Louisiana Sportsman

May 23, 2026

Species spotlight: Shellcracker

March 23, 2021 Brian Cope

The redear sunfish, aka shellcracker, chinquapin or yellow bream, is identified most easily by the colorful edge around it earflap.[…]

Fishing with a crappie master

March 14, 2021 Jared Serigne

Murphy Royer breaks down the best techniques for catching crappie along with the best baits and rod and reel combo.[…]

This technique is EXACTLY what the crappie want!

March 3, 2021 Todd Masson

Joel Masson and his buddy Emile Cangiamilla were fishing for sac-a-lait on the Tchefuncte River under tiny styrofoam corks.[…]

Crappie will start moving to the mouth of canals and small bayous when the water temperature gets to 60 degrees and stays there. (Photos by Keith Lusher Jr.)

Tchefuncte River sac-a-lait spreading out in March

February 25, 2021 Keith Lusher Jr.

Look for March crappie at mouths of canals, small bayous along Tchefuncte River. Slab-sized sac-a-lait spread out throughout the month.[…]

Planer boards allow guide Brad Taylor to slow-troll lures or minnows in very shallow water for crappie that have moved in to spawn.

Crappie on a different plane

February 19, 2021 Dusty Wilson

Planer boards allow fishermen to slow-troll their baits and lures in extremely shallow water as prespawn crappie move toward the bank.[…]

Blue catfish in this size range make fine table fare. Many anglers prefer this size for eating over larger ones. (Picture by Brian Cope)

Species spotlight: Blue catfish

February 19, 2021 Brian Cope

Blue catfish are highly adaptable and live in almost any type of freshwater; lakes, ponds, creeks, swamps or rivers.[…]

Threading a minnow on a jighead behind a soft-plastic bait gives your offering increased bulk and some flavor. (Photo by Terry Madewell)

Live minnows make a jig more productive

February 17, 2021 Phillip Gentry

Threading a minnow on a jighead behind a soft-plastic bait gives your crappie offering increased bulk and some flavor.[…]

Two whole crappie, thoroughly cleaned and seasoned.

That’s a ‘whole’ plate of crappie

February 12, 2021 Kinny Haddox

Kinny Haddox scaled, cleaned and removed all the inedible parts from two 16-inch crappie and decided to cook them whole.[…]

Bussey Brake gives up No. 2 white crappie

February 5, 2021 Kinny Haddox

Anthony Griffith caught a 3.60 pound Bussey Brake white crappie on Jan. 30, that will be the No. 2 white crappie ever caught in Louisiana.[…]

Bussey black crappie breaks 3-pound mark

January 29, 2021 Kinny Haddox

James Morgan of Rocky Branch hooked a 3.22-pound black crappie in some thick brush on Jan. 23 at Bussey Brake WMA.[…]

Northshore’s great cold-weather crappie bite continues

January 26, 2021 Keith Lusher Jr.

Ray Miller’s tried-and-true technique of fishing vertically around deep brush piles does the trick on crappie in Northshore waters.[…]

Clyde Folse has added to his line of crappie-fishing products a jighead he’s been using for 25 years.

Lure Review: Hamma Heads

January 26, 2021 Don Shoopman

Crappie Psychic’s Clyde Folse debuts the flat jigheads he’s been using to put crappie in the boat for decades.[…]

Rigging your catfish boat

January 22, 2021 Phillip Gentry

Description: Want to rig your boat for frequent bouts with catfish? Here’s how to outfit and rig the hull to make fishing a breeze or a battle.[…]

Try live crawfish when you target slab crappie

January 22, 2021 Kinny Haddox

Don’t forget crawfish for late-winter and early spring crappie. Crawfish and crawfish-colored lures start working best in February.[…]

Des Allemands, Boeuf areas hot for sac-a-lait

January 17, 2021 Don Shoopman

Canals and other waterways around Bayou Des Allemands and Lake Boeuf are places you’ll find sac-a-lait anglers targeting slabs in January.[…]

Bayou Lacombe basics for January sac-a-lait

January 11, 2021 Keith Lusher Jr.

Forrest Green of Lacombe has learned a lot about how colder temperatures affect the crappie bite on Bayou Lacombe.[…]