Who needs a boat?

Not every Tar Heel angler owns a boat or enjoys regular access to a buddy's craft, and even boat-equip­ped anglers don't always want to launch their boats, especially for short outings or for after-hours trips.

Arguably, no kind of fish offers more opportunities to shore-based anglers than channel catfish. Along with being very abundant in many waterways throughout the state, channels feed by scent and will seek out the source of something that smells inviting.

Because bank-fishermen often are limited in the areas they can fish from or in their capacity to move readily from spot to spot, it's important to have fish that will find their baits. With these considerations in mind, we have sought insights from biologists throughout the state and have put together a "best-bets" look at places to catch channel catfish from the bank in North Carolina.

CAPE FEAR RIVER
Although North Carolina's most celebrated catfish angling destination is best known for the super-sized blue and flathead catfish that it produces, the Cape Fear River is also a first-rate channel cat fishery. With numerous public access points scattered along its winding course, the river provides a plentitude of opportunity to anglers who opt to work from the bank.

The Cape Fear River offers everything a catfish could ever want. It twists endlessly throughout its course, creating an ongoing alternation of flats and holes and current lines and eddies, and countless toppled trees stretch down from the banks or are submerged on the bottom. The water is highly fertile and the menu hugely diverse, with a tremendous blend of invertebrates and freshwater fish and saltwater baitfish that spend time in the river. Cats are ever abundant, and they stay fat and happy.

Among the most popular and productive shoreline fishing spots are the areas immediately downstream of the three locks and dams along the river, according to NCWRC fisheries biologist Keith Ashley. All three areas provide several hundred yards of bank access immediately below the structures.

Ashley also suggests that the boating access areas, such as Lillington, Fayetteville, Tarheel and Elizabethtown, are good spots for bank-fishing for cats along the Cape Fear.

Because of the number of large cats, including both channels and their bigger cousins, and the abundance of cover in the Cape Fear, anglers are wise to arrive "loaded for bear." Twenty- to 30-pound-test line and a rod with plenty of backbone offer real advantages when a hefty cat latches on and tries to head into a timber tangle upon being hooked.

Because of the amount of sunken timber that's hidden beneath the Cape Fear's dark waters, it's a good idea to peg a small float between the weight and the hook so that the weight sits on the bottom but the hook stays just off the bottom. Cut fish and frozen shrimp are especially good bait choices for Cape Fear River channel catfish. Much of the best catfishing takes place after the sun goes down.