Bass Fishing
How to maximize Carolina-rigging
When bass are deep, there’s no better way to coax them into biting than dragging a big chunk of plastic on a Carolina rig past their noses.[…]
Fishing
Inshore Fishing
Know how to pick the right topwater
Using topwater lures to catch fish is a favorite technique of many fishermen. The lure wobbles across the surface, imitating a thrashing, wounded baitfish, and the strikes come in knee-weakening violence.[…]
Field Notes
Never break your pull rope again
Tim Bye wants his pull rope to last as long as possible, and he’s come up with a way to do that using a piece of flexible rubber tubing.[…]
Fishing
Tippets
On the coast, most of the action for speckled trout will come in the surf or in the larger lakes and bays. Start with poppers — such as Skipping Bugs — at first light. Around midmorning, switch to sinking flies. In the surf, that would be either a Deep Clouser or weighted Seaducer pattern. Let the fly sink for 10 seconds; then strip. Inland, that would be a clouser or weighted shrimp pattern about 30 inches under a VOSI.[…]
Bass Fishing
Other heavy finesse bass-fishing tactics
Drop-shots aren’t the only finesse rigs that can be beefed up to provide bass a bite-enducing curve ball. Here are some other options:[…]
Bass Fishing
How to get bottom rigs unhooked when bass fishing
If the heavy finesse strategy has a hang-up, then we’ve punned our way into the explanation — hang-ups, snags, entanglements.[…]
Bass Fishing
Skip your way to more bass
By flipping his frogs, Kenny Covington is able to put his lure in places where other topwater lures just can’t go.[…]
Field Notes
Doing macaroni for chumming mangrove snapper
Angler David Meyers explains how he learned to use macaroni boiled in crab boil for mangrove snapper chum from an old timer.[…]
Bass Fishing
Toledo Bend bass anglers tangle with cannibalistic frog
During a bass-fishing trip to Toledo Bend the middle of May, Jason Pittman and his dad Floyd found themselves flinging hollow-bodied frog on top of grass mats in the back of a pocket.[…]
Offshore Fishing
Bermuda chum surprisingly tastey
Some fish you never think seriously of eating. […]
Freshwater Fishing
Bank-fishing checklist:
Bank fishing is like anything else: You can make it simple or you can make it complicated.[…]
Offshore Fishing
Pulling the trigger on trigger fish
Gray triggerfish are a prized bycatch to red snapper fishing. Their delectable table qualities are evident in their nickname “armored snapper.”[…]
Freshwater Fishing
Bank-fishing fit for a king
In some cases, bank-fishing can make you king.[…]
Fishing
How to peel a blue crab
As wonderful as blue crabs are to eat, there is no doubt that their meat is tough to get out of the shell. Follow these steps to culinary heaven.[…]
Fishing
Louisiana crabbing regulations
Recreational crabbing requirements are minimal, both license- and gear-wise. But, according to Sgt. Mike Garrity of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement Division, some licenses are required and there are some rules to the game.[…]
Fishing
Island people
When Barbara and Les Picard call themselves “island people,” they don’t mean to imply that they are natives of Grand Isle. It means they love all islands, whether in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, or the Gulf of Mexico.[…]