Easter Weekend 2021
E aster weekend was beautiful with 60 degrees and sunshine. However, there was enough wind to make the shing difcult.
Horseshoe Lake had a large crowd of shermen and boaters and both the Camp Karefree and Bonds Marina ramps had waiting lines, both putting in and taking out. After talking to several shermen at different lakes, the sh just were not hungry this weekend.
Papa Duck shed Dr. Keith’s pond near Jonesboro Sunday afternoon after the Easter egg hunt for the Baby Ducks. We had been catching 25-50 1-1.5 pound bass every trip and some nice bream. This trip we might have caught 2 dozen, and both bream and bass were small. Wapanocca had a full parking lot and the bite was slow, but the few sh were large. The water around the spillway is still muddy. The last rain muddied up Cow Bayou and only a couple of boats could be seen.
Bear Creek is reporting good catches of small to medium bass and good shell crackers that were caught on worms. Crickets are hard to nd at the bait stores because of the cold snap last week that killed most of the supply on hand. Tilden Rodgers Park and Marion Recreation Complex continue to have good crowds catching trout and a few catsh.
Fishing will only get better in the coming weeks. April, May, and June are some of the best months to enjoy catching a sh supper. No one likes to clean sh, so throw them back or give the sh to friends if you are not going to clean and eat them. Generally, it is easy to nd folks that enjoy sh, but do not sh themselves.
In nonshing news, Turkey Season starts this week end with the Special Youth Turkey Hunt. The young hunter must be between the ages of 6-15 years old and can kill one legal turkey. The state is divided into 2 zones. Zone 1 dates are April 19-27 and Zone 2 dates are April 19-May 9. Check the free AGFC Turkey Hunting Guide Book for the counties in each zone. Zone 1 allows only 1 legal turkey and Zone 2 lets hunters harvest 2 legal turkeys. The ammunition companies have created special “turkey loads” designed especially for long range shots.
The Gattis boys at Webb Arms in Marion have a good supply of all types of ammo. They not only sell new and used guns, they are excellent gun smiths. It’s not too late to get the shot gun is cleaned and in good working condition. A misre on a big tom would be a disaster. Give them a call at 870-636-9592. They are now open every day of the week except Sundays.
The last week’s replace weather seems to have slowed down the shing and my readers have not been sending me pictures. Get on the lake, catch some sh, and send the pictures and matching stories to me so we can all enjoy the memories. Lakeside Taxidermy appreciates doing your mounting at a fair price, quick service, and beautiful work. A girl’s rst big sh, a 3-pound crappie, just was brought to Lakeside Taxidermy. It will look beautiful on the wall and will produce many happy memories.
Papa Duck Lakeside Taxidermy 901-482-3430 jhcriner@hotmail.com
Collin Jo Thornton inspects his first-ever bass catch. He made the catch last week.
Photos Submitted
Retired Marion Police Department Assistant Police Chief Dennis Burns caught this 4 pounder on a recent trip to Bear Creek near Marianna.
John Criner
Outdoors Columnist
