Columns
Ronnie cooks up-the-bayou
Ronnie Sampey’s Smothered Crabs are delicious and fun to eat, and his Redfish Sauce Piquant recipe is unique because few sauce piquants are made with fish. […]
July 2015
Fishing
Simrad’s new Halo radar solves problems
Some things about radar that used to be considered common knowledge are no longer valid — and some, of course, never were.[…]
Columns
Waterborne law enforcement
In Louisiana we are fortunate to have a robust law enforcement presence on the water all across the state. Wildlife enforcement agents can be found working everything from the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the rivers and lakes of North Louisiana[…]
Columns
Panthers: Are they for real?
I always enjoy a good, spirited discussion about an interesting topic, and how much more interesting and controversial could a discussion be than one centered around the existence of large cats — panthers, mountain lions or maybe you prefer to call them cougars — in Mississippi and its neighboring states?[…]
Features
7 steps to clean trout
Nobody likes cleaning the day’s catch. But you’ll burn through these 7 steps to clean speckled trout and get these fish ready for the freezer or dinner.[…]
Field Notes
How to avoid buying ice
Crappie killer Tim Bye has a solution that allows him to save the cost of loose ice without having to deal with those danged plastic jugs.[…]
Catfish
Catfish Everdeen
Robyn Bordelon has been dubbed “Catfish Everdeen” for her ability to find and capture big Mississippi River catfish from her kayak.[…]
Bass Fishing
How to maximize Carolina-rigging
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.[…]
Bass Fishing
Water movement is key to Basin bass
The Atchafalaya River is influenced by the Gulf of Mexico tide, and that affects water movement far into the swamps.[…]
Bass Fishing
What rod is best for crankbaits?
The biggest argument with crankbait anglers is centered around rod selection. The big question is whether graphite or fiberglass rods are best.[…]
Hunting
More on ‘black panthers’
While reports of “black panther” sightings have persisted for years, there is no scientific evidence that such coloration exists in mountain lions.[…]
Bass Fishing
Crankbait color matters
If an angler wants to match the hatch, size matters when selecting a lure. But so does color.[…]
Fishing
Tippets
On the coast, most of the action for speckled trout will come in the surf or in the larger lakes and bays. Start with poppers — such as Skipping Bugs — at first light. Around midmorning, switch to sinking flies. In the surf, that would be either a Deep Clouser or weighted Seaducer pattern. Let the fly sink for 10 seconds; then strip. Inland, that would be a clouser or weighted shrimp pattern about 30 inches under a VOSI.[…]
Bass Fishing
Other heavy finesse bass-fishing tactics
Drop-shots aren’t the only finesse rigs that can be beefed up to provide bass a bite-enducing curve ball. Here are some other options:[…]
Fishing
How to peel a blue crab
As wonderful as blue crabs are to eat, there is no doubt that their meat is tough to get out of the shell. Follow these steps to culinary heaven.[…]
Bass Fishing
How to get bottom rigs unhooked when bass fishing
If the heavy finesse strategy has a hang-up, then we’ve punned our way into the explanation — hang-ups, snags, entanglements.[…]