daily fare. Drenching fresh-cut bait in the surf while waiting will also provide an occasional fish.

Fishermen do even better in boats, working out from the beach to four or five miles out.

Trolling big bucktails and long, trolling plugs or drifting live eels are preferred ways to take big stripers. If a school is on the surface, casting with bucktails, spoons or big topwater baits can be exciting.

Fishing will kick off around Oregon inlet and on northern beaches before Thanksgiving and can extend through January. The fishing peak is normally December.

Frank Folb at Frank & Fran's tackle shop in Avon keeps up with the surf-fishing action. More than just a handful of boats out of Oregon Inlet Fishing Center (252-441-6301) regularly charter for striper fishermen, with Devin Cage on the Poacher (252-473-6108) one of the most successful captains.