Spadefish
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Let’s call a spade a spade

They are everywhere. If you fish offshore at oil and gas platforms, clouds of the convict-striped fish are often visible underwater. Atlantic spadefish are a dominant species in the fish communities that develop around platforms.[…]

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So what’s a sunperch?

Louisiana’s bream fishermen have a pile of fish to choose from. Tops on the list are bluegills and redear sunfish (also called lake runners or chinquapin). And fat-bellied goggle-eyes are always in the mix somewhere. In a lot of places, you can throw in some green sunfish (slick perch) or red-spotted sunfish (stumpknockers). […]

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Tarpon are quirky creatures

For all their glitz and glamour, tarpon are very close to just being giant pogies (menhaden) that eat fish. They are really primitive beasts. On the evolutionary scale, they and their close cousins ladyfish and bonefish are just one step ahead of garfish and bowfin (choupique), but more primitive than eels, shad, sardines and pogies.[…]

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The silver king

When an angler sets a hook in a tarpon, there is an explosion. There’s no delayed action fuse in this fish. The water erupts and a platinum-silver streak shears the surface with the force of a depth charge exploding.[…]

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Venom puts the sting in stingrays

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. […]

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Gaspergou are everywhere

As common as gaspergou are in Louisiana and the United States, few people realize how unique this freshwater species really is. Virtually any waters that connect with the Mississippi, Pearl and Mobile river systems and all the Great Lakes except Lake Superior are home to the species — 27 states.[…]

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Meet the best-tasting grouper: yellowedge

In recent years, a whole new world has opened up for offshore fishermen. Beset by lengthy season closures for gag and scamp groupers, red snappers, amberjacks and even triggerfish, as well as tight bag limits and restrictive size limits, many offshore fishermen began to wonder if owning a boat was worth it.[…]