Monthly Archives: December 2021

Searching for Seafood in Thomasville Georgia

   Searching for good food is a fun activity anytime I travel, and fried scallops top my list. I enjoy cooking at home but fried seafood like scallops and shrimp are not something I cook well, so I eat them whenever I go out.

    In Thomasville last week I had only one night without a set schedule and had found George and Louie’s Seafood with fried scallops on the menu. Linda had eaten there and said it was good, so we planned to go Thursday night.

    At our welcome get-together at Kevin’s Gun Room, several asked our Chamber of Commerce host about dinner. She said Jonah’s Fish and Grits was famous and only a block away. Ron Brooks asked if they had scallops – he knows me well and I think he asked for me – and she said yes, so a group of us went there.

    When our group of eight arrived at 7:30 they were busy but pulled some tables together and seated us almost immediately. The menu listed scallops, but only as an appetizer or with pasta. I asked the waitress if they would fry me a batch of them for dinner and she said “no.”

    I have made that request at dozens of places all over Alabama and Georgia, and every single one of them said yes. Sometimes it was a couple dollars more than the fried shrimp dinner on the menu but I did not mind.

    In their defense, Joanah’s closes at 8:00 – we did not realize that so our party of eight was right at closing time. I ordered fried shrimp and they were ok, a little over done, but maybe partly not as good as they would have been due to my disappointment.

    Ron got the seafood linguine and the scallops in it were tiny, so maybe it was for the best, although the menu said the scallop appetizer was “sea scallops,” which are the big ones.

    Lesson learned, I should have gone to George and Louie’s!

    Friday night we had our auction meeting and dinner at Q-Café. I wondered what the meal would be like but the outdoor pictures on the walls reassured me, and the owner was great. He even bought a painting at our auction to hang on his wall and bought one of our auction guns.

They are usually open for breakfast and dinner only but they catered our meal and it was great. It was buffet style and they kept cooking till everyone was full. The blackened shrimp were delicious and the fried chicken fingers were cooked just right and piping hot, too.

    I filled up on pastry cups with either chicken salad or pimento cheese, too. Those bite size pastries were seasoned just right. And the cold veggie platter provided my greens I want at every dinner. A couple of our members went back the next morning for breakfast and said it was fantastic.

    Our Awards banquet Saturday night was at Plaza Restaurant and Oyster bar, and we had three choices, fried shrimp, prime rib or Greek chicken.  You can guess what I ordered, and the shrimp, although there was only one waitress serving the 30 of us, were hot and not over cooked. So I did get one really good fried shrimp dinner.

    Our lunches were provided by JB Crumbs. Sandwich platters were varied and good. If you are planning a conference, or just a personal trip, there are plenty of great places to visit, help you and provide food for your group in Thomasville.

    As soon as I got home I went to Jimmy’s Steak and Seafood in Jackson for my fried scallop dinner.  This small place in a strip mall has as good fried scallops and shrimp as I have had anywhere. Fishtales here in Griffin is just as good, but Jimmy’s is open every night but Monday!

    When I got home Sunday, still thinking about seafood, one of the first emails I opened was from Taste of Home magazine. I get their recipes in about four categories every day and the first one I saw was for shrimp and grits, so I had to cook it.

The cheese grits were cooked in the cock pot so it was easy and didn’t burn, and the sauteed shrimp and sausage with bell peppers and garlic topped it just right. I had it twice last week.

At Kevin’s Gun Room for our greeting get together we had a cheese tray with different things made locally in Thomasville. The different kinds of preserves went well with the locally made cheese.

Kevins started in Tallahassee, Florida and is a big pawn shop featuring everything you would expect. Kevin did well and opened his place in Thomasville as his showcase and personal get-away. When you walk in the front door you are greeted by a full-size brown bear mount and there are mounts all around the main room.

Upstairs in the remodeled mill right downtown is the amazing part. From the polar bear rug on the floor to the red stag mounts brought from Germany, the room shouts “rich man cave!”  Kevin has spent a lifetime hunting and collecting outdoor equipment.

The walls of four rooms upstairs are lined with guns for sale. The first one I looked at, a beautiful side by side 28 gauge, had a price tag of $49,999.00! I had to back away carefully. Most of the guns were not as expensive, I saw a lever action .410 for only $5000.00. But one gun in his catalog lists for $149,999.00.

You can get a good idea of the items for sale at Kevin’s in his catalog at https://kevinsguns.com/

Kevin’s GunsTallahassee, FL (850) 386-5544 Mon-Fri 9am to 6:30pm EST Sat 9am to 6pm EST Sun 11am to 5pm EST gunroom@kevinsguns.comkevinsguns.com

Maybe you want to order one for Christmas! I am honored to get to tour his facility and see what someone dedicated to their passion and willing to work to make the American Dream come true, can do.

