Posts by Daryl Kirby
Lower Chattahoochee Flathead Catfish Sets Record
A new record for flathead catfish on the lower Chattahoochee River was set on Saturday, March 9, 2019 by Tiff Thompson, of Americus. Tiff was fishing an M&J Catfish War Tournament Trail event when he caught his record flathead. The next day, when Tiff got the fish weighed on certified scales at Stripling’s General Store…
Read MoreCoosa River Record Walleye Finally Recognized
The Coosa River has a new mark for walleye, and it’s a 7-lb., 4-oz. fish caught 30 years ago. On Feb. 5, 1989, Samuel Luster, of Powder Springs, was fishing with two friends at the Lock & Dam on the Coosa River upstream of Lake Weiss when he hooked the record walleye. “We were fishing…
Read MoreGeorgia’s Turkey Situation
The story of wild turkeys in Georgia has all the elements of a novel. Like all good plots, our wild turkey story includes the obligatory tragedy, a fall. Dark days. While some hunters would say it’s getting too dark for comfort in their turkey woods right now, the true dark days were during the last…
Read MoreTurning Of A Page
I’ve written a few of these over the years. It’s always an honor, but I’m not real fond of writing this column, not this month. GON magazine has been publishing for 32 years now, and we can count on one hand the number of times Steve Burch didn’t fill this space in the magazine with…
Read MoreLast-Chance Bucks And A Deer Season Recap
It ain’t quite over, but we’re about to put a period on another Georgia deer season. For us at GON, by the end of November it feels like our deer season might last forever. Then one day you look up, and the Truck-Buck entries stop coming in, and so do the emails and phone calls…
Read More204-Inch Bow-Buck Returned To 17-Year-Old Hunter
The saga of a massive Worth County buck taken with a bow by a 17-year-old hunter, later confiscated by DNR because the teen didn’t have a valid hunting license, has concluded with the young hunter paying a fine and the rack being returned. “We paid the fine, and we got the horns,” said Jeff Paramore,…
Read MoreFix The College Football Playoff… An SEC Championship Hangover
I bleed black with my red. You can hate my love for UGA, no worries. Good ol’ fashioned hate, I get it. I’m super proud of those college kids who fought so hard, and grateful that we have a football team that’s been championship relevant for two straight seasons. Saying they have been relevant is…
Read MoreHunting And Fishing Remembrances
There are still some childhood memories so vivid, so clear, that even the tastes and smells come back. That’s rather amazing—given that I’m closer to 60 than 30 and I’m still having these childhood memories. That I can remember where I left the truck keys, much less childhood memories, is a small victory most days.…
Read MoreThe Link Between Veterans And Sportsmen
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month… only one American holiday recognizes a specific moment in time. That holiday recognizes the specific moment when the papers ending World War I were signed. Originally called Armistice Day, the holiday was expanded after World War II to include all veterans, and then the…
Read More2018 Duck Hunting Forecast For Georgia
Those record fall flight numbers from the feds don’t mean much for most Georgia duck hunters. It’s going to be wood ducks if it’s a successful morning in the swamp. Still, with record numbers of mallards, gadwall and teal heading south, maybe a flock will stray off and migrate right to my duck hole. The…
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