Coastal/Saltwater/Marsh Fishing

[Fish-Bait]

I wanted to tell you folks in this community how much of a passion I have for fishing on our great Gulf Coast of Mississippi. It's not just about what you catch for me, it's an assortment of sites and sounds and experiences. While not all of my experiences have been good down there, (had a little run in with the military after 9/11 in a federally declared no wake zone-which wasn't posted with signage), but that's another story for another day.
Growing up in Pascagoula has given me experiences that alot of landlocked folks don't get to take part in very often. From the smell of the marsh air mixed with 2-stroke smoke at 5 a.m. in the morning, to fighting off gnats and 'skeeters on the beaches of Horn, Petit bois, and Round Island.

I genuinely love our Gulf Coast and what all it has offered me over these 32 years, and each time I return I try and leave the place a little better than it was when I found it.

Hopefully I will return soon with my weekend warrior attitude and get some long awaited fishing time in. The sow trout, reds and the flounders seem to be biting good from the reports I get from home. Maybe I'll make it out to the islands for some long overdue wade fishing.
I'll post a report as soon as I get to go.
Fish-Bait:)

[58ford]

I prefer saltwater, but every once in a while I go up to the old American Sand & Gravel site on the Bouie River. You have not lived till you've caught a 3' gar on a flyrod.

[Fish-Bait]

I prefer saltwater, but every once in a while I go up to the old American Sand & Gravel site on the Bouie River. You have not lived till you've caught a 3' gar on a flyrod.
I could write a book on those pitts 58, never fly-fished up there though. You catch em' on a streamer of some sort?

[58ford]

I could write a book on those pitts 58, never fly-fished up there though. You catch em' on a streamer of some sort?
I tie a bright colored piece of felt on a number of hooks hooks with maybe a piece of tinsel & put 'em in small tupperware container with liquid stink bait. when the stink weakens I tie on a new one. I've caught gar & catfish with this setup.
Also, a streamer with a small piece of foam rubber on the hook that you can dip repeatedly in stink bait works.

[Fish-Bait]

I tie a bright colored piece of felt on a number of hooks hooks with maybe a piece of tinsel & put 'em in small tupperware container with liquid stink bait. when the stink weakens I tie on a new one. I've caught gar & catfish with this setup.
Also, a streamer with a small piece of foam rubber on the hook that you can dip repeatedly in stink bait works.
I have caught em' on jugs up there using spot-tails and shiners, usually about 4 or 5 ft. deep. I always wanted to try to bowfish for 'em. In between Hickory Hills and I-10 on the west side of the Pascagoula river there are some monsters that come up and gulp the air. I am talkin some 4 and 5 footers, and a bunch of 'em.

[58ford]

Are bowfishing rigs legal in MS?
A friend of mine caught one about 4' bare handed. We were floating the upper Bouie & he saw it & pounced on it. Somehow got his hands in it's gills.
that night we had Gar-on-a-stick.

[Fish-Bait]

Are bowfishing rigs legal in MS?
A friend of mine caught one about 4' bare handed. We were floating the upper Bouie & he saw it & pounced on it. Somehow got his hands in it's gills.
that night we had Gar-on-a-stick.
That sounds like the night we had woodpecker fried on a Copenhagen lid.:smt118
It's legal, hadn't read up on it in awhile though. You can go to www.mdwfp.com (http://www.mdwfp.com) and check, might want to check Burea of Marine Resoruces for the stuff on the coast though. I think the laws are for non-game fish, like bowfin, carp, suckers, gar etc....

[58ford]

I think I might go crabbing this weekend. Catch a few pinfish or croakers, put 'em in a net, sit in the sun & drink beer & haul 'em in. And don't forget the 80X 50 mm binoculars for scopin' the bikini chicks.

