Capt. Jeff Larson

How many Redheads can winter in Calhoun County? The answer has to be, all of them. It’s an awesome sight when several hundred of those pudgy balls of feathers come swinging into the pocket of your historic J hook pattern or the hole you left for the puddlers in front of your duck blind. Don’t you agree?

They make the rookie waterfowler look like a seasoned duck man. Especially, when you have been sitting in the blind for an hour or two without seeing a duck. Then here they come just like you promised your buddies. Redheads always save a slow duck hunt. You have to love them.

And how cool do you look, when you hit a feeding chuckle on a mallard call and a flock of redheads bank back into your set? I am not a fan of a mallard call caller or green head mallard decoys being used on the Island even though we have killed several green heads this year. It just is not the norm to shoot mallards in the saltwater marsh. We have received reports of a few more mallards being killed in the salt marsh over the last 25 years. They usually show up after a hard Artic Blast, lost. A soft double reed mallard call works better or a special designed Gadwall call will be much more effective in the marsh than an Arkansas Mallard High Ball’r. Remember, you will have a better chance to shoot black mallards than green heads in the salt marsh. So if you ever kill a Greenhead on the bay, it is a rare event, you should be stoked when you hang that bird on your strap. Oh, make sure to send that picture to your Facebook friends. It’s definitely worth bragging about. The best advice I can pass on to the newer marsh hunters is use a soft mallard call and a whistle type caller. These two styles of calls will serve you better in this Coastal Marsh than the mega phone mallard hi ball calls. Another nugget for you, for the late season, is no calling at all, this can be a better tactic than trying to call at every duck you see. Try it from time to time, I’m sure your buddies in the blind need a break from your party favor, lol.

Duck season will close at the end of the month but conservation goose season still presses on into February. If you haven’t downed enough feathers this season call the Lodge and Scott will make arrangements with Capt Jake for you to go on a first class goose hunt. Sandhill Cranes are here in full force and if you never hunted Sandhill Cranes we can get you on a spectacular crane hunt. These birds are huge and look like 747’s coming in for a landing. And YES, you can miss these monster birds at 30 yards, so lead ‘em.

The tides are still low and Tow Boat is still bailing people out, so pay attention to the areas you traverse, slow down if you are headed to uncharted areas. The good thing about dropping tides and colder weather is that it concentrates trout, reds and drum in the bay. Sheepshead are still hungry and they are in their winter pattern. Flounder are around but are taking a break in the bays for the most part. They are out of the passes spawning in the cooler waters.

I really enjoyed last month’s article written by Robert Sloan. It is a must read for visiting duck hunters. Robert brought up a long time public marsh debate about hunting duck blinds you did not build. No matter what your position on this old topic is, we have to work within the boundaries we have been given by the State. My suggestion is, keep what ever area you use or set up in, CLEAN! PICK UP your trash!

The next few months are setting up to be a banner fishing year . Wade Fishermen will be targeting Trophy Speckled Trout. Sow Trout will be bulking up, gaining their eggs and waiting on the bottom to ambush easy bait fish as they swim by their spawning area. If you are looking to catch a bag full of filets or a wall hanger you need to call the Lodge and get with Scott on availability of the Lodge and Guides. The Saltwater Lodge reservation line is: 361 – 785 – 3825.

KEEP YOUR ANCHOR ON THE BOTTOM, (your boat won’t float away)

Captain Jeff Larson, 281-217-0399

Ryder, Peyton, Jenny, John and Greg on a red head melt down.
-Capt. Jeff Larson

Golden Winter Time Reds – Capt. Jeff Larson

Wake me when I get home, Capt. Jeff.