Features from August 2018
Summer fishing trips are much more productive when you want until the sun sets to hit the water. Here are some nighttime tips for more bass.
Nature is dynamic, and like a well-composed symphony, its performance comprises multiple complementary elements that rise and fall at the conductor’s direction.
Sight-fishing for bull reds in the Biloxi Marsh gives anglers a chance to hunt and fish at the same time. Capt. Mark Wright explains how.
Choosing a Wildlife Management Area to hunt during Mississippi's archery season can be as simple or as complex as your desired result, from chasing a trophy, putting meat on the table or just enjoying deer encounters.
Standing on the lower deck of his boat, Torch Tindle paused after unhooking another crappie from his brightly colored jig to reflect on a crappie fishing experience a few summers ago.
In June in a normal year, Gene Bishop of Ridgeland would be looking for a first-place check after catching a five-bass tournament limit weighing 18 pounds on Barnett Reservoir.
Columns - August 2018
- As we enter August, early archery seasons are around the corner in many areas. With that in mind, my thoughts always shift from fishing to bowhunting. It's time to prepare for the season, and what you do now could very well determine outcomes later this fall.
- “Tonight we do Cajun,” proclaimed the rugged man’s man with a flourish. “I’m a Coonass — but I’m really half-Italian and half-Cajun. My Momma was a Baldissaro.”
I like to fish rivers for bass in August, because they always have some current moving, and fish like that. The Tombigbee River that divides Alabama and Mississippi is one of my favorite rivers for August bassing. I’ll start fishing at the Columbus pool and also fish the Aliceville pool.
Glen Freeman of Zwolle has a new weapon in his bass fishing arsenal. So does Zack Hughes of Quitman, Texas, who boated a 10-plus-pounder on the first day he fished with it at Lake Fork.
- With deer season just over the horizon, it’s time to do all of that preseason work on trails, stands and weapons.
The population of non-native zebra mussels has recently expanded in the Pickwick Lake and other Tennessee River impoundments. Although we will have to contend with this unwanted invader for a long time to come, some new information suggests zebra mussels may benefit fisheries as well as harm them.
Outdoor Updates - August 2018
- The symbolic start to the Mississippi hunting season remains the Mississippi Wildlife Federation’s annual Wildlife Extravaganza, which will have its 32nd run Aug. 3-5 at the Trade Mart in Jackson.
- Every saltwater angler who has logged hours in the shallow of the Gulf of Mexico has caught a hardhead catfish, a bait-stealing scourge with sharp fins that can inflict infectious wounds.
Field Notes - August 2018
- Get a good real-time reading of the wind’s impact on tidal estimates using a piling or other stationary object in the water.
- Nets, traps and other methods can easily catch numbers of crabs, but I really don't have any interest in catching small or medium-sized crustaceans. So instead of waiting for a crab to come to my bait, going out to hunt the crab is my preferred method.
- Rod socks and hook bonnets are an easy and relatively inexpensive way to prevent your rods and reels from becoming a tangled mess.
- Keeping a close eye on what a speckled trout throws up when you reel it in can give important clues on what it’s eating that day.