Follow this plan to put plenty of Cocodrie trout in your box this month.
My 9-year-old son came home with one of those joke IQ tests. You know, the ones designed to reveal the fact that you’re a moron.
The first question was, “How many of each animal did Moses take on the ark?”
The answer, of course, is none. Moses’ good buddy Noah was actually the one who built the ark.
The next question was, “What color was the Lone Ranger’s horse Silver?
The show predated me, so I wasn’t exactly sure, but I’d have to guess the horse was silver.
Either way, it doesn’t matter. The horse is dead now.
So it probably won’t mind if we take a few minutes to beat it.
One of the biggest stories of 2008 was the refusal of a federal appeals court to overturn an absurd ruling from a lower court that, for all practical purposes, made river systems in Louisiana illegal to fish.
We’ve covered it enough in Louisiana Sportsman that I won’t bore you with the details. You probably already know them.
But it’ll be interesting to watch and see how the ruling affects the 51 anglers who descend on Louisiana’s Red River this month to fish the 2009 Bassmasters Classic.
Are these anglers going to obey what is now the confirmed law and fish within the low-water marks of the river? Or are they going to fan out, and creep into backwater areas that are commonly fished by locals — illegally, according to the courts.
There’s not an inch of dirt in any area outside of the low-water marks that isn’t owned by somebody, and when the river rises — as it does every year — and covers that dirt, the court has ruled that anglers have no legal right to float their boats on that water.
Louisiana’s inane laws relative to this topic have the potential to get the state blacklisted from all future tournaments by redfish as well as bass organizations.
Most of the anglers who come here on the various redfish circuits break the law by fishing private ponds or traversing private canals.
How long before a) one of these anglers gets arrested, or b) one of the anglers who obeys state law sues the circuit for allowing a less-diligent angler to win?
It’s certain to eventually happen.
Unless, by some miracle, someone in Baton Rouge gets some sense and pushes to change the law.
