“Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” Yeah, Sir Walter Scott’s insight rings true for interpersonal relationships, but when it comes to speckled trout fishing, the Scottish writer can stick that nonsense in his bait bucket.
Tricking trout is the name of the game.[…]
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how myths began centuries ago when the human race was as sophisticated as the average corn cob.[…]
In the latter days of May 2012, Capt. Kirk Stansel of Hackberry Rod and Gun was on a run of big speckled trout in Calcasieu Lake.[…]
May and Barataria Bay go together like Christmas and Santa, like Brad and Angelina, like cheese and whiz.[…]
The broad-shouldered man actually tiptoed when he moved around in his boat. “Being quiet,” he explained, “is real important when you are fishing for bull bream in shallow, clear water.”
We were indeed in shallow water — 2 to 3 feet deep. Through the tea-colored water, multiple, round plate-sized bream beds could be seen as dark blotches on a lighter bottom. A resident male bluegill was likely hovering over or around the nest, guarding it against intruders that could eat his eggs or young.[…]
The day started out, well, rough. I hadn’t slept well at all, and then I lost an altercation with a coffee cup. I was left teary-eyed as the hot liquid dripped out of my close-cropped hair and down my face.[…]
The Atchafalaya Basin and google-eye bream just kind of go together — like grits and eggs or beans and rice. I was in the saddle with the old Atchafalaya Basin pro, Jim Looney, the author or four books on fishing bass and an astounding seven books on fishing for bream and sac-a-lait in the huge swamp.[…]
Is there anything better than the fast action of a spring bream bed? The big redears we call shellcrackers in South Louisiana and chinquapin up north go to the warming shallows first, followed by bluegill and other sunfish.
When that happens, it’s time to take advantage of the golden opportunity to battle big panfish on a fly rod or ultra-light spinning gear.
Filling the cooler with chunky “bull” bream can work up an appetite, remedied by a fish fry at sundown. It’s just one more reason to love spring in the South.[…]
Pelayo punched his iPhone, put it to his ear, and discovered that his cousin Becky and her husband Al planned a trip down from New Jersey for Memorial day weekend.[…]
The weather should finally settle out this month, and that means bream will be teeming in the shallows.[…]
I could tell wade-fishing turns Guy Stansel on by the way he jumped into the water. While his buddy Mark Jeanes quietly stepped down the transom ladder into Calcasieu Lake, Stansel leapt in with reckless abandon.[…]
Lots of folks launch at the Oak Ridge Park boat ramp in Golden Meadow during April. A great percentage of them aspire to fish East Timbalier. […]
The advent of the four-stroke outboard has changed a lot about boating. No more oil-and-gas mixtures, less pollution, better economy overall and generally lower maintenance.[…]
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.[…]
You’ve likely noticed that there is a surge in kayak fishing.[…]
Slap-pow!
No matter how ready you think you are, a smashing attack on a topwater plug by an aggressive springtime largemouth bass will make your heart stop.
Guaranteed.[…]