Sidebars
What is a ‘jo boat?’
Although Mike Branton builds his own jo boats as a hobby, the true home for these little craft is Marksville in Avoyelles Parish.[…]
Northeast LA
Sidebars
How to access Boeuf River potholes for duck hunting
Access to pothole hunting along Beouf River is by boat, so for people not familiar with the area finding a launch is necessary.[…]
Contents
Pothole fever — Duck hunting potholes along the Boeuf River
I had heard those words before: “Ray Charles could find it.”
The last time I was given the challenge that the great, but completely blind rock-and-roll singer could find his way to where I was being directed was in the days before GPS units and cell phones. […]
Deer of the Year
West Monroe hunter arrows 154-inch brute
The skies opened and the bottom fell out the first weekend in October across North Louisiana, as a weather system with accompanying cold front sloshed through. But Bill Petrus, a West Monroe businessman and avid bow hunter, didn’t let that bother him.[…]
General
Fin & Feather Resort
Experience a Toledo Bend Lake legend of gracious accommodations in a relaxed atmosphere. Completely refurbished – Newly added facilities.[…]
News Breaker
Frog-gigging tournament returns to Columbia
The Frog Giggin’ Tournament Series will make a stop in Columbia on June 14-15.[…]
Freshwater Fishing
Freddie McMullen’s hot Black Bayou Lake bream-fishing tips
Catching bull bream is largely a matter of finding their spawning beds in the shallows near the lake edge.[…]
Freshwater Fishing
West Monroe tackle shop specializes in white perch tackle and information
When I moved up to Monroe to attend college after I got out of the Army, I immediately looked up tackle shops in the phone book.[…]
Freshwater Fishing
New fishing line could benefit crappie anglers
When folks spool up their reels with line before heading off to Lake D’Arbonne, they typically use anything from 4- to 10-pound test.[…]
Freshwater Fishing
Change has come to Black Bayou Lake
Freddie McMullen, now a successful 51-year-old Monroe orthodontist, spent his formative years on Black Bayou Lake. […]
Freshwater Fishing
Black Bayou Lake is pretty as a postcard
Black Bayou Lake, the centerpiece of the Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge, is pretty as a postcard. […]
Freshwater Fishing
The bream of Louisiana
The word “bream” (pronounced “brim”) is a Southernism. Our northern friends call them by their proper species name, or they lump them all together as sunfish — which sounds altogether too sissy-like. In the South, we talk about bull bream.[…]
Freshwater Fishing
Bluegills
This feisty species is definitely the backbone of the bream fishery. It gets big — for a bream —at 10 inches, and during its summer-long spawning season forms dense beds of nests.[…]
General
Calf killed by bear in West Carroll Parish
A black bear killed a calf last week near Epps, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries said today.[…]
Contents
Running of the bulls — How to catch Black Bayou Lake’s bull bream
The broad-shouldered man actually tiptoed when he moved around in his boat. “Being quiet,” he explained, “is real important when you are fishing for bull bream in shallow, clear water.”
We were indeed in shallow water — 2 to 3 feet deep. Through the tea-colored water, multiple, round plate-sized bream beds could be seen as dark blotches on a lighter bottom. A resident male bluegill was likely hovering over or around the nest, guarding it against intruders that could eat his eggs or young.[…]
Contents
Limited Time Offer — Late-spring fishing tips for D’Arbonne Lake crappie
We are constantly bombarded by television and radio commercials commanding us to “ACT NOW BECAUSE THIS OFFER WON’T LAST LONG!”[…]