Poaching is wrong and we all know it. So why do it? Why do some people do the wrong thing and know that they are doing the wrong thing in the beginning. It is usually someone that cant stand the fact that they just cant hunt in an ethical manner. If you are a trophy hunter and you harvest a 175 inch buck that makes the record books and on all top of this there is another buck on your property that will score 190 inches his tail is in some deep trouble. What I mean by this is that if you know of the bigger buck then the odds are someone else knows of him as well. Your odds may be one and a million at harvesting this monster but an unethical hunters odds are better if he knows where the buck is hanging out at night.

Night time is not the only time that a buck gets shot at in an unethical manner. It also takes place on an abandon road side in the day light. Usually these old abandon home sites or road ways are where big bucks hang out, due to the fact no hunter hunts here. Or even the property only gets hunted once or twice a year. It could be a piece of property that a grandfather has put his hard work and money into fixing up for his beloved grand kids. Then he becomes the victim when some crazy idiot decides he is going to hunt this property without permission.

Remember that we as hunters are the ones that are the poachers. We have full 100% control to make the right decision on the ethically way to take a harvested animal that we may be after. We set examples to our children and they watch every move we make. When I was a 4H agent in the Crenshaw County, Alabama schools system under Auburn University I had the chance to teach and talk to kids about wildlife. We talked about how grown adults can be unethical at hunting or fishing and the animals that are at the top of the food chain. You would be very surprised at how many 4th through 6th graders I taught would say my daddy or my older brother shoots deer side the road or even at night. It happens and we as hunters control it.

Now for a bit of change in the way an animal gets harvested. Let us talk a bit about being at the top of the food chain. This in no way that it is unethical for another animal to chase down and kill its food. It is a way of life for these animals and it is their way of survival. Without them doing so they would not survive at any means. A bear heads down to the water to catch fish to have a meal. This puts them in at the top of the food chain and also puts them as an ethical hunter. Even though they cant read a sign that says no trespassing they are still the means of an ethical hunter.

This is their way of life and this is also our way of life. We can harvest animals such as bear, coyote, and bobcats during the right season. But we should still do it in an ethical manner. We can control most animals on our land. Rather it be the means of harvesting or trapping. So remember that the next time you are out on the road at night or even in the day light make the right decision before you pull the trigger. This article come to mind when I read a little passage on Facebook about a hunter watching this doe in the picture above. This doe was killed either by another hunter or a animal just looking for food just three weeks after this past years season ended. This hunter has watched this doe and gotten pictures of her and even a buck that had breed her. I hope he gets a chance at the buck in this next season to come. Maybe we can bring you the story of the buck the did the breeding to this doe.

Mobile-Tensaw River Delta: located just north of the Mobile Bay. It covers 20,323 acres of water, plenty of water to catch big bass.

Lake Eufaula: located near the Alabama and Georgia state line in Eufaula, AL and covers 45,181 acres of water. Lodging here is among the best in Alabama.

Alabama River: 318 miles long this river starts just north of Montgomery, AL and flows into the Tombigbee River. With dams splitting this river up such as the Robert F. Henry in Lowndes county, Millers Ferry in Wilcox county, and Claiborne dam. Fishing here can be a big challenge in more ways than one.

Lay Lake: located just 35 minutes south of Birmingham off I-65 and 15 minutes south of Columbiana, AL. Covering 12,000 acres it holds a large number of largemouth and spotted bass. There are places on this lake where the water is very clear with a rock bottom.

Lake Jordan: located 25 miles north of Montgomery,AL holds large-mouth bass and also some great crappie during its season. It covers 6,800 acres and was created by Alabama Power Company.

Logan Martin Lake: covers 15,263 acres and has great largemouth and spotted bass fish. Largemouth bass are normally in the 12 to 18 inch range here.

Neely Henry Lake: near the towns of Gadsden and Ohatchee. Just off I-59, this water way covers 11,235 acres.

Lewis Smith Lake this 21,000 acre lake is home to some of the best striped bass fishing in Alabama and is located in Cullman, Walker, and Winston Counties. The striped bass here can often weigh more than 20 lbs.

Pickwick Lake: I don’t know much about this lake as far as the fishing for bass heads out. I do know that it covers 47,500 acres and is located on the Tennessee River near Florence,AL.

