Turkey Hunting Tips from H.S. Strut Pros

Phillip Vanderpool and Steve Cobb with H.S. Strut Pro Staff

Steve Cobb inspects my opening day tom

Phillip Vanderpool shares tips for videographers

An old H.S. Strut wooden box call with the words 'Field Champion' written on it was purchased years ago at Carolina Rod & Gun - and it is with that quality product that I learned to talk to the turkeys of the Lowcountry Outdoors. Ironically, I work with Hunter's Specialties in the outdoors industry now, to raise awareness about their products and to interact with their impressive roster of Pro Staff hunters. More than one H.S. Strut Pro Staff came to the Lowcountry recently and I was able to fill two of my tags when I snagged some turkey hunting tips from pro caller Steve Cobb and cameraman Phillip Vanderpool.

To view past blog entries about H.S. Strut Pro Staff in the Lowcountry click here.

2012 Family Circle Cup - 2nd Round Play

Polona Hercog hits balls to fans after a match

Lots to buy at the FCC pro shop

Plenty of fans at the Althea Gibson Court

Marion Bartoli enjoys a pre-game snack

The clay courts were heating up under sunny skies after the overcast and cooler conditions on Tuesday that made the Daniel Island tennis facilities such a great place to be. Even though this is the 40th year of the Family Circle Cup, the new stadium court and entire tennis complex built when the tourney moved here from Hilton Head Island, is first class and you can tell that the FCC patrons are comfortable and enjoying their time watching the Women's Tennis Association pros compete. Wednesday saw the 3-seed Marion Bartoli defeat V. Dushevina in three sets after the 14th seed Polono Hercog defeated V. Lepchecnko in straight sets. Fan favorite and 13th seed Nadia Petrova defeated J. Craybas in three sets that lasted nearly three hours, and Sabine Lisicki defeated A. Hlavackova. The first round of the doubles competition should end up on Wednesday, and the night match features V. Williams playing J. Jankovic and the theme for the night is Military Appreciation. The FCC salutes our veterans with free admission and is also gathering supplies at a donation station outside the main gate! For all the latest photos visit the FCC website.
To view past blog entries about the 2012 Family Circle Cup click here.

DUDE e-zine / SEWE article

Spring magazine cover - Fox Kits

Check out the spring 2012 edition of DUDE magazine! It's SWEET - DUDE! The publisher DUDE has asked for me to contribute photos and a feature story from the 2012 Southeastern Wildlife Expo on page 22. We declare Jungle Jack Hanna as the ultimate DUDE! Check out the SWEET ad for LowcountryOutdoors on page 14! Again..... DUDE!
The Bluffton and Hilton Head Area is the home base for the DUDE and readers can find all sorts of interesting news from that area and beyond. And yes, DUDE magazine appeals mainly to the fellows of the Lowcountry, and is also perfect for outdoor enthusiasts. I am thankful for the introduction I receive on page three, and I remain glad to be a part of the DUDE family. SWEET! For a couple of of my turkey season photos check out page 52. Turkeys DUDE!

To view the spring 2012 edition of DUDE e-zine click here.


To view past blog entires about the DUDE magazine click here.

2012 Family Circle Cup - Williams sisters into 2nd Round

Venus Williams hits balls to the fans after the match

40th Ann. FCC plate with Top 8 seeds autographs

Tuesday tennis at the 40th Family Circle Cup tennis tournament included fan favorite Venus Williams playing at noon in the stadium court versus Iveta Benesova. The first set was a tight one that Williams won, despite Benesova appearing to be the more relaxed opponent. Williams is a former Number 1 player in the world, with 43 singles titles which include 7 Grand Slam titles, and she has an astounding career earnings of nearly $28 million dollars. Williams won the first game of the second set but Benesova laid down two slices for winners in the second game that combined with an ace to even the set at one all. They played to deuce twice in the third game, and by the sixth game Venus had been running harder, and Benesova kept up the slice shots until Venus adjusted to them. Williams broke her opponent's serve in the eighth game and won the set and match in a one-hour and 20-minute match. Williams applauded the crowd and stroked tennis balls into the stands for the fans to gather. After the match, in the media tent, she said that Benesova had 'hands like feathers' with the slice shot winners and that she was glad to move on into the second round of play where she will meet Jelena Jankovic. Doubles tennis got underway on Tuesday with a spirited match on Court three between Grandin / Uhlirova and Klepac / Rosolska. In the night match Serena Williams was able to defeat Vesnina in straight sets. For all results visit the FCC website.

