All sorts of ideas swirl around our Louisiana summers.
Some good and some, well, not so good, our heat and humidity ranking right up there in the not-so-good part. Mosquitoes, too.
The good?
Fishing!
Other states boast about fish and fishing in their states, but Louisiana has only one rival — Alaska.
Even with the reduction in speckled trout and redfish limits and increases in minimum sizes of both species, we’re far ahead of catchable and keepable numbers of saltwater species than any of our fellow Gulf Coast states.
Even though we’re caught up in the federal management of species like greater amberjack and gray triggerfish — closed seasons limit our keepability on those two — the increase in red snapper and other snapper species along with several species of grouper; yellowfin and blackfin tuna; wahoo; bull dolphin; and, the return of hefty white trout and croaker in offshore waters has been nice.
Our fishing trips are darned well something to swell our chests.
Even flounder has returned to its rightful place at our tables. The closed seasons on the commercial and recreational catch of this flatfish has, at least in the near scope of this closure, given us a chance to take this fish home. (Have you ever found a woman who doesn’t like to eat flounder?)
So, while we might struggle with freshwater gamefish during our annual struggle with our summer’s heat, coastal and offshore fishing is more than capable of keeping our piscatorial interests high and our ice chests filled with enough fish to feed family and friends.
Oh, yeah, we’re also into the crabs and shrimp part of our summer. These two keep our boiling pots from collecting cobwebs after springtime crawfish gatherings.
With all of this largess, remember there are limits.
Regulations can be complicated
State Wildlife and Fisheries folks have fishing regulations pamphlets and the agency’s website — wlf.louisiana.gov — has all the information on freshwater and saltwater species, the minimum and maximum sizes for “keepable” fish and daily possession limits. Yes, there are regulations for crabs and shrimp, too.
Know these regulations are just as important for fishermen as having the proper licenses and up-to-date registration for boats and licenses for boat trailers.
And these regulations can be complicated.
Take snappers, for instance.
Red snapper are in a single class — a limit of 4 per day per person with a 16-inch minimum size limit.
Then you get to the other snappers.
Mutton, queen, blackfin, silk, wenchman, cubera, mangrove (gray) and yellowtail snappers are lumped into a single group with a 10 fish per day limit.
Lane and vermilion (beeliners) are in another group with a 20 per day limit.
What’s more, each seem to have different minimum size limits to be “keepers,” and some have no minimum size limit.
That’s just an example of how complicated the regulations can be.
Species identification
Knowing the species is important, too.
A couple of years ago, while weighing fish for a rodeo, a proud angler came to the scales with two very beautiful snapper. Without breaking his heart, we weighed his “red” snapper, then asked if he’d caught others like it.
“Oh, yeah, lots of others, but we had to throw them back. We had our two fish,” he said. That was back when two-a-day was the limit on red snapper.
Because it wasn’t a real by-the-book rodeo, and knowing his two 10 pounders likely wouldn’t hold up on the leaderboard, we weighed his two blackfin snapper, a species with all the looks of a red snapper except for the black spot on its pectoral fins.
So, when we told him he could’ve kept eight more for him and his fishing buddies on that trip, it was an awakening moment to become a little more familiar with what’s swimming in the Gulf.
And, speaking of our southern boundary, there’s news from the current administration in Washington, D.C. about further oil and gas exploration off our coast.
The declaration calls for new leases to be offered, which will increase the activity of supply boats and drilling rigs. OK, so it’ll be a few months before this kicks off, but know we will see more activity in our interior and offshore waters so be careful when and where you’re running.
More news from the U.S. Department of the Interior in early May declared the find of a vast oil and gas field stretching along southern ranges from Texas into Alabama. More jobs, right?
And, when we’re talking about more, maybe better jobs, the recent tariffs on imported seafood can only help Louisiana shrimpers and commercial fishermen.
All of which has been a long time coming for our state. Hurrah!