[Fish-Bait]

I think I might go crabbing this weekend. Catch a few pinfish or croakers, put 'em in a net, sit in the sun & drink beer & haul 'em in. And don't forget the 80X 50 mm binoculars for scopin' the bikini chicks.
A buddy of mine just went this weekend, they caught about a dozen blues' on rod n' reel and nettin' em' at the side of the boat. They are startin' to run. No telling what you can do with a net and a few chicken necks. I liked crabbin' when I was a kid, hadn't done it in a while though. I had a little coleman crawdad rowboat and two metal traps. Bout every 2 days I would catch a couple of fat hardheads and go rebait and gather the bounty. Every now and then I would hit the jackpot and get a big ole stone crab, that was the icing on the cake!

[Baloo]

I grew up fishing the waters of Alaska and South Mississippi... Salt water, fresh waster, brackish water, muddy water... I love all of it! I learned to tie flies when I was about five years old... Learned to sein for minnows and run trot lines when I was about six... I lived in Gulfport when I was 6 & 7 and remember fishing off the piers, the rocks and the old broken bridge... My uncles had a commercial salmon boat while I was in my teens. I spent another summer in my early twenties guiding and commercial fishing in the remote Alaskan wilderness. Pretty much all of the best times of my life have all involved fishing... I look forward to it every year and can't wait to get home to the south and fish, then head back back to Alaska and fish... I am so thankful that I grew up in an era when the banks were not so crowded or polluted. I am also thankful that my dad taught us kids to fish responibly... Only take what we need for supper, clip the barbs on the hooks so they can be relased without tearing them up and throw all of the babies and big breeders back! Leave the place better than when you found it, don't leave trash and fishing line on the ground and make sure the fire is out if you start one.. If only we could teach the rest of the world the same prinicples... FISH ON!!!

[Fish-Bait]

I grew up fishing the waters of Alaska and South Mississippi... Salt water, fresh waster, brackish water, muddy water... I love all of it! I learned to tie flies when I was about five years old... Learned to sein for minnows and run trot lines when I was about six... I lived in Gulfport when I was 6 & 7 and remember fishing off the piers, the rocks and the old broken bridge... My uncles had a commercial salmon boat while I was in my teens. I spent another summer in my early twenties guiding and commercial fishing in the remote Alaskan wilderness. Pretty much all of the best times of my life have all involved fishing... I look forward to it every year and can't wait to get home to the south and fish, then head back back to Alaska and fish... I am so thankful that I grew up in an era when the banks were not so crowded or polluted. I am also thankful that my dad taught us kids to fish responibly... Only take what we need for supper, clip the barbs on the hooks so they can be relased without tearing them up and throw all of the babies and big breeders back! Leave the place better than when you found it, don't leave trash and fishing line on the ground and make sure the fire is out if you start one.. If only we could teach the rest of the world the same prinicples... FISH ON!!!
I was gonna rep you for that, but it said I have used it up today. It's the few bad seeds out there that ruin our waterways, at least I'll know my kids were taught better!

[Baloo]

We used to go ice fishing a lot when I was a kid too, just drive our car out on the lake, drill a hole in the ice, build a fire on the lake, chum the hole and spend the day fishing... We had to be careful to not cut the line on the ice if we hooked a big one...

I must say that I had more fun dragging our 12' aluminum boat up and down the creek banks in south Mississippi... We must have drug the bottom out of a dozen boats...

I also loved pulling in the trot lines... it was more fun than Christmas! We never knew what would be on the end of the line... 5 pound bass, pan size bream, blue gills, red bellies, snappin turtles, gar... I didn't like it when we caught snakes in the sein though!

[Baloo]

I was gonna rep you for that, but it said I have used it up today. It's the few bad seeds out there that ruin our waterways, at least I'll know my kids were taught better!


Thanks Fish Bait!!!

[Baloo]

http://www.hookycharters.com/main1.jpg

One of my uncles (who is a guide) with a world famous King Salmon on the Kenai River... Of all of the fishing that I have done, King Fishing is by far the greatest! There is nothing like the thrill of catching a nice size (60-70 lb) King... they jump out of the water and dance in the air! I have had the privelage of catching several hawgs and taking nearly an hour to land them...

[Fish-Bait]

We used to go ice fishing a lot when I was a kid too, just drive our car out on the lake, drill a hole in the ice, build a fire on the lake, chum the hole and spend the day fishing... We had to be careful to not cut the line on the ice if we hooked a big one...

