Contents

Brenton Blast

Ernie Pyle called it the “thousand-yard stare.” Pyle was a WWII war correspondent who shared foxholes with the boys who won it. He wrote for the folks back home about the grunts and dogfaces and the holy hell they went through while blasting their way to victory — but from a front-line seat. Ernie was a “real-time” Stephen Ambrose.[…]

Contents

Back in Black

Spring sprung as suddenly as a wind-up Jack-in-a-box. For me, it sprung in the form of an alarm clock’s irritating buzzer awakening me out of a sound sleep at 3:30 in the morning.[…]

Contents

Cotton-Picking Bluegills

If you’re going to catch the most and the biggest bluegills from any bluegill bed, you have to pick bluegills just like you pick cotton,” said Nathaniel Davis, an elderly outdoor friend who helped me learn to hunt and fish many years ago. “You know how to pick cotton, don’t you?”[…]

Contents

Barre Barrage

The wind was blowing out of the northwest as the sun peaked over the horizon, but it wasn’t terrible. Chad Chaisson was still confident the trout would be waiting.[…]

Contents

Deep Blue, Deep Yellow

It was a case of the “Haves” and the “Have Nots.” Louisiana has them, Florida doesn’t. No, I don’t mean Cajuns; rather drilling rigs — the fish-friendly structures that rival just about any natural formation for species diversity and angler access.[…]

Inshore Fishing

Pontchartrain specks biting at sunset

It’s common knowledge that the biggest trout of the year bite during May on the bridges of Lake Pontchartrain. That’s why I was so bewildered that Capt. Greg Schlumbrecht with To Fish Charters (985-960-1709) and I were one of only three boats fishing the Trestle yesterday.[…]

Inshore Fishing

Trout biting at Buras beaches

Trout anglers have had ideal conditions the past couple of days, and the reports coming from the mouth of the Mississippi River encouraged Capt. Lloyd Landry (504-912-8291), Tony Taylor and me as we headed motored down Buras Canal in search of a mule. This was going to be our day.[…]