Columns
Creature Feature: The little shad is a good shad
In this month’s Creature Feature column, Jerald Horst tells you everything you wanted to know — and more — about differences between gizzard and threadfin shad. […]
Freshwater Fishing
Catfish
Pitch black cats
It was black on the water. Of course, it was midnight.
We sat as quiet as death in Sidney Haynes’ 17-foot aluminum SeaArk boat. In the distance, automobile headlights flitted busily through New Roads, perched hard on the shores of False River, the big oxbow lake of Pointe Coupee Parish.[…]
Catfish
Sidney Haynes’ juglines
Sidney Haynes begins building his juglines by cutting a 6- or 7-inch section off a foam swimming pool noodle. He then cuts about a 10-foot length of twisted, tarred black nylon twine from its spool. He wraps one end around the center of the noodle section and ties it tightly.[…]
Freshwater Fishing
Iaconelli’s ‘Fish My City’ visits New Orleans
The second episode of “Fish My City” with bass pro Mike “Ike” Iaconelli airs tonight at 9 p.m. on Nat Geo Wild — and the featured urban area this time around is New Orleans.[…]
Crappie/Bream
VIDEO – How to catch crappie in thick grass beds
For many anglers, fishing for crappie is an open water game. And whether they look for deep holes or shallow water with sunken brushpiles or stumps, you’ll find many anglers watching their electronics closely for any sign of fish or submerged debris that could be hiding the fish. It’s a great way to put crappie in the boat, but it’s not the only way.[…]
Crappie/Bream
Henderson Lake for sac-a-lait
It’s easy to find the prime fishing spot to catch bass and sac-a-lait in October at Henderson Lake.[…]
Crappie/Bream
How to clean bream the Francois way
This is one of the coolest bream cleaning methods around. It gets rid of all the small bones of the fish, but keeps its flavorful skin and tail fin intact.[…]
Crappie/Bream
Little things
Like any dedicated fishing specialist, Padra Francois has twists on how she likes to do things, beginning with the crickets she always uses for bait. She inserts the tip of the long shank No. 6 cricket hook into the butt of the insect, and then threads it onto the hook.[…]
Crappie/Bream
Old River rafts and raft courtesy
Rafts is the local term for well, rafts — essentially floating platforms that people fish from. […]
Crappie/Bream
The Old River bream cycle
“Bream fishing in Old River is good from spring through October,” advised Padra Francois. “And the fishing is good. When people think of bream in Old River, they think of fish nearly a pound in weight.[…]
Crappie/Bream
No bull about Boeuf River crappie
The Boeuf River’s name comes from the French, and means beef or bull. The Bouef won’t win any beauty contests or make it on many peoples’ Top 10 lists, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a great place to fish — and that’s no bull. […]
Crappie/Bream
Bull bream beatdown
It was September.
It was hot, and it was late in the day.[…]
Freshwater Fishing
Shimano Curado DC Baitcasting reels
The DC stands for Digital Control, and quite honestly it’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. I got the chance to fish with one this spring at Grosse Savanne Lodge during a Shimano media presentation, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.[…]
Columns
Plastics for panfish
Many kayak anglers dream of catching giant fish from their small plastic boats. However, going in the completely opposite direction can be even more fun. Imagine catching scores of tiny, delicious fish — using nothing more than worms and a cane pole, or lightweight spinning gear.[…]
Crappie/Bream
Tip of the day
Dave Pizzolato discards the plastic pegs that come with his corks and replaces them with the tapered tips of wooden chopsticks. “If the peg comes out, plastic sinks but wood floats,” he grinned.[…]
Crappie/Bream
Pizzolato’s Top 7 tips for Old River
1) Learn to tight-line. Using a cork doesn’t allow fishing to be done deep enough to fish the 12 to 14 feet needed on the most important fish-holding structure — piers and pilings in front of camps.[…]