"Use a black jig with a blue skirt in clear water, a blue jig with a white skirt in stained water and an all-white jig in muddy water. I tip them with a Zoom Super Chunk trailer," Brown said.

COASTAL NORTH CAROLINA
Flounder, Specks And Drum
Captain Bryan Goodwin of Native Guide Service (www.nativeguide.net, 252/725-3961) out of Beaufort doesn't think there is a better time of year for all-around saltwater opportunities and no place better than his home range in the Morehead City-Beaufort area.

"October's great! If I was coming down for the weekend, I would want to light-tackle fish for drum, speckled trout and flounder, and you'd have equal chances for all three. That's the great thing about light-tackle fishing this time of year: You can fish the same locations, use the same bait, same lures and catch all three fish.

"The drum fishing is magnificent. The fish are schooling back up, speckled trout fishing really starts picking up and flounder fishing is great in October. Bait is still prevalent in October, so it's just really a great time for light-tackle fishing.

"Geographically, we are blessed with what I think is the best fishing location in the world as far as diversity," Goodwin said. Anglers can either fish structure from the shore or use their boats for easy access to October hotspots in the marshes.

For landlocked anglers, the rocks at Fort Macon, the piers, either the ocean piers or the new public access with a pier at the Newport River Park at the base of the Morehead-Beaufort Bridge are good choices. Goodwin likes the bridges.

"There are a bunch of them in Carteret County. I fish around the bridge at Harkers Island and the public access at Radio Island," Goodwin said.

To take advantage of the all-in-one opportunity for speckled trout, flounder and red drum, Goodwin suggests trying the marshes. "You've got the old standbys in the Morehead area of the Newport River, the Haystacks Marshes in the main body of the Newport River and the Hoophole Creek in Bogue Sound. You've got the Middle Marshes and the North River Marshes in the Beaufort area; they are easy to find, and they are on all the charts," Goodwin said.

"One key feature you look for are the oyster rocks on the edges of the marshes. The marsh creeks on the rising tide you'll want to fish the flooded flats and grassbeds and oyster rocks and on the falling tide, the deeper holes and sloughs in the creeks.

"Live bait is going to give you the best odds; finger mullet, mud minnows and green-tail shrimp are prevalent in October.