Bass Fishing
Polarized glasses essential to success
Monster bass can be all over the banks and locked on beds, but if they can’t be seen they can’t be caught.[…]
Sidebars
Bass Fishing
Keys to sight-fishing
Anyone who has ever set up on a bedding bass knows there’s the real potential to burn hours of fishing time without getting that fish to bite.[…]
Bass Fishing
Leave the males
Some anglers swear the best way to catch a female bass off a bed is snatch the male into the boat and store it in the livewell. Craig Graham doesn’t subscribe to that theory.[…]
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.[…]
Bass Fishing
Anchors down
It’s impossible to catch bedding fish if your boat is drifting all over the place. A trolling motor helps, but anglers have to be very careful not to wash the targeted fish.[…]
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.[…]
Bass Fishing
Jerkbait ups aggravation factor
Most anglers think of soft-plastic baits when bed fishing comes to mind, and they are an important part of Craig Graham’s arsenal.[…]
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.[…]
Bass Fishing
‘Be mean to the fish’
Anglers might be afraid to spook a big bass off a bed, but St. Francisville’s Craig Graham intentionally targets the fish with his bait.[…]
Inshore Fishing
Lure lore
“What they bitin’ on?”
Odds are that will be the first question one angler will ask another who is having a good day. It is easy to assume that professional guides, people whose livings hinge on catching fish, would have the biggest assortment of lures.[…]
Bass Fishing
Tower above it all
Craig Graham and I looked across a Caney Lake cove and saw another sight-fisherman who had a distinct advantage: His front deck was rigged out with a stainless steel tower.[…]
Inshore Fishing
Transition tactics
Capt. John Aucoin defines the spring transition period in eastern Terrebonne as the months of March and April. Through February, speckled trout will be found bunched mostly in waters north of Catfish Lake.[…]
Bass Fishing
Go white for sight-fishing
Pretty much any plastic lure will work to snatch big sows off beds, but Craig Graham has a particular affinity for a Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw.[…]
Bass Fishing
Boat block
Wind is the sight-fisherman’s enemy, but Craig Graham said there is a way to minimize the waves that break visual contact with bedding bass.[…]
Bass Fishing
Crankbait tip
On our recent trip to Bayou Teche, Foulcard and I used crankbaits almost exclusively, and switched to soft plastics around mid-morning, when conditions and terrain warranted.[…]
Bass Fishing
Optimizing your tube
For those deep jobs with a lead head inserted into your tube, you’ll enhance the bait with a few well-placed snips. First, cut a ¼- to ½-inch slit in the tube’s body along the inside edge of the hook shank.[…]