Jerry Dilsaver

Jerry Dilsaver of Oak Island, N.C., a full-time freelance writer, is a columnist for Carolina Sportsman. He is a former SKA National Champion and USAA Angler of the Year.

We've received a little rain in the past week, but for most places it hasn't been much and it has come as downpours with fast runoff, that didn't do a good job of wetting the ground. One farmer showed me how dry the ground really is by scooping up a shovel of dirt and flipping it over. Just a few inches deep, the dirt was so dry it made dust. This rain has helped, but we need more. When the new drought classifications came out Thursday, we had moved up one classification from moderate drought to extremely dry.

Well, we got some more rain in the past week, but it was scattered as was forecast, but it was good. Some places received more than four inches, while others

It seems like we've been talking about the tropical system that is now Tropical Storm Debby for a long time – and the truth is we have. This Friday, August 9, will be two weeks since the meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center (

After dealing with Tropical Storm Debby, who lollygagged and flooded the entire southeastern U.S. coast before finally arriving and then hung around like unwanted relatives for several more days, no one wants to look at the National Hurricane Center (www.nhc.noaa.gov) map and see another tropical system headed our way. However, there is one that began forming before TS Debby passed and it has continued to strengthen.

I received a bunch of questions this week regarding why the ocean water was brown and if it was pollution. First, the ocean water was brown because of all the rainwater runoff from the rains associated with Tropical Storm Debby. This is from an overload of tannic stained fresh water and it tends to turn the ocean water a similar color to the reddish brown of lakes. Once all the rainwater runoff is passed and absorbed, the ocean will return to its usual greenish color.

I hope everyone enjoyed what weathermen were calling “false fall” this past week. We often have a few days of almost chilly mornings and very nice days during August and I enjoyed them. The worst thing about these days is it the first northerly wind in a while and it blows the black flies out of the woods and onto the beach and they are voracious. These days didn't come last year, so maybe that's why it happened for a bit longer this year. For whatever reason, it was nice and is generally a preview of the coming fall. Hurry up fall.

If the line of eager fishermen waiting to launch their boats Saturday morning at the Dutchman Creek Wildlife Boating Access was any indication, the fish are biting. At first light the line of folks patiently awaiting their turn to launch stretched from the ramp out almost to Fish Factory Road. I didn't see it, but someone commented about an hour later the line to launch actually extended onto Fish Factory Road.

The cooler weather of the past week has been a really nice preview of fall. The mornings have been especially nice with temperatures in the 60s and lower humidity. Except

This is our last summer Scales and Tales for 2024. Summer ends and fall begins on Sept. 22 at 8:44 a.m. EDT, so next week’s page will be the first