Columns

Small, compact spinnerbait a hit

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.[…]

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Back to basics

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.[…]

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D’Arbonne’s Daffy Divers

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.[…]

Freshwater Fishing

Why a hole?

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.[…]

Freshwater Fishing

Rub-a-dub tub

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.[…]

Catfish

Tools of the trade

“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.[…]

Freshwater Fishing

Tippets

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![…]

Columns

Stop before you clean it

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.[…]