M.A. Fisher, Author at Louisiana Sportsman

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April 6, 2020

Construction of latest Lake Pontchartrain artificial reef to add fishing opportunities

Work that began recently on an artificial reef near the St. Tammany Parish Fishing Pier south of Slidell will increase fishing opportunities for shore-bound Lake Pontchartrain anglers, the Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana said.

The work is being done between the new westbound span of Interstate 10 and the pier — the latter of which is part of the old Interstate 10 Twin Spans Bridge that partially collapsed during Hurricane Katrina. The pier opened on Lake Pontchartrain in 2012 to enormous support, but has been closed since Hurricane Isaac battered Slidell last August. […]

359 rigs slated for decommissioning, leading scientist says action is detrimental to red snapper plan

The number 359 has taken on a new meaning for some Louisiana anglers and conservationists: That’s the estimated number of Gulf of Mexico rigs and platforms scheduled for removal this year, according to a release by DecomWorld distributed on Jan. 15.

And according to Dr. Bob Shipp, chairman of the University of South Alabama Department of Marine Sciences, that number is way too high because removal of any decommissioned rig is premature, if not blatantly detrimental to reef fish habitat.

“As a fisheries scientist, I think it’s a very big mistake,” he said. […]

Coastal-restoration projects approved in St. Tammany, Terrebonne parishes

In late January, the Coastal Wetlands, Planning, Protection and Restoration Act Task Force, better known as CWPPRA, approved construction of marsh-building projects in both the Bayou Bonfouca area in St. Tammany Parish and Terrebonne Parish’s Lost Lake.

The projects are sponsored by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in conjunction with the state. CWPPRA projects are funded by the federal government with a 15-percent funding match coming from Louisiana. […]

Red River WMA gives up huge buck

Hunting public land takes a bit of extra work. That’s a lesson Trent Boudreaux learned when he first started hunting Red River Wildlife Management Area as a teenager in 1998.

“It’s tough to get away from the crowd,” he said. “It’s taken me years to learn the land. You see the signs of traffic, and you avoid that. You have to be prepared to walk much farther than most people do.” […]

Red River WMA gives up huge buck

Hunting public land takes a bit of extra work. That’s a lesson Trent
Boudreaux learned when he first started hunting Red River Wildlife
Management Area as a teenager in 1998.

“It’s tough to get away from the crowd,” he said. “It’s taken me years to
learn the land. You see the signs of traffic, and you avoid that. You have
to be prepared to walk much farther than most people do.” […]

Louisiana anglers ask for regional red snapper management during meeting

A standing-room-only crowd turned out for a scoping meeting held in Baton Rouge by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council on Jan. 14 to collect public input on the ongoing management of red snapper — specifically, whether or not the Gulf of Mexico fishery should be managed as a single unit or broken up into regional management units.

And the throng spoke with a unified message, according to Myron Fisher, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries representative to the council. […]

Sterlington hunter takes 150-class Union Parish buck

Some deer-kill stories come under wild circumstances — bucks that are bagged during storms, kills that precede a search that lasts more than a day or ones that conclude a decades-long drought of not even seeing a buck.

Then there are stories like Lee Taylor’s that don’t come with extraordinary details. In a case like this, the extraordinary thing is the buck itself.

And that’s good enough for Taylor. […]

Hunter scores 167 6/8 B&C buck in Avoyelles Parish

Hunting on a small piece of land can make deer management difficult.

Troy McNeal knows that first hand, but you wouldn’t know it from a kill he made Dec. 29 on his 100-acre parcel in Avoyelles Parish. McNeal, whose lease is surrounded by other leases and landowners, bagged a 10-point buck that day that scored an impressive 167 6/8 Boone and Crockett. The main beams measured 24 inches, the spread was 21 ¼ inches inside and the bases were 6 inches in circumference. The deer was estimated to be 5 ½ years old and it weighed a whopping 230 pounds. […]

St. Tammany 9-point could be biggest in parish, state deer records show

To many, St. Tammany Parish is an ever-expanding collection of suburban towns that serve as a launching point to the metropolitan hubs of New Orleans and Baton Rouge. But there was a time not too long ago when the parish was overwhelmingly rural, and hunting was commonplace in all corners of the north shore.