Benesova executes a slice shot against V. Williams

Tracy Austin is a part of the FCC history

To view past blog entries on the 2012 Family Circle Cup click here.

Lowcountry Fishing Report - 4/3/2012

Fishing Report for the Coastal Lowcountry of South Carolina

Erin Nowles catches a fish with Capt. Condon

Charleston Inshore Report: Bart Manley at the Market Street location of Charleston Angler begins with a water temperature reading of 70-degrees, which is significant since warmer waters welcome in the hordes of live bait that the average saltwater angler relies on to entice the fish to bite their hook and line. Fresh on the attending the Fly Fishing Film Tour, Bart urges anglers that it is not a bad time to break out the fly rod and throw some crab and shrimp patterns in natural colors for redfish. Of course those with spinning tackle can rely on artificial baits like the Gulp crab to wrangle the same redfish. Live bait options include mullet, menhaden and mud minnows. The trout bite remains hard to understand with no great numbers of fish being encountered but the size on the specks biting the hook is better than average. Use D.O.A. shrimp in natural colors under a popping cork while casting to the outer edges of the marsh grass to locate the fish. For all the latest seminar information visit the Internet at Charleston Angler.

Scott Hammond at Haddrell's Point West, says "Coming back in from vacation this week, I had no idea what had gone on recently on our inshore bite. After talking with a dozen or so charter Capts today, I have learned that a pretty good little trout bite kicked in last week. DOA shrimp under a rattle float or live shrimp have been deadly on the trout fished around 3-6ft of water along shell rakes and creek mouths. Sheepshead are still doing well around heavy structure using fiddlers, and though occasionally they have not fed heavily coming off these full mooon tides, we are hearing of redfish being found anywhere from the shallow flats, to under docks, to along rock piles, and yes we are even hearing of reds already tailing up in the grass at high water!"

Captain Chris Condon of Strike Zone Charters tells me that recent mornings have been calm and the flats have been holding good numbers of redfish. He has been spotting ten to fifteen dorsal fins sticking up in the shallow water, using them as an indicator to locate the school. Capt. Condon says to cast small artificial baits at this point, like the Gulp curlty on a jighead or a Gulp shrimp on a flutter hook, and employ the dead stick or slow crawl method of retrieve. The water has remained clear and on sunny days Condon can locate fish by seeing the mud clouds the reds kick up as they move along. The best flats have quick drop-offs to deeper water, where Condon has been locating large schools of mullet. By far, the most bites are coming on the incoming tide on bait like fresh cut mullet, broken up crabs and mud minnows. The recent appearance of menhaden has Capt. Condon excited about the spring fishing, and you can find out more about him at Facebook or Strike Zone Fishing.


Charleston Offshore Report: Scott Hammond says "A continued flurry of good fishing in early spring is still being found offshore of SC right now. Still hearing solid reports of wahoo from 140-250ft of water, blackfin tuna in and around 150-200ft, and solid numbers of dolphin have been found anywhere from 180ft out to as deep as 800ft. To make a long story short, the offshore season is officially upon us and good weather is all we need to get out and take advantage of the strong bite! I have spoken with numerous charter boats lately, and while they all seem to have plenty of trips upcoming in May, many have lots of openings still for April as most anticipated the fishing not being as good until the month of May. DayMaker charters and Game Day charters, both out of Ripley, are two great boats to get you out there on some fish while everyone else is waiting for the month to roll over. Water temps are right, time for some bluewater!!!!!"

