Elliott said that game fish will move into the tidal creeks late in the spring and will stay put all year. "The fish will quit feeding around Christmas," he said.

"I'll start fishing with plastic grubs, and I might put a live shad down there," he said. "If it's an area where pinfish aren't plentiful, I may put a live shrimp down under a cork, because the fish will hit it off the bottom.

"One thing about creeks is they'll normally have darker water in them, so you use darker baits or real bright colors like chartreuses and pinks. Natural, clear and minnow patterns and colors may not show up as well," he said.

Elliott pays attention to the tidal stages because he can make a little "milk run" to several creeks as the tide changes to make sure he's hitting each one at about the same stage of the falling tide.

Around the Morehead City area, Elliott can fish Spooner's Creek along the north side of the waterway, Hoop Pole on the Bogue Banks around Pine Knoll Shores, Mill Creek in the back of the Newport River, Calico Creek off the Newport River in Morehead City proper and Ward's Creek at the head of the North River marshes.

Bennett, who owns Rodman Charters and builds custom fishing rods on the side, is a puppy drum specialist who loves to fish the creeks that dump into the waterway from as far north as Figure Eight Island down toward Carolina Beach.

Whiskey Creek is the southernmost of the major creeks that Bennett (910-799-6120) fishes. It has a particular feature that separates it from the other creeks he fishes: a channel cut through an oyster bar that funnels a lot of fish into a relatively small area.

"At the mouth of the creek you've got the Masonboro Boat Yard," Bennett said. "Behind the boat yard is a big oyster bar, and the channel is cut through the oyster bar, then it winds its way back into the creek. It serves as a natural funnel for the fish to come in there. I like to fish it from the outside and just wait for the drum and flounder to work in there."

Hewletts Creek is a mile or so north of Whiskey Creek. "It's really good for flounder, puppy drum, black drum and speckled trout," Bennett said. "In the summer, it's mostly flounder and puppy drum; then the trout show up in the fall.

"Bradley (in Wrightsville Beach proper) is a very good creek for nice red drum, black drum and small flounder. The fish will get in there in May and stay the rest of the year. Page's Creek (opposite Figure Eight Island) is a good creek for flounder and puppy drum."

The last creek of any size is Howe Creek, which is just south of Page's Creek. Bennett said it's an extremely shallow creek, so he generally avoids fishing it.

Bennett loves to fish for puppy drum throughout the summer, keying on docks and piers that are positioned around the mouth of the creeks. He'll pitch a live mullet minnow or menhaden on a Carolina rig back under the dock and wait for things to happen. They normally do.

"I like to go into a creek an hour after high tide so the water will be falling out at a good pace," he said. "The baitfish are being pulled out, and the fish will be following them. I'll fish all the way down to an hour or an hour-and-a-half before low tide, because by then you'll need to get out -- or you'll be there another six hours. But you need to stay until that time."