Columns
Merkel KR-1 approaches the ultimate
The hottest news in rifles as we approached and entered the 21st century was the proliferation of “short-fat” cartridges, and rifles to shoot them.[…]
Columns
Fishing
Clanging noise is seldom a good thing
When I opened my e-mail recently, I found this note from a boater in Kentucky: “Hank, I found you on the web and hoping you can help. I was on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky yesterday, and had to be towed in.[…]
Columns
Bet on Bayou Black in January
In January, I’ll be fishing the marshes around the Bayou Black area, located between Houma and Morgan City, below Highway 90, where Kenyon Hill won the first BASS Top 100 tournament a few years ago.[…]
Columns
What’s on flying Santa’s wish list?
When regional Orvis rep Dave Hayward told me that for 2008 they were going to introduce the ‘ultimate fly rod,’ I warned him against sniffing too much glue when making epoxy flies.[…]
Currents
Afterlife may be rich for Katrina-damaged bridges
Louisiana’s two most-productive trophy trout destinations — Lakes Calcasieu and Pontchartrain — are, ironically, about as different as a one-dish fast food outlet and a buffet line.[…]
Columns
Funky-looking flounder great on a plate
In Louisiana, flounders are enormously popular food and sport fish. Although 18 species of the lefteye flounder family are found in the northern Gulf of Mexico, “flounder” in Louisiana almost invariably means the southern flounder.[…]
Ask Captain Paul
How do I get to Leeville hotspot?
Dear Capt. Paul:
I am heading to Grand Isle with my son this weekend. I am looking for the coordinates to the Southwest Canal.[…]
Columns
D’Arbonne a safe bet for December
D’Arbonne Lake, near Farmerville, is really unique because it holds three different types of bass — the main-lake bass that relate to the drop-offs, ledges and creek channels and remain in deep water all year.[…]
Columns
No meatballs with this spaghetti
Spaghetti worms are common parasites of saltwater fish in the drum family, which includes speckled and white trout, black drum, redfish and croakers.[…]
Currents
Second-Amendment rights lost in disaster
Ask any New Orleans resident, and he’ll tell you that what happened in the city in August and September was only partially an act of God. The failures that spawned the worst disaster in American history were predominantly man-made, the result of too many years of incompetence, neglect and hubris[…]
Columns
Are your guns ready for deer season?
We were sighting in several rifles for a friend last year — each year it seems he has another boy old enough to start deer hunting, and another rifle gets added to the batch I have to tune in on my range.[…]
Fishing
Even insects can cause motor failure
As I think back over the years, I have seen many different things that can cause serious damage to your outboard motor. Marine dealers and repair shops have done an excellent job of informing and educating outboard motor owners on how to prevent these things from happening.[…]
Ask Captain Paul
Pontchartrain trestles are heating up
Dear Capt. Paul:
I want to try fishing more close to home in the Slidell area. In particular, I want to try fishing the Twin Spans and Trestle areas. My problem is I don’t know which area to start fishing because there are miles of bridges.[…]
Bass Fishing
Fish the lake no one seems to love
I don’t know why so few anglers seem to love Northeast Louisiana’s Poverty Point. It’s loaded with trophy-sized Florida-strain bass, it’s managed for trophy bass and although crappie fishermen love it, many bass fishermen never have heard of it.[…]
Columns
Annual autumn inspections in order
When considering the purchase of my home, I hired a home inspector to give me a professional opinion of what condition it was in.[…]
Currents
Duck opener is like Christmas morning
The scene was nearly too much to take in.
A flock of seven gray ducks rode a 15-m.p.h. tailwind from east to west about a hundred yards to the south of our blind. Their flapping silhouettes were the perfect accent to the rich-blue sky that served as a canvas far more beautiful than anything ever painted by man.[…]