Just before and after they arrive inland, they make an appearance at the inlets and beaches. Runs of old drum occur at Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout, Bald Head Island, Ocracoke and all of the nearby inlets. Massive schools of huge red drum are easy to spot as they chase baitfish along the bars. Anglers casting live baits, cut baits, spoons and big soft-plastic lures on jigheads may hook and land a dozen in a half day of fishing.

In the sound and river, the fishing is different. Anglers spot the fish by watching for oil slicks surfacing from crushed menhaden when the big fish are feeding. At night, the old drum migrate along the navigation channels, sandbars and the dropoffs at the edges of the sandbars. Big cut baits fished on the bottom are the ticket to catching huge red drum when they are inshore.

Red drum populations continue to increase as a result of restrictive recreational and commercial landings. In the 1990s, North Carolina recreational landings ranged from 191,819 in 1992 to 561,892 in 1999 with an average of 362,211 fish. In the 2000s, landings have fluctuated between a low of 328,490 in 2003 and a high of 679,066 in 2006 with an average of 352,700. Recreational landings are based on weather conditions and the strength of the previous year's spawn to produce slot-sized fish. The trend for the last three years' recreational landings has been upward.

FLOUNDER
The two most common species of flounder in North Carolina waters are the southern flounder, which inhabits inshore waters and the summer flounder, which inhabits nearshore and offshore waters. At nearshore reefs and ledges as well as at the inlets and fishing piers, the two species mingle. Identification can be tricky, but a pattern of three eye-like spots with the point of the triangle toward the head identifies the summer flounder in most cases.

Anglers catch flounder by using lures, cut baits, shrimp, squid and minnows. But the favorite baits are live menhaden, mullet, mud minnows and killifish.

Flounder hunt along the bottom, typically resting on the bottom covered with sand to further camouflage their already dappled upper topsides. When prey passes overhead, the flounder surges up and engulfs it with a mouth that opens incredibly wide and is full of jagged teeth. But it returns to the bottom to swallow, and this makes it tough for inexperienced fishermen to detect the strike. Set the hook too soon and it is pulled out of the fish's mouth.

The most popular way of fishing is by drifting or trolling live baits along the bottom of an inlet, bay or estuary. But structure fishing is often done from anchored boats or from boats with trolling motors. Flounder orient to anomalies in the bottom or along the shoreline and especially like to hunt near wrecks and artificial reefs, boat docks, ocean-fishing piers, clay outcrops, riprap, rocky ledges, oyster beds, sandbars, bulkheads and jetties.

In the 1990s, recreational landings of southern flounder ranged from 34,558 in 1993 to 80,540 in 1991 with an average of 56,701 fish. In the 2000s, recreational landings have ranged from 114,335 in 2001 to 198,179 in 2004 with an average of 144,510 fish.