Wheeler Lake: covers 67,100 acres, Wheeler Lake is the largest of three stair-stepping reservoirs along the Tennessee River. Some great bass fishing here makes you want to come back for more time and time again.

Lake Guntersville: Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Alabama’s largest lake contains 69,100 acres and stretches 75 miles. There is no hurting here for some great largemouth bass fishing. Plenty of water and you are bound to catch something from this huge place.

So now we bring you the Alabama bass trail and all its lakes and rivers to go with it. For more information on the Alabama Bass Trail just click on the link below. Lodging is great here in our great state and some of the best fishing will bring you back for more. Alabama Bass Trail

As a few days turned into weeks and a few weeks turned into months Jack was happy with a new home and a new job at a local sporting goods shop selling fishing stuff. He knew everything there was to know about fishing. He was the type of man that could catch fish in the hottest of summer and even catch them in a snow storm on the river if he had thought of it. No kids, no wife, and one aunt that stayed back in old Mississippi. The local women that came into the sporting goods store had tried to set him up on a many of dates but he was not interested. The store owners wife even tried to put her 30 year old toothless daughter off on Jack until she had passed out drunk as a skunk. The woman even took a picture of Jack and placed it on one of them fancy dating sites. His profile read this:

Wanted: A good old country girl who has plenty of money, a lot of land, who can cook and clean, and has a 4wd truck with a boat and motor. Send photo of land, and boat and motor!

A local bass tournament was coming up soon and Jack was bound to win it. He knew the area where the event was to take place well and had been fishing it for a few months or so. As anglers piled in on a daily bases to sign up for the $1,000.00 first prize tournament, Jack became a little more worried each day. The one thing he did not know was just how big these tournaments got. He was in for a treat! But he still seem to hold grasp to all the good spots on the water of the Mobile Tensaw-Delta water way. He knew there were some great fish in the waters. He was being sponsored bu the sporting good store that he worked at and didn’t seem to place his mind else where.

As tournament day arrived he was up and at the starting point well before anyone else. Determined to win, and to win big. One sign at the docks read: No cheating at any time during the tournament or else you will be disqualified and there will be NO REFUND! This includes no buying of fish from other anglers, and no dynamite of any kind! Jack did not need to do any of these things to win. He was confident enough he could win on his own ways and follow all rules.

As the day went on, Jack had done caught well over forty fish and only kept what he felt was needed to win. A 5 bass minimum was all he was allowed to bring into the weigh in at the end of the day. His largest weighing in at a whopping 12.5 lbs along with three others closing in at 9.0 lbs each. To Jack he was not worried about losing at this point. He knew he had it won. Weigh in time was coming near and Jack was on his way back in when something went wrong with his boat. He looked down at all the gauges and they seem to be working ok except for one. One gauge that should allow more attention than any other gauge. The Gas Gauge! Jack was in trouble and he had no other gas on board.

Luck was about to come in favor for Jack as he sat there in the middle of the water thinking. A black and red striped bass boat noticed him as it pulled up. In this boat was a tall long legged beautiful woman who also was fishing close by stood up and asked him if everything was ok. He asked the lady if she wouldn’t mind as to tow him back to the weigh in station. She agreed and they were on their way. Jack thought deeply in his mind on the way back to weigh in at how stupid he could be for not bring extra gas. As he neared the weigh in station the lady stuck around and watched as the rest of the event took place rooting Jack on. With no doubt Jack had won the tournament but will we ever know if Jack and the long legged beautiful lady had ever went on a date from that day on.

As we traveled down Interstate 10 through Defuniak Springs, Florida to Graceville, Florida, my husband and I discussed the delicious seafood we would eat at Grady’s Restaurant before continuing on to Marianna, Florida to do a little bass fishing on the Mill Pond. It was after nine o’clock when we arrived at our hotel and due to some miscommunication with the desk clerk, we no longer had a room for the night.

We finally decided to call a place my husband had always heard fish tales of, but had never visited, Jack Wingate’s Lunker Lodge on Lake Seminole.  A friendly voice on the other end of the phone informed us that they did not have a vacancy for the night, but where we might find a hotel room and that if we would call him in the morning, he would try to find us some lodging at Wingate’s.  The next morning, I called Wayne, the friendly man on the phone from the night before, and sure enough he had us a room.