Last Tournaments of the Year At Jackson

Two weekends ago all three local bass clubs ended our tournament years at Jackson Lake. Saturday the Potato Creek Bassmasters fished from 7:00 – 3:30 and on Sunday the Flint River Bass Club and Spalding County Sportsman Club fished our annual two-club tournament from 7:30 – 3:30.

Saturday 21 of us weighed in 42 keeper bass weighing about 59 pounds. There were three five-bass limits and eight people didn’t catch a keeper.

Lee Hancock won with five bass weighing 7.35 pounds, Tom Tanner placed second with five at 5.53 pounds, Mitchell Cardell had four weighing 5.37 pounds for third and Mike Cox placed fourth with five weighing 5.15 pounds. Sport Hulon had a 4.08-pound largemouth for big fish.

On Sunday, ten members of the two clubs landed 31 keeper bass weighing about 41 pounds. There were three five fish limits and one person zeroed.

My five weighing 6.51 pounds was first, Niles Murray had four at 6.10 pounds for second, third was Don Gober with three weighing 5.69 pounds and fourth went to Jay Gerson with five at 5.64 pounds. Raymond
English had big fish with a 2.89 pound largemouth.

Fishing seemed much better Sunday with a lot fewer boats on the lake. Saturday was crowded with other fishermen, pleasure boaters and even skidoos. Weather both days was about the same, with cool cloudy weather and water temperatures in the mid-50s.

Shooting At Doves and Other Hunting Memories

 A polite descriptive term might be “little gray sidewinder rockets.”  But on a dove field you are likely to hear much more descriptive, unprintable language after a series of shots.

    Dove season opens Saturday, September 4 this year.  There will be hundreds of happy hunters sitting in blinds on hot fields waiting on a chance to burn some expensive powder, and maybe actually hit a dove or two.

    Don’t get me wrong, some dove shooters are excellent shots and hit with most of their shots. But the way doves dart and twist while flying mean even the best shots miss some.

My uncle Adron was the best shot I saw growing up. With his Browning “Sweet 16” shotgun, he hardly missed. Part of his expertise was knowing which shots NOT to take. Growing up during the depression taught him to conserve every shot.

I was not a good shot.  Usually if I could hit one dove every five shots I was doing good.  That’s five doves per box of shells, or with the current 15 dove limit per day, three boxes of expensive shells. But for the $7.00 per box, if you can even find shells this year, about $21 for what, a little over a pound of meat? That is higher than the cost of prime porterhouse steaks and you don‘t have to clean them! But you miss out on the fun of the shoot.

I say dove shooting rather than dove hunting since you sit and wait on a dove to come to you to shoot. You don’t hunt them until a cripple goes down in the thickest briar patch for a mile.

I loved going to dove shoots with daddy and being his “dog,” not carrying a gun but watching and retrieving any birds he shot. Saturday afternoon shoots were the norm for the month season was open, and we went to some good ones.

I have not been on a dove field since 1972, the first fall I lived in Griffin.  I didn’t know anyone here with a field but I saw an ad for a pay shoot near McDonough. I went over, met the farmer and he took me down to a field.  Some doves were flying so I paid him $25 and thought about where I wanted to place my blind on Saturday.

When I arrived Saturday mid-morning, I built a small blind with dog fennel woven into the fence at a post near a tongue of woods that ran out into the field. I noticed the field looked more like a pasture, and there were more hunters on another bigger field on top of the hill but didn’t think much about it as I got ready to shoot at noon.

By 1:00 I had shot two doves, the only two that came near me.  I was thrilled, I seemed to be on target that day. Then I noticed two guys dressed in solid green, not camo, walking from blind to blind talking to the hunters, so I got out my license.

I started to worry when I saw they were federal Fish and Wildlife agents, not local game warden. When one of them took my license, looked at it then put it in his other hand with a stack of licenses, not giving it back, I knew I was in trouble.

They explained I was shooting on a baited field and showed me ariel photos plainly displaying white strips of wheat on the green field.  They gave me a ticket.

There were about 30 furious hunters with guns that went up to the farmer’s house.  He got up on the porch, said don’t worry, he knew the local judge and nothing would happen, and bought a lot of beer for us. He also refunded our fees.

Local judges have no influence in federal court in Atlanta, where I was instructed to appear or pay a fine. I paid a $75 fine as did the other hunters, and I heard the landowner was charged $2000.  I have had no desire to go to a pay hunt since then.

Oddly enough, the game wardens did not ask to see my two doves even though I told them I had two, and they did not confiscate them.  But two doves for $75 is even more expensive than normal!!

