Field Notes

Vacation hotspot: Big Lake, La.

Calcasieu Lake, more commonly known as Big Lake, is in flux. It’s still a destination for those seeking trophy trout, because its reputation as a factory for plus-size specks is well known in Louisiana and into Texas. As Capt. Erik Rue says, “you can’t put the genie back in the bottle. […]

Fishing

Seat of your pants sonar

Sonar fishfinders have always helped us find fish and fish-holding structure, but helping us precisely target fish has been another story. Early on,bulb-type flashers supported vertical jigging. You dropped your lure and watched its flash move down to a flash marking a fish and then, hopefully, all you had to do was set the hook. The problem was that not all the nearby fish were directly under our boats — not even all the fish we saw on our screens. Some were at the outside edge of the cone of sound generated by our transducers and we couldn’t tell if they were to our left or right or off our bow or transom.

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Field Notes

Make sure your summer is skeeter-free

What’s the worst part about summer? The heat? Nope. The fresh-out-of-school kids terrorizing the neighborhood? Maybe. In my estimation it’s no one thing but rather hordes of a certain small thing; mosquitoes. The agony of mosquitoes generally starts around the time turkey season is in full swing and continues way too long, into early bow season. […]