Arkansas sportsman

Dove season here before you know it

In the peak of fishing season, it's hard to believe that dove season is only 87 days distant.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission hasn't voted on early migratory bird seasons, but it will almost certainly open dove season Sept. 6.

Federal regulations prohibit states from opening the early migratory bird seasons before Sept. 1. The commission prefers to open dove season on the first Saturday of September, which usually coincides with Labor Day weekend. However, September's first Saturday falls a week later this year, as it did in 2013. The commission could open the season on Monday, Sept. 1, but its members are disinclined to do so because more hunters will be able to hunt a Saturday opener. The commission usually favors offering greater opportunity over earlier hunting.

Signs of that time are all around us. Several sporting goods stores in central Arkansas already have large quantities of shotgun dove and target loads in stock. Prices are reasonable, but they usually offer the best deals in late August. That's about the same time they offer great deals on new shotguns, too.

One of my frequent hunting buddies couldn't wait. He said he had two "major acquisition goals" this year -- a new Winchester Super X3 12-gauge and a fishing kayak. He accomplished both.

His SX3 is the model with the three-inch chamber. He opted for that because he almost never shoots 3 1/2-inch loads, and if he feels that itch, he can always bring his well-traveled Remington Model 870 Super Magnum out of retirement. Calling that an "itch" is misleading. It's more like the game that boys used to play in grade school where we slugged each other as hard as we could in the shoulder until one cried "Uncle."

You might as well start pricing steel shot, too, because the early teal season will open in mid-September. We will probably get a 16-day teal season. If you've never tried the early teal season, there is no better time than now. Teal numbers are at record highs. The daily limit has been four for years, but I wouldn't be surprised if it went to six in the near future. Ten years ago, we were happy to see flocks of 15-20 bluewings on a September morning. Now they come in massive flocks.

September teal hunting is an acquired taste. The weather is hot and steamy. Mosquitoes and gnats abound, and cottonmouths are such a hazard that many hunters leave their retrieving dogs at home.

Traditionally we hunted in shorts and T-shirts, but an experience last year put an end to that. Alan Thomas of Russellville and I hunted in a marshy backwater of Lake Dardanelle. It was muddy, with a lot of cattails along the bank and aquatic grass in the water. Something got on our legs and about ate them alive. I scratched myself raw over the next few days. Al said the same thing happened to him.

We wear light waders nowadays, no matter how hot and uncomfortable they are.

WHITE BASS

A friend had an excellent day fishing for white bass on Lake Maumelle this week. He caught size and numbers, he said, until an approaching thunderstorm drove him off the lake.

White bass inhabit every major lake in Arkansas, as well as the Arkansas River. At lakes like Greers Ferry, Ouachita, Hamilton and DeGray, you have a good chance of encountering white bass/striped bass hybrids, too. They're a sterile cross between a white bass and striper. They grow bigger and fight harder than white bass, but both species are worthy opponents, and both are delicious if prepared properly.

White bass and stripers are considered "true bass," unlike largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass, which are classed as sunfish.

In the summer, white bass and hybrids follow threadfin shad. Throughout the day they go on feeding frenzies and attack shad from the sides and from below. When that happens, the water surface looks like it's boiling. You can cast any small spoon, small crankbait or small surface plug into the melee and catch fish. A spoon gets down deep where big fish weighing upwards of 3 pounds wait for wounded and isolated shad.

Some of the best fishing is going on right now on the Arkansas River, where heavy current is concentrating big white bass around jetties and revetments. Cast a small crankbait or a white curly-tailed grub in the eddy behind one of these structures. Make sure your drag is set right and enjoy a bantamweight battle.

Sports on 06/12/2014

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