M_S_2015_04_

18 Mississippi Sportsman^ | April 2015

O

bviously, crappie would dominate this month’s recom-

mended fishing trips in Mississippi. Instead, let’s concen-

trate on another panfish species popular in the Magnolia

State that gets hot in April.

Biologists call it a redear bream, named for the cherry-red edges

of its opercular gill flaps on males and the orange edges on

females. Most Mississippi fishermen know it as a chinquapin —

phonetically pronounced chinky-pin — while others, especially

in the coastal areas, call it a shellcracker for its taste for snails and

other small mollusks.

It spawns well ahead of the most-common bluegill bream,

meaning redear hit the beds in April.

Here’s where to look on the April 4 full moon:

1. Pascagoula River basin: Native to the river system, some
   of the finest shellcracker action in the state is in this long,
   undammed waterway that includes the Pascagoula, Leaf and
   Chickasawhay rivers, as well as Black and Red creeks. The Pasca-
   goula River system is the last unregulated major river system in
   the lower 48 states. The redear does very well in tidal waters.


2. Lake Geiger: This lake at Johnson State Park south of Hat-
   tiesburg on U.S. Highway 49 has more bluegill than redear, but
   there’s enough chinquapins here to bring fishermen in search in

UPDATE

Outdoor

continues

Top 5

April fishing trips

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Brody Kitchings of Decatur caught

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