Louisiana Sportsman

Understanding how water moves through the marsh — and the ‘traffic system’ fish use to travel — will help you locate more honey holes and make you a better angler.

Understanding how water flows through the marsh

August 9, 2018 Devin Denman

It’s easy to look upon Louisiana’s prairie marsh and only see a bunch of grass and water.[…]

Lure profile – not just color – an important factor to consider

August 9, 2018 Devin Denman

In addition to color, the profile of your lure will also determine its effectiveness depending on what forage predators are feeding on.[…]

Capt. Nick, Kimmie and Cooper Poe are all smiles after boating a big tripletail. Jeff Poe, Nick’s father, advised anglers fishing anywhere from the beach to the near-offshore rigs to target any trash floating on the water because it could be a tripletail

Big Lake beach fishing

August 8, 2018 Don Shoopman

With speckled trout fishing success up and down this year in Calcasieu Lake, particularly during a summer plagued by high west winds, it’s time to point the bow of the boat to the beach from Johnson Bayou to Holly Beach.[…]

Capt. Hook poses with some Breton Sound hammers at the dock.

Stay on the move to find Hopedale trout

August 8, 2018 Rusty Tardo

Hot. Sizzling, searing, scorching, broiling, roasting — all describe our summer weather, and the trout don’t seem to like it any more than we do. Perhaps it’s why they pulled a disappearing act in June and have had anglers scratching their heads ever since.[…]

Devin Denman and some fishing buddies tagged and released lots of speckled trout along the MRGO rocks earlier this spring, and he’s already received several recapture reports on some of the fish.

Tracking trout movement at the MRGO

August 7, 2018 Devin Denman

Back in May, me and some of my closest fishing buddies targeted speckled trout to be tagged and released at the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) Long Rocks. […]

Get an early start, keep an eye on the radar and take advantage of the falling tide for Lake Borgne trout this month.

Beat the heat for August specks

August 7, 2018 Joel Masson

Fishing is all about stacking as many odds in your favor as possible, and something you should certainly put in your favor this month is leaving the dock early. Not only do you beat the heat, but you also get a much better speckled trout bite, according to Slidell guide Capt. Matt McCabe.[…]

Redfish are thick in the Buras marsh right now. Just be certain you're putting your baits right up on the bank.

Redfish swarming the banks of Buras marsh

August 6, 2018 Andy Crawford

Fishing in Buras right now is a one-horse show — but you’ll go home with tired arms and plenty of meat for the table.[…]

Marsh Man Masson vid: Which soft-plastic is best for speckled trout?

August 6, 2018 Todd Masson

There are more varieties of soft-plastic paddletail lures on the market than boats, outboards and trolling motors put together. Each manufacturer constantly develops new colors and styles in hopes of catching anglers’ attention as they side-step down the aisles of their local tackle shops. But do these lures actually catch fish?[…]

Big Lake trout fishing has been off and on this summer, but there are plenty of redfish to keep your rod doubled.

Big Lake fishing is ‘best of the season’ right now

August 3, 2018 Andy Crawford

Farmers might be bemoaning a lack of rain in Southwest Louisiana, but Capt. Erik Rue sure isn’t complaining. That’s because low rainfall levels have allowed salinity in his home waters to soar.[…]

A violet goby is a speckled trout favorite, and just might be the reason we have purple-colored lures. Keeping a close eye on what a trout throws up when you reel it in can give important clues on what it’s eating that day — and might ultimately help you

Inshore Insights: Mystery baitfish revealed

August 2, 2018 Devin Denman

We were fishing Delacroix when a speckled trout coughed up this weird thing shown in the picture above. Read on to learn what exactly it is — and why it’s important to you as an inshore angler.[…]

Fish smarter, not harder. You can still catch fish in the height of summertime heat.

Hot trout tips

August 1, 2018 Andy Crawford

The dog days of summer have arrived, and that means staying on the water for 12 hours to limit out on speckled trout is about as much fun as hitting your thumb with a hammer. Twice.[…]

Live shrimp and croakers will be effective in catching trout roaming over the shell pad bottoms of the sound’s rigs and wellheads.

Dog days specks

August 1, 2018 Patrick Bonin

Mother Nature typically cranks up the furnace on high this month, enveloping the state in a sticky, humid sauna that practically leaves anglers begging for the first cool fronts of fall.[…]

Prairieville's Tyler Brockman caught these two 5-pounders on back-to-back casts on Friday while fishing with his dad, Steve Brockman, in Lake Pelto. The larger of these fish went 5.27-pounds, and should put him on the CCA STAR leaderboard.

Bounce around for solid Cocodrie trout

July 30, 2018 Andy Crawford

Trout fishing out of Cocodrie is a bit different this year, and it took Prairieville angler Steve Brockman a couple of trips to figure things out.[…]

Inshore insights: Keep your tackle tangle-free

July 26, 2018 Devin Denman

Rod socks and hook bonnets are an easy and relatively inexpensive way to prevent your rods and reels from becoming a tangled mess.[…]

Marsh Man Masson vid: How do various topwaters look, sound to speckled trout?

July 25, 2018 Todd Masson

Catching trophy-sized speckled trout on topwater lures is no less exhilarating than hitting a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth to win game seven of the World Series. There’s just something about hearing the staccato rhythm of a clacking plug being interrupted by a cupped slap and frothy explosion. It turns the knees to jelly.[…]

St. Bernard man cited for alleged crabbing violations

July 25, 2018 From News Reports

Enforcement agents with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries cited a 65-year-old St. Bernard man for alleged commercial crabbing violations on Monday.[…]