Hands are bait when grabbing giant catfish June 20, 2002 — Forget about forethought — or any other type of thought, really — when you stick your hand in front of a 40-pound catfish, hoping that the monster mistakes your fingers for food. Thinking can only cause problems. It’s best …
Read moreMississippi ‘masters’ lure lunkers … using only their hands as bait June 13, 2002 — Mike Willoughby emerged from the mud-brown Mississippi water as if he were part of a river baptism, as if the very spirit of the Holy Ghost had taken possession of his being. But Willoughby didn’t …
Read moreJune 6, 2002 — He is a predator of the sea, lurking deep beneath the surface, hiding inside cracks in the coral reef, waiting for dinner to swim by. But Wendell Ko does not have gills. He cannot breath underwater. Although, at times it seems like he can. Ko is …
Read moreJune 12, 2001 — The phone rang and rang. But it remained unanswered. The person trying to telephone the Magic charter fishing boat would have to wait. A fish was on the line. I was admiring the porpoises when it happened. There were dozens of them, and they splashed in …
Read moreMay 22, 2001 — Forgive me. I’m having trouble concentrating. I keep looking out the window instead of at my computer screen. I’d rather be out on the Chattahoochee River — floating along, fishing out of a kayak — instead of writing this column. I hadn’t tried it before last …
Read moreApril 3, 2001 — Think good thoughts. And set your alarm for 5 a.m. That’s what Henry Cowen’s father would say to him the night before a fishing trip. But, like clockwork, little Henry would be up and ready to go by 3 a.m. “Now I’m 42, taking people out …
Read moreFebruary 27, 2001 — Fly-tying is all about thread control, I was told. However, I’m not sure if thread control matters much to the fish. They’re just looking for something to eat. But the thread holds it all together — hook, fur, feather, foil — and allows the disparate ingredients …
Read moreJuly 4, 2000 — Right now, somewhere in Lake Lanier, two gar are likely reminiscing about the species’ halcyon days: the 50 million or so years before Jack Barnett started fishing. And right now, somewhere on Lake Lanier, Barnett is likely on his pontoon boat, reeling in one of these …
Read moreAugust 24, 1999 — The moonlight helped a little. I was having trouble seeing my line, let alone the tip of the fishing rod it was attached to. I hunkered down atop the boat and squinted out toward the waters of Lake Lanier, trying to see whether my line was …
Read moreMay 4, 1999 — Not until you’ve set the hook, won the battle and held the fish in your hands can you fully appreciate the thrill that is trout fishing on the tailwaters of the Chattahoochee. But images of hooks not quite set, of battles lost and of fish that …
Read moreMarch 16, 1999 — George Forrester doesn’t eat much. I met the FLW Tour angler at the Little River boat ramp while the sun was still rising, and neither of us had anything in our stomachs. But Forrester isn’t going to let a little thing like breakfast get in the …
Read moreJanuary 12, 1999 — I was watching a sea gull when it happened. I was hypnotized by the bird. It would dive to the water’s surface, bounce back into the air, and hover. Then it would do it again. Up. And down. Fishing for striped bass is a waiting game. …
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