I must say that I had more fun dragging our 12' aluminum boat up and down the creek banks in south Mississippi... We must have drug the bottom out of a dozen boats...

I also loved pulling in the trot lines... it was more fun than Christmas! We never knew what would be on the end of the line... 5 pound bass, pan size bream, blue gills, red bellies, snappin turtles, gar... I didn't like it when we caught snakes in the sein though!
Yeah, some of the most fun I have ever had was trot lining. We almost always got "INVOLVED" with Mr. Noshoulders....(I dont have too much respect for snakes until the frogs remind me it's mating season and wont shut-up, sometimes they are so loud it'll drive you mad). I pulled up a minnow sack that we had let stay out overnight, it was packed with spot-tails, and about a 2' long copperhead....that was the closest that I had ever come to crappin' on myself. He fell out into the bucket and struck, meantime I was gettin' some ronder'!!!!

[Baloo]

http://www.hookycharters.com/gallery/images/full/28429-Rainbows2005.jpg

Here he is again, with a client who caught a trophy rainbow trout...

[Fish-Bait]

http://www.hookycharters.com/main1.jpg

One of my uncles (who is a guide) with a world famous King Salmon on the Kenai River... Of all of the fishing that I have done, King Fishing is by far the greatest! There is nothing like the thrill of catching a nice size (60-70 lb) King... they jump out of the water and dance in the air! I have had the privelage of catching several hawgs and taking nearly an hour to land them...
My stepfather(who taught me how to fish) used to live in Oregon, he caught one bout 40-50 lbs. or so it was pretty good size but I don't remember where he caught it, maybe the Snake River or somewhere. I'll have to get him to remind me of that story. One of these days I will make it up to Alaska, I think that is one of every fisherman's dreams. My neighbor just went this past fall and he had a blast.

[Baloo]

Yeah, some of the most fun I have ever had was trot lining. We almost always got "INVOLVED" with Mr. Noshoulders....(I dont have too much respect for snakes until the frogs remind me it's mating season and wont shut-up, sometimes they are so loud it'll drive you mad). I pulled up a minnow sack that we had let stay out overnight, it was packed with spot-tails, and about a 2' long copperhead....that was the closest that I had ever come to crappin' on myself. He fell out into the bucket and struck, meantime I was gettin' some ronder'!!!!


:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Fish Bait, I know that people around me are thinking that I am nuts laughing at my computer, but that is funny... I only laugh, because I can realte and have a mental picture of my brother slipping in the mud trying to get away from a cotton mouth who had taken up residence in our bait bin...

[amanda]

I love to saltwater fish. I don't say no to freshwater either, but my passion is saltwater. Just hooking a speckled trout of redfish just turns me on!! Hopefully my honey and I can get out on the water when he gets back in. Yeah!! FISHING!!!

[Baloo]

My stepfather(who taught me how to fish) used to live in Oregon, he caught one bout 40-50 lbs. or so it was pretty good size but I don't remember where he caught it, maybe the Snake River or somewhere. I'll have to get him to remind me of that story. One of these days I will make it up to Alaska, I think that is one of every fisherman's dreams. My neighbor just went this past fall and he had a blast.

It is gorgeous up there Fish Bait... We get people from all over the world who come up just to fish... Even after 32 years of living, I am still awestruck by the sheer beauty of this great land and never take it for granted... I absolutely love it! I love the south just as much and am blessed to be able to live in both worlds... I do hope that you get to go. The Kenai Peninsula is the sport fishing paradise of the world in the summer time... The salmon, halibut and trout fishing is second to none! I am glad that another good fisherman is passing the legacy on to his children!

