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.

Talk Hunting has grown each year and the staff at talk hunting work so hard to keep it going. With sponsors such as the Whitetail Institute of North America, Dead Down Wind, and Hunter’s Safety systems you can get all kinds of answers from people just like you and me.

Just for signing up at talk hunting you have chances to win free prizes each month just by posting and replying to other members post. The site is set up as a forum and with its thousands of members and still growing it has new things to talk about daily.

You don’t have to just talk to each member on the site to find out things about hunting and fishing. There are also pictures posted by members of harvested game and let me say that there has been some mighty big deer taken by these members. Hunters and fishermen just like you and me from all over the United States come to visit talk hunting each day and night.

I have seen other hunting forums such as HuntingNet.com, and ArcheryTalk.com but none of them comes close to talk hunting in my mind. All you have to do is click here at Talk Hunting and sign up for free to get started. Make post and ask questions to build your chances up at winning free prizes each month given out by the sponsors they have. So what are you waiting for? Get to the site fast and check it out.

Tell them you heard it from Hello Hunting…

Now I know most of you are thinking “umm that’s the taxidermist job”. and you are very right. However a lot of it starts with you. There are several things you can do to help ensure that your mount looks its best. Today I want to cover Birds.

Birds are the hardest animal to taxidermy in my opinion. They take great skill and patience to mount. The mounting is a LOT easier if the hunter has taken the proper pre steps before bringing it to us.The first thing to remember is the number one rule with any animal you want to have mounted ” FREEZE ” it as soon as possible. The longer you let that animal set out in the sun the smaller time window I have to work on it.

Bacteria begins to build up on the skin pretty much as soon as the blood stops flowing and bacteria is what makes a body rot.  If you cant freeze them due to the fact your not done hunting yet at least have a cooler full of ice just for the birds to put them in. If its a turkey please put it in a bag first we don’t want to get it wet.

The next thing you want to remember is if the bird is not a water fowl don’t let it soak in a cooler full of melted ice, bag it first to keep it dry. Turkeys floating in a cooler full of bloody water is not a good thing. Its very hard to get those feathers clean and fluffed back out.

Now once you are ready to freeze the bird the best thing to do is wrap a few paper towels around the body and head to soak up any blood that may seep out while freezing or thawing out. Once you have it wrapped slide a nylon stocking over the birds head first and down towards the tail, going with the feathers.

If the bird is a pheasant you will want to take an empty paper towel roll and slide it over the tail feathers to ensure they do not get broken.. once the bird has been wrapped and the stocking put on. Place it in a zip lock bag or garbage bag and freeze it.

Always remember  the more bags the better.

I also want you to know that sometimes the birds have dozens of holes in the skin from pellets or dogs getting a better grip on the bird. These holes are a big problem with birds. Its always a good idea to have a few birds for your taxidermist to choose from. This will insure the best looking mount..

The great thing to remember is I am a Taxidermist not a magician. If you shoot it in the head, pump it full of bullet holes, or let  the retrieving dog turn it into a sifter its gonna be a huge job to make it look good. So a quick over view.

Freeze or put on ice A.S.A.P

Keep non water fowl out of melted ice water

Wrap bird in a few paper towels

Slip into nylon stocking

Place into a few bags

Freeze

Have a few extra birds for your taxidermist to choose from.

If you do these things and your Taxidermist knows what he or she is doing, you will have a BEAUTIFUL bird mount.

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!