Features from April 2018
Barnett Reservoir’s crappie spawn peaks about the time your taxes are due. So pay Uncle Sam early so you can hit the shallows for slabs.
During a recent hunt in the Homochitto hardwoods of Franklin County, my hunting partner Shane McCullough and I weren’t having any luck luring in a tom. We heard several on the limb, but they were quickly joined by hens and went silent.
“Now is not the time to panic.”
That’s how Russ Walsh opened the initial public meeting Feb. 22 after Mississippi’s first case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was confirmed in a 4½-year-old buck found dead in late January in Issaquena County.
Brock Mosley had cast a swim jig across a shallow flat, was working it through the pads stems, and …
Wham!
Sitting on a flat rock, tucked in against the base of a big tree on the slope down the end of a long ridge, the hunter heard exactly what he wanted to hear in response to his first calls as dawn broke.
Fish can be caught any number of ways, but MirrOlures hold a special place with a number of saltwater fishermen, especially those who spend time in inshore waters.
Four expert Mississippi turkey hunters share some of the tactics they’ve used to fool gobblers over the years, and some basics you should never forget.
Columns - April 2018
- Dusty Anders of Deville was excited when he called an outdoor writer in early February. The 50-year-old firefighter, an avid bass angler and part-time fishing guide, had just boated an 8-pound bass on one of his favorite new soft plastics.
- I had something else in mind originally for this column, but the recent happenings regarding the finding of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a Mississippi deer is more important than anything else.
- April is a post-spawn bass month at Bogue Homa. The females will be coming off the bed, and they'll want to feed up to help recover from the spawn. But they will still will be holding fairly close to the spawning area in shallow water.
- Oven-roasted wild turkey, prepared with a few spices and barbecue sauce, will give you another reason to love turkey season.
- Good crappie fishing often depends on a strong year-class: an abundance of fish produced in a given year. When those fish grow to a size of interest to anglers — what biologists call “recruit to the fishery” — the result is fast action, filled limits and full coolers. Fast growth and limited harvest often equates to super slabs for the next several years.
Modern technology has made it easier than ever to be a successful archer. Tools such as compound bows with high let-offs, electronic rangefinders, magnified fiber-optic bow sights, fall-away arrow rests and many other advances have changed our sport forever.
Outdoor Updates - April 2018
- Under a plan agreed to by the five states of the northern Gulf of Mexico and federal fisheries agencies, states are being given more power in managing the red snapper fishery.
- February and March were brutal for Mississippi's coastal fishermen, who battled weather on many fronts. They're hoping April will be better, knowing it can't be worse.
One of April’s greatest gifts to Mississippi’s coastal anglers is the cobia, aka ling or lemonfish. Called “brownies” by some of its most avid pursuers, this delicious, feisty fish has been a traditional treasure on the Gulf Coast.
Just as much as coastal fishermen will be checking salinity levels in April, they will also be eyeing their water-temperature gauges to get a jump on speckled trout fishing.
Biologists with the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources are generally pleased with the first year of the regulations that raised the minimum length for speckled trout from 13 to 15 inches in 2017.