[Fish-Bait]

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Fish Bait, I know that people around me are thinking that I am nuts laughing at my computer, but that is funny... I only laugh, because I can realte and have a mental picture of my brother slipping in the mud trying to get away from a cotton mouth who had taken up residence in our bait bin...
Yeah, I just hope I am around long enough to for my kids to go with me, I'll be able to take one of em here in about 6 or 7 years. I just hope it is as much fun to them as it is to me now! There are alot of old memories comin' back out of the "Recycle Bin" right now!!:clap:

[Baloo]

Yeah, I just hope I am around long enough to for my kids to go with me, I'll be able to take one of em here in about 6 or 7 years. I just hope it is as much fun to them as it is to me now! There are alot of old memories comin' back out of the "Recycle Bin" right now!!:clap:

I am sure that they will love it just as much as you do Fish Bait! Ditto on the memories coming back.... :-D The best times of my life!!!

[bpitt]

Dang, I figured I was about the only guy on here that fished, but wait, I am in south MS ain't I......anyway, I fish the coast a fair amount, we got a camp on Paige Bayou outside Vancleave, we've fished the Pasc' marsh a lot, ventured out to Round Island, Horn, Petit bois, etc. My bro-in-law caught a kickin' 40lb black drum under the bridge that goes out to homeport, it was big. I flyfish for bream every now and then, never thought to try for gar, that'd be a blast.

[Fish-Bait]

Dang, I figured I was about the only guy on here that fished, but wait, I am in south MS ain't I......anyway, I fish the coast a fair amount, we got a camp on Paige Bayou outside Vancleave, we've fished the Pasc' marsh a lot, ventured out to Round Island, Horn, Petit bois, etc. My bro-in-law caught a kickin' 40lb black drum under the bridge that goes out to homeport, it was big. I flyfish for bream every now and then, never thought to try for gar, that'd be a blast.
Stayin' at Paige this weekend, looks like my weekend warrior attitude is going to get fulfilled!!! If you are around just stop by the boats that are on the left when you drive in and ask for Fish-Bait, we are good company!
Fish

[Fish-Bait]

Hey everbody', boy what a weekend. Did alot of fishin'!!!! It's somethin' how ole Mother Nature plays around with those tides! I did manage 7 bass this weekend out of the bayous. Caught about 15 or so bass, but most were JR'S, had to thow em' back. Bream were easy to catch at the dock though. At breakfast this morning I caught eight, just with the edges of my TOAST!
Tide range was less that 1/2 of a foot, not to good fishin' around the mouth of the river. Seas were very calm, light breeze just made for a ripple on the water. I must say that today was one of the best days for boating that I have ever seen. I ran my 15 ft. Boston Whaler all over the Pascagoula River today and it didn't miss a lick. Too bad the weekend is almost over. You can bet your bottom dollar in two weeks I will be back down there rain or shine.
Take a youngun' fishin', you'll be glad you did, and so will he.
Tight lines and good times!
Your Friendly Community FisherDude
Fish-Bait!

[SouthChic]

Up until I met my husband (8 years ago), I had not ever fished. Fishing is a huge part of his life, and he has been teaching me over the last several years. Now, I love it! I enjoy fishing in lakes and ponds moreso than going to the coast. I've also tried the all night floundering, and while it's fun, it's just not my favorite. I enjoy catching bass, bream, crappie, etc.. Really anything! HA!! :)

[sidelinetolong]

Fish Bait I share your passion with you. I have fished in the La marshes for the past 20 years and spent many quality hours with my family and friends fishing. I had a camp at Lafrance befor the storm. Had, after the storm I found a few pots and fish cooker. We have since bought a camp in Bay St Louis and are in the process of fixing it up. I also have a 22' Boston Whaler for sale if you know anyone looking.

[Fish-Bait]

Fish Bait I share your passion with you. I have fished in the La marshes for the past 20 years and spent many quality hours with my family and friends fishing. I had a camp at Lafrance befor the storm. Had, after the storm I found a few pots and fish cooker. We have since bought a camp in Bay St Louis and are in the process of fixing it up. I also have a 22' Boston Whaler for sale if you know anyone looking.
It's hard to beat a whaler, they are super tough. My 15 ft. is an 83 model with a 93 model johnson 70 hp. I could restore it and make it all pretty again, but I bought for only 2100 from a guy down in New Orleans after "the storm" . It got beat up a little but mostly minor scapes around the rubrail and stuff. I like it the way it is. It's got character!:)