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The expansive marsh habitat of North Carolina's sounds offer prime habitat for juvenile, "puppy drum." (David A. Brown photo)
By David A. Brown, OutdoorChannel.com
Fall finds surf fishermen lining North Carolina's Outer Banks for the famed surf run of jumbo redfish. Exciting, no doubt, but this beach fishery can be hit-or-miss. Meanwhile, the Tarheel State's vast backwater system offers a predictable year-round fishery for juvenile reds that locals call "puppy drum."
Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) grow up in the protected interior waters and then move offshore when they mature at about 30 inches. Until then, they roam the shallow edges of intracoastal sounds separating the Carolina mainland from its barrier islands. North-to-south, the major sounds are Currituck, Albemarle and Pamlico. Roanoke...