Lake Norman | Bob Redfern's Outdoor Magazine TV Series

Bob heads to Lake Norman in Charlotte, North Carolina for some fishing with Craig Price and Fish On! Guide Service. On The Sportsman’s Table, we feature a great salsa recipe featuring South Carolina certified strawberries.

Book your next trip with Capt. Craig.
Fish On! Guide Service

Full Transcript

[Announcer] On this week’s Bob Redfern’s Outdoor Magazine, Bob heads to fish on Lake Norman in Charlotte, North Carolina. Joining Bob will be fishing guide Craig Price with Fish On! Guide service. And on this week’s sportsman’s table, we feature a great salsa recipe featuring South Carolina certified strawberries. It’s a full packed show this week, and it all starts right now.
[show open]
On, fish Craig.
Yeah, this is a little better fish.
[Craig] Come on now.
Yeah baby.
Got some stripes.
Woo hoo!
Folks welcome to our show this week. We are up on Lake Norman with my good friend Craig Price, of Fish On! Guide Service. We’re doing a little bit of hybrid striper fishing here this morning.
Got a special secret to show you, a new bait that he’s kinda discovered, him and some other friends of his up here on the lake. Now the last time we were on here, Craig, you know, we were up the river.
[Craig] That’s correct.
And now, we’re on the main lake.
Oh, mhmm, come on now.
Don’t, you better stay on there.
Don’t do that to me.
[Craig] Those drags are set pretty light if you feel like you need to–
Yeah, I don’t want him to get too far underneath the boat. There he comes, oh yeah.
[Craig] Oh it’s a big– –
[Bob] Oh my goodness. That things a huge catfish.
Big flathead.
[Bob] Okay, well we’ll take him.
[Craig] That’s why you couldn’t lift him on that rod.
[Bob] Oh man, look at that thing. Man.
That’s a nice one.
He inhaled that thing.
Yeah.
Wow.
Like I said, ’cause catfish bite has just kinda started in the last couple of days.
Well he had some good pull and weight to him. Now listen, I tell you what, you know– – We’ll take him.
[Bob] Yeah, we’ll take him. That’s some good filets right there too. Mmmmm.
[Craig] Yeah, they don’t look like much, but they’re probably the best eating catfish-
[Bob] I’m telling you, they are.
Those are channels too. Look at him, man. Well, you know, when you bring your clients up here, we’re getting another hit on that other rod out there. I think you got another fish on it.
Yep, yep, fish on.
Get him, grab him.
I’ll take care of the catfish.
Lemme put this rod down a little bit.
I think it might .
[Bob] Folks, we’re gonna show you the rigs here
shortly as soon as Craig gets that in,
but– – I think that was a perch pecking on it.
[Bob] Was it, okay.
Yep, he followed it right up to the boat.
All right, well, yeah, he ain’t too bad.
Come on, you gon’ go back in the,
you go on back in the drink.
Here we go.
Yeah, okay, yeah, go on back to the hinterlands. But you know, you guys have kinda changed up, blue back herring, that’s always been kinda the mainstay when you’re hybrid and striper fishing.
Correct.
But tell me a little bit about what you’ve discovered here we’re fishing this morning.
Well, a lot of people, you know, we’ve got two power plants with warm water discharges and they have community fishing areas where people that don’t have boats can go fish off the bank.
Right.
And people started using these muscles and the lakes are full of freshwater muscles and everybody’s known for a long time that the catfish eat ’em. But once the hybrids got established in here, we started getting reports that these people were catching a lotta hybrids.
Oh wow.
‘Cause they relate to that current– – Right.
When the discharge is coming out. And so actually a buddy of mine who’s fishing right behind us started using ’em some up in the river for catfish, and he started catching hybrids on ’em. And so, we all started experimenting with ’em and there’s some days they out fish live bait or cut bait 10 to one.
Wow.
And, they just, I never really thought of ’em. You know, we’ve known– – Get that fish.
We’ve known– – There you go.
We’ve known that, you know, stripers would eat cut bait.
Yeah, yeah, oh yeah.
For many many years.
Yeah.
But the idea of using these muscles is just another another bullet in the in our arsenal.
Well, you know, as long as it catches fish, folks that come with you, they don’t care actually.
Well that’s right.
They just love reeling in fish.
There are people that may care, but– – You need the net?
For most people– – You got it?
Yeah, let’s go ahead and put him in the net. For most people it’s like golf.
Yeah, yeah.
You know, it’s not how it’s how many.
Exactly. Yeah, there you go.
[Craig] There’s a small hybrid.
