Features from May 2020
- LDWF ready to open renovated Bussey Brake Reservoir, a 2,200 acre man-made, water-supply reservoir in Morehouse Parish, when rain fills it up.
- Capt. Daryl Carpenter and Danny Wray of Calmwater Charters point to ways you can catch your share of the speckled trout hanging around Grand Isle in May.
- Jiggin’ Pole’s inventor had plenty to say about crappie fishing, and his son J.B. “Blaine” Salter is keeping the religion alive.
- There’s a talent to the popular technique of sight-fishing for reds back in the marsh. This veteran guide shares his expertise.
- Changing weather patterns and water conditions put speckled trout in a rush to change locations in Louisiana’s coastal marshes in May.
Columns - May 2020
- One of the items Joshua Chauvin uses most in the field happens to be one of the cheapest and simplest devices out there: the ball bungee.
- Does your deer data match the way you’re managing them. Now is a good time to look at your collected data and do some ciphering.
- The Matrix XShad is the exact mold of the Matrix Shad, except it gives anglers the opportunity to rig it weedless or on an open-faced jighead.
- For Capt. Justin Bowles, May is one of his favorite months of the year. Louisiana fishermen can’t wait for speckled trout to move in May.
- Activities like crawfishing from a kayak can be relatively inexpensive and productive. James and Kaleb Kellum go on crawfishing adventure in their kayaks.
- Bass are the nation’s No. 1 gamefish because of their existence in such a wide variety of water types. They also eat just about anything.
Outdoor Updates - May 2020
- Dalton Thompson of Picayune, Mississippi, is glad he didn't sleep late. He caught his dream lunker largemouth the morning of March 24 at Caney Lake.
- Lake Martin has been widely touted as a fishing mecca, yet plagued with border and access feuds that have recently escalated to new heights.
- It’s March Madness at Toledo Bend as this month offers the best chances for anglers to catch a double-digit lunker largemouth.
- Andre Weber of Jeanerette is having a heckuva month. The the Catholic High School junior caught three lunker bass in Lake Fausse Pointe.
- Dale Fowler had his hands full with a lunker bass that bit on a watermelon/red Strike King Shim-E-Stick on March 21 in Slaughter Creek at Toledo Bend.
- Robyn Bordelon catches a lot of catfish from her kayak, but this one was special. The rare fish was caught in the Mississippi River in south Louisiana.
- The second-largest wahoo ever taken out of Louisiana waters was boated on March 20 by a Florida angler fishing on a Venice-based charterboat.
- Paul Resweber of St. Martinville landed a lunker bass at the Texas Oilman's Bass Invitational on Toledo Bend while fishing with Mike O'Brien.
- Here’s four more stories of bass anglers scoring successfully on the bounty of March’s Toledo Bend lunker largemouth bass.
- Corey Harwell caught this 10.2-pound lunker, which was 25 inches long and 191/2 inches in girth, on March 21, fishing out of Tucker’s Camp on Caddo Lake.
- Jacob Howat was running catfish lines along the batture of the Mississippi River when he caught a leucistic catfish that weighed 5 pounds, 1 ounce.
- The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary signed a declaration of emergency to delay the opening of the recreational red snapper season.
Field Notes - May 2020
- Bass pro Greg Hackney of Gonzales likes the KVD Splash for post-spawn bass in May. He said the topwater will be effective anywhere he fishes now.
- Glen Freeman of Zwolle, who specializes in putting bass in the boat on lakes like Toledo Bend, keeps it simple with the Mister Twister Nightcrawler.
- Port Allen bass pro Brent Bonadona talks about his favorite artificial lure for May. He loves a a 3/8- or ½-ounce buzzbait from Delta Lures in post-spawn.
- Hunter Freeman, a bass pro from Monroe, has the perfect answer to ringing up big bass in May. Salmo Rattlin’ Stick is a great post-spawn bass bait.
Hot Spots - May 2020
- Capt. Marc Fradella said you can expect to find some big fish — nice-sized speckled trout and big redfish — around Bay Eloi wellheads and rigs.
- Caney Lake is monster bass country, but it’s also a great place to “just” go fishing in May. It isn’t all “go big or go home.”
- With the large numbers of baitfish that speckled trout and redfish alike are gorging on this time of year, slicks are a productive means of locating fish.
- Bass were trying to get on a plastic frog bite in early April. Rising water and plenty of vegetation should send bass chomping on frog baits in May.
- Capt. Chad Dufrene said that anglers who venture out should be able to find some fish in the mid-zone middle of the Delacroix area.
- According to Jonathan Quinn of Sweet Lake, who has been hunting big bass most of his life, May is a prime time to wrestle with big bass in Lacassine Pool.
- Mangrove snapper can be found anywhere from Venice to Grand Isle to Cocodrie, with Cocodrie perhaps the best-known mangrove snapper destination.
- While the crappie are still biting at Lake D’Arbonne, the technique and the places you’ll likelly catch them will change, according to Josh Thomas.