Creature Feature

Previous12 3 4 5 6 Next

	Hail the new snapper king May 03 at 9:00 am Let’s face it: The red snapper is no longer the king. Once, he ruled the Gulf of Mexico. During the 1950s and 1960s, when recreational fishermen forayed offshore it was for the red snapper. Oh sure, a small clique of big-game anglers trolled for billfish (some of which — yikes — were even eaten in those days) and tuna.

	Has ‘Destructo’ been rehabilitated? April 04 at 9:00 am In the Autumn 1939, Louisiana Conservation Review (the predecessor of the Louisiana Conservationist magazine), James Nelson Gowanloch, the chief biologist of the Bureau of Scientific Research and Statistics for the Louisiana Department of Conservation, wrote an article titled “Gars, Killers of Game and Food Fish.”

	Cocahoe is another name for ‘bait’ March 01 at 7:00 am I’m not sure why fishermen in the other Gulf coast states call them bull minnows and we call them cocahoes, and I don’t have a clue what the origin of our name is — but you can bet it has something to do with our Cajun heritage.

	Cobia: The curious fish February 01 at 7:00 am Cobia, often called ling or lemonfish in Louisiana, are not bashful feeders. Although they can be stubborn at times, especially if a piece of hardwood or rubber is thrown at them to eat, they will usually grab almost any bait that is offered — often right next to the boat.

	Yes, buffalo are fish January 01 at 7:00 am Actually, buffalo are three species of fish rather than one. No one knows from where the odd name for the creatures is derived. But their scientific names are almost certainly taken from their common name.

	Don’t knock whitey December 01, 2012 at 7:00 am There are lots of reasons to fish. Some fish for food. Others fish strictly for the pull. For those who love the fight, but could care less about the table qualities of their catch, the Good Lord put jack crevalle’s on earth. They get big and they are mean.

	Amberjacks are tough cookies November 05, 2012 at 9:00 am Catching amberjack is like going three rounds with a heavyweight boxer. But it’s worth it. They are a delicious table fish — better than anything else in the jack family except pompano and maybe rainbow runners.

	A mullet by any other name is still a mullet October 01, 2012 at 7:00 am The striped mullet is a fish of many names. By one count, it carries 21 English names and at least 144 in other languages. It is “jompo” in Malagasy, an appropriate-sounding name for this most airborne of fish. In Dutch it goes by “diklipharder.” You figure that one out.

	Smart anglers use grass shrimp September 01, 2012 at 7:00 am Freshwater anglers, unlike saltwater fishermen who well know the role of shrimp in the food web of the species they pursue, mostly ignore shrimp. Some of the best saltwater fishing lures are designed to mimic shrimp. While an argument could be made that tube jigs imitate freshwater shrimp, by and large freshwater lures are designed to look like fish, crawfish, worms, salamanders and even mice — yes mice.

	Red Snapper: August 01, 2012 at 7:00 am Writing about red snapper biology isn’t a lot of fun. In fact, it’s downright depressing. The 40-day recreational season ended in July. In spite of an increase in the combined recreational-commercial harvest quota from 7.53 million pounds to 8.08 million pounds, the season was eight days shorter than the 2011 season.

	Can you beat a drum? July 02, 2012 at 7:00 am Black drum are an underrated recreational fish, certainly when their quality as table fare is considered. A few visits to Louisiana’s fabled Creole restaurants, where the fish is on almost every menu, should convince even a skeptic of that. Since redfish were declared gamefish and the harvest of speckled trout has become severely restricted, black drum have really stepped, er, swum up to the plate.

	The fish is a glutton! June 01, 2012 at 7:42 am The freshwater fish family Centrarchidae, commonly called the sunfish family, is arguably the most-important freshwater fish family for North American sportsmen. In the southeastern United States it is without doubt the most important.