Yeah. Listen, I tell you what, this time of year, we normally, it’s, it gets hot. But here for the past three weeks, I mean, we’re talking temperatures in the hundreds.
Yeah, that’s right.
So, folks, we’re out here this morning. Started temperature at about 83. Water temperature’s 83. Trying to get some of this cool weather in. But, you know, hopefully we’ll have what we need here and be off before it gets hot at noon.
That’s correct. You know the last time y’all were here we were eight or nine miles north of here up in the old river section.
Yeah.
Near I-40. And this is about a month later, almost exactly. And these fish have gone through their false spawning run, and now we’re on the north end of the main lake proper.
No, I’m fishing on credit.
And so they’re, they’re just kinda roaming the river channel.
We’re sitting on a main river hump– – Yeah.
With the river going down both sides. This is an extension of an island behind us. And these fish been here for going on two weeks and one day they eat the muscles real good one day they eat cut bait better one day they might eat live bait. So– – Well, tell all our viewers out there a little bit about Lake Norman. You know, we know we’re right in the middle of NASCAR country. A lotta of the rich and famous folks live here, have big homes up here. It’s kinda like Lake Murray in South Carolina. Of course you live on the lake as well. Is there a lot of boat traffic on this lake probably on the weekends?
Yeah, yeah, you know, we just had Memorial Day last weekend. So yeah, it’s, a lot worse on the weekends. But anytime during the summer after about 10 o’clock in the morning, you’re gon’ start getting pleasure boat traffic. And, you know, best thing to do, because of the heat and the boat traffic during the summer is get out here early catch ’em up–
Right.
And get on back to the house.
[Announcer] Stay tuned, when we come back from commercial break, we head back to Lake Norman for more fishing.
Bob Redfern’s Outdoor Magazine is being brought to you today by Chevrolet, the official vehicle of Bob Redfern’s Outdoor Magazine. By the South Carolina Agriculture Department, it’s a matter of taste. By Browning, Browning, the best there is. By South Carolina Embroidery and Screen printing. And by the Wacca Wache Marina and Deck 383 located on the Waccamaw River in Murrells Inlet South Carolina.
It’s taking us in.
You got him?
I think so.
Come on.
You’re handling that like a true pro man.
Well– – You want me to get that rod out of, well.
He’s in that green line but we’ll deal with that when we have to.
Okay.
Mr. Whiskers.
Oh, man, man we coulda had a catfish fry.
[Craig] I’m telling ya. I’m telling ya. You wanna hold this rod for me, and I’ll see if I can handle him.
Get him out of there. Whiskers are hungry too.
Yeah, just get all wrapped up in that stuff. Actually you just unwrapped yourself, thank you.
[Bob] Oh, that’s a good thing, yeah. He knew what he was doing. Plus he knew you were on the other end of the line man. You take no prisoners.
There we go. Well–
Take no prisoners.
Like a box of chocolates.
That’s it. Spotted bass, hybrids, perch, man–
Flathead, blue cat, channel cat.
All right, man that’s some good filets right there.
All we need’s a garfish now.
Yeah, I’m telling you. Wow, mmm.
That’s a good eating size. Woo hoo.
All right. All right– – See if I can keep one on the hook.
All right, awesome, do it.
I’d throw that thing right back out there.
Do it.
I believe this might be Mr. Whiskers.
You think so?
Well I don’t know. He’s shaking his head a little bit now.
Yeah, I tell you what, I’ll switch with you. That seems to be the hole right over there.
Yeah it does. Nope, that’s a little striped fish.
Is it striped?
Yes sir.
Hybrid?
Yes sir.
Need the net?
Why not.
Oh yeah, see. Man–
They’re frisky.
Yes sir. All right, there we go. Woo hoo. All right now, don’t be doing that,
nu uh. We’re just gonna take your picture, and we’re gonna let you go, I promise. I promise. Alright, there he is. Whoa, man, they get–
They’re frisky.
They wanna go, they wanna go.
It’s okay, but they wanna get you on the way out. There we go. There we go.
They don’t have much body mass, and they will flip around.
Man.
You oughta see– – They’ll make you pay too.
My thumb and fingers are cut all to pieces.
All right, man we’ve had a great morning so far. This is awesome. This is awesome. Listen, tell folks out there about Fish On! Guide Service. And you know, I know, folks you to to Bob’s Top 16, you’ll find Craig right there. But, you know, it’s not just Lake Norman. Lake James, Lake Hickory, I mean, name all the places that you take clients.
Well, all the Catawba lakes, starting up in the mountains, Lake James, Lake Rhodhiss, Lake Hickory, Lookout Shoals, Lake Norman. I don’t really fish Wiley much, but I do fish Walter Reed, Lake Murray– –
Right.
