July 2012 Archives - Mississippi Sportsman

AR-15-style rifles have become accepted sporting rifles in today’s shooting community.

It’s not an ‘assault’ rifle

July 30, 2012 Gordon Hutchinson

I opened my morning newspaper, reading the news and scanning the advertisements when a gun store ad caught my eye. […]

Electronics have become important parts of our fishing experiences, but the units can become dirty or cluttered over time.

Clean your displays inside and out

July 30, 2012 Allan Tarvid

Who hasn’t mistaken the shadow of a water spot on an LCD screen for a fish, waypoint or radar target? Or was it a smear of sunscreen lotion or insect repellent left by a fingertip? Hopefully it wasn’t a permanent scratch, crack, craze or other scar.

And the growing popularity of touch screens in marine electronics is increasing the hand-screen contact problem. […]

Careful use of trail camera data can allow hunters to determine when bucks are more likely to be on the move.

Buck movement quantified

July 23, 2012 Bill Garbo

In last month’s column we looked at some of the methods I typically use to convert my personal trail camera photo archives into meaningful and usable “deer statistics” or “intelligence.” […]

Ken Lowry admires a healthy young bass pulled from Tibbiee Creek, where it enters the west side of Columbus Lake.

Consistent Columbus

July 23, 2012 David Hawkins

If bass fishing is your business, or just a pastime, Columbus Lake is a definite destination for you. […]

Cobia are prowling the coast this month, just begging to be caught.

Gulf Coast chock full of tarpon

July 16, 2012 John E. Phillips

Strictly Business Fishing Charters owner Michael Moore has a summertime motto: “If you want to go on a short trip in July, we can catch fish; and if you want to go on a long trip, we can catch fish too.” […]

Don’t sit at home when the sun goes down — head to Bay Springs Lake for some hot action.

The dark side of Bay Springs Lake

July 16, 2012 Paul Elias

During July, I like to fish Bay Springs at night because the weather’s hot. Also, the bass — largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass — will feed better at night than they do in the daytime. […]

Shaking things up

July 16, 2012 Michael O. Giles

Charles Ellis fished his way around a riprap point while making pinpoint casts with a 4×4 Shaky Head rig and finesse worm. […]

Bass are still active, even when summer temperatures drive anglers the water.

Is it too hot for bass in July?

July 9, 2012 John J. Woods

I’ve heard many an angler bemoan the summer months for fishing in Mississippi. I mean, there is no escaping that the atmospheric conditions usually prevailing this time of year in terms of the ambient temperature, as well as the humidity (which can be the worst of the two comfort factors), keep many fishermen at the house under the air conditioning. […]

Controlled hunting can help maintain a balance of deer in cities and towns.

Taking up residence

July 9, 2012 John J. Woods

It’s no longer a surprise to see deer in town.

“When I drove up Interstate 55 just north of Jackson where the highway merges with I-220, I saw four bucks standing beside the road,” James Bennett said. “This is right in Madison County. It was just a miracle that the deer I saw were not hit on the highway. […]

The earlier a bluegill spawns the better the chances of survival for the resulting fingerlings.

Bluegill Spawning

July 2, 2012 Hal Schramm

Bream, sunfish, bluegill — call them what you will. There are many species of sunfish, and bream include different sunfish among different anglers. This is about bluegill. […]

Cranking on Ross Barnett this summer will yield stripers, crappie, catfish and the occasional largemouth bass.

The Rez cranking out crappie

July 2, 2012 Paul Johnson

Summer crappie fishing can be challenging. It’s hot, the bugs are out, the fish seem content not biting your best lure, there are lots of “weekender” boaters and jet skis everywhere, and did I mention it’s hot? On the other hand, smart crappie fishermen use what summer gives us to our advantage. […]

It took Zachary Young a little bit of investigation and a good bit of technology, but he found a Ross Barnett summer fishery that paid off big.

Born To Run

July 2, 2012 Phillip Gentry

The secret to catching fish, any fish, is to be where they want to be. […]