Planning your own trip

By DARRELL CURETON

I am the kind of person who doesn’t always want to pay a guide when I go somewhere to fish, or to hunt for that matter. Most if not all places that you travel to have public areas to use for outdoor activities. This is no different than living somewhere in town and not having private ground to use for your outdoor adventures. With some research you can be successful at both hunting and fishing all by yourself without spending a small fortune on a so-called professional.

I have traveled to almost every state and several other countries around the world. In most of my travels, I have carried some sort of fishing rod. Whenever my wife says, ‘Hey, were going here on vacation,” I immediately look up the laws for where we are going, and then of course what licenses cost.

Catch The Details

If its salt water, there is usually a website that says what fish are traveling in that area at the time we will be there. Then I start getting into all the details. Years ago, this wasn’t possible, but now it is. Start looking for public areas to fish, and if it is even feasible to get to where the fish are without a boat. Sometimes when you are looking for saltwater fishing, it can be difficult, but you have Google maps. You can zoom in and look at how close the reefs or mangroves are to the beaches or if there is a way you can wade or walk to them.

You must remember that all over the world there are private beaches where owners get really excited about someone trespassing.

Know The Hazards

There are some other things you must think about when you are in other areas you are not familiar with is the wildlife and plants. There are a lot of different critters everywhere.

You could end up in a bad situation in a hurry if you are not familiar with what is in the area, such as jellyfish, sharks, venomous snakes and lizards. There can be a wide variety of hazardous plants as well. I know here in Missouri we have poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac and quite a few venomous snakes.

Some of my most successful do-it-yourself largemouth bass fishing trips came from just picking out a public pond somewhere and fishing whenever I had time while I was on the road, working.

In Detroit, years ago, I was working 12-hour days and would go the last couple hours before dark and catch a massive amount of bass from this small public pond. On one of my best days, I ended up with six bass over 4 pounds each. All I did was wade through the weeds and start fishing.

The game warden stopped me, and was mind-blown by all of the ones I was catching. Then he decided to say that everyone else was too busy fishing for smallmouth and walleye.

GUIDES ARE GOOD, TOO

Now, am I saying that getting a guide is a bad idea? No, I am not, but things don’t always work out in your schedule or theirs, or they are just too expensive. I have had successful guided trips in Cabo San Lucas and Cancun. But I have also had DIY trips in Florida when I caught bunches of fish because I did a bunch of research. Don’t be afraid of doing it yourself – it can be done

Improve your shotgun bird hunting skills!

Targets in 5-stand shotgun shooting imitate the flight patterns of popular game birds. Shooters rotate through five stations where clay targets can fly left and right, toward, and away and at different angles and speeds – even bounce on the ground.

Both MDC shooting ranges in the St. Louis region are hosting 5-stand at the following times through Aug. 31:

August A. Busch

Shooting Range

Thursday 1 - 7:30 p.m.

Friday 10 am. - 4:30 p.m.

Jay Henges

Shooting Range

Wednesday 1 - 7:30 p.m.

Thursday 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

5-stand is excellent prep for game bird hunting and can sharpen your shotgun skills.

$4 per round, cash or check only. Includes clay birds; eye and ear protection available. No reservations, first come first served. Visit mdc.mo.gov/shootingranges to learn more.