Features from May 2018
Kenny Covington was watching a bass tournament on television a while back when he noticed something he just knew he had to incorporate into his own fishing.
These days, a deer hunter wears many hats — mechanic, butcher, biologist and farmer. The latter can take up just as much time as hunting does, and some folks dedicate thousands of dollars to growing food for their deer herd.
Sometimes it’s the noise, other times it’s the approach. Either way, popping cork rigs are a must-have tool for your inshore arsenal.
The kraken (pronounced KROK-in) is a legendary giant sea monster said to dwell off the coasts of Norway and Greenland.
Without oil platforms or reefs, wrecks and rock piles on the bottom, see how this Venice guide locates red snapper in open water.
Even if you’re just competing for weekend bragging rights, these insights from successful tournament anglers will help you put more redfish in the boat.
When you ask a specialist to design a tool, they’ll likely give you a prototype with the details that matter most. That’s what Bassmaster Elite Series pro David Walker did for Z-Man when he designed the Cross EyeZ Power Finesse Jig.
Homework and studying are some of the biggest complaints from high school and college students. They go to class all day, then come home and have to hit the books again.
The New Orleans metropolitan area is ranked in the Top 50 cities in the country, with a population of about 1.3 million people. And situated in the middle of Orleans Parish, the waters surrounding the Seabrook Bridge (recently named the Senator Ted Hickey Bridge) make it one of the top inshore saltwater fishing areas located within the city limits of any major metropolitan area in the United States.
It’s a long boat ride down the Calumet spillway to the Atchafalaya Delta Wildlife Management Area’s Wax Lake Unit. It’s also a straight run, which makes it a perfect time for reflecting.
Columns - May 2018
- I never do a presentation on fly fishing for speckled trout without including the Vertically Oriented Strike Indicator (VOSI). My creation has helped me to catch thousands of specks on the long rod.
- This month, I am stepping a bit outside of this column’s normal subject matter, but I feel strongly about the message.
- Unless you have been holed up in a cave with no way of communicating for the past three or four months, you are well aware that a buck discovered on Jan. 25 in Issaquena County, Miss. tested positive for chronic wasting disease.
- The anticipation and planning for a fall hunting trip can be as much fun as the actual adventure. But sometimes that eager anticipation is the only good thing about the whole experience — especially when the hunt goes bad.
- Fishing with a chef is always fun: When you get back to the camp, it’s not bologna sandwiches.
- Deer can be placed into specific categories, such as fawns, yearlings, young adults (2- to 3-year-olds), mature adults (4- to 6-year-olds) and old adults (7-year plus). Here's how to age fawns.
- If you’re looking to catch the biggest trout of your life, now is the time.
- Some anglers refer to the plastic lip recently added to the Rapala Glass Shad crankbait as a “potato chip lip,” which is what it closely resembles.
- If there is a fish that saltwater anglers dislike hooking more than a hardhead catfish, it’s got to be a stingray. The presence of the truly venomous sting on their tail means there really is no good way to unhook them.
- As a help in fishing the area, I have complied fishing waypoint positions throughout the area. Captain Paul’s Fishing Edge of GPS waypoints for Cocodrie ~ Dulac has over 165 GPS waypoints in and around the area.
Outdoor Updates - May 2018
- Enforcement agents with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries were busy when turkey seasoned opened in all three of the state’s hunting areas on April 7.
- The 2018 Coastal Conservation Association’s Louisiana STAR Tournament — which once again features 100 tagged redfish and more than $500,000 in prizes — is slated to begin on Saturday, May 26.
- For the first time in its 49-year history, the 2019 Bassmaster Classic will be held on the Tennessee River out of Knoxville.
- Enforcement agents with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries cited a Rapides Parish man on April 3 for alleged deer hunting violations.
- Initial sampling efforts for chronic wasting disease in Northeast Louisiana’s deer herd have not turned up any positive results for the disease, according to a news release from the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
- After a lengthy debate Tuesday afternoon, the Louisiana House of Representatives ultimately killed a bill that would have granted public access to the state’s tidal waters.
Field Notes - May 2018
- It’s hard to beat a Carolina rig for catching big summer trout, Grand Isle’s Capt. Jake Scardino said.
- Not much can match the pulse-pounding thrill of a giant bass breaking the surface and engulfing a topwater frog.
- It's common knowledge that specks use moving water to their advantage: They'll lay in ambush just out of the current, and wait for bait to pass before lunging out and striking.
- In this day and age we have plenty of fishing reels to choose from. They come in all sizes, shapes and types, with multiple gear ratio options.
- May is a great month to throw topwater lures for speckled trout all along the coast, and it’s especially true in Big Lake.
Hot Spots - May 2018
- The list of good places to fish on the Cane River in Natchitoches is long. You’ve got miles of shoreline reeds, scattered brush tops, a plethora of boat docks, grass beds, lily pad fields and combinations of all those. And that goes on for 30 miles (60 total miles of shoreline if you count both banks).
- There’s an area that Bill McCarty never passes up when he wants to put bass in the boat in May.
- Sometimes fishing holes are just like real estate: It’s all about location, location, location.
- This spring was crazy, with fronts pushing through the state well into April. But things should be settling down as summer approaches, and that’s when Grand Isle trout fishing will really get cranked up, according to Good Times Charters’ Capt. Jake Scardino (504-382-5639.)
- You get an idea of what a huge, sprawling impoundment Toledo Bend is when you consider that, for the most part, the spawn is a done deal on much of the lake shared by Louisiana and Texas.
- With a little cooperation from Mother Nature, Capt. Nick Poe expects May to be a banner month for speckled trout on Big Lake.
- My old friend Capt. Tim Ursin, aka Capt. Hook (504-512-2602) said if he had fingers on his left hand he’d have bitten the nails off long ago worrying about the absence of shrimp in the water — along with the absence of speckled trout, too.
- A scenic barrier island known as a great pelican rookery and near-offshore waters teeming with speckled trout and other saltwater fish in the Gulf of Mexico will be very popular in May.
- Fishing out of Venice usually depends on what the Mississippi River is doing — and May is no exception.
- Spillway openings have been frequent in the last few years, and for Lake Pontchartrain anglers, that usually means short-term trouble.
- Capt. Sean Thornton (504-388-4535) said it’s seemed like the speckled trout had the air let out of their tires because they were a no-show after this winter’s big freeze, but May should have prime speck action back on track.
- Bluegill and chinquapin bream are just getting going on Lake D’Arbonne in Union Parish. And while there are many ways to catch them, you need to stand out in the crowd to make the most of it — and that doesn’t mean wearing a bright yellow shirt or singing country songs loudly in the boat.