We are entering what is perhaps the toughest month during the year to fish. August heat has done a good job of driving most of the fish to deep water.

When the fish scatter to these deeper holes, the predictable patterns we used to catch them during the spring are long gone. Patterns are much harder to figure out under this blazing sun.

While we are suffering through the Dog Days of summer, the fish must be feeling stress as well. Oxygen levels in the water reach a lower level, slowing down the feeding activity.

The water temperature in the Pamlico River at the mouth of the North Creek was 87.5 degrees last Saturday. That is getting very close to matching the air temperature at 91 degrees for the afternoon high.

We were able to catch 38 flounder last weekend, but only two of them were large enough to keep. It is a good sign for years to come to see so many juvenile flounder concentrated in one place. That is, if they can stay away from the ever increasing number of flounder nets stretched about the sound.

The speckled trout have definitely changed their feeding habits. We found a few in the shallow water early during the morning before the sun and temperature raised even more. During the heat of the day, the trout retreated to the deepest water they could find.

We were able to catch about 20 speckled trout, but most of them were small. One buoy marker near a deep channel yielded most of that catch in one hour. Ironically, the best action occurred around 11 a.m. By noon, the trout were about done.

We did finally get our wish for a day on the water with little wind. A high pressure system set up shop right on top of Eastern North Carolina, and every now and then a little puff of air would stir from the southeast.

All summer long, we have battled fierce winds from the south. Mornings are usually tolerable, but by lunchtime the wind makes us seek shelter. By mid-afternoon, the wind is telling us that it is time to go home.

We will never again wish for a day without wind on the sound in the middle of summer. With no wind and temperatures in the 90s, it was a real scorcher. We used ice cold towels on our necks to fight the sun.

It will be nice when the Dog Days finally end on Aug. 10. That is not to say that Aug. 11 will be any cooler, but at least we will have endured that dreaded hot spell for one more year.

The fishing patterns should become a little more predictable when the cold fronts start pushing through in October. We are looking forward to that cooler time of the year, and getting back to more familiar fishing grounds.

During the last few weeks, we have explored many different creeks and rivers down east. We have been catching a few fish, but nothing, to this point, like last year.

Last year will indeed be a hard one to top. We had the best year in two decades fishing on the Pamlico Sound and its tributaries. Many of those fish were returned to the water. We hope to see them again this fall.