We still weren’t certain we wanted to drive another 30 minutes to the lodge, so we drove around a little and fished a few other places on the west end of Lake Seminole, but we never found the legendary bass we had heard stories of Lake Seminole producing. We were almost convinced to turn around and make the three-hour drive back home, but something kept pulling us toward Wingate’s. We decided we had nothing to lose after the escapade we had the night before, so off we went to Bainbridge, Georgia in search of some big time bass fishing.

Wingate’s Lunker Lodge was more than I had imagined. It was a true fisherman’s paradise. We were greeted outside by friendly faces and as we entered the building legendary fisherman and B.A.S.S. co-founder Jack Wingate was headed out the door with his lunch.  The only thing that could make this better would be if we could catch some big fish. As we chatted about the history of Wingate’s and the type of fishing we enjoy, Wayne suggested we go out fishing with a guide.

Wayne contacted Mike Sloan, one of the current owners of the lodge, and he agreed to take us out fishing that afternoon.  Boy did Mike put us on some fish and the scenery on the lake was incredible.  Mike told us about the May shad spawn on the lake and showed us a few of his favorite spots that were guaranteed to produce some lunker bass.

I captured photos of some huge alligators, canvas-back ducks, blue herons and bald eagles.  It was such an exciting afternoon of fishing followed up with a delicious BBQ plate from the BBQ Buffet that Wingate’s restaurant offers on Friday nights.  The next morning my husband and I headed out on the lake at sunrise and had an amazing morning of fishing of which we followed up with breakfast in the lodge.  I couldn’t believe my eyes. Every table was filled with fishermen and the air was filled with the aroma of bacon frying and tall tales of how the

” Big One “

got away. I was thoroughly entertained by the company and staff of the restaurant. We spent very little time in our cabin during our stay due to the camaraderie we found rocking in the wooden rockers on the front porch of the lodge.

Jack Wingate’s Lunker Lodge proved to be a true fisherman’s paradise and more than I could have ever dreamed of. If you are looking for a weekend getaway or even a longer stay, Wingate’s offers cabin rentals, camper hookups, some delicious food, some amazing fishing, and of course some fish tales that will really get you hook-line-and sinker. You can visit their site here at Wingate’s Lunker Lodge and tell them Shannon Lee sent ya!  Happy Fishing!

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to explore many different varieties of fishing. I remember digging fish bait as a little girl out by my aunt’s chicken coop and taking those fat wigglers and my cane pole to my grandparent’s pond to catch a stringer of catfish and bream
for grandmother to fry up.

As I have grown , my love for fishing has also. I have learned to use a Quantum KVD bait caster on a 6 ‘ 6” medium action cranking stick with only an occasional “bird nest” and how to choose my baits according to the type of fishing I plan on doing, the time of the year, and the level of the water.  All three of these factors greatly impact the successfulness of your fishing trip.

Lately, my fishing trip of choice has been Red Fishing on Blackwater Bay in Milton,FL. We head out at 4 AM so that we can be on the water at daylight to get the first morning top water bites.  It is important to watch the tides when you plan your trip ahead. You want to be out fishing on the incoming or “high” tide.  This brings the baitfish in and in turn, the Red Fish will follow.

As we slowly troll around our favorite fishing spot, my husband and I watch for bait fish running, Red Fish “finning” or “fanning” the water, and swirls along the slick top of the water. We often find these fierce fish on grass beds where crabs and baitfish hide. I like to use a Bomber Badonk-A-Donk or Zara Spook lure to “walk-the-dog” across the glass like surface of the water first thing in the morning.

It is important to really pay attention to what is going on with your bait. I have watched numerous Red Fish follow my lure all the way to the boat and never eat it. Sometimes I even stop working my bait or slow it down to almost no movement at all to entice the red to hit it. In Florida, the law allows you to keep one Red Fish per person with a legal length of 18-27 inches.

It is important when you hang into these fierce fighting fish that you do not try to ”man handle” them. Take the time to wear your fish out before trying to net him and get him in the boat.

Some other baits that I prefer to use after the “top water” bite is over
when I am Red fishing are a Chartreuse KVD 1.5 crank bait and a spinner
bait with a soft plastic minnow where you would ordinarily have a skirt. These baits also attract Speckled Trout or “Specks” which are a delicious
fish served fried or grilled and just as much fun to catch as a Red Fish.