When I bought my land in Spalding County I hoped to plant a dove field. But the only field on it is about an acre. The Georgia DNR recommends no less than five acres for a dove field. I planted wheat and even tried sunflowers, but at best would see two or three doves around the field.

The last doves I shot were about 15 years ago.  My upper pond was about five feet low all summer and the doves were using it as a watering hole since the bare ground around the water was easy to get to and fairly safe for them to drink.

I set up on the corner of the dam one afternoon and managed to shoot five as they came in to drink.  I found out doves would float when they fell in the water, and the breeze blew them to the bank.  Those were also the last doves I ate – they were good but not nearly as good as the ones mama and Gladys cooked.

For years going to Argentina to shoot doves was on my bucket list.  Tales of 1000 doves a day and having to use two or three guns to keep barrels cool made me want to go. But that is going to be an unfilled bucket, just like catching a tarpon.  

My goals have grown simpler as I get older. Now, just going fishing this weekend and maybe catching a bass or two is about all I can hope for!

Captiva Island Snook Fishing with Captain John Houston

Fishing Captiva with a Snook Guru

By Frank Sargeant, Editor

from The Fishing Wire

Captain John Houston is a Sanibel Island, Florida, guide who grew up on the backwaters between San Carlos Bay and Charlotte Harbor, building a guru-like knowledge of the movements and preferences of the snook in his areas, and no matter what the weather, he usually is able to solve the daily puzzle and put his anglers on fish.

I was apprised of that fact on a trip with Houston a few weeks back, on a morning when a chilly wind was whistling out of the north at close to 20 knots. Normally, for snook anglers, the best strategy on a morning like that is to turn over, pull the covers up and sleep until noon.

Houston and I didn’t have that option–he had one morning when he could fit me into his busy winter schedule, and this was it–we were going snooking. We met at the ‘Tween Waters Marina at a leisurely 8 a.m., because the guide had been out since daylight loading the live well with an assortment of pinfish, grunts and pigfish that would allow us to target big snook.

“Young snook will take shrimp about as well as anything, but when they get up in the 30-inch range and bigger, they want some meat,” Houston told me. “I do especially well with the grunts and pigfish. They make a lot of noise on the hook, so they’re snook magnets.”

Houston is an easy-going guy who bounces around the world between sessions of guiding on his home waters. He has a second home in Costa Rica and has hiked the mountains of Columbia, including the drug-lord territory, as well as regularly visiting island communities all over the South Pacific. He’s also a yoga instructor–needless to say, his resume is a bit different from most skiff guides.

Houston advised me that the south shore of Redfish Pass–which is the cut that separates North Captiva island from Captiva Island proper–is usually stiff with undersized snook (less than 28″) along the south shore, while the rock jetties that jut out from the north shore–where the Kohler Plumbing mansion is the most visible structure–is the home of much larger fish much of the year.

“The big ones get in the pass starting in late April pre-spawn, and they’re in there pretty much into early November most years,” he told me. “A lot of them go out to the reefs when it gets colder in December and January, and some go up into the rivers, but other than that you can catch trophy snook in the pass most any trip.”

We made the 10-minute run across the choppy water, dodging spray blown up by the howling wind the whole way. We were in the lee as we moved in close to the jetties, but waves generated by the combination of the wind and the strong current through the pass had Houston’s center-console bucking so hard it was tough to get an anchor to stick.

After a couple of attempts, we were finally in position. I sailed an unhappy 6-inch piggy out toward the end of the rockpile, where the green water of the pass swirled in a foam-capped eddy. The bait went down, the 20-pound-test braid jumped a couple of times, and I was hooked up to what felt like a submarine. One big head roll, mouth the size of a coffee can, and I got the mauled pigfish back sans snook.

Next cast, basically the same result, but even faster. Third cast, a good stick but then Flipper showed up. The dolphin chased the fish around the rockpile at flank speed, and the hook pulled. I couldn’t tell if the fish went down the hatch or got away clean, but in any case it didn’t come to the boat.

“The dolphins here have really learned to home in on fisherman,” lamented Houston. “Some days it’s tough to get a fish to the boat, and if you do get one in and release it, they eat it right away.”

That was the end of the story for the jetty–the next pigfish that went in the water got chased all the way back to the boat by a dolphin that came up right next to us rolled on his back, I swear grinning an evil grin.

No problem, Houston had plenty more spots up the sleeve of his foul-weather gear.

“There are quite a few people who live on the water and dump their live bait and their fish carcasses by their docks, and the snook get on to that pretty quick,” he told me as we motored into a series of canals on the back side of the island. “If you throw a few sardines or shrimp in there as chum to get them started, you can get bit pretty quick.”

He wasn’t wrong–the second dock we tried produced a pair of 28-inchers, both legal fish if we had been in harvesting mode. The limits on the Gulf Coast are 1 fish per angler per day from 28 to 33 inches long.

