Inshore Fishing
Baby nutria the newest live bait for redfish?
There may be a hot, new live bait for catching redfish along the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts — young, tender nutria. […]
Articles by John E. Phillips
Offshore Fishing
Chumsicle
Biloxi’s Capt. Mike Moore’s favorite way to catch snapper is with a chumsicle — a fish popsicle that’s fished on a downrigger. […]
Offshore Fishing
Drift-line for more and bigger snapper
If you learn to fish the drift-line technique of presenting a bait slowly and gently to red snapper, you can catch more of them on every trip, Orange Beach’s Jack Wilhite said. […]
Offshore Fishing
How to boat big snapper
• More power for the hook set
Many fishermen hold their rod tips parallel to the water or slightly higher when they’re fishing for snapper. But Orange Beach’s Art Jones said that pointing the rod tip at the water allows you to bring the rod straight up over your head when you feel a bite. […]
Offshore Fishing
More techniques for catching big red snapper
• Big baits for big snapper
Capt. Art Jones of Orange Beach, Ala., said he double-hooks a big bait like a mackerel fillet that is 6 to 8 inches long and 3 to 4 inches wide. […]
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Snapper secrets
It’s been years since we’ve been able to head out to the rigs in the spring and bring home red snapper, but that all changes this year.
Yep, the season in Louisiana waters kicked off March 24 — and the definition of what constitutes Louisiana waters has been broadened by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission to mean all waters within three marine leagues (10.357 miles) off the coast. […]
Hunting
Squirrel Talk
Listen, you can hear two gray squirrels and one fox squirrel barking,” I said, whispering to my son after making a young-squirrel-in-distress call.
“How do you know which one is the fox squirrel?” John said, looking up at me,
“The fox squirrel has the deep, raspy bark,” I said. “He doesn’t whine at the end of his barking like a gray squirrel.
“Listen as I call to them again, and point in the direction where you think the fox squirrel is barking.”
[…]
Promote
Shut up to call ducks
Ducks don’t talk to each other nearly as much as hunters think, especially during the late season. Just as a roomful of people will migrate away from a loud, obnoxious guy who tries to dominate the conversation, ducks will exhibit the same behavior.
The more you call, the less likely that you’ll attract ducks, especially during January.
Rod Haydel of Haydel Game Calls started going to the duck blind with his dad at the age of 5. Over the last 41 years, he’s hunted webfoots all over the nation, primarily in the marshes around Lake Charles in southern Louisiana. […]
Freshwater Fishing
Caney’s Crackers
If you look at Louisiana’s state records, you’ll find that anglers catch most of the big shellcrackers (chinquapin) in Caney Lake near Chatham.
What makes Caney one of the best shellcracker lakes in the nation? Louisiana outdoorsman Mike Wood knows the answer. He is also the district fisheries manager for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
“It’s not uncommon to see 2-pound shellcrackers in Caney Lake,” Wood said. […]
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Sac-a-lait Season!
Weather and water levels, temperature and color will determine where you’ll find sac-a-lait this month. […]
Freshwater Fishing
Monster crappie: Tactics to put more fish in the boat
I’d had a miserable day of crappie fishing, and only had caught three crappie all day.
Late in the afternoon while on the main section of the lake, I noticed a large tree lying in the water. Obviously the site had potential as a crappie hotspot. As I fished all the way around that fallen tree, I took three 8-inch-long crappie. […]
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Waterfowl Wonderland
I could hear the zooming wings of greenwing and bluewing teal just above my head as they glided into our decoy set. Mallards roamed the water, quacking away and the pintails whistled. This chorus of ducks talking reminded me of a church choir tuning up before a performance with all the singers checking their voices and chitchatting before the conductor took the stage. […]
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Fabulous 5
Most of the time you’ll find bream not as big as crappie and not as heavy as bass or catfish. You may have to clean quite a few, especially if you fillet them, to feed a family for a Friday night fish fry. […]
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Fast Feathers
When the longbeards start talking to the timber, every Louisiana sportsman concentrates on finding a place to hunt, and lucky for us, the Bayou State has productive public lands. […]
Fishing Tournaments
Classic anglers talk about event
The Bassmaster Classic ended with Kevin VanDam winning his third championship title in an event forecasted to be one of small weights and tough fishing.
However, that didn’t pan out. Here is what some of the competitors had to say about the tournament: […]
Fishing Tournaments
Kriet moves past KVD for Classic lead
Jeff Kriet, Kevin VanDam and Todd Faircloth are sharing water in the same creek, but it was Kriet who got the upper hand today with a 15-pound, 10-ounce limit to push his total to a Bassmaster Classic-leading 31-1.
“It was a grind today,” Kriet admitted. “But you know what? It’s about time for me to win one of these things, isn’t it?” […]