When the dogwoods bloom the gobbler’s boom, and the fish gobble up those lures and baits. Whether you are hunting gobblers, or fishing for freshwater or saltwater fish, the bite will be on during April as love fills the air and water.
Billy Russell belted out an owl hoot with his natural voice deep in the Delta woods before dawn last turkey season. I heard a faint reply, or thought I did to the south of our location. Russell, of Lexington, couldn’t hear the bird, but I told him to hoot again. This time the old pro hooted again, and the distant gobbler answered with a lusty response, much stronger than the first time. I told him where the turkey was located, and we quickly made our way to the roost site.
I sent out a low tree yelp and the gobbler answered me quickly. Over the next couple of hours the gobbler belted out gobbles continuously before finally flying down after 8:30 a.m. We called sparingly, and Russell made the final call that sealed the deal. The gobbler was heading to my side of the tree but turned on a dime when he heard Russell and closed fast!
Tic-Boom, roared Russell’s shotgun and the gobbler collapsed and began his death flop. The bird was a celebration long overdue. In fact, it had been 40 years since we’d last hunted together and Russell had called that one for me.
After taking care of the bird we quickly made our way to a cypress-filled slough just teaming with crappie. I had rigged up a couple of B’n’M crappie poles with jigs and we commenced catching crappie, slab crappie and lots of them.
We continued jigging along the cypress trees and picking up crappie after crappie. Russell had never crappie fished much but he was getting the hang of it quickly. As he dipped his jig and cork rig near a bush something happened.
Wham! A large bass smashed his jig and tried to take it away. Russell used all of the muscle and backbone the rod had, and he was able to wear the bass down and bring him to the boat. But that was just the first of many on this fantastic spring day.
Over the next four hours we caught a pile of crappie and Russell caught at least six bass in the 4 to 6-pound range on that jig pole.
If you are looking to make a combo trip, then April is the time to do that. We experienced a great day in the turkey woods as well as catching bass and crappie on the water. The good news is that it can be just that good for you too if the timing is right.
Mississippi Sportsman’s April issue
In this month’s issue, you’ll read about how to fill your livewell with monster Grenada Lake crappie in John N. Felsher’s “Spring slabbing” feature.
Bradley G. Williams’ article “Grow your own baits” is helpful for those times when live bait is about the only thing the fish will bite. If you’ve got live bait, then you can be sure the fish will have the option and many times live bait is the only thing between not catching any fish or bringing home a livewell full of succulent crappie, bass or shellcrackers.
Andy Douglas has experienced more than his fair share of tough turkeys and his article on “Walkaway Gobblers” will be informative if you encounter those tough old gobblers who start heading the other way. While they can be really tough to turn around, Douglas gives us a few tips on how it can be done.
If you’re looking to catch some redfish then John N. Felsher has just the ticket in his article on “Spoon-fed spot tails” which has some simple yet tried and true lures and techniques for filling your limit of reds.
In “Guardians of the crappie waters,” Kinny Haddox covers a successful crappie fishing family. Read about their keys to catching monster springtime crappie. Those crappie are fun to catch and tasty to eat no matter how you cook them.
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