Red Fishing is certainly an exciting fishing adventure that I recommend people try during the hot summer months when ponds and rivers are low and freshwater fish such as bass have slowed down on their biting.

For starters I have picked the rite lure and the rite size line to start my fishing journey. I have chosen to fish with a cheap end rod and reel made by shake-spear and Berkeley’s 10 lb test fishing line. The reel is open face and the rod came with. Not a hole lot of money spent on the set up of small time fishing trips. I have hung into some that has weighed in at 9 lbs easy and most of the one’s that I have landed has been in the range of 3 to 6 lbs which is a great bass any where.

Using a green specked plastic worm or even a copper color snake worm has landed me most of these fish. The weather has been hot but yet to my surprise the bigger bass has still been biting somewhat. I have learned that in a small heat wave of hot humid Alabama days of the early summer fish can be caught in deeper waters where the water is still just a little cooler than the shallow sides of the bank.

As the summer heads into more hotter and even more humid days my styles will more than likely change. Rather it be a different rod and reel or even lures that I may have to change up on. Most lures will pay off in private ponds but on the lakes and rivers they want pay off as much as they will in a pond. The one thing that I have noticed is that the pond I have been fishing in has not been fertilized in most likely years and I will say that the bass in it are still big.

Most of these bass have chosen to eat smaller minnow’s or smaller bream that lay beneath these water’s. I have only caught one over this past few weeks that has had eggs in it still. I am not sure why it still had eggs inside so late. I almost want to say that the bedding days for bass in this pond is either already over or is near it’s end.

Only continuing to try and catch more of these good lunker’s will tell me over the next two or so months if they are done with the breeding cycle for either late spring or early or even mid summer months. It has come to my knowledge that the heat wave with very little rain will somewhat continue here in south central Alabama. I just wish that it would cool off at least a little.

I also hope that we do start to see some more rain here soon. A little rain here and there will make the fishing change hopefully better than what it is already. Zoom worms have been my biggest favor at catching some of the larger bass. The Culprit brand plastic worms about 12 inches in length has backed up the Zoom worms. In the Zoom brand the worms have been more of flute style worm and the Culprit have been more of the snake style. My neon green zoom’s have been on average at least 6 to 8 inches.

The plastic has paid off big and I hope to see it really hang in there over the next few months. The cost of these worms are much cheaper than the high dollar hard baits. A change in the weather will also change the way these fish will bite over the next few weeks or even months. For everyone that knows me they too also know that I favor the hard baits over the plastic’s. But here lately the plastic’s have been the go to style lures to catch more fish.

Pinnacle reels have come a long way over the past few years. They have began to grow and become a better quality reel. Some of the new features have changed them in more ways than none. When you can take a reel and place it on any pole and still get great action off of the lures then there is not much left to say. As time moves forward these reels grow to be better.

Abu Garcia for instance has been around for years and now it is time for a new face in the crowd of spinning reels. Abu has been great but just not great enough.

The Pinnacle Performa XT is among the top of the line in 2011. It is going to be a hard and tuff spinning reel to replace for Pinnacle over the next two years. It almost only comes natural that a very good spinning reel comes out every two to three years. Then there are still some flaws in them. That is life and without flaws then it would just be simply plain perfect. In fishing equipment I have yet to run across that perfect product.

There is a top notch tournament class performance in this reel. It is almost a must have reel in your fishing gear. Using light weight line on it surpasses all expectations on my list and has paid off big on some very good bass. Who says you can’t take a spinning reel and turn it into an all around type reel for fishing for almost anything that it catches.

Catching even catfish in ponds has come more simple while using this reel. I cant resist a reel that will allow me to catch almost anything that hits my line. Smoothness thanks to seven double-shielded stainless steel ball bearings, it also delivers great cast-ability and doesn’t back lash as much as others that I have used.

It’s lightweight aluminum body makes the casting and form to hold into your hands that much easier also. Additional Features are: -Unlimited anti-reverse, -quick fold handle with grip, and -backed by Limited One-Year Warranty which can sometimes pay off big if you are a big time tournament fisherman.

Being able to cast light weight lures and plastic baits can be paid off in a big way with this reel. Knowing that you can cast those light weight lures and hitting those hard to get to areas is a must when fishing for big bass. You never know where the old ten pound lunker hides and by getting into the tightest of places on the water could just land the old fellow at any given chance.

