Features from August 2019
When slabs reach their summer haunts in deeper water, if often takes a vibrating, rattling crankbait to draw a strike. Here’s how to get one.
If you think the trophy trout train has already passed by, think again. Here are two places to target and several techniques to use.
Put ‘power’ into your ‘finesse’ fishing with some interesting rig-lure combinations that will trigger bass to bite while others struggle.
Louisiana’s deer season is right around the corner. It’s time to start getting things lined up for the promise of opening day.
August marks the month when bass fishing begins to go bananas along the cane stands that seem endless and eternal south of Venice.
Higher water temperatures in summer increase a trout’s metabolic rate and force it to feed four times more often than it feeds during the winter.
The sky is the limit when fishing around nearshore rigs during the summer. Cooler water plus lots of structure equals fish magnets for Louisiana anglers.
White-tailed deer can be found throughout Louisiana, from northern Caddo Parish southward to the mouth of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish.
Columns - August 2019
- African pompano (alectis ciliaris) are saltwater fish that are usually caught in deep, offshore water around wrecks and artificial reefs.
- The Bayou Coast Kayak Fishing Club offers a unique event allowing members to challenge themselves to successfully catch a wide variety of different species.
- The new Mathews Vertix offers several features, including Switchweight technology, and an integrated arrow-rest mounting system.
- The Matrix Rip Shad is a hard-body artificial lure, a jerkbait, that’s already a favorite of his and charter boat captains in Louisiana.
- The night before making a raid on big Sabine Lake trophy speckled trout, 37-year-old fishing guide Robbie Trahan treated me to some Johnson Bayou cooking.
- To prepare for fishing the latter months of the year, you should look at the lures you used last season and consider why and where they were successful.
Outdoor Updates - August 2019
- Jansen Weaver of Abbeville caught a 91.45-pound ling on June 14 while fishing with his future father-in-law out of Don’s Boat Landing.
- One coastal industry hurt by misinformation about the algae bloom has been charter fishing, but most captains say they never quit catching fish.
- Chris Hall has been on lots and lots of blue marlin trips — but none as successful as he and his crew experienced during the Louisiana Billfish Classic.
- The Coastwide Nutria Control Program (CNCP) bounty will be raised to $6, up from $5, when the program season commences Nov. 20.
- The LDWF oversees the stocking of community fishing locations throughout the state as part of the Community Fishing Program.
- The Northlake Christian School Fishing Team of Christopher Capdeboscq and Sam Acosta won the 2019 TBF/FLW High School Fishing National Championship.
- Insurance is one of the best ways to protect your trucks, boats, ATV’s, UTV’s in the event something goes wrong. But what is actually covered by insurance?
- New Iberia’s Clay Peltier has walked the two weirs along Bird Island Bayou in Marsh Island with cast net in hand for many years to catch shrimp.
- Caitlin Domingues was fishing around drilling rigs out of Don’s Boat Landing when she caught two tagged red snapper that were numbered consecutively.
- When Fuzz Fontenot went fishing in Caney Lake he hooked and reeled in a 39-pound flathead catfish using ultralight fishing gear with 6-pound test line.
Field Notes - August 2019
- During late summer, anglers often target bull redfish in tournaments or simply for fishing enjoyment. Here’s some do’s and don’ts to remember.
- With the opening of deer season approaching, hunters need to start finding the major food sources that whitetails are using.
- When bass are deep, there’s no better way to coax them into biting than dragging a big chunk of plastic on a Carolina rig past their noses.
- During the dog days of summer, Grand Isle’s Trout Master sometimes turns his attention away from chasing specks just long enough to head offshore in pursuit of different prey.
- One of the best tools a bass fisherman can have, especially during the summer when fish live largely in deep, cool, oxygenated water, are toothpicks.
- When Chas Champagne, creator of Matrix Shad, heads out in pursuit of fish, he often relies on this tried-and-true, real-time indicator of tidal movement.
- Find a ditch, a dock and an oyster bed in the same area, and you’ve got the makings of a great place to catch a late-season flounder in Louisiana.
- The details of your setup and presentation are important. Follow these tips to help you make the best of your night-fishing trips for crappie.
- Every summer, Tommy Vidrine tears himself away from catching hammer speckled trout at Grand Isle and heads offshore in pursuit of mangrove snapper.
- From late June through November catfish move around a lot due to a number of factors and one of the best ways to target mobile cats is to drift or troll.
- Capt. Tommy Pellegrin firmly believes snelling circle hooks offshore has a direct correlation to the number of fish coming over his gunnels.
Hot Spots - August 2019
- Anglers in the Cocodrie area are enjoying the best speckled trout action they've seen in years. Capt. Tommy Pellegrin says the area is teeming with fish.
- Vermilion snapper, known as beeliners, make excellent table fare and don’t tear up your gear as much as red snapper or mangrove snapper do.
- Toledo Bend has always been a really good night fishing lake. Last August was awesome and it should be great again this year.