- Joined
- Jul 1, 2025
- Messages
- 78
What makes your home range/area unique? I live on the Coast and have for most of my life so I am most comfortable hunting, fishing, hiking and camping down here. It is, however, incredibly expensive. No, I'm not talking about the cost of living here. I'm talking about the cost of taking advantage of all the activities available to it's residents and visitors.
Starting in the northern end of what I call "the Coast" you have the Pine Belt with it's rolling small hills and dense pine plantations. Travel a little south and you encounter flatter farmland with sprawling fields, smaller family farms, dairies, pasture land and hay fields. Keep traveling south and you hit the swamps of the Pascagoula River Basin. Immediately following, along the coast, you encounter the marsh which empties into several bays before joining the Mississippi Sound. The Sound is separated from the Gulf of America by the Barrier Islands.
In an effort to keep this short I will only write about the boats needed to fully enjoy this area. Because the area is crisscrossed with branches, creeks and rivers it is also dotted with mud holes, ponds and lakes. To take advantage of the small water a fellow needs a pirogue, a canoe, and a kayak. Not only that but he needs a couple of sizes of each. After all a 17 foot family canoe just won't do for a one man float camping trip.
And what about fishing boats? Yeah with this much water you can catch almost any species of fish. A small aluminum boat you can throw in the truck to haul to those gunkholes, sloughs, ponds and lakes is a must. Some of the best fishing is in the tiniest waters. But you also need a 15-17 footer to catfish, crappie fish and pulling out those bream from the river and larger lakes. And that doesn't begin to cover the need for a bass boat. The rivers and upper marsh areas hold some mighty nice bass just waiting for the right presentation of the correct color lure. Of course, some of us older, err more mature folk call them green trout and use minnows under a cork to get them to the table.
Now that we are in the march we need to talk about a bay boat. A well rigged bay boat is necessary for chasing redfish, speckled trout and flounder. You need something with some size to run from the Grand Bay on the east side to the Bay of St. Louis on the west. If you choose well it can also make a run to the Islands or even the shallower fish havens offshore. And speaking of offshore we have scuba diving, spear fishing, deep sea trolling and reef fishing for grouper and big snapper. Yeah that does take a different boat. You need one with more room to haul you and the families gear. Plus it can double for island camping trips and sitting offshore to watch all the local firework displays during the New Year and Independence Day holidays.
While we are offshore lets not forget about sailboats, recreational or small shrimp boats and for the more adventurous the cruisers for trips to the Keys or maybe the Caribbean or Bahama Islands. And if you are inclined to do trips like that you might consider a "Great Loop" trip up the Intracoastal Waterway, through the Great Lakes and down the rivers to get back into the Gulf at New Orleans or Mobile Bay.
This might seem like a lot of boats to you but I didn't even touch on ski boats, party barges, race boats, air boats, mud boats equipped with long tail or surface drive outboards and lay out boats those duck hunter use. Also a lot of the boats mentioned will pull double duty. That kayak is a fine platform for fishing the shallow marsh and floating those small rivers and creeks. If you live and play in the part of Mississippi south of Highway 98 you need a boat or several boats or lots of friends with different types of boats.
So, what are the draws to your part of our great state? Tell me why I should come visit your area. Later on I might stop back by to talk about the hunting opportunities down here on "the Coast".
Starting in the northern end of what I call "the Coast" you have the Pine Belt with it's rolling small hills and dense pine plantations. Travel a little south and you encounter flatter farmland with sprawling fields, smaller family farms, dairies, pasture land and hay fields. Keep traveling south and you hit the swamps of the Pascagoula River Basin. Immediately following, along the coast, you encounter the marsh which empties into several bays before joining the Mississippi Sound. The Sound is separated from the Gulf of America by the Barrier Islands.
In an effort to keep this short I will only write about the boats needed to fully enjoy this area. Because the area is crisscrossed with branches, creeks and rivers it is also dotted with mud holes, ponds and lakes. To take advantage of the small water a fellow needs a pirogue, a canoe, and a kayak. Not only that but he needs a couple of sizes of each. After all a 17 foot family canoe just won't do for a one man float camping trip.
And what about fishing boats? Yeah with this much water you can catch almost any species of fish. A small aluminum boat you can throw in the truck to haul to those gunkholes, sloughs, ponds and lakes is a must. Some of the best fishing is in the tiniest waters. But you also need a 15-17 footer to catfish, crappie fish and pulling out those bream from the river and larger lakes. And that doesn't begin to cover the need for a bass boat. The rivers and upper marsh areas hold some mighty nice bass just waiting for the right presentation of the correct color lure. Of course, some of us older, err more mature folk call them green trout and use minnows under a cork to get them to the table.
Now that we are in the march we need to talk about a bay boat. A well rigged bay boat is necessary for chasing redfish, speckled trout and flounder. You need something with some size to run from the Grand Bay on the east side to the Bay of St. Louis on the west. If you choose well it can also make a run to the Islands or even the shallower fish havens offshore. And speaking of offshore we have scuba diving, spear fishing, deep sea trolling and reef fishing for grouper and big snapper. Yeah that does take a different boat. You need one with more room to haul you and the families gear. Plus it can double for island camping trips and sitting offshore to watch all the local firework displays during the New Year and Independence Day holidays.
While we are offshore lets not forget about sailboats, recreational or small shrimp boats and for the more adventurous the cruisers for trips to the Keys or maybe the Caribbean or Bahama Islands. And if you are inclined to do trips like that you might consider a "Great Loop" trip up the Intracoastal Waterway, through the Great Lakes and down the rivers to get back into the Gulf at New Orleans or Mobile Bay.
This might seem like a lot of boats to you but I didn't even touch on ski boats, party barges, race boats, air boats, mud boats equipped with long tail or surface drive outboards and lay out boats those duck hunter use. Also a lot of the boats mentioned will pull double duty. That kayak is a fine platform for fishing the shallow marsh and floating those small rivers and creeks. If you live and play in the part of Mississippi south of Highway 98 you need a boat or several boats or lots of friends with different types of boats.
So, what are the draws to your part of our great state? Tell me why I should come visit your area. Later on I might stop back by to talk about the hunting opportunities down here on "the Coast".
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