Field Notes

Austin’s Handy Dandy Line Winder

Is there anything worse than having to spool a reel while on the boat? I mean, after you spend the time to snatch the old line off the reel, you then have the pleasure of fighting a plastic spool of new line rolling around the boat — and it’s a pain to ensure you’re putting the line on the reel tightly.[…]

News Breaker

Delacroix redfish getting thick inshore

Belle Chasse angler Chad Battles isn’t a fishing guide, but he’s on the water chasing redfish at least as much as any professional fisherman. As such, he can really recognize trends, and one of them he’s seeing now is increasing redfish action out of Delacroix.[…]

Ask Captain Paul

Capt. Paul’s Fishing Edge: GPS waypoints for Lafitte

I refer to the Lafitte Edge area as the location in the Southeast Louisiana marsh in St. Charles, Lafourche and Jefferson parishes between the Bayou Segnette launch in Westwego, Lakes Cataouatche and Salvador, areas in the Lake Salvador Wildlife Management Area, southwestward to Bayous Gauche and des Allemands, Lac des Allemands and Bayou Boeuf and eastward toward The Pen and Bayou Du Pont, then continuing south to the northern part of Barataria Bay.[…]

Bass Fishing

Bass follow bait on the Ouachita

It’s been a crazy year on the Ouachita River. Spring flooding pushed waters far out of the river’s banks. Then a summer drawdown by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for repairs on the Columbia lock and dam drew the river down to a 40-year low. The drop emptied many smaller tributaries, brought D’Arbonne Bayou back to its channels and cut off most river lakes.[…]

Fishing Hotspots

Chasing reds in Cocodrie

Redfish in South Louisiana are plentiful 12 months out the year, and there are as many ways to catch them as lures to use. As with almost any fish, though, there’s no more fun way to catch a bull red than on a topwater lure.[…]