Features from June 2018
Ken Covington steered his boat to just the right spot in the shallow creek, putting his father and favorite fishing partner, Jerry Covington, where he could pitch a white spinnerbait near a promising brush top.
Patrick McDowell uses one so he can sling his bait far enough to reach places where big redfish live, perhaps 50 yards past the point he can maneuver his big deep-draft boat.
The premise “one-size-fits-all” rarely fits in the bass-fishing scene, and it most certainly isn’t the case for summer, offshore pursuits.
My apologies to Robert Browning for the misuse of his poem about such a pastoral scene, but lily pads, aka lotus, and a myriad of other blooming flora do tend to sparkle under the summer morning sun.
Anyone who has spent any amount of time fishing on one of the flood-control lakes along Mississippi’s I-55 corridor has witnessed boats trolling back and forth with rods hanging off their sides.
Lean, mean biting machines, king mackerel pack a mouthful of sharp teeth that’ll make short work of monofilament or even fluorocarbon line. These fish are also notorious for snipping baits in half and missing single hook-rigs. A double dose of frustration, to be sure, but this worthy opponent can be beaten — with the right equipment.
‘Shoot’ your bait back into the dark recesses under a dock, and you’ll get more looks from hungry bass that dig the shade.
Columns - June 2018
- Pickwick Lake is a great ledge lake. Although you primarily will be fishing for and catching largemouths there in June, when you get a strike, you don’t know what you’ll reel in, because all types of fish and baitfish will be running those ledges.
- Table Rock Lake is a 43,100-acre impoundment on the White River in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas and Missouri that was built in 1958.
- Rule No. 1 in our house is to never pass up a chance to put your feet under Mary Poe's kitchen table. Her recipes appear in three of the six Louisiana Seafood Bible books, and they're all great.
- We find ourselves in the “in-between season.” Here in the Deep South, it is not only the season of insects, heat and humidity, snakes and poison ivy, but it is also the season of summer food plots, bush-hogging of fields and roads and weed spraying.
- Before Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits' Cowboy soft plastic creature bait was unveiled at the 2018 Bassmaster Classic in South Carolina, a few bass anglers were fortunate to have Ron Colby's latest creation.
As the majority of our hunting population ages, crossbows have steadily moved to the forefront of today’s archery market.
Outdoor Updates - June 2018
- The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks will accept electronic (internet) applications for Mississippi’s 2018 public alligator season between June 1 and June 7, with the drawing expected on or about June 13.
- Joseph Blalock of Brookhaven, who just recently turned 14 years of age, had the biggest deer at the recent awards breakfast for the 2017-18 Big Buck Bounty Contest at McClain Lodge in Brandon.
- It may just be May 1, but Mississippi sportsmen got some good news when the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks approved the 2018-19 early migratory bird seasons.
- Mississippi duck hunters won’t see much change in the 2018-19 season under a plan announced this week by the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.
- Biloxi will be in the world’s billfishing spotlight June 4-10 when the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic is held out of the Golden Nugget Casino and neighboring Point Cadet Harbor.
Field Notes - June 2018
- Here are a couple easy steps to improve an inshore fisherman's casting distance and ultimately put more fish in the boat.
- When crappie finish their spawning rituals, they head to deeper water and look for two things: Food and cover.
- The unique qualities of braided line make it a great “tool in the toolbox” for catching speckled trout and redfish.
- Plenty of speckled trout anglers are very content to stay dry and comfortable in their boats to catch yellowmouths — but for those who really want to dive in and have more of a “hand-to-hand combat experience,” nothing beats getting down and dirty with trout in the surf.
- The old wind machine has been cranked up and blowing for what seems like almost all spring, and hopefully now a more typical summertime pattern will take over.