We caught a few smaller fish at another location, then finished off with a muscular lunker that was over 30 inches. Not bad for a three-hour trip on a 20-knot morning.

Houston said snooking is good in the area year around except after severe cold fronts, but if he had to pick two prime times they would be April and late October, when water temperatures and weather combine to create the most reliable action.

The Gulf Coast snook season is closed December 1 to the end of February to protect cold-shocked fish, and from May 1 to August 31 to protect the spawning period. For more information, Captain John Houston can be contacted at www.nativeguidesfishing.com. Houston also runs tarpon charters, chases trout and reds, and offers shelling and diving trips as well.

Squirrel Hunting Seasons, Bot Flies and Memories

Saturday, August 14 passed for me without much notice.  That is quite a change from my pre-teen and teen years when opening day of squirrel season was arguably the most important day of the year for me. 

    From the time I killed my first squirrel at eight years old, I loved to hunt the furry tailed tree rats.  That first squirrel was not exactly a hunting situation.  I saw it grab a pecan from the tree in front of our house and run into the woods across Iron Hill Road.

    I was not allowed to go out of the house with a gun unless an adult was with me at that age.  Mama and daddy were not home but Gladys, the woman that worked on the farm, helped with housework and cooking and pretty much raised me as a second mother, was there.

I grabbed my Remington semiautomatic .22 rifle and told Gladys to come with me. She fussed but followed. As I entered the edge of the woods and went behind the hickory tree the squirrel went up with its pecan, I saw a flash as it went to the other side of the tree.

Gladys was still crossing the road, the squirrel saw her and did what squirrels do, went to the other side of the tree, giving me a good shot.  I picked it up and followed Gladys back to the house.

Mama and daddy got home soon after that and fussed at me a little about taking the gun out with Gladys, I think daddy was disappointed he had not been the one, but both seemed proud. And daddy showed me how to skin and gut the squirrel, the first of hundreds I cleaned and ate.  We had fried squirrel that night as a supplement to dinner.

Season started a lot later back then, in October as I remember, so weather was a lot cooler.  And that made it more enjoyable to hunt, fewer mosquitoes, stinging critters with wings, and snakes slithering around.  But I never really worried about anything when in pursuit of a squirrel with my .22 or .410.  I loved that time in the woods.

Since mosquito bites have been bothering me so much I have been thinking about bug bites and other bug problems. One of the most horrifying that I have seen only once is the bot fly egg lay.  I heard about wolves in squirrels but never saw one until season opened earlier and the weather had not cooled.

A bot fly lays its egg on the skin of a mammal.  The egg hatches and the small worm burrows under the skin, where it lives and grows for several months, growing into a fat maggot about 1.5 cm long.  They live between the skin and muscle, but do not hurt the animal host. But that big lump has gotta itch! And they grow under the skin for up to three months!

The squirrel I shot with a maggot, what we called “wolves,” had a small hole oozing puss on its back. When the skin was pulled off the wolf fell out. It was not attached in any way, just living between layers, and the meat under it was not damaged in any way. 

The maggot does not eat the meat or the skin, it feeds on “dead skin cells, and other proteins and debris that fall off of skin when you have an inflammation – dead blood cells, things like that,” medical entomologist C. Roxanne Connelly from the University of Florida stated.

Although I knew the meat was good, I could not eat that squirrel. Just the though of the pus coming out of the hole and that ugly critter living there turned me off too much.

During season I hunted every Saturday and many weekday afternoons. Hunting was not legal back then on Sunday and I am sure my parents would not have let me go even if it was legal. But every other day of the week was open!

I often took one of my guns to Dearing Elementary School and left then in daddy’s office. He was principal but I was not the only one allowed to bring a gun and leave it there until the end of the day. I had a route from the school up a creek and around town back to my house that I could still hunt, moving fairly quickly, and be home by dark.

Saturdays were special.  I usually left the house before daylight so I could be sitting under a big oak or hickory tree as it got light.  After the early morning feeding period, I would still hunt, walking slowly trying to spot a squirrel before it spotted me.

I seldom came home during the day, eating some saltines and Vienna sausage or Ritz crackers and potted meat from my small pack and drinking branch water.  Some days I would build a small fire and roast a squirrel or bird I had shot, but those feasts too up too much hunting time.

I learned a lot about still hunting, woods craft and patience while hunting squirrels that helped me when I started deer hunting. Staying still enough so a squirrel coming to its feeding tree first thing in the morning doesn’t spot you is easier than staying still enough that a deer does not spot you as it walks down a trail, but it is similar. 

Waiting for the right shot on a squirrel helps train to make a better shot on a deer, and tree rats provide much better, more realistic targets than paper nailed to a post.

