Smith & Wesson has two new models coming out hopefully in the fall. There is the new Bodyguard .380 with a built in laser. It has a 2-3/4” barrel with a 6 round magazine in double action only. This is S&W’s smallest and lightest semi-auto. This should sell for around $500.00.  Their .38 Bodyguard is a 5 shot double action only revolver that weighs only 14.3 ounces! This model also has its own built in laser. The cylinder release on the top of the frame makes this a truly ambidextrous revolver. It should sell for $550.00

The S&W model 642 is still our best selling revolver; at $469.99 it is the ideal carry revolver. Being small, lightweight, & hammerless makes this a good choice for beginners and experts who rely on this for their family’s protection.

Another good model is the Taurus Judge, a revolver that handles .45 long colt, or a .410 shot shell.  The .410 shot shell is good for self-defense and for snakes. Federal makes 2 great loads for this: buckshot that has four 000 buckshot pellets and shoots 1200 fps, and a load that carries 7/16 oz of #4 shot at 1200fps (both are 2-1/2” shells).

- Joe Hopkins

   We are checking our leaders for wind knots and abrasions; making sure that our blood knots are secure, and that the non-slip mono loop knot holding the fly to the leader is sound. You want to use a heavier rod for these fish; six weight to nine weight will do the job. Depending on the situation, a floating line or sinking line of any type can be used. We use heavy tippets for these fish, not necessarily because the fish will break us off, but because of the abrasions caused by their sandpaper mouths and the trauma caused by dock posts. A simple two-part leader is all we ever use for this type of fishing. I like three feet of thirty-pound Berkley Big Game mono with two or three feet of twenty pound blood-knotted to that. 

   The fish we are chasing are feeding under dock lights. The lights on the water at night attract plankton, the plankton attracts baitfish, and the baitfishes attract bigger fish. Where we live in Virginia, most of the bigger fish that are attracted are striped bass. On a good tide and in season, you can get into fish that range from school-sized to much larger. The fights that ensue are short and brutal, much of which involve trying to muscle the fish from under the dock to prevent them from breaking your leader or fly line off on the dock posts, which usually house razor sharp crustaceans. 

  Flies should mimic whatever baitfishes are present in shape and length, with color being of secondary importance. We use all types of imitations, and a wide range of flies will do the job, but these fish are not pushovers. Sometimes the striped bass can be as finicky as a freshwater trout for matching whatever food source is present. I like to use a non-slip mono loop to tie on the fly because it lets the fly act more naturally with a heavy tippet. 

  The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States, and Virginia has most of the Bay in its boundaries. There are a lot of opportunities for this type of fishing. Go get them!  

-Gabe Beverly

This past Monday the 26th of April Mickey and I headed to Pembroke Va. to fish the New River with Britt from the New River Outdoor Co. for my first smallmouth fishing experience. We stayed in a brand new Amish built three story log cabin that was five star. Tuesday we met Britt and rode to the river which was very clear. After backing in the raft and loading the boat we were off to go fishing!

After fishing top water lures for about 30 minutes Mickey tied on a Megabass suspending jerk bait, on his first cast he hung into huge Muskie that he fought for about 15 seconds before its gills cut the 20 pound braid like scissors. As soon as he broke the line we all tied on suspending jerk baits in a hurry. Not long after that Mickey landed 3 small mouths up to 19”. I was having a little trouble getting strikes until Britt showed me the proper way to work the jerk bait. It wasn’t long after that I landed my first ever small mouth, which was 18” and had three hooks and a tube jig lodged in its mouth! Just before we stopped for a nice shore lunch Mickey landed a 20.4” citation Small mouth!

We headed out after lunch and had trouble getting strikes on the jerk baits. We began to experiment with different lures until Mickey hung into another Muskie on a soft plastic stick bait. After a battling the fish a few minutes the fish once again snapped his line. After seeing Mickey lose 2 muskies, Britt began to call him “Muskie Mickey”, which we are still laughing about. About 3 PM I hung into another nice sized smallmouth which we got in and measured to be 20”, MY FIRST SMALLMOUTH CITATION MY FIRST TIME FISHING FOR THEM.

Around 5PM the wind picked up which made fishing pretty difficult.

We made our way down river out of the wind and “Muskie Mickey” once again hung another Muskie and gave him a serious fight. After about a 10 minute fight “Muskie Mickey” held up a 20 lbs.+ Muskie for the picture worth 10,000 words(and laughs). I ended the day with 8 fish and 3 over 17 inches and Mickey had 10 small mouths with 4 between 17” and 20.4” and 1 20lbs.+ Muskie. We had a fantastic trip!

            The people at New River outdoors are a top of the line group that I would recommend to anyone. These folks are professional and knowledgeable and well equipped with top of the line equipment: G Loomis Rods and Shimano reels. Anyone preparing to go after Smallies and Muskies please stop in Green Top to talk with “Muskie Mickey” and myself, we would love to hear from you.

