Catfish
Des Allemands fat cats
It was a massacre.
Fish blood, poop, and slime covered the deck of the boat and the interior of the ice chest.[…]
Freshwater Fishing
Crappie/Bream
Last call for crappie
Stuart Baum loves turning the last calendar page from March to April.[…]
Columns
Gaspergou are everywhere
As common as gaspergou are in Louisiana and the United States, few people realize how unique this freshwater species really is. Virtually any waters that connect with the Mississippi, Pearl and Mobile river systems and all the Great Lakes except Lake Superior are home to the species — 27 states.[…]
Crappie/Bream
Move with the fish for D’Arbonne crappie
Earlier in the year, crappie on Lake D’Arbonne moved from the 30-foot channels to the 12- to 15-foot flats, then into the shallows to spawn. To catch fish after the spawn, you just need to follow the fish right back out.[…]
Crappie/Bream
Search salvinia for springtime crappie
Spring crappie techniques are generally pretty standard — single-poling, jigging trees, spider-rigging and the like. But sometimes you can meld crappie methods with a bit of a bass approach and pick up a mess of crappie faster than you imagined.[…]
Freshwater Fishing
Guess who’s coming to dinner?
Having spent a lifetime eating my way across the watery landscape of Louisiana, I’ve eaten a lot of fish that were delectable, a few fish that were really close to inedible and quite a few fish that were good if you knew what you were doing in the kitchen — and bad if you didn’t.[…]
Freshwater Fishing
Rigging crawfish the Kelley way
Mike Kelley doesn’t like to dip for “ditch crawfish” as do many fishermen who use mudbugs for bait. “They are on the small side and you can’t get them early in the season,” he explained.[…]
Freshwater Fishing
Tip of the day
Leave the dainty little hemostats at home. […]
Crappie/Bream
Tippets
This month, redfish enthusiasts welcome the return of thick grass in coastal ponds. The grass not only attracts small crabs and baitfish, it also maintains clarity. And that means great sight-casting opportunities.[…]
Columns
Gearing up for gobbules
Longtime readers of this column know that I often refer to sunfish as “gobbules” (pronounced gah-bools). Many might wonder how the term originated.[…]
Crappie/Bream
Score big with Henderson Lake sac-a-lait
If anglers want to catch sac-a-lait in March at Henderson Lake, they should go to the borrow pits along the East Atchafalaya Basin Protection Levee.[…]
Features
Beating the drum
My eyes popped.
I was scrolling through the Louisiana Fish Records Program when I got to the category labeled “Freshwater Drum (Gaspergou),” I saw that four of the Top 10 entries were held by one man — Mike Kelley Sr. — and all were caught in False River.[…]
Catfish
Gourmet taste can be gluten-free
Stefanie Rogers lives with her husband Scotty in the rural Louisiana community of Pine — the same village where they grew up. Considering where they live, it would be easy to assume she would simply cook Southern style dishes, with little seafood other than fried catfish.[…]
Crappie/Bream
Two quick lessons
When it comes to finding crappie on trees, concentration and patience are important. But nothing can make up for experience.[…]
Crappie/Bream
Mind your minnows
If you want to stay on Rick Hill’s good side, just mind your manners. Or, to be more exact, mind your minnows.[…]
Crappie/Bream
Louisiana isn’t a level playing field
Horace Greeley was an 1860s farmer who heeded the call to “Go west, young man” because he saw the fertile farmland there as an ideal place for people to succeed.[…]