Features from August 2020
- These brothers love to tangle with one of the hardest-fighting fish in the Gulf. Here’s how they make quick work of amberjack.
- High water in recent years has led to great panfish spawns in Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin. There’s still time to catch them this year.
- Finesse-fishing and all that comes with it — light line, small baits, small weights — can play a big part of catching summer bass.
- Trail cameras that text your phone, remote-controlled traps are part of a system for taking down the wild hogs that are overrunning Louisiana.
- Ride the Bull, the world’s largest kayak fishing tournament, has been canceled due to COVID-19. The event will return next year in Grand Isle.
- Trotlines or stump lines? Here’s how Louisiana anglers can ‘string up’ some big Opelousas catfish, aka flatheads this summer.
- Fisherman want to know why there are fewer trophy trout in Louisiana waters nowadays? Here are some answers and theories.
Columns - August 2020
- Hand-held release aids are becoming more and more popular with bowhunters in the archery world, and for good reason too. Here are some pros.
- Are habitat, hunter choices keeping Louisiana’s best bucks from reaching their potential? Scott Durham and Jonathan Bordelon talk about the situation.
- Crème’s Tube Worm is a plastic worm that floats and “has that tube aspect to it,” a deadly combination, according to Brett Preuett.
- Chasing panfish is best in the early morning or late afternoon, which is great for kayak fishing on hot, summer days in Louisiana.
- Flathead catfish make a big splash wherever they show up. They are highly adaptable to a wide range of waters and can live in very harsh conditions.
Outdoor Updates - August 2020
- Terance Corley caught a Toledo Bend 10.17-pounder on June 16 in Housen. It is the first recorded for the 2020-2021 Toledo Bend Lunker Bass Program season.
- The much anticipated opening date of the Bussey Brake Wildlife Management Area in Morehouse Parish will be July 15 at 6 a.m.
- Every five years the state has options for resetting duck hunting zones and this is the year, with changes to take effect for the 2021-2022 season.
- Dustin Gates caught a 10.49-pound Caney Lake summer lunker while fishing with his buddy Casey Pennington on June 26, 2020.
Field Notes - August 2020
- Noise — at least the right noise — can attract speckled trout and give your bait or lure a better chance at being eaten by a fish.
- Slow-rolling big Delta spinnerbait will get bass pro Lucas Ragusa August bass. It triggers them to chase and eat, particularly in the Atchafalaya Basin.
- Technology gives and takes. And each Louisiana hunter has to make a decision about how traditional or modern they want to hunt.
- August is not the time to “camp out” on a spot. Don’t settle for fishing stagnation this month — find some moving water and find the bass.
- Multiple great spots to gig flounder are found along Louisiana’s coastline, from Venice to Cameron. Learn where and how to gig flounder in Louisiana.
- Clark Reehm of Elm Grove, a veteran of the FLW Pro Tour and Bassmaster Elite Series, throws various frogs, mostly popping frogs, for his August bass.
- Veteran bass pro Darold Gleason of Many catches bass in August with his favorite Texas-rigged plastic worm, a V&M Baits Wild Thang.
- Bass pro Greg Hackney relies on Rage Punch Bug for punching August vegetation. He said it is the best mat-punching soft plastic he’s encountered.
- Learn more about these 6 non-venomous snakes that you may encounter in Louisiana. If you like to hunt and fish, you should want to see these snakes.
- Learn to hunt alligators the way the pros do. Here are tips from Walter Heathcock, owner of Fin Twisters Fishing Guide Service out of Venice.
- Summer fishing trips require planning beforehand. So, gather some tidbits to beat the summer heat, catch some fish and have fun on the water.
Hot Spots - August 2020
- Try Yellow Magic topwater bait for largemouth bass at Bayou Bartholomew in Morehouse and Ouachita parishes in north Louisiana.
- Guide and owner of Crappie Psychic, Clyde Folse, definitely has sac-a-lait on his hot-weather August menu at Bayou Black.
- Every year, from August to mid-October, big redfish swarm into brackish Cajun waters to spawn, and there are few places better than Caminada Pass.
- Chasing schooling redfish in open water on Sabine Lake and Lake Calcasieu are some of Capt. Adam Jaynes’ fondest memories in fishing.
- Frank Roberts, aka “Frankie Fillet” — the fastest fillet knife in the Gulf south — will fish the oyster reefs anywhere on the Hopedale side this month.
- According to Owen Belknap, who runs the Michi offshore charterboat, just about everywhere you turn in Grand Isle in August, the fishing can be excellent.
- August’s heat moves Toledo Bend bass into deep water, but don’t forget the shallows. Try shoreline cover early or late, but most fish are biting deep.
- Despite fewer visible structures, Tiger Shoals is still a great speckled trout destination. Keo Khamphilavong of New Iberia explains why.