Freshwater Fishing Archives - Page 42 of 86

April 26, 2026

Gil Woodis shows off a really nice Lake Washington slab crappie caught during a tournament a few years ago.

Good fishing partners are hard to find

June 8, 2015 Paul Johnson

I fish 10 to 12 tournaments a year, every year — and I’m here to tell you that good partners are hard to find.

Over the last 27 tournament seasons, I’ve had half a dozen “regular” fishing partners and another half dozen or so subs or guest partners. […]

Resident anglers who pump millions into the local economy would go out of state to fish if state fisheries decline, a Mississippi State University study shows.

The value of fishing

June 4, 2015 Hal Schramm

My column this month is not about fish biology, fish habitat or how to catch fish. It is not about fishery management in the way you probably think of fishery management — topics like size limits and bag limits. […]

A proposed 11-inch minimum length limit and a 30-fish daily creel limit are designed to produce more slab crappie on Eagle Lake. It being a border lake, however, the changes would require Louisiana to adopt the same changes.

Changes proposed for crappie limits

May 27, 2015 Bobby Cleveland

Five of Mississippi’s top crappie hot spots would have new limits and other regulation changes under a proposal passed last week by the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. […]

Focus on travel routes for postspawn crappie

May 24, 2015 Dan Kibler

Catching crappie after the spawn is a matter of following them along their travel routes to deep water. Here are some tips. […]

The wires and water supply line for the ice maker are run through the lid of the freezer to avoid the copper coils on the freezer’s sides.

How to build a redneck ice machine

May 15, 2015 Jerald Horst

When Charles Johnson said, “Let’s go fishing,” his first stop was in his barn to get ice.

He sauntered up to a small home chest freezer with a couple of wires and a hose sticking out of the top and voila — I beheld what he dubbed his “redneck ice machine.” […]

Although Charles Johnson often fishes bream beds from the bank, he scouts for them by moving slowly along the shore in a boat, looking for signs of bedding activity and testing spots by casting.

Bream-fishing mistakes to avoid

May 15, 2015 Jerald Horst

When Charles Johnson was asked what mistakes people make when they fish bream beds, his answer was simple: “noise, noise, noise.” […]

The Alabama jumper or simply “jumping worm,” as Johnson calls it, is a medium-sized worm found in well-drained Louisiana and Mississippi soils. It is very active and will quickly flounce or crawl out of a human hand.

A primer on worms

May 15, 2015 Jerald Horst

To an artificial lure-only snob, an earthworm is an earthworm. Not to knowledgeable freshwater live-bait anglers, though.

To them, earthworms come in three flavors. […]

Chinquapins, properly called “redear sunfish” for obvious reasons, are always a prized catch for bream fishermen. They spawn much earlier than bluegills and only for a short 3-week period.

Top bream-fishing tackle

May 15, 2015 Jerald Horst

Charles Johnson grew up as a country boy fishing bream. He cut his own cane poles from creek cane (bamboo that had escaped from cultivation).

For bait, he dug earthworms or caught black crickets. […]

If you want to load up on a big stringer of bream, May is prime time.

May means bream

May 15, 2015 Bobby Cleveland

May is a big month for bream fishing, with a peak of bedding activity for the popular bluegill. The state’s thousands of stock ponds and lakes, its river oxbows, public lakes and even its streams are all great places to toss crickets under bobbers and catch a mess of fish. […]

Slice a pool noodle the way you would a pineapple, ending up with several thumb-sized pieces. The noodle chuck can be placed on the hook and slathered in prepared bait.

This ‘noodling is’ for hook and line

May 15, 2015 Phillip Gentry

For rod-and-reel anglers, applying any of the many varieties of dip bait or stink bait concoctions to small pieces of the noodles is geat for catfish. […]

Many of the MDWFP’s state lakes are home to fishing rodeos, where volunteers help children or the physically challenged catch catfish stocked by the agency.

Choice lakes

May 15, 2015 David Hawkins

Two mid-state lakes hold promise for the angler wishing for a catfish supper. Shadow Lake at Roosevelt State Park, while not technically a state lake, is managed in a very similar fashion. Park manager Andre Hollis said the better fishing was along the dam. […]

Cut shrimp is a good bait for catfish letting the bait drop near the bottom.

Make your own ‘natural’ bait

May 15, 2015 John J. Woods

Most catfish, buffalo and carp fishermen have used packaged dough balls bought from local bait shops, but, after spending a lot of money, they’ve learned to make these fish tasty treats on their own. Here is a simple recipe to cook your own homemade dough ball baits. […]