Fishing takes center stage in Mississippi in June

Fishing in Mississippi is so good in June, we can put guns away and miss nothing

T’is June, the first month of the year without an open hunting season on any legal gamebird or animal — or actually since the last week of August 2020, when alligator season opened.

What’s a Mississippi sportsman to do?

Plenty, that’s what.

Fishing steals the headlines this month, and for good reason.

Bass fishermen relish the topwater bite at sunrise, and rightfully so, as buzzbaits, plastic frogs and Pop-Rs elicit the most-powerful strikes found in our abundant fresh waters.

Panfish lovers get another great shot at bedding bream, especially around the new and full moons — June 10 and 24, respectively — and crappie enter their summer patterns of using structure or cover in deep water, all the while waiting for the annual thermocline to establish.

Catfish hit the peak of the hand-grabbing — or noodling — season, as the spawn brings more of the flatheads, blues and channels to the shallows.

Offshore, in the Gulf of Mexico, red snapper will be legal all month after Mississippi’s season opens on May 28. Mangrove snapper, aka gray snapper, are also legal and plentiful. Redfish and specks are transitioning but still ready to bite a nicely offered bait or lure. Tripletails arrive in abundance, too, offering a refreshingly cool chance — you sight-fish them on the run — to add some delicious fish to the fish box.

Nights are for grabbing or gigging bullfrogs. Mississippi’s frog season began in late April, and by mid-May, reports of great action on freshwater shorelines were circulating throughout the state.

Time out for a writer’s note

Imagine a skillet full of grease on the stove, with the popping sound of cornmeal on frog legs and bluegill, next to a pot of mixed greens and a pone of cornbread … that’s hall-of-fame eating, right there.

Time out for a writer’s apology: Sorry, but when I start imagining such a wonderful thing, I also take time to imagine the sizzling sound and the awesome aroma … and I need a moment to back away from the keyboard to digress.

Being it’s Mississippi and it’s still spring for two-thirds of the month, we will have a lot of rainy days. Those are perfect for spending time indoors enjoying the June edition of Mississippi Sportsman. I believe you will find it both entertaining and educational.

Topping the list of features are timely offerings from our stable of contributors.

• Phillip Gentry talks to a noted crappie guide about how, when faced with a shortage of his preferred jigheads, he went into the do-it-yourself mode, or in this case the mold-it-yourself-and-fill-the-cooler mode. Read about make-it and take-it crappie fishing.
• John E. Phillips takes us out into the Gulf of Mexico with tips for catching red snapper so we can get that limit of two big ’uns on every trip.
• I talk to an expert at catching bedding bream in June, sharing his tackle tips and tricks for finding bluegill and even some late-spawning redear.
• And Andy Douglas tells us that June is the perfect time to “jump the gun” on the next hunting season. He explains why working on your deer rifle now and finding the ammo you need before the run starts this fall, just makes sense.

There’s all of that and more inside this issue. Enjoy!