Compared to May, April was just a teaser. Oh sure, the red drum schools started moving around in the backwaters and a few short flounder began to bite at the inlets. But the true saltwater fisherman looks forward to May as much as a kid anticipates the arrival of Christmas because he knows virtually every saltwater gamefish will be biting somewhere along the North Carolina coast. Here are some of our favorites.

FLOUNDER
One of these perennial favorites is the flounder. An experienced eye can identify the three main flounder species that occur in North Carolina waters. By late May, southern flounder have invaded the inlets, with the bite reaching a crescendo by mid-June.

The fish move back into the estuaries from the inlets, but they can still be caught in the surf and from ocean fishing piers. Mottled, indistinct markings on their backs identify southern flounder.

Structure and food attract flounder. They may be found anywhere there's an inch of water to cover them. Top flounder fishermen cast live baits to docks, piers, bulkheads, oyster beds and channel edges. While some large southern flounder are caught by anglers using small mud minnows, mullet and menhaden, tournament fishermen use live menhaden that can be 6 to 12 inches long.

Special hooks with wide bends are used for flounder fishing. The hook must reach far back into the mouth for a secure hookup to occur.

Anglers are becoming more proficient at catching southern flounder by using lures -- scented artificial strips fished on jig heads being a top choice. The use of trolling motors and Power Poles is also on the upswing, with anglers adapting these freshwater devices to have more flatfish flopping in the ice chest. Cruising along under silent electric power while casting to shoreline structure and pier pilings is much more productive than hop-scotching along from place to place, dropping and retrieving an anchor.

Summer flounder move to the coast earlier than southern flounder, where they first rapidly colonize artificial reefs and natural ledges at 10 to 20 miles, then move to the inlets in April. The smaller fish typically show up first, leading to big catches, with 90 percent of them having to be released. But by summer, the fish are everywhere from the inlets on out, with top catches made at fishing piers and nearshore reefs within a mile or two of the beaches.

A pattern of five eye-like spots identifies the summer flounder. Like the southern flounder, they can achieve weights above 10 pounds. Any fish above 5 pounds, however, is considered trophy.

Gulf flounder occur at the sandy bottoms away from the inlets. However, they commingle with summer flounder, especially at artificial reefs in the more southern part of the state. They are identified by a pattern of three eye-like spots on their backs. They only comprise about 5 percent of the recreational catch.

A few anglers are experiencing good luck using scented artificial lures and strips in the deeper waters offshore, where the fishing occurs between 25 and 45 feet down. Strips on a two-hook pier rig work well. A heavy jig head with a scented shrimp, fluke or minnow imitation can also be effective.

Fishing with bottom rigs at artificial and natural reefs requires patience because it invites snags. The fish are located within a very few feet of the edge of the structure. A GPS unit and electronic depthfinder may not be necessary to fish the inshore waters, but are necessities for fishing the Atlantic ocean for summer and Gulf flounder.

RED DRUM
Red drum are protected against harvest by anyone beyond three miles offshore. But surf fishermen, fly fishermen, wade fishermen and anglers fishing from piers and boats all get some fantastic red drum action.