A deer provides more excitement, mainly because it is rarer to shoot one, but numbers of squirrels makes up for size. After all, you can kill almost as many squirrels each day as you can legally kill deer in a whole season.

Squirrel season is open until the end of February, don’t miss out on the thrill.

Is Winter Fishing on Tampa Bay’s South Shore Any Good

Winter Fishing on Tampa Bay’s South Shore


By Frank Sargeant, Editor

from The Fishing Wire

Though Florida fishing stays a whole lot more comfortable than that found in the rest of the country in the winter months, it’s definitely a different ballgame so far as the fish are concerned. The broad, shallow flats that are loaded with trout, reds and snook along much of the West Coast in the temperate months empty out almost completely after a few cold fronts blow through, and by mid-December in most years, it’s hard to find fish anywhere outside the deep (and warm) coastal rivers and canals.

The South Shore area of Tampa Bay is classic habitat for this type of fishing. The Little Manatee and Manatee rivers, along with vast acreages of small creeks and canals, create ideal winter hideaways for fish and bait seeking to escape the chill of the shallow flats.

Not only are the big three of the flats here, but there are plenty of sheepshead and mangrove snapper for those seeking tasty fillets, along with sometimes countless ladyfish and jack crevalle chasing glass minnows for those who simply want to keep the rod bent–great targets for kids and anglers with less experience.

This is great country for flats boats, of course, but it’s also fine for bass boats, jon boats, canoes and kayaks because the water is protected from wind and waves. There are even some areas where fishing from shore or wading can bring good action.

The fish gather pretty much anywhere there’s a deep hole or rocky ledge. Sharp bends are often good, as are areas where side creeks fall into larger rivers. And, on sunny afternoons between fronts, the fish sometimes prowl into shallow bays with black mud bottom, which create a sort of heat-sink that keeps them comfortable for a few hours.

Plastic shrimp like the DOA are also deadly for this winter fishing, for those with the patience to fish them properly. Basically, you cast them upstream and allow them to drift down, then repeat–move them any faster than the current and they catch little, but do it just right and they’re as effective as live shrimp much of the time.

For those seeking big snook, the rivers are also a good winter target. Some find them by towing big diving plugs in the deep river holes. Drifting large pinfish or jumbo shrimp in the rocky holes and around docks and bridge pilings can also do the job.

Smaller snook (and sometimes keeper trout and reds, too) hang around the creek mouths on outgoing tides, and you can sometimes catch these fish on topwater lures like the Rapala Skitter Vee. A live shrimp under a popping cork is also a good offering at these locations.

For sheepshead and mangrove snapper, a size 1/0 hook and a fresh-cut shrimp tail is hard to beat–add just enough weight to sink it against the current around barnacled bridges, pilings and rock ledges. Reds like this approach, too.

*****

Where to Stay for South Shore Fishing

The village of Ruskin, about 20 minutes south of Tampa, has several resort choices where you can simply step out the door and be in prime angling and boating country.

Little Harbor Resort is the largest and best-equipped of these locations, and also the only one directly on Tampa Bay. In fact, the harbor itself is known as one of the best snook spots in the area, as linesiders often stack up under the docks and feed under the lights at night. Both reds and trout also push into the canal that runs to the on-site marina in winter, providing a potpourri of angling possibilities.

Or turn up the Little Manatee River, just a few hundred yards south of the resort. Good fishing starts right at the mouth around residential docks, and gets even better in some of the deep holes at the bends upriver. Go upstream above the I-75 bridge and you’re in largemouth bass country–though the snook go all the way up there in the colder months, too.

The marina is a full-service location capable of handling boats to 50 feet and more, and also has fuel, bait and repair service.

For anglers who bring their own boats, there are several concrete ramps, and the marina offers dockage and fuel as well as live shrimp and fishing supplies. There’s also a kayak rental, and this is a great spot to make use of one of these shallow-draft vessels.

While you’re enjoying the fishing, Mom and the kids can rent a jet ski or a stand-up-paddleboard, play tennis or enjoy the beach right in front of the resort.

Harborside Suites is set up to function as a sort of home away from home, with larger units offering full size kitchen, living and dining areas as well as separate bedrooms. And all units have a patio or balcony, great to see the local wildlife or to take in a Tampa Bay sundown.

Little Harbor Resort, Harborside Suites and marina–as well as the Sunset Grill, a pleasant open-air Tiki bar and restaurant overlooking the bay–are located at 536 Bahia Beach Blvd. in Ruskin. The website is www.staylittleharbor.com.

Fishing Lake Weiss in August

Lake Weiss again proved a good fisherman can catch fish under terrible conditions for others. In the Potato Creek Bassmsters August tournament at Lake Weiss, 16 members fished for 16 hours to land 45 keepers weighing about 81 pounds. There were two five-bass limits and six fishermen zeroed for both days.