I would almost say that landing that big fish with lighter line is a dream for most anglers. Well now there is a reel out there that will allow it and Pinnacle has their name on it. Now I will leave you with this! Get out there and get you one! You want regret it!

When using hard baits compared to soft baits you have the chance of catching bigger or smaller fish. What do I mean when i say this? Well let us take a small look at just what I am saying or trying to explain. We will also discuss the pros and cons of hard versus soft in this issue.

For starters hard baits seem to attract as many fish as soft and to my knowledge they are brought to life more as a visual aide. Soft baits such as Net Baits pacca craw do work well but over time they wear out faster and in high heats of your tackle box and can melt. Why is this? Simply they are made of soft plastics and some even soft rubber like material. Don’t get me wrong they have been known to work.

Even though they are not my number one choice is mainly because of their durability compared to a hard bait. Hard baits such as some of the Rapala lures are more durable and last longer with time. They are also made to see as a visual aide of the real thing. Their crank baits have paid off in more ways than none for me in the past. I can grab up one of their small crank baits and not just catch bass but also bream and crappie.

Even though sometimes we prefer the soft baits over the hard baits is because it is stuck in our heads that they work better than the hard baits. It is not a thought of them working better or attracting more fish it is just a thought that we have seen them work on more than one occasion. Now let us look at the pros and cons rating table.

Pros & Cons Rating Table

Hard baits

lifespan 3
visual-aide 4
easy-use 5
action 4

This is just an example table that we here at Hello Hunting have come up with. You can do your own table and find out the facts of all kinds of baits that you would consider using while fishing.

What else is there to do in the spring or even late spring after your turkey season is gone. Try out a few of these idea’s to hit the water on some late spring action cat fishing. When getting ready for a catfishing trip there are a few must have items that you really need to rely on. A pole that is going to hold and catch that big cat is number one on the list. Catfish are like buzzard’s of the water world and will almost eat anything and everything that comes their way. Anything bloody such as meats and even stinky cheese will catch a big catfish. Having the line sturdy enough on a sturdy pole will also be a plus when you hang into one.

The one thing about cat fish is they will be in deep waters through the early spring but as the shad start to move and run upstream they will start to move in and eating smaller fish. Cut baits such as bream and shad are among some of a cat fishes top food source. Blood baits such as chicken liver or gizzards can also pay off big.

Smaller fish is most likely your best bet in the late spring and early summer months. These are foods that are naturally there already and a big cat will in fact snag it fast. I good idea is to bait a spot up for about a week before you head out to fish it. Like for an example if you are on a creek you can easily bait there. Take a PVC pipe big enough and long enough and it could turn into one of the most hottest of cat fish hot spots.

By using a pipe you can tie them off near a bank and start to feed things such as stinky old cheese or even dog food will work well. Other fish will also come around and check it out so therefore where smaller fish are the big cat’s want be far behind. There has been more than one occasion that I have done this and what a pay off it would bring me.

Let’s now take a view at Thunder Mist Fishing team on catching some great catfish.

Some people bring their fish in a block of ice, or wrapped in foil and already frozen.  All of these tips are nothing more than “fish tails”.  Wrapping a fish in a towel or newspaper is the very worst thing you can do. Also leaving your trophy out in the sun can be very bad for it.

Wrapping a towel or a newspaper will suck all the moisture and slime out of the scales of a fish such as bass, bream, and crappie. So when I mount the fish all the scales tend to stand up like a porcupine. We would like for the fish to be nice and slimy when we defrost it. This will allow us to make your trophy better looking and it will also be easier on us to deal with.

If you follow this very simple  step your fish will be fine stored  in the freezer for more than a year compared to a month with these other methods. Are you ready……… is the suspense killing you……. All you need to do is……..

Wrap it in several garbage bags, tie them up and pop it in the freezer. ”  Yes that’s it! ”  Your Taxidermist will be so thrilled not having to fight to save your once in a life time catch!

I hope this has been helpful and If you have any more questions you need answered about hunting and taxidermy my husband and I would love to hear from you.

Jennifer Cureton

Buckhead Taxidermy and meat processing.

978 54th street, Columbus, Georgia 31904

(706) 323-9500

buckhead_taxidermy@yahoo.com 0r check me out on face book!