Wildlife

There’s nothing like a soggy bottom squirrel hunt

Terry Madewell

With a warmer winter than I can remember for the last few years, the addition of some frequent rain has actually been a welcome addition for hunters and fishermen. We need the water in the lake and we’re getting some. But the focus of this story is about hunting soggy bottom squirrels.

 

Warm rains create great lake fishing

Terry Madewell

As the normally very cold month of January passed, most local fishermen have to admit the weather held up pretty good considering the time of year. We’ve gotten some much-needed rain for the lake and the warmer weather has triggered good fishing action in shallow water.

 

Do your deer work now for next fall’s success

Terry Madewell

Sometimes it’s best to finish a job a long time before you need to have it done.

 

Fishing action is slow, some catfish caught

Terry Madewell

Continued variable weather and sometimes plenty of wind have kept the fishing activity slow compared to a few weeks ago. With water temperatures dropping, there’s simply not been a lot of fish activity, nor fisherman activity. The only reports are that some anglers continue to catch a few blue catfish, with some days being pretty good, others very tough. Some largemouth are being taken and a few quality fish at that, but overall the action has slowed for this species as well.

 

Citizen Trophy - Teresa Scurry

Fishing slows with cold, catfishing good

Terry Madewell

The cold weather hammer had to drop sometime and it finally has, but the overall impact is not necessarily a bad one. As in all of nature, there are reasons for change and we need a certain amount of cold weather and colder water temperatures for various reasons including those that are fish related, but also for vegetation in and around the lake and numerous other things.

 

There’s nothing finer than preserved quail hunting

Terry Madewell

There are not much finer opportunities in the outdoor world than watching a couple of good quail dogs practice their art of stalking a covey of quail. We were right in the midst of such a scene as both dogs slipped up on an unknown number of quail. But whether a single or an entire covey, the two shooters were ready. One shooter, property owner William Peagler had a gun, the other (me), had a camera. It was a scene that was to be repeated numerous times over the afternoon.

 

2012 starts off with good fishing news

Terry Madewell

Overall fishing news is still quite exciting with striper action still going well along with some excellent catfishing news recently. In addition, because of warmer than normal air and water temperatures, the largemouth bass fishing has been better than normal for this time of the year. Usually a few nice bass can be caught early in the year, but some anglers are still catching good numbers as well as quality largemouth. The cold will come for sure, but let’s start the new year with some good fishing news.

 

Thankful for 2011 and looking forward to 2012

Terry Madewell

It’s 2012 now and we’ve got a whole new year to plan and enjoy the great outdoors. While last year was great, I hope to improve on it again this year. I always say that and sometimes I actually succeed. I try to make new friends in the outdoor world, spend more time with existing friends, and just get out and enjoy the outdoor bounty we have right here in our backyard.

 

Fishing remains good for catfish, largemouth

Terry Madewell

With unusually warm weather last week and some cloudy, rainy, but warmer days, the fishing actually was very, very good for most species. While the water temperature is usually quite a bit colder by now, we’re still enjoying very good fishing on some species that have normally slowed a bit by now. With the warmer water temperature there is increased metabolism compared to the end of December in most years. But let’s enjoy it while we can.