Bayou Teche starts in Port Barre and runs 125 miles to the Atchafalaya River in Berwick Bay. But it’s the 8- to 9-mile stretch of bayou between the East Calumet Spillway locks and the Berwick Bay Locks at the Atchafalaya River that competitive anglers know is the place where they can always find five good fish to put on the scale.[…]
With the combination of redfish and largemouth bass becoming more prevalent around Lafitte because of the Davis Pond diversion canal, it only makes sense for anglers to throw baits that target both fish at one time.[…]
On our recent trip to Bayou Teche, Foulcard and I used crankbaits almost exclusively, and switched to soft plastics around mid-morning, when conditions and terrain warranted.[…]
Is there a better month than April? Trout are getting active, and bass are still clobbering anything in the water.[…]
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.[…]
My transformation to a recreational angler is complete.[…]
With largemouth bass taking the place of speckled trout alongside the redfish around Lafitte, it’s no wonder these “green trout” are replacing speckled trout in coolers and on cleaning tables.[…]
I walked down to the dock and saw Craig “Bubba” Graham shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun, just staring into the water. Something had his attention.[…]
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.[…]
One of the most fascinating aspects of the information I learned from offshore fishing guide Josh Howard was just how quickly predator fish can grow.[…]
The early morning sky was grey and overcast, and a cold chill greeted us as we stepped out of the truck at the Sweetwater Marina in Delacroix.[…]
Monster bass can be all over the banks and locked on beds, but if they can’t be seen they can’t be caught.[…]
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.[…]
Tuna are notoriously line shy, and Josh Howard says that’s why he uses fluorocarbon leader all year long, but this time of year especially.[…]
Anyone who has ever set up on a bedding bass knows there’s the real potential to burn hours of fishing time without getting that fish to bite.[…]
“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.[…]