Bart is straight up when he tells us that the offshore resultsw have been good. The mahi bite has picked up and will most likely continue through the month of April, especially with warmer than normal water temperatures for this time of year. The best reports have come in regarding the wahoo bite with good catches coming over the transom with consistency. Continue to focus on the moon phases using dark colors like black, purple and orange. Troll for wahoo at slower speeds using and Ilander lures rigged with a ballyhoo.

To view past fishing reports for the coastal Lowcountry click here.

2012 Family Circle Cup begins

Serena Williams at the 2012 Family Circle Cup

Lisa Ha and family are the one-millionth fans at the FCC

A special 40th anniversary celebration is on tap for this year's Family Circle Cup tennis tournament on Daniel Island. This event has the longest running title sponsor in tennis in the Family Circle magazine family, and this event is the largest women's-only tennis tourney in the world. Back in 1973 the FCC was the first tourney to offer $100K in total prize money and was the first women's event to be broadcast on network television. April 2 marked the day that the one-millionth fan came through the gates at the FCC and Mrs. Lisa Ha of Smyrna, Georgia was the lucky winner, getting an immediate upgrade to VIP status. Attending with her husband Tony and kids Sarah and Kile they were greeted with FCC media director Mike Saia holding a large check and a huge bundle of balloons. For starters, the family's ground passes have now been upgraded to box seats for the day, and they are to attend a party with the players tonight on Daniel Island. Meanwhile the first round of tennis was getting underway with Slovakia's Polona Hercog defeating Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm in straight sets on the stadium court. The top eight seeds of the FCC were not in action on the court today, rather they were on stage during the media all-access hour, and Serena Williams was on hand to talk about the status of her game. Everything is going well she said, and that she hopes to bring her best game out for the fans in Charleston. She also relayed that Charleston is close to her home in Florida and that playing matches out of the country can take a toll on her. Serena is scheduled to play her opening match on Tuesday night at the FCC, which is also set to be a night of fun with a retro wardrobe theme and a live band.
To find out the latest pairing information visit the FCC website.

To view past blog entries from the Family Circle Cup click here: 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009

Kimiko Date-Krumm prepares to volley on stadium court

Marissa Kimberlin, Alicia Nissel and Sarah Taft

2012 Fly Fishing Film Tour - Charleston

Two Sold Out Shows for Charleston

Lucky angler wins William Joseph Fly Fish kit

The 2012 version of the Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T), sponsored by Costa, rolled through 'Chucktown' on March 31 at the Terrace theatre. F3T founder Thad Robinson was home in Colorado with an ailment this year, but that didn't stop him from picking up the phone when I reached out to him! Not many venues on the F3T will host two shows and sell them both out - but in Charleston the timing of the F3T is just right as fly anglers are ready to wet a line for the long summer fishing season. One new wrinkle this year was the oyster roast and tailgate in the parking lot with Charleston Fly Shop. Inside the saltwater fishing fans were all on hand including Caroline Rhodes, owner of Charleston Angler, who has promoted the show for the past three years. Ticketholders got a free F3T hat on the way in and were entered into a raffle during film intermission for fun fishing products. The series of short films began with tarpon on the fly in the keys, traveled throughout freshwater trout rivers all around the U.S. and ended up with a bonefish on the fly video from the Bahamas. This final film, Right On It, had an important Charleston connection as Capt. Graham Hegamyer was behind the camera for most of the filming and also appeared briefly onscreen in a cameo. The films in the 2012 were all presented in HD quality thanks to The Outdoor Channel and the fishing footage was close up and slimy as usual - with the biggest upgrade from past years seemingly in the quality of the soundtracks. Each video related someones passion for fly fishing in their favorite area, and in Charleston the fly fishing angler is most acquainted with redfish - which can be sought after 12 months of the year.
To view past blog entries from the F3T click here.

Joe Shuford and Gary Visser ready for the F3T

Capt. Tucker Blythe and Keith Cloud with TU