Get down to Clarks Hill some. And then I do some inshore saltwater at different times of the year. So, I live here on Norman, but I like to fish a lot of different places. Fish on. And, uh oh, he swam me right into a there’s some brush right here.
[Bob] You got it? You got it?
Well, I thought I had him. Somehow he got in the brush there. So, anyway, oh man, a monster perch.
Woo. Man, he even flipped us a bait.
How ’bout that? I ’bout got taken to school by a half pound perch. But our trips on these lakes are, I like to target stripers and hybrids. But as you can see from today, and even the last time you were here, we mix bags of stripers, hybrids, perch, catfish, bass, crappy.
And look, I mean you know, the thing about it is, most folks, they just rather than sitting in an office, they just wanna catch fish. They wanna reel stuff in, okay.
That’s right, that green, that line, that rod right there’s got a fish on it.
Is he playing with us?
All right.
Oh no, I ain’t gon’ let you have it Mr. Perch.
[Announcer] Coming up next, it’s time to head to the kitchen for a great South Carolina certified strawberry recipe.
The Sportsman’s Table is brought to you by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture. Whether you live in South Carolina or out of state, be sure to buy South Carolina grown meats, vegetables and fruits. Make sure your food is South Carolina certified. It’s a matter of taste.
Folks, welcome to this week’s edition of the Sportsman’s Table. Joining me is Chef Ed Dombrowski. He is the managing partner at Lee’s Farm right here in Murrells Inlet. I tell you what, great produce there. When you’re down here at Deck 383 at Murrells Inlet, you gotta stop over there and get some fresh produce and bring it on with you. Man, man it’s always a pleasure brother.
Excellent, thanks for having me again. Appreciate it.
What kind of food you got for us today?
Well, we’re gonna do some local stuff again. Everything we have here on the table we’re doing today is local. This is from Prestige Farm here in the area.
Right.
We’re gonna do some chicken breast. I’m gonna do a chili lime, bread it, and saute it in here. And then I’m gonna finish it off with, ’cause it’s summertime, and it’s strawberry season here in South Carolina. So I’ma do a strawberry balsamic salsa to go with it.
Oh wow.
Okay.
Well man, let’s get on with this one. This is gon’ be awesome.
Okay, so what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna take our great chicken breast here.
Okay.
[Ed] And we’re gonna throw it in to a little bit of flour batter here.
Okay.
[Ed] And it’s got some chili lime spice in it. You could buy that in a grocery store, it’s pretty easy it’s just some chili powder and some dried lime.
I got ya.
[Ed] You gotta do it in the egg wash.
[Bob] Egg wash, oh yeah.
[Ed] Okay, and then after that, we’re gonna put it in a little Panko. I like the Panko ’cause it’s got, it gives it a little bit of a crunch.
Oh yeah, yeah.
You know.
I like crunch.
Oh yeah, nice. Plus, all that stays on there.
Yes, all stays on there.
Yeah.
[Eds] Looks really good. All right, now were gonna lay that into our pan. I added a little pecan oil in here ’cause you know the high heat and it doesn’t burn, has good heat point.
[Bob] Okay, so pecan oil’s kind of a secret.
Exactly.
Ah, wow.
[Ed] Anything like that. So we got that rolling.
Okay.
Okay, in the meantime we’re gonna start making our salsa while that’s cooking, okay?
Oh wow, all right.
All right, it’s pretty simple. You know, when I do these dishes, they’re very simple dishes. I got some local heirloom tomatoes. These are actually, we grow in the back of the Farmer’s Market.
Right.
[Ed] Okay, so I quartered them. Then I took some fresh local strawberries that came from… Put those in there.
Oh wow.
[Ed] Okay, then we’re going to throw a little bit of cilantro.
[Bob] Oh you’ve gotta have that.
[Ed] Yeah, you got to. Definitely salt and pepper.
Oh wow.
[Ed] Some of best flavors for tomatoes is pepper, salt, balsamic vinegar. It’s phenomenal for strawberries and tomatoes.
Really, no kidding.
Yep. We’re gonna put some balsamic vinegar in there.
Okay.
Okay. Yes, little bit of green onion, okay.
Okay.
Then we’re gonna finish it off with a little bit of olive oil.
Oh wow.
Okay. Now what you wanna do is you wanna mix it around, cover it with plastic. Put in your refrigerator for about two hours so all the flavors meld together. That’s what you want. That’s gonna be the key to that salsa.
Okay, Ed, our chicken’s all ready to go.