Raymond English had a great catch Saturday, bringing in a limit weighing 13.68 pounds and big fish of 4.52 pounds. He added four more at 6.26 pounds for first place of 9 bass weighing 19.94 pounds and the 4.52 pounder was big fish. 

Sam Smith had a limit on Sunday and weighed in 8 bass weighing 16.24 pounds for second place. He had a 4.49 pounder to anchor his stringer. Third was Kwong Yu with five keepers weighing 11.87 pounds and Lee Hancock came in fourth with six bass weighing 10.84 pounds.  Niles Murray came on strong on Sunday and had five weighing 9.50 pounds for fifth.

I left for Lake Weiss last Tuesday with such anticipation.

Five fishing days and two keeper bass later, I am disappointed, to say the least. I tried everything I could think of for three days of practice. Fished up above causeway Wednesday looking for anything shallow – docks, grass, rocks, not a bite. Rode ledges and found all kinds of cover and fish but could not get them to hit.

Thursday went down below the causeway and did the same thing. Schools of fish in brush on ledges but nothing would hit crankbaits, worms or drop shot.

I went back up Thursday and got a three-pound spot on a buzzbait at 10:00 AM on a shady bank, so I decide to gamble on that pattern and run shady banks in that area all day in the tournament.

Saturday I caught nine short fish, lost two keepers at the boat and landed a 3.10 spot. It hit a whacky rig on a seawall at about 11:00 AM when I got tired of watching the buzzbait not get hit.

Sunday I missed one on a buzz bait early then got one 11 inch spot on a whacky rig. Never hooked a keeper in seven hours of casting!

The one spot got me 9th out of 16 people so it was tough for a lot of us.

Weiss is a beautiful lake with miles of shoreline grassbeds, seawalls and docks to fish.  The Coosa River channel winds through flats and is joined by numerous creeks to form ledges that drop from shallow to deep.  I found dozens with five to ten feet of water on top dropping to 25 to 30 feet deep in the channel.

Many of those drops had brush on them, both natural stuff that washed down the river and hung up or brush piles put out by fishermen. Time after time I watched fish follow my bait around those brush piles but not hit it.

Weiss is known as “The Crappie Capitol of the World” and is full of big ones. They have to be 10 inches long to keep, so that insures a good population of quality fish.  I am sure many of those fish I saw were crappie and you could catch a lot of good eating fish on live minnows fishing them.

Ice Fishing on National Wildlife and Fish Refuges

Ice Fishing: Thanks for the Family Memories

Today’s feature, from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, is a reminder for all in ice-fishing states that fishing “hard water” makes a great family outing, and kids who start early often pursue the sport for a lifetime.

What brings a woman — reared in the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, with the lilt of her regional roots still in her voice — to ice fish in mid-February at Minnesota’s Winona District, part of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge?

Yes, she’s the project leader of the refuge that touches Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota. But that’s not the answer.

“It was the first winter that we lived in Wisconsin, my son was four and the refuge was offering a free clinic to introduce kids to the sport,” recalls Sabrina Chandler. “He loved it. Because when the fish aren’t biting, he could build a snowman on the ice.”

More motivating: Ice fishing is very social in a season when people can feel cooped up at home. People bring their fish cookers and it’s “kind of a party,” Chandler says. “More important than catching fish, it’s spending time outdoors.”

Chandler and her family not only go to the annual kids fishing clinic at the refuge’s Winona District, but they also take their rods – and a plain five-gallon bucket – to ice fish on their own several times a year. “We don’t bring the pop-up tents. We don’t have a big ice house,” says Chandler. “We wait for a sunny day, get out the poles and bait, fill a cooler with snacks and a thermos with hot chocolate. And we catch plenty of fish.”

Ice fishing creates family memories. Tom Wickstrom, wildlife biologist for Partners for Fish and Wildlife at Waubay National Wildlife Refuge in South Dakota, has been ice fishing since he was five years old. “I went with my dad, and he sure didn’t have to drag me!” recalls Wickstrom, who grew up in Minnesota and has been on Waubay staff since 1989.

Now he goes ice fishing often, sometimes two or three times each week “if the fish are biting.”  He and his friends have a portable fish house and a heater to stay warm.

In South Dakota, the ice may be thick enough as early as Thanksgiving. It is certainly thick enough – about 18 inches to two feet – by Christmas. At Waubay Refuge, you can catch walleye, perch, northern pick and white bass. “Ice fishing is easier than other fishing because you can just walk out onto the lake, drill a hole and go fishing.”

