Crappie/Bream
Slim Jimmys
Before there was a Cooyon Croaker, Kaplan-based Cajun Lures probably was best known for the little soft plastic that slayed sac-a-lait here, there and everywhere. […]
September 2017
Deer Hunting
Practical strategies for success
In the last couple of installments of “Happy Trails” we have been peeling the onion back a few layers on the finer points of supplemental feeding. During the preseason period from late spring to early fall, consistent and properly done supplemental feeding accomplishes multiple things for your deer herd and potentially you as a deer hunter […]
Field Notes
Turn a Matrix Shad into a shrimp-imitation twitchbait
Many coastal anglers are probably familiar with Matrix Shad soft-plastic paddletail lures and how deadly they are when jigging for speckled trout.
Crappie/Bream
Top 7 tips for catching slabs in brush
Terry Blankenship’s passion is finding and catching crappie year-round. And the fish don’t stand a chance when the summer heat pushes fish out to deep, flooded brush and standing timber. […]
Deer Hunting
Find food, place stand
Before bucks take a serious interest in does for breeding purposes, food sources are one of, if not the most important factor, in deciding where to place your deer stand. Even when the rut comes in, does will still primarily focus on food while bucks shift their focus to the females.
Deer Hunting
Check conditions of stands
If you hunt in areas where permanent stands are erected and have been left year round, now is the time to inspect those stands for safety. […]
Deer Hunting
Your eyes in the woods
Today’s technology allows deer hunters who are pressed for time, or who want to get out into the woods without hunting blind, to hit the ground running. […]
Dove
Early season essentials
Hunting dove in early September can be brutally hot.. During these late days of summer you need to use caution. […]
Hog Hunting
Prepping a hog for the butcher
If you’ve field-dressed a deer, you’ll have a rough idea of how to do a hog, but there are a few key differences in quartering a pig for the processor. […]
Deer Hunting
Tracking the rut
No matter the deer population or the ratio of does-to-bucks, there “will be a rut,” said William McKinley, the deer program coordinator for the MDWFP. It is a staggered start, varying region by region and even property by property. […]
Deer Hunting
Here’s what’s new for deer in 2017-18
According to MDWFP deer program coordinator William McKinley, the agency conducted a statewide hunter opinion survey via e-mail in April 2017. Hunters were asked numerous questions about topics including deer populations, hunting methods and season structure. […]
Bass Fishing
Frog fishing tackle
FLW pro Todd Castledine trusts his frogging to a 7-foot, 3-inch Falcon Cara swimbait rod with an 8:1 Lew’s Super Duty reel carrying 65-pound braided line. This outfit, he said, affords him the elements essential to effective frogging. […]