Offshore Fishing
Find steel to find tuna
The fall Grand Isle tuna game starts with finding big deep sea, steel-hull shrimp trawlers at work.[…]
Southeast LA
Offshore Fishing
Rigging up
When Kim and Blake Fouquier leave the dock, they carry a small arsenal of rods and reels. Their basic tuna rigs include Tiagra 50W Shimano Two-Speed Lever Drag reels mounted on J & M Tackle custom rods.[…]
Offshore Fishing
Chum! It’s what’s for breakfast
Chum, and plenty of it, is a critical part of catching fall tuna ghosting under shrimp boats. Chum can be almost anything fishy, and it doesn’t have to be fresh.[…]
Offshore Fishing
Taking care of the ride
For fishing 50 or 60 miles offshore, the single most important piece of equipment is a fisherman’s boat and motor.[…]
Offshore Fishing
Why October?
Tuna fishing as described here is not a year-round sport. While yellowfin can be caught off of the Louisiana coast all year, October is special. After a couple of cold fronts, the hot-blooded fish come nearer to shore from their usual deep-water haunts.[…]
Ask Captain Paul
Horseshoe Island
Dear Capt. Paul:
An old timer once told me about a small island somewhere in Black Bay south of Mozambique Point by Breton Sound called Horseshoe Island. Try as I can, I cannot find anything on the island. Can you help?[…]
Deer of the Year
Patience pays off with 140-class 11-point
Chris Evans has had a rough year, dealing with a heart condition that dictates surgery later this year. But throughout the summer, the Zachary hunter has been watching a really nice buck develop.[…]
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Heresy at Pointe a la Hache
In the nine years since Hurricane Katrina, forays into one of my favorite fishing holes, Pointe a la Hache, have been few and far between, mainly due to a lack of fishing guides.[…]
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Big game on Pearl River
“Kickoff’s at seven,” Artie reminded. “So we wanna get the backstraps in the smoker by mid-afternoon. Y’all be back by then, huh? And with some backstraps? Heck we need to marinate ’em a little beforehand.”[…]
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Unlocking the marsh
The inherent challenge of fishing the Delta marsh is that “everything looks fishy.”[…]
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Venice’s fall variety includes lemons and bulls
It’s undisputed, an absolute certainty amongst saltwater anglers.
Venice is the fishing capital of Louisiana, especially in the fall of the year.[…]
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Grand Isle’s yellow October
Kim Fouquier had the nose of our 29-foot Twin Vee Catamaran in the armpit of the huge 90-foot steel shrimp trawler, putting our bow tightly into the spot on the metal beast where its big outriggers sprang from its hull. […]
Inshore Fishing
Mississippi River filling with redfish
The Mississippi River is forecast to be at 2.6 feet in New Orleans on Sept. 1, which translates to green, salty water in Venice — and a ringing dinner bell for redfish moving into the river system.[…]
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Shell Beach serenade — Biloxi Marsh gives up fall redfish action
Pelayo’s scouting report was as bleak as the LDWF’s aerial report. And both destroyed the giddy forecasts from DU and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife folks.[…]
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Unforsaken Fourchon — How to fish for Fourchon Beach trout
So it’s been a slow season for trout. The usual summer slam we expect every year never quite materialized, and anglers and guides alike have scratched their heads, wondering if this season is an ominous portend of things to come.[…]
Fishing Tournaments
Female paddle boarder wins Ride the Bull V
Kalley LeRoy added a little extra ‘extreme’ to the Ride the Bull V Extreme Kayak Tournament Saturday out of Bridge Side Marina on Grand Isle.[…]