Summertime fishing is a perfect fit for vacationing families because the best action takes place in the first hour or two of daylight, the last hour or two before dusk, and the nighttime hours. Those are times when bass are most likely to feed near the surface, chasing minnows and hitting small topwater lures. It's also the best time for fishermen to locate schools of walleyes in deeper water, and then jig them up with slab-sided spoons that mimic the fluttering of injured baitfish.

Boat and cabin rentals are available at a number of different places on the lake, with Almond Boat Park (828/488-6423) being very convenient to Bryson City, the gateway to the Smokies.

Jim Mathis, who has run Almond for around 30 years, said he sticks almost exclusively to low-light situations during the summer.

"During the daytime, you can catch some walleyes jigging down around bridge pilings and over deep points, but it's definitely a summertime pattern," Mathis said. "At night, you can fish shallow banks with anything that looks like a minnow -- a Rebel or Rapala -- you'll just be doodling along the bank. A twistertail (grub) will work real good, and a lot of guys are starting to use spider jigs."

Mathis said that many fishermen still set up shop around bridge pilings after dark, putting out floating or suspended lights to attract insects and baitfish -- and eventually, game fish like walleyes, crappie and even white bass.

OUTER BANKS
The thin barrier islands that extend from the Virginia border south to Cape Lookout offer families plenty to do -- and fishermen plenty to catch. The thread that connects them all is Route 12, a paved two-lane that seems often to be carved out of the dunes that separate it from the ocean.

The summer months are not the year's prime fishing from Nags Head south to Ocracoke, but as far as multiple-levels of fishing are concerned, they fit the father-with-a-fishing-family just fine.

The opportunities range from booking an offshore charter boat for a day in the Gulf Stream after tuna, dolphin and billfish to drowning sand fleas just beyond the surf wash for half-pound pompano to casting a spoon off the end of a pier for Spanish mackerel.

And the "family" part of the vacation is the easy part, with tourist attractions including the Wright Brothers Memorial at Kitty Hawk to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in Buxton to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras -- not to mention all that sand and surf.

The big offshore boats head out of a handful of ports along the Outer Banks, from Broad Creek Fishing Center in Wanchese (252/473-9991) to the sprawling Oregon Inlet Fishing Center (252/441-6301) south of Nags Head to Oden's Dock (252/986-2555), Hatteras Harbor Marina (800/676-4939), Teach's Lair Marina (252/986-2460) and Hatteras Landing Marina (252/986-2077) at the southern tip of Hatteras Island. Full-day trips to the Gulf Stream generally run in the neighborhood of $1,200 or better, depending on the boat and location, and most allow for six passengers.

June is an excellent month for yellowfin tuna, dolphin and billfish from almost every port. As the summer progresses, the Oregon Inlet fleet tends to find more tuna in its waters, while the Hatteras boats continue to do a number on dolphin (mahi-mahi), with a good showing of billfish and, later in the summer, wahoo.