Editorial Opinion – April 2025

If you follow mainstream news, the drum beat of national politics never ends—budgets, departments, confirmation hearings, waste, fraud, taxes, tariffs and Trump… but you’re not going to hear anything about where the crappie are biting or whether there will be any turkeys willing to gobble this spring. At GON, we try to leave national politics…

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Editorial-Opinion March 2025

There’s a bit of a last-minute re-write to this month’s editorial, and it’s in the wrong direction—or maybe it’s the right direction. Let’s just say the path diverged from how thoughts are normally put to paper around here. The normal path… something shiny gets our attention, and by shiny I mean it is often when…

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Lake Varner Fishing Holding Its Quality

If you like to fish, especially in small lakes, there’s nothing like a warming trend in early February. Add into the recipe a trip to Lake Varner with its history of producing big largemouth bass, and no surprise the snooze button saw no action before I jumped out of bed to start a cup of…

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Editorial-Opinion February 2025

“The Golden Age of America begins right now.” Those were the opening words from the mouth of our 47th president a few weeks ago as he began his inauguration address. His second such address, which is not unheard of in American political history, but it is only the second time a second presidential term was…

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Editorial-Opinion January 2025

Continuity is key. If not for familiarity and some ‘same-same’ in process, it would never be possible for GON’s crew to produce our monthly magazine along with all the other elements of this community—articles posting daily on the website, our email newsletter, the Outdoor Blast, keeping and compiling deer and fish records, and trying to…

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The GON Subscription Drive Contest – Help GON!

We need your help, and in return and as extra incentive, we’re giving away a bunch of great stuff, including a $1,700 Bergara rifle. Through Dec. 31 of this year, for each gift subscription to GON that you buy for a family member or friend, you earn a chance in a drawing for some great…

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Editorial-Opinion December 2024

That’s a monster buck killed at Piedmont Refuge a few weeks ago. If you didn’t see it, look back at the picture on page 48. It’s not the first time this historic piece of Georgia hunting dirt has thrown out a big buck, and I’m betting it won’t be the last. Like so often when…

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A.H. Stephens State Park Lake Buncombe Topwater Bass

Back in the day, before internet search engines were around to give anglers instant information, we relied on word of mouth—or we hoped GON might send a writer—when looking for information on small lakes open to public fishing. It’s surprising how many small public lakes there still are where there’s simply no information about the…

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