Bass Fishing
Schools of thought
The siren song of schooling bass has lured many an unsuspecting angler to spend the rest of his days wondering what the heck just happened.[…]
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Catfish
Look, mom: No bait!
Catfishing is supposed to be all about a gob of slimy worms, or bloody chicken liver, or smelly cut bait — or better yet some concoction of secret ingredients, usually including spoiled sour cheese.[…]
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Pick your poison
I sure was happy when Jeff Poe pointed his boat’s pointy nose north out of Hebert’s Landing on Calcasieu Lake. In the early light, the sky to the south looked like a bruised eggpant — purple and ugly. […]
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Get the drop on Trestles specks
The legendary Trestles train bridge on Lake Pontchartrain is loaded with fish — and fishermen — every spring. When the speckled trout bite is super hot and winds are calm, the 5-mile-long bridge often has a boat on almost every piling.[…]
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Better late than never
Although he still gets up some mornings at 3 a.m. to participate in the rat race to go catch fish, Kevin Lawson admittedly isn’t as mad at speckled trout as he used to be.[…]
Bass Fishing
River rattin’
“Ya ever been on the river before?” drawled the laconic 48-year-old.
“Nah,” I had to answer.[…]
Crappie/Bream
Look down for slabs
Jerry “J.T.” Thompson stared intently at the screen of his 12-inch down-scan unit as he brought the pontoon boat off plane.[…]
Bass Fishing
Perfecting your pocket hopping
Think of a scavenger hunt: You’re trying to locate a specific objective and the task requires a lot of looking. Random scrambling wastes too much time, so you try to mentally break down the search by likely parameters — where would the hunted items likely exist?[…]
Crappie/Bream
Flat out crappie
“The fish have it backwards when it comes to the weather,” Nick Young said as he cruised his big Ranger down the edge of the boat channel, scanning his electronics for suspended crappie.[…]
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Sting the king
Lean, mean biting machines, king mackerel pack a mouthful of sharp teeth that’ll make short work of monofilament or even fluorocarbon line. These fish are also notorious for snipping baits in half and missing single hook-rigs.[…]
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South shore smackdown – How to target speckled trout in Lake Pontchartrain
Homework and studying are some of the biggest complaints from high school and college students. They go to class all day, then come home and have to hit the books again.[…]
Bass Fishing
Small bait … big results – How to use a finesse jig to catch more bass
When you ask a specialist to design a tool, they’ll likely give you a prototype with the details that matter most. That’s what Bassmaster Elite Series pro David Walker did for Z-Man when he designed the Cross EyeZ Power Finesse Jig.[…]
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Hope floats – Popping cork pointers to catch more reds and speckled trout
Sometimes it’s the noise, other times it’s the approach. Either way, popping cork rigs are a must-have tool for your inshore arsenal.[…]
Alligator
Winning the (gator) lottery
It’s a long boat ride down the Calumet spillway to the Atchafalaya Delta Wildlife Management Area’s Wax Lake Unit. It’s also a straight run, which makes it a perfect time for reflecting.[…]
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Redfishing tips from tourney vets
Even if you’re just competing for weekend bragging rights, these insights from successful tournament anglers will help you put more redfish in the boat.[…]
Deer Hunting
Growing a poor man’s food plot
These days, a deer hunter wears many hats — mechanic, butcher, biologist and farmer. The latter can take up just as much time as hunting does, and some folks dedicate thousands of dollars to growing food for their deer herd. […]