For a man who has been making some of the finest artificial lures in the country for 31 years, Texan Lonnie Stanley sure was talking excitedly — gushing, actually — at length a few weeks ago about his newest baby: a Wedgetail Mini Wedge Runner.[…]
Whether it’s blue catfish or channel catfish, Central Louisiana’s coastal bays in the springtime are teeming with both. Toss in the occasional flathead, and what you have is the skinning pliers Ictalurus Trifecta of North America.[…]
Once again, the weather prognosticaters had proven that their job is better left to leaf readers and Ouija boards.[…]
It was late evening in the early summer. The five men assembled on the back deck of the Petrus family camp, set on a hill slope overlooking Lake D’Arbonne, were engaged in a masculine redneck ritual. Bobby Petrus, a.k.a. “The Claw,” was grilling meat, and all of them were exchanging humorous insults.
The rough-and-tumble humor, mixed with an equal blend of braggadocio and self-deprecation, was delivered with powerful North Louisiana twangs in what a Cajun or a New Orleanian would consider a foreign language.[…]
Catfish noodlers, grabbers or wrestlers, whatever you call them, take advantage of an important trait in the biology of North American freshwater catfish. They need to spawn in cavities of some kind.[…]
Catfish noodlers use a variety of man-made objects to entice flatheads into confining spaces where they can be grabbed. The “Women, Whiskey and Wrastl’in” crew have settled on bathtubs as their favorite. Preparing one takes substantial work.[…]
“Wrestl’in” catfish demands a few specialized tools. The piggin stick, described elsewhere, is important for more than riling up catfish. It is used in communication.[…]
Pelayo motioned me over with frantic gestures and wide eyes. Then he managed a frozen smile and turned back to the conversation with Artie’s spanking-new brother-in-law, Steve.[…]
April is one of the best months for both freshwater and marsh fly fishing. Picking the location and the species can be more difficult than catching the fish![…]
Upcoming Events[…]
Fishing is a lifetime pursuit; one never stops learning. Sometimes the education comes from books, videos or seminars. Sometimes it comes from the kids down the street.[…]
Lake Fork Trophy Lures’ 9-inch Hyper Lizard is as innovative as it is productive.[…]
Strip… strip… strip.
My mind was setting the cadence for a very slow retrieve of my weighted fly. Holding to the bottom meant that any change in the slack between rod tip and water would either be fish or snag.[…]
Sometimes we can’t help but assign human traits to other creatures, no matter how scientifically incorrect it is. So it is with the green sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus.[…]
Know the Difference: White Bass and Hybrid Striper[…]
Temple-Inland agreed to pay more than $760,000 to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries for work to restore fisheries in the Pearl River after the company’s plant in Bogalusa spilled so-called “black liquor” into the river and caused a massive fish kill in August, the LDWF said.[…]