Features from June 2018
Although he still gets up some mornings at 3 a.m. to participate in the rat race to go catch fish, Kevin Lawson admittedly isn’t as mad at speckled trout as he used to be.
“The fish have it backwards when it comes to the weather,” Nick Young said as he cruised his big Ranger down the edge of the boat channel, scanning his electronics for suspended crappie.
The legendary Trestles train bridge on Lake Pontchartrain is loaded with fish — and fishermen — every spring. When the speckled trout bite is super hot and winds are calm, the 5-mile-long bridge often has a boat on almost every piling.
Jerry “J.T.” Thompson stared intently at the screen of his 12-inch down-scan unit as he brought the pontoon boat off plane.
Catfishing is supposed to be all about a gob of slimy worms, or bloody chicken liver, or smelly cut bait — or better yet some concoction of secret ingredients, usually including spoiled sour cheese.
Think of a scavenger hunt: You’re trying to locate a specific objective and the task requires a lot of looking. Random scrambling wastes too much time, so you try to mentally break down the search by likely parameters — where would the hunted items likely exist?
I sure was happy when Jeff Poe pointed his boat’s pointy nose north out of Hebert’s Landing on Calcasieu Lake. In the early light, the sky to the south looked like a bruised eggpant — purple and ugly.
“Ya ever been on the river before?” drawled the laconic 48-year-old. “Nah,” I had to answer.
Columns - June 2018
- There’s no better way to introduce kids to fishing than with a kayak. The solitude and close quarters allow for easy instruction and great conversation, with almost endless teaching opportunities. On quiet paddles, a wide variety of wildlife may be seen — as well as several different species of fish caught.
- Rule No. 1 in our house is to never pass up a chance to put your feet under Mary Poe’s kitchen table. Her recipes appear in three of the six Louisiana Seafood Bible books, and they’re all great.
- The key to aging yearling deer — deer that are 1 year old— is the third premolar. The third premolar is a temporary tooth that has three cusps (or crests.) Both fawns and yearling deer have this temporary three-cusped premolar.
- We find ourselves in the “in-between season.” Here in the Deep South, it is not only the season of insects, heat, humidity, snakes and poison ivy, but it’s also the season of summer food plots, bush-hogging and weed spraying.
- The summer months offer excellent fishing in Louisiana. It is the height of the fishing “season,” and many of us get out there and do our best to procure the main course for a fish fry.
- Before Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits’ Cowboy soft plastic creature bait was unveiled at the 2018 Bassmaster Classic in South Carolina, a few bass anglers were fortunate to have Ron Colby’s latest creation.
- At the recent “Fly Fishin’ For the Mission” tournament held out of Pointe-aux-Chenes, my teammate Kevin “Doc” Andry and I started the day hoping to repeat as overall champions.
- As the majority of our hunting population ages, crossbows have steadily moved to the forefront of today’s archery market.
- When an angler sets a hook in a tarpon, there is an explosion. There’s no delayed action fuse in this fish. The water erupts and a platinum-silver streak shears the surface with the force of a depth charge exploding.
- This St. Bernard Parish area is one of the prime inshore fishing spots in all of the Louisiana coastal marshes, with many weather-protected fishing locations.
Outdoor Updates - June 2018
- Derek Mong and his dad Dave have been fishing bass tournaments together since he was just a 4-year-old kid.
- As the clock winds down on the Legislature’s regular session, Rep. Jerome “Zee” Zeringue confirmed to Louisiana Sportsman that legislation which would have increased hunting and fishing license fees for many state residents is officially dead this year.
- Almost 200 sample results have been received, and the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Department is reporting that none have tested positive for chronic wasting disease in three Northeast Louisiana parishes.
- After a pretty intense game of cat-and-mouse this past weekend, Clint Gray and Eric Templet teamed up and eventually put down a six-bearded gobbler Sunday morning in West Feliciana Parish that, once officially certified by the National Wild Turkey Federation, will become Louisiana’s No. 2-ranked atypical gobbler in the all-time record books.
- They say it’s better to be lucky than good. That was the case for four captains with Mexican Gulf Fishing Company in Venice on May 3 while they were wrapping up another successful yellowfin tuna trip about 35 miles south of Port Eads.
Field Notes - June 2018
- Spinning tackle is the "go-to" for inshore anglers. It can be "tuned" to achieve maximum performance, resulting in longer casts and fewer wind knots.
- When crappie finish their spawning rituals, they head to deeper water and look for two things: Food and cover.
- Braided line is a great "tool in the toolbox" for catching speckled trout and redfish. A lighter cuts braided fishing line quickly and conveniently.
- For Bassmaster Elite Series pro Cliff Crochet, summertime fishing conjures up images of time out on the water as a youngster, making both early-morning and late-afternoon trips, and learning to throw a buzzbait with some parental input.
- The old wind machine has been cranked up and blowing for what seems like almost all spring, and hopefully now a more typical summertime pattern will take over.
Hot Spots - June 2018
- Capt. Ty Hibbs is a sight-fishing fanatic. He takes clients every week to the fish-filled backwaters of the South Louisiana marsh, and not only has great success, but has a ball watching redfish engulf lures.
- After a subpar year of speckled trout fishing last year at Calcasieu Lake due to seven flooding events, anglers are hopeful June’s fishing helps them forget about 2017.
- A few years back, the only time Randy Smith ever caught a crappie was by accident. Now, he dedicates most of his time on the water chasing them.
- The summer months bring many things, but nothing better than the opportunity to go drown some worms and catch a good mess of Lake D’Arbonne catfish.
- The Mississippi River will be a key determinant on how the trout bite shapes up this month out of Delacroix, according to Capt. Mike Wittich.
- Micah Doyle is a full-time student at LSU, but when he’s away from the classroom during the summer, he loves targeting speckled trout. The avid angler makes several trips throughout this month to get in on the wade-fishing action at the beach on Grand Isle.
- With the Mississippi forecasted to still be up around 12 feet by the beginning of June, Capt. Curtis LeNormand said anglers will have to pay close attention to the river stage to get on a trout bite on the west side out of Buras.
- Veteran Shell Beach charter guide Capt. Jacques “Jakamo” Laboureur (504-303-1494) said, “To me, June means two things: One, fish the MRGO rocks, and two, fish the reefs in the big, fringe oyster-laden bays.”
- After a prolonged cool and wet spring, I’m ready for the next season on Toledo Bend.
- The trout spawn is happening now in and around Grand Isle, and speck specialist Tommy Vidrine said June is a great month to head to the island to get in on the action.
- Offshore, Venice fishing got off to a slow start in 2018, but almost halfway through the year things are finally turning around.