Creature Feature

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	Yellowfins: Cold as a fish — or not? May 02, 2011 at 8:32 am Yellowfin tuna have become one of the more important recreational and commercial fish species in the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Their growth in popularity seemed to come from nowhere. For example, prior to 1985, there were no commercial landings for the species in the state as far back as records were kept. By 1988, commercial landings were over 12 million pounds.

	Marshes are a blacktip shark’s cradle March 22, 2011 at 8:33 am The Gulf of Mexico is home to a lot of sharks, but only a few of them penetrate regularly into inshore waters. While tiger sharks prowl beaches and are especially common near the Chandeleur Islands, two of the most common inshore species are the bull shark and the blacktip shark.

	Liberal limits for red’s smaller cousin March 21, 2011 at 8:33 am Is vermilion a shade of red? Not when the season on red is closed or the limit is so low it is almost embarrassing to admit you are targeting them. We are talking about snappers, of course — red snappers and vermilion snappers.

	Yes, Louisiana does have other bass January 26, 2011 at 10:06 am A large segment of Louisiana’s freshwater fishing community has become obsessed with black bass, almost to the exclusion of interest in other fish. Two species of black bass live in Louisiana waters, the largemouth and the spotted. Both of them, as well as the cooler-water smallmouth black bass, which is not found in the state, are eligible for entry in Bass Angler Sportsman Society tournaments.

	Parasites are the biggest predators December 29, 2010 at 12:56 pm Never take a biologist fishing; they can really slow things down. So Ed Sexton, the great Trout Master, found. South of Venice, where Sexton fishes, he has to wade through a lot of redfish to catch the big sow speckled trout that he loves.

	All hail the Queen of the Gulf December 01, 2010 at 9:29 am She’s beautiful; she’s exotic; she’s delicious.

	Searching for Mr. Right November 01, 2010 at 10:39 am The quest for trophies in modern hunting and fishing is unquenchable. More and more deer hunters put up high fences to segregate the animals under their control from surrounding populations and then buy trophy bucks to upgrade the “quality” of their herd. If you can’t get a trophy any other way — well, you just grow your own.

	Is it a reptile, or is it a fish? October 01, 2010 at 11:17 am Most fish-identification books (except mine, of course) list the value of lizardfish to anglers as either a “nuisance” or “useless.” I happen to think that they are a pretty interesting critter. It could be the biologist in me.

	Mako shark is LOWA’s Fish of the Year September 01, 2010 at 2:45 pm Generally speaking, a shark, any kind of shark, just doesn’t make the average Louisiana saltwater angler’s heart beat faster. But this year, a 1,149-pound monster mako shark was selected by the Louisiana Outdoor Writers Association as the Fish of the Year.

	In the catfish world, ops are tops August 02, 2010 at 12:10 pm Without a doubt, the flathead catfish has more aliases than any other fish, probably beating out even the infamous choupique.

	Flounder aren’t just for ladies June 28, 2010 at 1:45 pm On a fishing trip last spring, one of the fishermen in a boat with me commented that he sure hoped we would catch some flounder because his wife had asked him specifically to bring some home. The skipper of the boat, a charter captain, grinned broadly and said, “I hear that more times than you can imagine. Women love flounder. I think they are lady-fish.”

	Red snapper are not homebodies June 01, 2010 at 3:43 pm It is hard to believe that the recreational season for Gulf of Mexico red snapper has shrunk to less than two months this year. That is especially hard for recreational fishermen to take when red snapper are so common that they have become easy to catch on topwater or shallow lures and baits.