Features from April 2020
- River shrimp are the ticket to big blue and channel catfish catches on the Atchafalaya River in Morgan City for the next 10 weeks.
- We follow along with Louisiana pros Darold Gleason and Caleb Sumrall as they compete in the Bassmaster Classic, which was won by a North Carolina pro.
- Loop knots allow lures to work more naturally, which is a big factor when picky slab crappie aren’t in a real feeding mood.
- Turkey hunting in Louisiana hasn’t been stellar in recent years, but some good public-land options still provide decent chances at scoring on a longbeard.
- According to one Louisiana turkey hunting legend, scouting and listening are more important than calling when turkey season arrives.
- Stay on the move for Louisiana’s post-spawn crappie. Two of Louisiana’s top crappie thumpers share their tips for making your April fishing trips good ones.
- Capt. Herk Bergeron knows that this time of year the speckled trout are following the bait as it moves south down the Barataria Waterway.
- Speckled trout love grassbeds; learn how submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) helps fish, the environment and Louisiana fishermen.
Columns - April 2020
- It’s unlikely Louisiana anglers will for very long enjoy the same speckled trout limits that have been in place for nearly four decades.
- Increase your kayak fishing skills by trying your hand at catching some of the less popular fish species Louisiana has to offer.
- Early spring is a good time to get the habitat in shape for turkeys and the approaching nesting season here in Louisiana.
- Missile Baits’ new Quiver looks amazing underwater and is an ideal bait for use with the Neko Rig and the Tokyo Rig for bass.
- Wahoo are among the fastest fish in the ocean, are hard-fighting, and are also one of the tastiest. That’s why they are highly sought after by anglers.
Outdoor Updates - April 2020
- The 2020 Louisiana Sportsman Show and Festival was shut down early and the show’s Big Buck Contest ended the second night of the show, with 27 entries.
- The BassCashBash began in 2015 on Toledo Bend and has expanded the program to seven different lakes. Prizes include $1,000 for each tagged fish caught.
- Joseph Martin of Baton Rouge set the hook and landed a "hawg" on Feb. 15 in Lake Fausse Pointe with the help of his fishing buddy, Austin Whitaker.
- West Monroe’s Spencer Lambert, a rookie on the BASS Open Tour this season, hooked his personal best bass from Caney Lake.
- A big bass made New Iberia's Jarrod Derouen’s day when he caught it on March 7 in a borrow pit in Lake Fausse Pointe while fishing with Troy Laviolette.
- The competitors in the Louisiana State Championship Crappie Masters tournament on Lake D’Arbonne Feb. 28 and Feb. 29 weighed in some incredible fish.
- This week there were three anglers who teamed with the Caney Lake monster bass for some pretty impressive photo catches and photo ops.
- Jason Fails and his fishing partner David Gordon fished the Ashley Vidrine Benefit tournament on Indian Creek Lake where Fails hooked a lunker largemouth.
- Kyle Berry of Grayson hooked this 3.1-pound crappie on Feb. 12, 2020, in Caldwell Parish.
- Jino Papania of Meraux shot this odd-looking duck on Jan. 13 while hunting in Yscloskey, La., with his cousin, Trent Tedesco.
- Read the stories of two anglers who succeeded in catching the largest bass of their lifetime at Toledo Bend in February, which is the second-best month.
- Toledo Bend continued to deliver double-digit lunkers in late February. DeRidder’s Jonathan Harper and Denni Fetting of Leesville both caught big bass.
Field Notes - April 2020
- There are a few things that can wreck your chances of success when you head to the beach to surf fish. Here are 8 things you should not do.
- Randy Despino, who spent the past two years on the FLW Pro Tour, will rely on the V&M Flat Wild this month at Toledo Bend.
- A stream of bubbles coming from the bottom of a body of water can mean a lot of things, most of them good for bass fishermen.
- Greg Hackney, one of the most successful and recognizable Louisiana bass pros, plans to be swimming a jig for bass this month.
- Bassmaster Elite Series pro Robbie Latuso had a ready answer for what he wants to throw for fun or in crunch time in April, a Delta Lures spinnerbait.
- Get a different ‘perspective’ on what’s below the surface with LiveScope’s latest Perspective mode. It gives you a live, real-time view of the fish.
- Gerald Spohrer of Gonzales turns to spinnerbaits made by Delta Lures to trigger bass bites at Toledo Bend around docks and Lake Verret around cypress trees
- There’s more to catching trout in the surf than showing up and walking into the water. Here are some tips from Sammy Romano, who has perfected the tactics.
- So what is it about turkeys that make them so difficult to kill? University of Mississippi’s Richard Bucholz ran down the some of the reasons.
Hot Spots - April 2020
- Capt. Mike Guidry, of Rippin Lip Guide Service, says he’ll fish the Sulphur Mine and Catfish Lake this month until the trout make their annual transition.
- The surf at Elmer’s Island is a great destination to catch sharks. But surf-fishing for sharks requires some preparation. Here’s what you’ll need.
- For many fish in the marsh, April is a transition period into their summer patterns. The marshes around Leeville fill with redfish in April.
- Capt. Gene Dugas, of Rather Be Fishing Adventures, says April should be a good month for speckled trout and redfish fishing at the MRGO Rocks.
- Raceland’s David King and David McMath were surprised with their catches of numerous quality bass at Lac Des Allemands Feb. 5.
- April will be a prime month for bass fishing at Toledo Bend. The majority will be in depths of 5 to 10 feet, up and down the lake, west to east.
- Barry Henry of Morgan City explains why April gets a green light for awesome slab crappie fishing in the Bayou Black area.
- Sabine National Wildlife Refuge is now open for fishing business. The best choice for April is sight-casting for redfish.
- In April, Toledo Bend’s largemouth bass will chomp down on spawning shad. This father-daughter duo shares what they do to catch numbers of quality bass.