Statewide MS Archives - Page 172 of 385

Keep that A-rig under control in storage

May 15, 2015 Andy Crawford

Jerry Thompson of Living the Dream Guide Service uses empty jugs to keep his rigs from getting tangled up in the rod box. […]

The Alabama rig is the way to go to catch bass during the shad spawn.

A-rigs produce numbers during shad spawn

May 15, 2015 Andy Crawford

Double-digit Toledo Bend bass are turning up seemingly every day — and on some days, several fish weighing more than 10 pounds are registered at Toledo Town and Tackle in Many. […]

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. […]

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. […]

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

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. […]

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. […]