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The fish is a glutton!
The freshwater fish family Centrarchidae, commonly called the sunfish family, is arguably the most-important freshwater fish family for North American sportsmen.[…]
Creature Feature
Cobia
Everybody loves cobia
Cobia, also locally called lemonfish or ling, are a prized Gulf of Mexico fish. They are cool fish and their mild meat is prized in Louisiana.[…]
Columns
Speckled trout myths
The popularity of speckled trout in Louisiana eclipses that of any other saltwater species, perhaps by several fold. We love to catch them, and we love to eat them.[…]
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Unwelcome transplant
It seems that few people, at least in the United States, have much use for the common carp, Cyprinus carpio. But in its native lands, Europe and Asia, it is loved and esteemed.[…]
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It’s a bird; it’s a plane
If it’s not a bird and it’s not a plane and it’s over the ocean, its bound to be a flying fish, one of the most interesting fish in the Gulf of Mexico. Actually, there are more than one species of flying fish in the Gulf: 12 of them, in fact.[…]
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Do we have a tiger by the tail?
Louisiana is a shrimp-crazy state. Until being battered by cheaper imports, shrimp fisheries were the backbone of the economies of many coastal communities. The value of the fishery dwarfed the others.[…]
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This perch is a hussy
Sometimes we can’t help but assign human traits to other creatures, no matter how scientifically incorrect it is. So it is with the green sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus.[…]
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Stupid horse
Scientists, I am convinced, have a droll sense of humor. It is most evident in the scientific names that they conjure up to hang on some poor creature. Take, for example, the king mackerel, Scomberomorus cavalla.[…]
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Do you know a fat sleeper?
No, I am not talking about a family member or acquaintance. The fat sleeper to which I’m referring is the storm minnow, known to scientists as Dormitator maculatus. Fat sleeper is the “accepted common name” by the American Fisheries Society.[…]
Bass Fishing
Homebodies…Studies show bass don’t move much
Like any other non-migratory critter, each largemouth bass has a home range, loosely defined as the area that the animal uses regularly in its quest for survival and reproduction each year.[…]
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Who named the gag?
Sometimes fish names make no sense whatsoever. Take for example, gag. Excuse my language ahead of time, but that’s a helluva name for such a wonderful fish.[…]
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Mullets are mobile munchies
Among the most common as well as most poorly regarded fish species in Louisiana coastal waters are mullets. The term is used in plural because at least three and possibly four of the six Atlantic mullet species can be found in the state.[…]
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Trying to manage bluegills can be tricky
Bluegills are a member of the sunfish family, Centrarchidae. The two largest members of the family are largemouth black bass and spotted black bass.[…]
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Yellowfins: Cold as a fish — or not?
Yellowfin tuna have become one of the more important recreational and commercial fish species in the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Their growth in popularity seemed to come from nowhere.[…]
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Marshes are a blacktip shark’s cradle
The Gulf of Mexico is home to a lot of sharks, but only a few of them penetrate regularly into inshore waters. While tiger sharks prowl beaches and are especially common near the Chandeleur Islands, two of the most common inshore species are the bull shark and the blacktip shark.[…]
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Liberal limits for red’s smaller cousin
Is vermilion a shade of red? Not when the season on red is closed or the limit is so low it is almost embarrassing to admit you are targeting them. We are talking about snappers, of course — red snappers and vermilion snappers.[…]