MyGOSpace Articles

Fishing the Alabama Rig to Catch Bass and Most Any Other Fish   -  3/26/2012

By John E. Phillips

At the end of October, 2011, when professional bass fisherman Dan Morehead of Paducah, Kentucky, accepted a $50,000 check and the keys to a fully-rigged Ranger boat worth $40,000, for wining the EverStart National Championship at Kentucky Lake, he helped to write a new page in the history of bass fishing with the new lure the Alabama Rig, created by Andy Poss of Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
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10 Ways to Catch the Biggest Crappie of Your Life   -  1/14/2012

By John E. Phillips

* Take Slabs in Treetops: A large tree lying in the water is a potential crappie hot spot. Look to the center of that treetop for a narrow opening between branches, and try to hit it. Retrieving the crappie out of that hole may be difficult, but big crappie are caught by those willing to fight for them.

Fighting Swordfish with Captain Johnny Greene in the Fall   -  1/4/2012

By John E. Phillips

Editor's Note: Captain Johnny Greene of the "Intimidator," based at Orange Beach Marina in Orange Beach, Alabama, often takes his customers on 2-day, overnight trips to catch many varieties of offshore fish available.

How to Catch the Biggest Bass in Any Lake by Bass-Fishing Professional   -  12/23/2011

By John E. Phillips

To catch the biggest bass in any lake, a fisherman must study the lake, the other anglers and the baits most-often used to pinpoint the high-pressure fishing regions. Then you'll know the target sites where many sportsmen are fishing and the depths of water that most of their baits are covering. For instance, visible targets like points that look as though they will hold bass, or trees and bushes close to shore are places any bass fisherman will point out and say, "I bet bass are there." However, I search for areas to locate big bass, like an isolated stump well-off the bank that you only can find by crashing a crankbait into it. I'll also look for a segment of water where baits aren't being run-through. For instance, if most anglers are fishing deep-diving crankbaits or plastic worms that cover the bottom and buzzbaits and top-water lures that run along the surface, I'll fish a medium-diving crankbait. This region is obviously not getting any pressure, so big bass should be holding there.

The Battle of Bull Run on the Gulf Coast Lasts Until January   -  12/16/2011

By: John E. Phillips

As the sun clawed its way out of the Gulf of Mexico to brighten-up the skies and push-away the darkness, I could see that the silhouettes at the end of the pier included both men and women with their rods bent like question marks in the air. "The bulls are running!" one man yelled to encourage anglers to cast their rods out in the direction of his line to hook-up the school of redfish. The red drum, also known as redfish, were moving-out of the deep water and close to the shore at the Gulf State Park Pier in Gulf Shores, Alabama, as they chased schools of baitfish. The very-big bull redfish that weigh from 12- to over 30-pounds each are showing-up all along the Upper Gulf of Mexico coastline, making their winter run near shore during the last week of November and beginning of December. Several methods will catch these bull reds.

Catching Crappie in Colder Weather   -  12/9/2011

Editor's Note: Although many crappie fishermen don't fish in the colder months, numbers of crappiers are very successful at this time of the year.

How to Find Crappie on a New Lake Anytime   -  12/2/2011

By: John E. Phillips

Editor's Note: With the strategies you'll learn this week, you can develop a game plan on how to fish a new lake and find a large number of potential crappie hot spots.

Fantasy Fishing Trip with DOA Lures' Founder & President Mark Nichols   -  11/21/2011

By: John E. Phillips

Editor's Note: Mark Nichols, president and founder of DOA Lures in Stuart, Florida, provided a fantastic day of fishing at Big Mud Creek in St. Lucie, Florida that would be every angler's dream fishing trip.

Catching Niagara Falls Salmon and Smallmouths with Ernie Calandrelli   -  11/11/2011

By John E. Phillips

When you say the words Niagara Falls, most people think of one of the world's greatest honeymoon spots where newlyweds go to watch millions of gallons of water flow over a precipice and crash into the river below. However, when I hear the words Niagara Falls, I think of Ernie Calandrelli, big salmon and tons of smallmouths.

Why Crank for Bass in November with Bass Pro Mark Davis   -  11/2/2011

By: John E. Phillips

Editor's Note: Bass professional Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Arkansas, is the only angler to have won the B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year and the Bassmaster Classic Tournament in the same year - 1995, and he also won B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year in 1998 and 2001. Davis consistently places in the money and has earned more than $1-1/2 million from catching bass. To help you catch fish now, Davis shares one of his late fall tactics.

How to Fish for and Catch Marlin with Captain Jimmy Taylor   -  10/21/2011

By: John E. Phillips

Editor's Note: Captain Jimmy Taylor of Biloxi, Mississippi, lacks one billfish, the swordfish, to have caught every species of billfishes in the world and qualify for the IGFA Billfish Royal Slam that recognizes anglers who have caught nine billfish species, the Atlantic and Pacific sailfish, the Atlantic and the Pacific blue marlin, the black marlin, the striped marlin, the white marlin, the swordfish and the spearfish. He's won two Grand Slam Jupiter Billfish Tournaments and finished 4th in the 2010 World Billfish Series Tournament, competing against more than 10,000 anglers.

The Music That Worms Dance To   -  10/10/2011

The Music That Worms Dance To
By: John E. Phillips

The music that causes giant earthworms to come out of the ground has been played by the hill folks along the Appalachian Trail for many years. William "Bubba" Childers of north Alabama learned the tune from his granddaddy, who was taught by his granddaddy. The Childers' family has been making mountain music to take fish bait as long as there has been a Childers' family. "Whenever we want to go fishing we just fiddle-up some fiddle worms," Bubba Childers says. "If you know where the worms are, you can fiddle for 15 to 20 minutes, particularly if the ground is wet and catch up to 100 fiddle worms a day. One time I called up about 300 worms in less than 15 minutes by fiddling at a point just above an underground stream."