Sidebars
Beating the barrier islands
When conditions are slick enough to allow you to work the beaches on the barrier islands, ice chests can quickly fill with solid trout throughout the summer.[…]
Fishing
Inshore Fishing
Tippets
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.[…]
Crappie/Bream
Geared up and ready to go
With tackle stores full of a thousand sizes, shapes, styles and colors of crappie jigs and fishing equipment, you could spend days or weeks just trying to figure out what to fish with. Or you could just let Bobby Phillips tell you his favorite go-to gear, and copy this veteran guide’s success.[…]
Sidebars
How to tie a uni knot stopper
Tying a uni knot stopper is easy and quick, once you get the steps down. Here’s how you do it in five easy steps.[…]
Fishing
PAC Kayak Rentals Revisited
It was a little over two years ago when we reported on Louisiana’s first and only kayak-specific marina. When Eddie and Lisa Mullen opened Pointe-aux-Chenes (PAC) Kayak Rentals, it was something special. It’s even better now. They wanted to make a place that was specifically designed for the needs of kayak anglers.[…]
Crappie/Bream
The Ouachita’s long and winding path
There are more than 90 miles of Ouachita River between the Arkansas line and the Columbia Lock and Dam in Northeast Louisiana. The river lakes, bayous and cuts off the river are too numerous to mention. But the nice thing is that good access is available up and down the river, and prime fishing isn’t far away. […]
Sidebars
Why sliding corks are best
After the early morning topwater action dies out, it’s pretty much a sure bet Capt. Tommy Pellegrin will turn to live shrimp.[…]
Fishing
New gear reviews
SeaDek Kayak Traction Pads
Made from closed cell PE/EVA foam, SeaDek pad kits for kayaks offer an exceptional traction surface, and also add to a kayak’s stealth factor by reducing noises caused by dropping or hitting gear against the plastic deck. The cushiony foam also lessens fatigue from prolonged standing, and keeps the deck much cooler to the touch on hot summer days.[…]
Crappie/Bream
What’s a “top”?
A top is simply a submerged brush top, the top of a bush or tree or a fallen tree with lots of submerged limbs. Tops sometimes lay where they fall, and other times current washes them onto sandbars or into river lakes.[…]
Sidebars
The bay is all about structure
If conditions rule out fishing the beaches — or if the bite just isn’t on — plenty of action awaits in Timbalier Bay.[…]
Fishing
July’s Best Bets
How: Even though it is hot, the fishing on Toledo Bend has been good. Early mornings and late evenings are the most productive — and the most comfortable. Bass are hitting topwater baits fishing shallow early morning and evenings, but as the day wears on, they are heading deep. Throw drop-shot rigs, Texas-rigged plastics and deep-diving crankbaits.[…]
Crappie/Bream
How to catch your own grass shrimp
Leonard Kleinpeter stresses that a proper dip net is needed to effectively catch grass shrimp from their preferred habitat, dense beds of coontail and other aquatic plants. […]
Columns
LiveTarget’s Scaled Sardine Twitchbait
A veteran saltwater fishing guide out of Sarasota, Florida, has an artificial bait that looks so much like the real thing, it’s irresistible to speckled trout, redfish and snook in the shallow waters he fishes along the coast.[…]
News Breaker
LDWF: Snapper landing estimates through July 1; weekend-only season reopens
Through July 1, Louisiana’s recreational anglers had landed about 344,000 pounds — or 46 percent — of the state’s 743,000-pound allocation, according to catch estimates from LA Creel and the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.[…]
News Breaker
Spoon-feed Delacroix’s summer reds
The sun was just above the horizon, peaking from behind building thunderheads, when Capt. Austin Plaisance brought his Blazer Bay off plane. Redfish scattered across the grassy flat, pushing submarine wakes.[…]
Fishing
U.S. House passes Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization bill
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed H.R. 200, a bipartisan bill including the Modern Fish Act — legislation which addresses the challenges faced by recreational anglers in the current federal fisheries management system and seeks to balance management between the commercial and recreational sectors.[…]