Freshwater Fishing
Favorite bream rig
Fishing bream doesn’t take any special equipment or bait. A small trout worm on a No. 4 Aberdeen-style hook is preferred.[…]
Freshwater Fishing
Contents
Pocket Perch
When I first moved to New Orleans as a (very) young man in the mid-1960s, I just knew that I was a fishing hot dog. I thought I knew all there was to know about catching bass, bream, white perch and catfish — and that’s where the fishing world ended.[…]
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Double dipping
The craggy man at the bow controls of the boat turned off the boat’s engine. He lit a cigarette and scanned the points formed by the intersection of the Texaco Canal and Grand Bayou.[…]
Columns
Small, compact spinnerbait a hit
For a man who has been making some of the finest artificial lures in the country for 31 years, Texan Lonnie Stanley sure was talking excitedly — gushing, actually — at length a few weeks ago about his newest baby: a Wedgetail Mini Wedge Runner.[…]
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Back to basics
Whether it’s blue catfish or channel catfish, Central Louisiana’s coastal bays in the springtime are teeming with both. Toss in the occasional flathead, and what you have is the skinning pliers Ictalurus Trifecta of North America.[…]
Columns
Oxbow bream
Once again, the weather prognosticaters had proven that their job is better left to leaf readers and Ouija boards.[…]
Contents
D’Arbonne’s Daffy Divers
It was late evening in the early summer. The five men assembled on the back deck of the Petrus family camp, set on a hill slope overlooking Lake D’Arbonne, were engaged in a masculine redneck ritual. Bobby Petrus, a.k.a. “The Claw,” was grilling meat, and all of them were exchanging humorous insults.
The rough-and-tumble humor, mixed with an equal blend of braggadocio and self-deprecation, was delivered with powerful North Louisiana twangs in what a Cajun or a New Orleanian would consider a foreign language.[…]
Freshwater Fishing
Why a hole?
Catfish noodlers, grabbers or wrestlers, whatever you call them, take advantage of an important trait in the biology of North American freshwater catfish. They need to spawn in cavities of some kind.[…]
Freshwater Fishing
Rub-a-dub tub
Catfish noodlers use a variety of man-made objects to entice flatheads into confining spaces where they can be grabbed. The “Women, Whiskey and Wrastl’in” crew have settled on bathtubs as their favorite. Preparing one takes substantial work.[…]
Catfish
Tools of the trade
“Wrestl’in” catfish demands a few specialized tools. The piggin stick, described elsewhere, is important for more than riling up catfish. It is used in communication.[…]
Contents
Pardon the Perfection
Pelayo motioned me over with frantic gestures and wide eyes. Then he managed a frozen smile and turned back to the conversation with Artie’s spanking-new brother-in-law, Steve.[…]
Freshwater Fishing
Tippets
April is one of the best months for both freshwater and marsh fly fishing. Picking the location and the species can be more difficult than catching the fish![…]
Freshwater Fishing
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events[…]
Columns
Take a holiday for sac-a-lait
Fishing is a lifetime pursuit; one never stops learning. Sometimes the education comes from books, videos or seminars. Sometimes it comes from the kids down the street.[…]
Freshwater Fishing
Hyper Lizard
Lake Fork Trophy Lures’ 9-inch Hyper Lizard is as innovative as it is productive.[…]
Columns
Stop before you clean it
Strip… strip… strip.
My mind was setting the cadence for a very slow retrieve of my weighted fly. Holding to the bottom meant that any change in the slack between rod tip and water would either be fish or snag.[…]