Bubby Keen recently sent a reminder to the hunting community that St. Tammany, at least in some spots, is still formidable ground when the 21-year-old St. Tammany Parish sheriff’s deputy bagged a 9-point deer near the Abita Springs and Talisheek areas in the central part of the parish on Dec. 12 that was nothing short of a stud. […]

Pair of Winn Parish bucks fall to father, son on same day from same stand

For centuries, fathers and sons have shared hunting experiences that become family folklore – the stories that are told around the Sunday dinner table, at reunions, at holiday time.

The Arnaud family of Breaux Bridge now has a story that might exceed those boundaries; it might even enter into the regional, if not statewide, consciousness.

That’s because on Dec. 11 both Andrew Arnaud Jr. and son Andrew Arnaud III (aka T-Drew,) bagged a pair of trophy bucks on the same piece of property and from the same box stand. […]

Construction of Breton Sound reef begun

Work began earlier this month on an artificial reef project in Breton Sound to increase fisheries habitat.

The reef, which is being constructed over an area covering six to eight acres just northeast of California Point, is a joint project of the Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana Shell Oil Company, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries the Barrier Island Restoration and Development Society and Bertucci Contractors. […]

Determined bowhunter takes Avoyelles Parish 10-point

EDITOR’S NOTE: This deer officially scored at 175 6/8 inches during the 2013 Louisiana Sportsman Show, and became the state-record buck taken with a crossbow.

Most seasoned deer hunters have been on a hunt that lasts a couple of days. But how many of them can say they essentially shot, tracked and shot again to kill the same deer over the course of a two-day period?

Right. Not many.

But Travis Lucas has. And the resident of tiny Hessemer in central Louisiana has a huge deer to show for it. […]

Foggy hunting trip ends with Vernon Parish trophy deer

Call it beginner’s luck or call it fate.

Whatever you call it, James Faulk experienced it on the morning of Dec. 7 in a deer stand near Toledo Bend. Faulk, a 30-year old Erath resident, was hunting that day on his brother Clint’s Vernon Parish lease. James Faulk had been on a few of these hunts before, but he spends most of his outdoors time in a duck blind. In fact, he had never killed a deer.

That changed just after 7 a.m. when from out of a soupy fog, a 12-point buck emerged from the mist. It was about 100 yards away, however. […]

Buck of a lifetime comes for 61-year-old Minden hunter

Some people are lucky enough to shoot the deer of a lifetime early in life or on their first hunt. Others have to wait much longer to bag the buck of their dreams.

For Louis Bradford, the wait lasted 61 years. […]

Toll trouble in Leeville

Every day, approximately 8,000 to 10,000 cars and trucks cross the new Leeville toll bridge on Louisiana Highway 1 in South Louisiana heading to or from Fourchon and Grand Isle.

But not all of those vehicles are paying the $2.50 round trip toll to cross from the mainland in Leeville, across Bayou Lafourche and onto Grand Isle. In fact, a report recently released by the state Legislative Auditor states that as many as 300,000 violation images remain unprocessed — and that another 39,700 known violators have not been sent notices to collect the unpaid tolls. […]

Delta NWR fishing regs need clarification, angler says

Craig Graham of St. Francisville is an avid angler who isn’t afraid to travel a few miles to catch a few fish. So when he heard that sizable speckled trout were being caught in Delta National Wildlife Refuge at the mouth of the Mississippi River, he didn’t hesitate to begin planning a trip there.

But he did take the time to read the refuge hunting and fishing guidelines pamphlet.

When he did, he was confused. […]

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