Ice anglers coming to Waubay Refuge can park on the south side of the entrance, take fuel for their portable heaters and walk to their fishing spot. Visitors cannot drive onto the water. Visitors to Waubay Wetland Management District can also find ice fishing opportunities.

Here is a sampling of national wildlife refuges and wetland management districts where there can be great ice fishing. Restrictions vary, check with an individual refuge before you go. Year-round quality fishing opportunities are available on more than 270 national wildlife refuges. The National Wildlife Refuge System is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

ALASKA

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Kenai National Wildlife Refuge

Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge

Togiak National Wildlife Refuge

IDAHO

Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge

ILLINOIS

Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge

IOWA

DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge

Iowa Wetland Management District

Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge

KANSAS

Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge

Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge

MICHIGAN

Seney National Wildlife Refuge

Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge

MINNESOTA

Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge

Big Stone Wetland Management District

Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District

Fergus Falls Wetland Management District

Litchfield Wetland Management District

Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge

Minnesota Valley Wetland Management District

Morris Wetland Management District

Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge

Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge

Windom Wetland Management District

MONTANA

Benton Lake Wetland Management District

Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge

Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge

Pablo National Wildlife Refuge

War Horse National Wildlife Refuge

NEBRASKA

Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge

North Platte National Wildlife Refuge

Valentine National Wildlife Refuge

NEW YORK

Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge

NORTH DAKOTA

Audubon National Wildlife Refuge

J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge

Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge

Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge

Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Tewaukon National Wildlife Refuge

Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge

SOUTH DAKOTA

Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge

Madison Wetland Management District

Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Waubay National Wildlife Refuge

Waubay Wetland Management District

WISCONSIN

Horicon National Wildlife Refuge

Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge

Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. For more information, visit  www.fws.gov, or connect with us through any of these social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

Mosquito Bites Aging Horrors

Sometimes I wonder how I survived all the little critters outdoors.  Until recently, mosquitoes were a nuisance outside but never really bothered me. A red bump would rise where they bit but be gone in a few hours. No longer!

Two weeks ago this past Wednesday I went to my place at Raysville Boat Club. When I arrived at about 4:00 PM I stopped and talked to my new neighbor before unloading.  It was shady in the yard and I did not notice anything flying around.

By the time I got unloaded I had two big red whelps on my right thigh and six or eight more on other parts of my body.  And they itched. I tried to avoid scratching them.  I had some itch cream and it gave me relief for a few hours.

That night I awoke clawing at the bites. I guess I got warm in bed and the heat made them itch. The next morning I had a red bruised looking area about the size of a silver dollar with a black, hard knot in the center of the two on my thigh.

It seemed every time I went outside while at the lake I got another bite, and that made the old ones start itching again.  I had more than 15 red whelps on my body by Monday when I left.

Two weeks later after many itchy nights those thigh bites are still red but haven’t itched in a few days.

I got home from Clarks Hill on Monday and left to camp for six nights at Lake Weiss on Tuesday.  For whatever reason, the campground at Bay Springs did not seem to have any mosquitoes to bite and reenact my old bites. They slowly got better until my last night.

Last Sunday night when I went into the bathroom to shower, a mosquito bit me on my left ankle.  It started itching immediately and made the others itch, too. I scratched most of the night!

When I got home from Clarks Hill I ordered a yard fogger and insecticide for it from Home Depot. It was here when I got home from Weiss and will try it in my yard since I get bit every time I got out to cut grass or pick tomatoes.

A few years ago my garage seemed to be full of the little horrors to the point I could not sit in my boat and tie baits on. I bug bombed it and took them out and so far they have not decided to homestead in there again.

I guess getting older has made me more sensitive to the bites, like it has caused to many other problems.  I think the warranty on this old body expired a long time ago and it was not made to last this long, but I am going to keep patching it up and fishing as long as I can!

WINTER BASS FISHING TIPS FOR THE MID-SOUTH

How to catch bass this winter in mid-south states

Winter Bass Fishing Tips for the Mid-South

Randy Zellers

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission

from The Fishing Wire

As water temperatures in lakes throughout Arkansas and the rest of the South finally start to dip into the 50s, many anglers will hang up their rods and reels after a prolonged warm season that offered many extra days of comfortable fishing. However, for those willing to bundle up and brave a few chilly hours, fishing can still offer some great action if you change your mindset and tactics.

Fish are cold-blooded creatures, meaning they have metabolisms that rise and fall with the temperature of their surroundings. During spring and summer, warm water means higher metabolic rates and more of a need to feed. As the water temperature cools, so does the activity level of bass, crappie and other sport fish, but that doesn’t mean they can go without food entirely. This is the time of year when quality is much more important to fish than quantity. In terms of food, that means getting the most energy for the least amount of energy spent chasing down prey.

