Bass Fishing

Paulina Pilgrims

Some aspiring bass anglers from around Paulina graduated together in the late 1980s. They started making a yearly run to Toledo Bend, while trying to get noticed enough to be accepted into the biggest local club there was at the time, Road Runner Fishing Club.[…]

Bass Fishing

Take Home Angler: Matthew Hymel

After releasing his third bass of the morning, Matthew Hymel wondered aloud if I had learned my lesson yet. Although we had met for the first time only two hours earlier, he was starting to get a sense of just how hard-headed I can be.[…]

Bass Fishing

Lake Cataouatche Tank Ponds starting to turn on

Grand Point bass angler Matthew Hymel and I were anticipating a sunny sky and warming temperatures as we launched at Bayou Segnette, but by the time we got to the Tank Ponds on the west side of Lake Cataouatche it was obvious the clouds weren’t going anywhere. We both silently wondered if we would even get a bite.[…]

Bass Fishing

Gearing up for square-bills

Fishing square-billed crankbaits isn’t something you should do without giving a lot of consideration to what you’re going to tie them to and throw them on. Selecting unmatched rods and line will not only make it more difficult to land a fish, you might also see your $15 crankbait sailing off in the distance on your next cast.[…]

Bass Fishing

The haunt for reds in October

For most fly anglers in our state, it’s not the waters that torment us, but what swims in them. As we count down to All Hallow’s Eve, and the invasion of predatory species into our estuaries, the fly fishing can be so good it’s frightening.[…]

Bass Fishing

Delicious Decline

The Choctaws called it “Atchafalaya” (ha-cha-fa-lia) for Long River, and, indeed it is long, winding through the center of a 930-square-mile region of bottomland hardwoods, with pristine backwater lakes, bayous and seemingly endless tupelo and cypress swamps in between.[…]