Darren Cooper and I sat in Doiron’s Store at 6:30 a.m., waiting for an early morning thunderstorm to pass over the lower Atchafalaya Basin. It had been several years since we had gotten together to catch bream in the huge swamp — and a slowly falling Atchafalaya River gave great promise to our day.[…]
In spite of having lived a high-powered life, Leonard Kleinpeter is living proof that effective fishing doesn’t demand investment in an expensive fiberglass bass boat.[…]
Bass, crappie and bream fishermen who frequent the canals of Crackerhead can’t help but to have seen a solid brass plaque mounted on one of a pair of modest-sized cypress trees standing in the water off a canal bank.[…]
• Look for places that bass go to eat. That’s where they congregate. Focus on sloughs and points without ruling out bank fishing.[…]
He smelled so good I wanted to lick him.
Leonard Kleinpeter has just sprayed himself with bug repellant, but not the stinky stuff in a can.[…]
Topwater frogs and Texas-rigged craws are “in season” on Blind River for Lyle Johnson from March to November. But he is quick to admit that the Texas craw is his mainstay lure. The clear water coming out of the sloughs draining into the river is what prompted his heavy use of the frog the day we fished.[…]
“Get in the books.” That’s Lyle Johnson’s message to his fellow fishermen.
As chairman of the state’s Fish Records Program, he encourages people to enter their fish, even if it isn’t a No. 1.[…]
“This isn’t finesse fishing,” chuckled Jeb loudly. “We want to get them in.”[…]
Lyle Johnson wears a lot of hats.
The Gonzales native is the long-serving president of the Louisiana Outdoor Writers Association (LOWA), the state’s professional organization for outdoors writers and communicators.[…]
Jeb and Tina Ard weren’t always catch-and-release, fish-for-fun anglers. Early in their marriage, the couple, both 43, fished for food. Especially for Jeb, fishing meant eating.[…]
Blind River is one of Southeast Louisiana’s secret spots. Located between the major population centers of urban and suburban New Orleans and Baton Rouge, it may be accessed from U.S. Highway 61, which parallels Interstate Highway 10.[…]
If the notion of “shooting fish in a barrel” appeals to you, summer trout fishing probably won’t be your cup of tea. Sure, you may find a pile of fish, but finding implies looking — and this time of year often requires a lot of that.[…]
Pitching plastics at Bayou Black doesn’t have to be complicated, but there are a few tips Engerran passed along to help you be more successful.[…]
Capt. Tommy Pellegrin always has a plan in mind when he leaves the dock. But he said he’s ready to zig and zag because, well, stuff happens.[…]
Capt. Tommy Pellegrin uses slip corks because they make it so easy to cast.
He uses slip corks because they make it so easy to cast, even working over deep water.[…]
Early July should be great surf fishing for speckled trout. Try poppers starting at first light. An hour after the sun rises, switch to Clouser Minnows or other baitfish patterns. An intermediate or sink tip line will help get the fly down in the trough areas where the larger trout are feeding.[…]