Be Patient With Jerks


Cold fronts not only slow the metabolism of larger fish, they outright stun some of the smaller baitfish species, such as threadfin shad and gizzard shad. While some shad will die immediately, most will struggle for a few days before finally succumbing to the temperature if they can’t find some thermal refuge. This means there will be plenty of free and easy food for predator fish to take advantage of just before winter sets in for good. Largemouth bass, spotted bass and smallmouth bass all are gluttons for this shad buffet, but it presents a problem for anglers who try to “match the hatch” so to speak. The day of the cold front, getting a fish to fall for your lure over the real thing can be difficult, but after a day or so a suspending jerkbait can be the ticket. Cast the lure out, crank it down a few turns of the reel handle, then let it pause. Give it a few seconds at rest, then crank a few more reel turns before you pause again. Some people prefer to snap or sweep the rod tip to move the lure and reel up the slack to ensure they give the lure time to rest, while others prefer to crank the handle quickly, saving the wear and tear on their wrists. Either approach can work, but the time you pause can be the key to getting more strikes. Some days, a quick jerk-jerk-pause cadence will elicit a strike, while other days may require a long pause of up to 10 seconds or more to get the fish to finally react.

Lovin’ Spoonful


Another great presentation that fools fish into believing it’s a stunned shad is the jigging spoon, also called a slab spoon. This unassuming chunk of lead with a treble hook tied to the end doesn’t look like much, but when worked properly across the bottom its fluttering fall can offer just the right amount of flash and vibration to trigger a strike from a lethargic bass sitting with its belly on the bottom. Just look for areas without a lot of jagged rocks or woody cover as the open hook of a spoon can lodge into these surfaces and cause more frustration than fun. Cast the lure, let it fall to the bottom, then pop it up with a quick snap of the rod tip. Reel up the slack and stay in touch with the lure as it flutters back to the bottom. The technique looks like a shad that is dying and struggling to get away from predators. Even lethargic fish will find it hard to pass on the easy meal and the sudden snap of the fleeing fish will trigger their predatory instinct to react. Usually the hit will come as the lure is dropping, so keep an eye on your line for it to jump or stop instead of continuing its descent. Don’t be surprised if you catch fish other than bass with this technique, either. Walleye, catfish and even large crappie will take advantage of the easy meal imitated by this lure.

Alabama Bound


Big rewards is what the Alabama rig is all about, both for the fish and the angler. Constructed of wire and jigheads with small swimbaits attached, Alabama rigs mimic a small school of baitfish swimming along over likely cover. In winter, this offers bass a chance at grabbing a few small fish in one swipe. While smaller fish do hit the Alabama rig, it’s known for producing big fish who are looking for a big mouthful. Just be ready for a workout, as casting and retrieving an Alabama rig all day can definitely wear on the shoulders. Use a heavy action rod and lob the lure more than trying to whip it back and cast long distances. Braided line that’s around 80-pound-test breaking strength also can help avoid some tears if your Alabama rig snags up on unseen cover. A slow hard pull can often straighten the hook on the swimbait that’s snagged, allowing you to retrieve the rest of the rig and save a few dollars. Just be sure to loosen the drag on your reel enough to allow a fish to get a good bite on the lure instead of yanking it away when setting the hook. Fish often will set the hook on themselves as this is one of the few winter presentations that will elicit a bone-jarring strike.

Deadly Ned-ly


For decades, many bass anglers believed soft plastics were no good once the water temperature dipped below 60 degrees. Jigs tipped with pork chunks were the only smart option for a slow, bottom-crawling bait. But times and tactics have done a complete turnaround since those days. Small, straight worms like the Zoom finesse worm, Gary Yammamoto’s Senko or the ZMan TRD have proven that it doesn’t take a lot of wavy tentacles to catch a bass’s attention. Sometimes the best action is hardly any action at all. During winter one of the best finesse presentations is the simple Ned rig. Sliding a 2- to 3-inch morsel of a soft-plastic stick bait slowly over the bottom can entice a bite when reaction strikes from the above-mentioned tricks fail to produce. The key to fishing the Ned rig is the size of the jighead. Go as light as possible, and use spinning equipment to keep things small. You don’t want the jighead to crawl around on the bottom but to glide slowly just over it. A 1/16-oz. head with a no. 2 or no. 4 hook is a great option to start learning the technique, and the use of Zman’s special Ned rig soft-plastics will help float the bait. Often you won’t feel a hit, so it’s important to keep a sharp eye on your line for any twitch or odd reaction.

Be sure to check out the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Weekly Fishing Report for up-to-date information on the hot bite across Arkansas. Guides, bait shops and anglers around The Natural State pitch in to make the report as helpful as possible for anglers looking to learn more about fishing year round.