Floating along in a rubber raft is the best way to take in the scenery while catching plenty of fish. Wade-fishing and bank-fishing are also popular and anglers can also launch kayaks from many roadways along the rivers to access the fishing.

Topwater lures and flies and soft-plastic lures work well. But shallow crankbaits, stick baits and jigs are also popular lures.

The best time to fish is when the river water is falling, or when it is flowing steadily at a moderate stage. Rising water seems to make the fish more tentative than falling water.

On The Fly Guide Service, (828) 659-0059.

JULY
Perch
Lake Waccamaw
While white perch bite well all year long at Lake Waccamaw, the best months for catching them are the summer months. The water is calmer and the air temperature is warmer, making it the ideal time for that favorite of Lake Waccamaw watercraft, the pontoon boat.

A pontoon boat is perfect for trolling several lines for catching white perch. It also provides an excellent platform for spotting the surface disruptions of feeding fish. White perch feeding on top make little bubbling splashes that can be difficult to spot in even the lightest of wind chops, so calm days are essential to top success.

Stunted white perch can occur through overpopulation in many inland lakes. But the native Waccamaw River and Lake Waccamaw fish are subject to many predators, including bowfin, largemouth bass and chain pickerel, which, along with a large population of anglers, apparently keep their numbers in balance.

Large white perch weighing more than a pound are not rare at the lake. The best way to catch them is by finding a visible school and sight-casting or by trolling an area where several schools are working the surface.

The shallow lake makes it difficult to find the fish with a conventional depthfinder, but a side scanning sonar can help an angler relocate a school after they leave the surface.

Spinners, jigs, spoons and flies are all popular white perch lures. White perch also eat worms and minnows.

AUGUST
Red Drum
Cedar Island
The red drum fishing at Cedar Island is among the best on the planet. In August, the heat keeps many anglers off the water, but night-fishing for the big adult drum, which can easily top 50 pounds in weight, is a great way to beat the heat.

Special rigs are used for dropping cut baits, such as mullet, spot and croaker, to the bottom for catching red drum. They consist of large circle hooks with the barbs bent down or filed off and a large egg sinker pegged on the leader near the hook. These rigs prevent the fish from swallowing the bait and being injured, which is important because they are above the upper slot size limit of 27 inches.

Heavy spinning rigs or conventional revolving spool rigs are used to cast the live-bait rigs in a clock-face pattern around an anchored boat. The best place to fish is along a channel edge or natural dropoff along a sandbar. The big fish migrate along the dropoffs in large schools at night. The fish are spawning at this time of year and form some large aggregations. Catches of a dozen big red drum in a single evening of fishing are not uncommon. Navigating the sound at night can be hazardous because of the many pound nets in the sound. It's best for newcomers to stay out all night and return in the daylight or become very familiar with the use of a GPS unit during the daytime and use a powerful spotlight at night to come home.

Old Core Sound Guide Service, (252) 725-7070.