Page 95 - South Mississippi Living - April, 2023

other species.
For youths who want to fish with
rod and reels, buy an inexpensive and easy to operate push-button reel like
a Zebco, or a simple spinning reel. Match that reel to a light rod, not too long and made of tough materials so
it doesn’t break easily. Many stores sell matched rod and reel combos designed specifically for small children. Add a few hooks of different sizes, assorted bobbers, some weights and a child’s tackle box to complete the package.
Fishing for panfish from the bank or a dock offers an easy, outstanding way to teach children, and novice adults, how to fish. On an unbreakable shoreline, rambunctious young sportsmen can run and play without getting into too much trouble or possibly damaging expensive boating equipment. Bank fishing doesn’t cost much either.
lakes scattered across the Magnolia State. Designed specifically for public fishing, these lakes offer anglers more than 4,000 total surface acres. Most
of them provide excellent bank fishing opportunities and some even offer handicap-accessible fishing piers. For more information about these lakes, see www.mdwfp.com/fishing-boating/ state-fishing-lakes.
The Mississippi Department
of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks periodically stocks these small public lakes with various fish species.
Among the most common, prolific
and widespread fish in Mississippi, bluegills thrive in great numbers in just about every freshwater system in the Magnolia State. Pound for pound, or more appropriately ounce for ounce, these feisty panfish outfight just about anything.
OPPOSITE PAGE: Amy Gable
and Ruth Sykes admire a couple bluegills they caught while fishing a backwater.
TOP LEFT: Shown with his mother, an innovative young angler shows off the homemade fishing rod he crafted out of a dowel rod, a spool, a bolt, a washer and a nut.
ABOVE: A young angler shows off
a longear sunfish she caught while fishing off a dock.
FAR LEFT: A young angler shows off a longear sunfish.
LEFT: A young angler shows off a bluegill.
catch a dozen or more other panfish species. Most people simply lump them all together as “perch” or “bream.” The catch might include one of the most distinctive panfish. A warmouth looks something like a cross between
a bass and a bluegill. Also called a goggle-eye, these thick, dark fish love swamps, shallow weedy lakes, sluggish streams or canals with thick vegetation. A warmouth could weigh more than two pounds, but few reach one pound.
The catch might also include redear sunfish. Commonly called shellcrackers because they relish snails, these fish look similar to bluegills, but with orange to red highlights on their “ear flaps.” Shellcrackers occur throughout the state and can exceed three pounds.
Although “bream busters” won’t land any monster fish, they could fill young sportsmen with great memories that will last forever.
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Mississippi manages 20 public fishing SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living | www.smliving.net
In some waters, anglers might also