Recipes
New Orleans girl crafts creative crab cuisine
Two things quickly become obvious about Dana Ranna Venezia. She is a focused, highly organized person, and of all the things that she cooks, she loves crabmeat the most.
January 2018
Fishing
Lost & found
I don’t recall exactly who said it, but a famous outdoorsman once quipped that he had never actually been lost — but there had been times when he hadn’t known where he was for a few days.
Deer Hunting
Rate that buck
Well, we once again find ourselves at the close of another year and headed straight into the clutches of what passes for winter here in the Deep South.
Fishing
January’s Best Bets
Catfish
Bayou catfishing
Catfish are available in almost all freshwater areas of the state. Regularly caught in lakes, bayous and rivers, these fish provide great food and sport. However, they also provide an opportunity for kayak anglers to catch some true giants. The three species available in Louisiana are blue, channel and flathead catfish. The current No. 1 state record blue cat is 114 pounds, while the top channel cat is 30.31 pounds and the best flathead went 95 pounds. (The top three blue cats all weighed more than 100 pounds.)
Catfish
New gear reviews
Yak Gear Ambush Kayak Duck Blind
Bass Fishing
The Super Sally
For many anglers, especially in the South, there have been epic trips with lots of unforgettable “Sally Time.”
Sidebars
Artillery hold is key for dead-on accuracy
Achieving the greatest accuracy from an air rifle requires some changes in one’s typical shooting habits. Instead of holding the rifle with a firm grip, you have to use the loosest grip possible and allow it to recoil freely.
Sidebars
Riceland Custom Calls
Calling white-fronted geese can be a challenge, but quite often a quality call can make all of the difference.
Riceland Custom Calls have large bores and are easier to blow than other commercial models.
Inshore Fishing
Cold weather considerations
Locating winter fish can be challenging, so the last thing you want is to squander an opportunity by allowing the elements to negatively impact your comfort and functional ability. Venice guide Capt. Anthony Randazzo offers these tips to prevent such frustrations.
Other Hunting
What you’ll need
The gear for a basic coon hunt isn’t that complex, Chris Jones said. You need plenty of well-charged lights — including a headlamp, a flashlight and a spotlight. (Running out of light on a coon hunt would be akin to leaving the plug out of your boat when fishing.)
Other Hunting
Coon cans and can’ts
In Louisiana, there are only three animals you can hunt all year round: coyotes, feral hogs and raccoons. For that reason, hunting raccoons isn’t very heavily regulated. That’s because, even though they appear cute on animal shows, in the wild they are a major nuisance and a destructive force to both landowners and homeowners.
Fishing
Other Hunting
My first coon hunt
By his count, Chris Jones and his friends have introduced more than 30 young hunters to the fine art of coon hunting. Now, he can add one 65-year-old to the list.
Sidebars
Caddo as a duck lake
Todd Hopkins, who lives on the lake, described it as an average duck hunting lake, one that can produce limit kills as well as one that can produce blanks.
Sidebars
Caddo Lake has some challenges
Every duck hunting spot has its idiosyncrasies and challenges, and Caddo Lake is no different than the others. Brandon Garner and Todd Hopkins mused over a few of them.