Contents
Saltwater Preview
It’d be impossible to give you saltwater fishing from A to Z, but here’s an alphabetical outline of some of the upcoming season’s best areas.[…]
Statewide LA
Fishing
Time for a spring boat battery tune-up
Many fishermen spend less time on the water during the winter, and that can be hard on their boat batteries. Proper off-season care includes keeping the batteries clean, and maintaining at least 75 percent of a full charge in them.[…]
Bass Fishing
District Diamonds
If the drought defined the late 1990s, it looks like a dramatic recovery in the state’s bass fisheries will be the defining factor of the early 2000s.[…]
Contents
It’s Now or Never
A spectral shape darted across the shadowy bottom, disappearing behind a fallen treetop.[…]
Currents
Please forgive me, but you’re an outlaw
Unfortunately, some Louisiana outdoorsman still wear the terms “poacher” and “outlaw” as badges of honor. Like kleptomaniacs who steal trinkets they don’t really want and will never use just for the thrill of the take, these poachers and outlaws don’t get a charge unless they shoot at least one duck over the limit, harvest a couple undersized redfish or shoot a doe on a bucks-only day.[…]
Bass Fishing
Crawfish Boil for Bass
Louisiana waters are some of the most diverse in all of North America. The entire southeastern U.S. ecosystem has been heralded for its diversity of life, even to the point of being called an “evolutionary laboratory.” Thousands of fish, insects, amphibians, vegetation and mammalian species rely on it and call it home.[…]
Contents
Behind the Scenes
Recent years have seen a marked increase in the number of local fishing and hunting television shows, so much so that those who keep up with the genre are left to wonder who won’t have their own outdoor show.[…]
Contents
Bayou Black’s Bass Buster
Sometimes conventional fishing methods put bass in the boat this time of year in the marsh around Bayou Black. Sometimes it takes unconventional tactics to accomplish that purpose.[…]
Ask Captain Paul
Where are Pontchartrain’s reefs?
Dear Capt. Paul:
Can you give me the GPS coordinates for the artificial reef balls that were placed in Lake Ponchartrain?[…]
Contents
2004 Turkey Forecast
Paul Ferrell had several good turkey hunts last year, but one stood out above the rest and will be forever etched in his memory.[…]
Contents
Cover: February 2004
Last month the president delivered his State of the Union address; this month, Louisiana Sportsman reports on something much more important to local anglers: the state of the Atchafalaya Basin.[…]
Contents
Ultralight for Ultra-action
Sometimes less is more, or maybe smaller is better. Many “serious” fishermen may overlook ultralight baits, but their tiny package should not be ignored because they tend to induce big-time action when the bite seems to virtually shut down. […]
Contents
Stick ‘Em Up!
To the non-angler, the term stickbait is non-sensical.Maybe there could be such a thing as a shrimpbait or a minnowbait or a cricketbait, but a stickbait? A bait that looks like a stick?[…]
Bass Fishing
State of the Basin
Brent Bonadona remembers the halcyon days before Hurricane Andrew, when fishing in the Atchafalaya Basin was incredible.[…]
Fishing
How to make a 12-volt first-aid kit
Sooner or later every boater flips a switch, presses a button or turns a key and nothing happens. A motor doesn’t turn, a light doesn’t illuminate or an LCD screen remains blank.[…]
Columns
Crappie, specks have much in common
Patrick McManus, author and long-time columnist for Outdoor Life and Field & Stream magazines, once observed that the two best times to fish are “when it’s rainin’ and when it ain’t.”[…]