Freshwater Fishing

Stump field slabs

Every year during March and April, fishermen hammer Lake D’Arbonne’s shallow cypress trees and banks for spawning white perch (aka crappie or sac-a-lait).[…]

Inshore Fishing

Croaker Soaker

“I fish live bait — live croakers,” the 68-year-old says with conviction, as if looking for a challenge. “Using plastic can be a good way to find the fish,” he adds, seeming for a moment to soften a bit, “but when I find them, I throw croakers to catch more.[…]

Catfish

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.

From the Atchafalaya River to East Cote Blanche Bay, nearly every bayou, canal or unnamed tributary that empties freshwater is a potential location to drop anchor and tightline for catfish in this region.[…]

Freshwater Fishing

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.

From the Atchafalaya River to East Cote Blanche Bay, nearly every bayou, canal or unnamed tributary that empties freshwater is a potential location to drop anchor and tightline for catfish in this region.[…]

Freshwater Fishing

Goggle-eye chunky in Basin

I’ve always been taught catching a fish on the first cast is bad luck, so when my cork dipped beneath the surface of the water this morning (May 4) I was a little hesitant to set the hook.[…]

Inshore Fishing

Grand Isle trout

Zutie Auenson is clearly a man taken with Grand Isle, his April to September guiding headquarters. Although he is obsessed with speckled trout, he says that the island resort has it all.[…]

Contents

Bear Bayou Bream Basics

The anchor hadn’t settled on the bottom good before my wife made her first cast toward the trees along a stretch of Bear Bayou we regularly fish. As normal, she wasn’t playing around.[…]

Inshore Fishing

Terminal tackle

What is on the business end of Auenson’s line varies very little. The vast majority of the time it holds a Carolina rig with a live croaker. The rig is simple — 18 inches of 30-pound-test monofilament.[…]

Inshore Fishing

Summer cycle

Capt. Zutie Auenson has two fishing seasons. From sometime in September until late April, he charters from his permanent home in Golden Meadow.[…]