Columns Archives - Page 93 of 130 - Mississippi Sportsman

Fishing might have been tough in October, but by December crappie should be in pre-winter feeding frenzies.
inset: Flowood’s Randy Morrow caught this fall crappie fishing with the author.

Mix it up this month

December 1, 2012 Paul Johnson

I just love this time of the year! Crappie fishing is never better, as far as I am concerned — including the ever-popular spring season. I said it before: Crappie, during this time of the year, “feed up.” The shorter days and cooling water temps signal freshwater fish that winter, with its hard times, is right around the corner. […]

Pete Ponds likes to dead-stick soft plastics like a Bruiser Rad Shad in shallows, mimicking shad that are disoriented and dying in the cooler waters of late fall and winter.

Tricks to warming up Mississippi’s cold water bass

November 29, 2012 Bobby Cleveland

Working the dam at Calling Panther Lake near Crystal Springs, I kept the boat parallel to the riprap and launched the long, thin Pro Pointer 100 jerkbait as close to the rocks as I could.

With three quick jerks of the rod tip, I put the lure to work.

And, then, I stopped and let the bait’s suspending characteristics do the work. […]

All of the electronics anglers depend on require breakers, so knowing how to replace or reset these breakers is important.

Locating those pesky breakers and fuses

November 26, 2012 Allan Tarvid

The first thing that springs to mind when an electrical accessory stops working is a blown fuse or popped circuit breaker. In a new boat this usually means pressing the circuit breaker button next to the accessory’s switch or popping the cover off a box near the console and checking the fuse or breaker that protects the now powerless accessory.In the case of a used boat, especially if it has passed through several owners, this could be the start of an Easter egg hunt… […]

Bobby Cleveland and his 10-pound Chotard Lake Thanksgiving holiday bass from 2003.

My Thanksgiving trophy

November 21, 2012 Bobby Cleveland

All the days I spent in a deer stand around Thanksgiving, the holidays have only produced one trophy moment. And the trophy I nailed didn’t walk on dry land, it swam in an oxbow lake. […]

Tricks of the trade

November 19, 2012 Bill Garbo

True “mature bucks” can be as rare as proverbial “hens teeth” in most populations in the whitetail’s range. […]

Maynor Creek is an old reservoir, but it still holds some quality fish.

Maynor Creek for November bass

November 19, 2012 Paul Elias

During November, we’ll be fishing 500-acre Maynor Creek, located just outside of Waynesboro, where numbers of big bass live. […]

Better deer management practices over the past 40 years led to bucks like the 15-point taken by Will Clay in Madison County in 2011, but orange vests like the one Clay is wearing has had the biggest impact on the sport — safety.

Hunting now safer than ever

November 15, 2012 Bobby Cleveland

When veteran Mississippi hunters talk about the differences between deer hunting now and 40 years ago, the conversation is usually a combination of the improvement in quality and quantity of deer.

We certainly do have bigger bucks and more of them, thanks to changes in attitude. Hunters, with guidance from wildlife officials, realized that deer management and selective harvest could produce better results.

But, that’s not the biggest change, nor is it the most significant. […]

Catching numbers of slot reds, along with trout and flounder, should be no problem this month along the coast.

Set your sights on three fish for fall

November 12, 2012 John E. Phillips

This month the coastal waters will be filled with flounder, speckled trout and redfish, in that order, said Capt. Sonny Schindler. Here are his thoughts on what will be waiting anglers who point their sights toward the coast. […]

The Magnolia Crappie Club kicked off its new season at Grenada, with new leadership taking the reigns of the nation’s largest crappie club.

The more the merrier

November 12, 2012 Paul Johnson

Since last month, the Magnolia Crappie Club and crappie fishing in general here in Mississippi has really gotten busy. Oh, I know that lots of Mississippi’s outdoorsmen turn their full attention toward deer hunting now, but trust me — not all of us spend every waking moment planning our next deer kill. […]

Tommy Sutton holds up two of the striped bass taken on Barnett Reservoir on a blustery afternoon ahead of a cold front in early November.

Stripers by the boatload at Barnett

November 9, 2012 Bobby Cleveland

My fishing partners and my loyal readers all know that I am an avid striped bass and hybrid striped bass chaser on Ross Barnett Reservoir. […]

Where do southern channel cats go in the winter? There’s not much science to go by.

Channel catfish winter whereabouts

November 5, 2012 Hal Schramm

Although often considered a “Southern fish,” channel catfish provide fine fishing throughout the United States and into Canada. In northern waters, channel cats exhibit extensive annual winter migrations that rival those of many fish, including salmon. […]

Trail cams have long provided the means to survey a deer herd, but that’s always left the question of just how big the bucks pictured really are.

Using computer technology to score trail camera bucks

November 5, 2012 John J. Woods

Say what? Am I suggesting that big-buck hunters can actually score their harvest potential bucks before they even start to hunt the deer hoping for a clean shot? […]