That’s right. We’re gonna take it down, put it on the board. And we’re gonna cut it up, we’re gonna slice it.
Oh okay.
Okay. I like slice in it looks really nice on the table.
Presentation always.
Yep, all about presentation.
Wow, that’s so moist.
Yep.
[Bob] You know a lot of times folks cook, especially poultry, they cook it too much.
Exactly.
Man does it taste like sawdust.
[Ed] Well, you know, that’s the thing. You know, a lot of people will overcook that.
Same thing with seafood. A lot of people do that with seafood, they just overcook it.
Yeah.
But you gotta have that moisture in it so you wanna
cook it to the right temperature every time.
Well folks, and if you want a copy of Ed’s recipe just long on to bobredfern.com and go right there.
All right, so what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna put that there, fan it out a little bit.
Okay.
Okay. I’m gonna take a fresh avocado, who can’t, you want an avocado when you’re having
salsa, right?
[Bob] Oh there you go, gotta have.
[Ed] Gotta happen.
[Bob] Oh, wow, it don’t get no fresher than that.
No.
Mmm.
[Ed] A little fresh avocado. Take that, put that over here.
Oh wow.
Okay.
Mhmm.
[Ed] And now what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna take our salsa, I love this stuff.
[Bob] Oh yeah.
[Ed] Put it on a plate there.
[Bob] Look at that.
[Ed] You want a lot extra, you throw some tortilla chips on that plate, finish it off,
okay.
Gotta have some lime.
Oh wow.
[Ed] Okay, I like to just hit everything with a little bit of lime.
[Bob] Yeah, here, lemme get this outta the way.
[Ed] Like that.
[Bob] There we go.
[Ed] Okay. Now, hit it with a little bit of cilantro.
Oh wow, mmm.
Okay.
And a little bit more green pepper. And guess what else we need. How ’bout let’s put a little bit of rice.
Oh yeah.
This is some cilantro lime rice to go with it. That makes a great dish right there.
[Bob] There you go.
Buy and eat local, certifiedscgrown.com log on and see what’s fresh on the menu.
From Deck 383 restaurant here at Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.
We’ll be right back here again next week on another edition of the Sportsman’s Table. We’ll see you then.
[Announcer] To find out more information on food that’s fresher and tastier, go online at certifiedscgrown.com Buy certified South Carolina grown products, it’s a matter of taste.
Bob Redfern’s Outdoor Magazine is being brought to you today by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Life’s just better outdoors. By Shakespeare’s Ugly Stik GX2 rod, Ugly Stik, America’s strongest most sensitive rod. By Ranger Boats, still building legends one at a time. By Browning ammunition, Browning, the best there is. And by Southern Woods Plantation, voted as one of the top quail hunting destinations in America.
There he goes, yeah man, another hybrid. Nice one.
All right.
Yeah man, I caught him on the new Abu Garcia Vendetta. Woo, with the new X30.
I think I’m blocking the– – 14 pound nano fill, clear miss. There we go, yeah.
All right.
Another good, whoops I’m sorry.
That’s all right. He’s in the net.
Yep.
We get one next, we get stuck. Stay on the hook.
I think this might be our hybrid we’re looking for. He moved, this one, – He’s running.
He’s moving too fast–
Yeah, he’s running pretty fast.
He’s moving too fast for a catfish.
That’s what we were looking for.
[Bob] There we go. Okay, all right.
My net don’t come apart on us.
I got you. There we go. Yeah man.
[Craig] And it finally get a bite and he swallowed it.
[Bob] Yes he did.
[Craig] You wanna hold him out there so he doesn’t bleed all over the boat.
[Bob] I got it, I got it. Go ahead, you just wanna cut him loose?
[Craig] Yep, yep.
All right, next time. Done gone. That’s a nice fish.
A little more heft to it. Let’s swap here.
All right. Let’s dance.
Why not? I just wanna get back on your spot over here.
I’m telling you I keep throwing to that same hole. This one, I don’t know whether that’s, yeah, that’s a hybrid. Whew, well folks as I’m bringing this fish in, we have enjoyed fishing here on Lake Norman this morning with my good friend and our go to guide this morning Craig Price with Fish On! Guide Service. Again, go to Bob’s Top 16 and you’ll find Craig right there. Book a trip, and you can come up here and catch some hybrids on Lake Norman. I tell you what, this lake is not just for the rich and famous, huh? Man, everybody likes ’em. But, as we like to say each and every week here on Bob Redfern’s Outdoor Magazine, the outdoors is my passion. I want it to be yours too. We’ll see you right back here again next week on another great episode. All right Craig, I’m gonna let this one go.
[music]