Freshwater Fishing Archives - Mississippi Sportsman

August 26, 2019

Crappie will bite at night, especially if you follow a few guidelines.

Tips for slabs after dark

The details of your setup and presentation are important. Follow these tips to help you make the best of your night-fishing trips for crappie. […]

The author untangled this big choupique under the water at a running cut into the Mississippi River.

Mississippi mother lode

Joshua Chauvin

Joshua Chauvin explains how he sets limb lines in the big waters of the Mississippi River and its oxbows to catch really big choupique and catfish. […]

Species spotlight: Warmouth Sunfish

Brian Cope

Warmouth sunfish are one of the lesser-common panfish species. They are fun to catch and tasty table fare, but are often misidentified by anglers. […]

The study of fish movement

Hal Schramm

The ability to assess the environmental history of a fish is a tool that can provide important information used to better manage fisheries. […]

Trotlining is a fun and productive way to fish for river catfish during the summer.

Trotlining for catfish

Phillip Gentry

Trotlining is a fun and productive way for recreational anglers to fish for river catfish during the summer in the Magnolia State. […]

Try smaller Mississippi waters for great bream

Bobby Cleveland

Gary Turner of Hattiesburg considers himself lucky that he is surrounded by at least a dozen public hotspots for bream to fish with his canoe. […]

Fisherman Tuffy Fields with the surprise catch.

Angler strikes “gold” in Louisiana

Kinny Haddox

Tuffy Fields was fishing the Ouachita River when he caught a 20-pound bright orange Koi. He said he has never seen anything like it. […]

Mississippi’s record for alligator gar by archery has been broken for the second time in two years.

State gator gar record is broken

Bobby Cleveland

On April 22, Hughes Skinner of Madison and Hayden Speed of Flora broke the Mississippi state record for alligator gar with an 8-foot, 223-pound entry. […]

Christopher Anderson . . . An Escambia River alligator gar. The broad, blunt, and relatively short snout distinguishes alligator gar from other gar species. (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)

Study alligator gar habitat use, movement

Hal Schramm

Alligator gar are long-lived, primitive fish that grow to sizes exceeding 7 feet and 200 pounds. Spawning occurs in May and June in Mississippi waters. […]

Grabbing for big flathead and blue catfish begins May 1 in Mississippi.

Catfish, by hand, cranks up in May

Bobby Cleveland

Mississippi’s hand-grabbing season opens May 1 and runs through July 15, which is timed to match the spawning season of flathead and blue catfish. […]

Catching bedding bream is as easy as swinging a cricket or worm into a pond.

Worms vs. crickets — or go for a fly

Bobby Cleveland

The cricket vs. worm argument is an old one. Live bait is a necessary evil of bream fishing, especially in the spring when bluegill are on their beds. […]