-Dave Madison

-Todd Sadler

Some people will beg to differ, but in my opinion a skeet gun is a gun you shoot skeet with.  Now with that said, let me give you some advice on picking a skeet gun that will last you forever.  Depending on your budget, I would narrow it down to two types of guns.  First and least expensive would be a semi automatic.  The advantage of a semi auto is the initial cost and reduced felt recoil compared to an over and under.  Some nice examples would be a Beretta 391, Remington 1100, or a Benelli Sport II.  These are all top of the line autos that will give you a lifetime of service.

The second type of shotgun to look at is an over and under.  Here, for the guy who doesn’t want to spend over $3000.00, the choice would be a Beretta or Browning.  The advantage to an over/under shotgun is it will shoot any load you stick in it. An autoloader can get finicky with some of the lighter target loads.   Also, the stack barrel gun is much easier to take apart and clean.  As far as barrel lengths are concerned, you can’t go wrong with 28 or 30 inch barrels in either type of gun.  

All the new type guns of today have interchangeable choke tubes.  You can select the choke you want.  The preferred choke here would be skeet, but not tighter than improved cylinder. There are more advanced things you can do to your skeet gun, but here we want to have a good starting point. 

One word of advice I will give to an aspiring skeet shooter or just the weekend recreational shotgunner – buy a good name brand gun.  This will save you a lot of money in the long run.  A good rule of thumb is if you have never heard of a particular brand – don’t buy it.  If money is a concern always looks to buy used. I usually do. 

Shotgunning is supposed to be fun.  Don’t ruin your fun second guessing the gun you purchased.  

Head down and watch the bird- 

Travis Barrett

The best advice I can give to a beginner is when you are working a bird into your set up, never outcall the gobbler. Always stay one level below his interest. In other words, tease him and make it sound like you’re not interested in him. One of my favorite tricks for playing hard to get is to make a pile of leaves and sift them with a stick as I make feeding purrs with my Legacy diaphragm calls. This makes the Tom think that hens are feeding along, that everything is content and the woods are safe. But, at the same time, it sounds like the hens are more interested in feeding than love. A gobbler can’t stand being left out of the picture and will usually try to find the source of the calling. One helpful rule to remember that I use is I say to myself, “How can I kill this bird with the least amount of calling?” Start with subtle and less aggressive calling but be prepared to take it to the next level.

Now that the bird is convinced you are the real thing and is on his way, it is important to stop calling at this point and make him seek you out. The moment of truth is approaching. You’ve done everything right and there he is at forty yards only to realize your gun barrel is pointed in the wrong direction. This scenario can be avoided by paying attention to the direction of the gobble and continue to shift your body and gun into the right position. Also, be ready to take advantage of the cover between you and the bird before he actually appears. If your gun is off a few degrees, you can move your gun barrel slightly when his vision is blocked by a tree or other type of cover. When the bead is on his neck, let him take his natural course and enjoy the show. Then take him when you get the shot. A good turkey vest helps me to sit comfortably and keeps my calls organized. It also keeps me from losing my calls in case I have to get up and move to a better tree.

Stop by Green Top and I’ll be glad to give any instruction that can help with your success. Maybe this will be the season that you dethrone the King of Spring. Happy Hunting!

-Joe Rothgeb

I spent 7 hours yesterday wading in tennis shoes and shorts through nasty swamps and ponds repairing and brushing blinds. And a few more hours after that putting up blind licenses elsewhere. I have more cuts, scratches, and stains from sap and mud on my hands than I’ve had since this time last year. My hands still feel like they’re gripping a paddle. Not to mention the seed ticks and chiggers I picked up while cutting brush. What a great time of year!!! On the plus side, there were 40 or 50 woodies swimming around one blind when we showed up. October duck season will be here soon enough. Don’t fail to scout your ducks while doing all this work for goose season. And keep your eyes open for the teal as they blow through our state this month. If you’re lucky there will still be some around later this month when teal season opens up. I had a friend report seeing a nice group of 30 blue-wingers a couple weeks ago. That flocks probably in Florida by now.

Sunday I’ll be cutting fresh grass and grassing up all my layout blinds. Then doing more work on building walk-ways through the swamp to where I want to put some new permanent blinds. A slow process when it’s a new piece of property and you’re starting from scratch. And when you haven’t seen where the winter birds like to go, you’ve got to guess. Put it in the wrong spot and it’s a costly mistake. Lumber’s not cheap these days.

I hope you’re getting out there and getting ready. If you’ve got spots you’ve always hunted that you go to without scouting, then I hope the birds are there for you, and not in reduced numbers. If you’re the type who is always on the go, hunting a lot of mediocre spots like me, and trying to figure out which spot will be best, then I hope you find something good by the opener. Good Luck and Good Hunting!

- Brad Stephenson