Fishing

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The Lafitte Lowdown

May 30, 2005 Rusty Tardo

Maybe it’s just me, but it sure seemed like a long winter. Some of the poor folks up north dubbed it “the winter that wouldn’t die,” which sounded more like a pathetic plot in a Grade B movie than a weather condition.

And even though this winter finally lost its frosty grip on the thermometer, it left behind these blustery, nagging, unending winds specifically to pester and harass us fishermen.

But the long winter drought is over, the sun has steadily warmed up the water, the shrimp are beginning to make their annual appearance, and the trout are slamming baits all over the Southeast Louisiana coastline.[…]

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Red Rage

May 25, 2005 Chris Ginn

Red is hot. Red is a strong color that conjures up conflicting emotions from passionate love to violence and warfare. […]

Bass Fishing

Prehistoric Pearl

May 25, 2005 Jeff Bruhl

As the Pearl River flows past the town of Bogalusa on its way to Lake Borgne, the winding path provides a state line for Louisiana and Mississippi, but the scenic beauty offered by the river is boundless.[…]

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Not a Novelty

May 25, 2005 John McQueen

The small cove on the eastern end of Calcasieu Lake looked much like any other stretch of uninhabited shoreline. It wasn’t so much of a cove as a dip in the largely featureless stretch of bank.[…]

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Map Feature: Sabine Lake

May 25, 2005 John McQueen

The heavy fog, which had inundated the extreme southwestern part of the state, was just beginning to break when the 9-pound redfish began its assault on the southern end of Sabine Lake, trying in vain to render the colorful MirrOlure useless for the remainder of the day.[…]

Bass Fishing

Lure Review

May 25, 2005 Don Shoopman

The Texan whose artificial lures speak for themselves with their productivity, so much so that they have become a staple in the tackleboxes of pros and weekend anglers alike, can’t help but be proud of a spinnerbait series that’s hooking up bass from Texas to all points of the compass, including Louisiana.[…]

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Flooded Felines

May 25, 2005 Humberto Fontova

The sky was a gorgeous dark grey — almost black — as we pounded into Breton Sound. Lovely little white caps topped the waves like frosting on chocolate cake, the swells between them heavily rippled by the savage gusts that had kicked up just seconds earlier.[…]

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Blue-Collar Cats

May 25, 2005 John E. Phillips

“Come on, come on, don’t play with it. Yeah baby,” Christine whooped.Swinging my seat around to watch the action, I was just in time to see her give a non-lady-like, lip-ripping yank.[…]

Bass Fishing

Living the Dream

April 24, 2005 John E. Phillips

I admit, when it comes to bass fishing I am only a novice at best. That doesn’t keep me from daydreaming, however, that I just might be able to hang with some of the pros if the conditions were right.

Like most fish stories, this “hanging with the pros” stuff sounds like stretching a 14-inch fish into another category. But isn’t a guy entitled to his dreams? Moreover, I realize that if I were a betting man, I certainly wouldn’t be betting on yours truly. Yet, note that I said, “I might be able to hang … if the conditions were right.”

My first condition would be to fish the canals south of the Intracoastal Waterway and east of Bayou Sale Bay. It is in these canals that I dream of going pro.

The second condition would be making sure I was ready to start fishing the moment the tide started to fall. The short time frame where the tide sort of stands motionless is when you should be running to the canals to rig up your favorite bait.
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The Scoop on the Skinny

April 24, 2005 John McQueen

Spring inshore fishing can be such a tease. Specks are ready for their reproductive business, but extreme changes in the weather make fish extremely mobile, rendering even the most up-to-date information obsolete.

But that compares little to the games redfish play as they ease into the warm-weather pattern. Reds are more than willing to mass in the shallow ponds and show themselves in all their bronze glory, but getting them to bite is an entirely different matter.[…]