Years ago local outdoor media legend Bob Scearce hailed springtime’s first speckled trout catches with news arriving via his “Trout Telegraph.”
OK, so e-mails and social media have replaced telegrams in conveying fishing news — when’s the least time you heard of anyone getting a telegram? — and yet, the reports are coming in louder and clearer these days.
Big bass, first-rate sac-a-lait trips and redfish runs are showing up almost daily along with a mix of trout news.
Last week, a coastal fishermen said he and a buddy pulled up to a place and caught four 20-plus-inch specks in the first minutes and had to leave that spot because all they were catching were 20-inch-plus fish — and remember, the limit now is two trout per day 20 inches or longer.
But, hey, it’s big bass time. The best trout runs usually begin around mid-April.
And, the big bass are showing up.
It took bass weighing near seven pounds to win the high school category, and nearly eight pounds to take the Adult Division in last weekend’s City Park Big Bass Rodeo.
Farther north, in the Louisiana High School-North Division event on Caney Lake, Sam Houston High’s Carsen Dardeau and Caymen Gillard weighed in an 8.3-pounder, and it took more than a 7-pounder to make the top three in the big bass listing.
At Toledo Bend, in Major League Fishing’s Toyota-Southwest Division, Florien’s “Tater” Reynolds anchored a three-day, 15-bass, 83-pound, 4-ounce first-place finish with a lunker weighing 8-7. Put the pencil to that one and that’s better than 5½ pounds per fish. A 9-7 was the tournament’s heaviest bass.
Reynolds said he concentrated on postspawn areas in 10-15 feet of water and used crankbaits — for anyone who’s taking Easter week to hit Toledo Bend.
Leavitt Hamilton, of Gonzales, was the top Louisiana Co-Angler. He finished this with an 11-bass catch weighing 22-9.
Postspawn?
Most south Louisiana bass reports talk about bass coming off last week’s full moon spawning period. That’s what Reynolds mentioned.
Reynolds was quick to follow saying he believed about “80% of the bass had spawned,” and that’s what several other veterans said about bass in the Verret Basin, the Florida Parishes rivers and the oxbows north of Ϳʷ¼.
Water temperature is the key, and in places where recent rains have left muddy conditions, water temps likely won’t be as high as in clearer-water places.
Did you see this?
A 92-pound grass carp measuring nearly 50 inches showed up during electrofishing sampling on Lake Concordia earlier this month.
Wildlife and Fisheries’ Inland Fisheries biologists said they were “shocked” (an electrofishing pun) to find this fish after none had been stocked in this oxbow lake near Ferriday.
If an angler had caught this fish — and they can be caught by rod and reel — it would have been an IGFA record by four pounds.
State biologist Shelby Richard said the fish “more than likely traveled through Cocodrie Bayou and arrived at Lake Concordia in backwater flowing from Cocodrie Bayou through the control structure into Lake Concordia.”
Classic wrap
The biggest news for Louisiana coming from last weekend’s Bassmaster Classic is that Bossier Parish High’s team of Carsen Adcock and Jase White won the High School Classic held on Keystone Lake in Oklahoma. Their five-bass limit weighed 19 pounds, 12 ounces.
’s Justin Hamner went wire to wire to win the $300,000 first-place prize in the Classic held on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees near Tulsa, Oklahoma. His three-day, 15-bass total weighed 58-3.
Tyler Rivet, of Raceland, finished 43rd and Gonzales' Greg Hackney 49th.
ѴDzԳٱ𱹲’s Tyler Cory and Scott Sledge won the College Classic on Keystone with a 22-pound catch.
Mark your calendars
The Wildlife and Fisheries Commission will not meet Thursday, a departure from its usual first Thursday of the month meeting. It will meet again on April 9 in Ϳʷ¼.
The LSU Bass Fishing team has set its 7th annual tournament for April 13, and the Southeastern team will hold its inaugural benefit tournament May 4. Both will headquarter at Doiron’s Landing in Stephensville.
Heading to Florida?
The Fish and Wildlife Commission in Florida has set Free Fishing Days for April 6-7 for all resident and nonresident anglers.
