APRIL 2024
APRIL 2024
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THE BIG
THE BIG
TROUT
TROUT BITE
BITE
WADE FOR
WADE FOR
CALCASIEU
CALCASIEU
SPECKS
SPECKS
BOAT LAUNCH
BOAT LAUNCH
BASS
BASS
BEDDING
BEDDING
BLUEGILLS
BLUEGILLS
LouisianaSPORTSMAN.com
CATCH THE
CATCH THE
PONTCHARTRAIN
TURKEY HUNTING
STRATEGIES
April 2024 | Louisiana Sportsman
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Louisiana Sportsman April 2024
LouisianaSportsman.com
April 2024 | Louisiana Sportsman
Louisiana Sportsman | April 2024
Volume 44 | Number 4 | April 2024
FEATURES:
FISHING HOTSPOTS:
34 CATCH THE PONTCHARTRAIN
More places than ever to punch your ticket for
speckled trout
▶ By John N. Felsher
40 THE BIG TROUT BITE
Fishing for trophy specks requires more eff ort and a
diff erent approach
▶ By Jon Miller
47 THINK OUT OF THE BOAT
Follow Capt. Bruce Baugh and wade on in to catch
big Calcasieu specks
▶ By Christopher Harp
66 BOAT DOCK BASS
You don’t always have to run for miles to fi nd good
fi shing
▶ By Keith Lusher Jr.
52 Calcasieu Lake trout
61 Lafi tte specks, reds
76 Toledo Bend bass
77 Tchefuncte River bass
CONTENTS
81 BREAM BASE AHEAD
Modern sonar lands anglers in the middle of bedding
bluegills
▶ By Kinny Haddox
88 GOBBLE UP THESE TIPS
The state’s best turkey hunter that you’ve never heard of
tells us how
▶ By John L. Brown Jr.
COVER STORY
34
CATCH THE
PONTCHARTRAIN
88
GOBBLE UP
THESE
TIPS
LouisianaSportsman.com
April 2024 | Louisiana Sportsman
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LA-22-13822, L. Eric Williams, Jr.
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www.LouisianaSPORTSMAN.com
OUTDOOR UPDATE:
12 RED SNAPPER SEASON,
BUSSEY BRAKE RECORD
BASS AND MORE
PLUS
96 OUT OF STATE
DESTINATIONS:
WESTERN ELK
DEPARTMENTS:
46 Sportsman of the Month
80 Sportsman Showcase
85 Fishing Regulations
98 Sportsman Astro Tables
99 Sportsman Tide Guides
100 Hunting/Fishing Scrapbook
105 Sportsman Guides & Classifi eds
108 Advertiser Index
Capt. Mike Gallo of Angling Adventures of Louisiana with
a 6.6-pound trout caught at Lake Pontchartrain last April.
INSET: Jenny Trosclair got her fi rst turkey last season.
COLUMNS:
10 TODAY’S A GOOD DAY
By Kinny Haddox
64 LURE REVIEW By Don Shoopman
72 PADDLES ‘N PUDDLES
By Chris Holmes
94 HOW SPORTSMEN COOK
By Jason Thornton
106 DOWN ON THE DOCK
By Joe Macaluso
ON THE COVER:
14236 Highway 90
P.O. Box 1199, Boutte, LA 70039-1199
800.538.4355
Volume 44 | No 4
LOUISIANA SPORTSMAN (USPS665390) is mailed at peri-
odicals postage rates and paid at Baton Rouge, La., and addi-
tional mailing offi ces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
Louisiana Sportsman, P.O. Box 1199, Boutte, LA 70039-1199. All
rights reserved. Reproduction of contents is strictly prohibited
without permission of Louisiana Sportsman. EDITORIAL: Loui-
siana Sportsman uses free-lance writers throughout the state.
Call (985) 758-7217 for information on submitting articles and
photos. Louisiana Sportsman is not responsible for the loss of
queries, manuscripts or other materials.
PUBLISHER
Lisa Lottinger Cuccia
EDITOR
Kinny Haddox, darbone1@gmail.com
MANAGING EDITOR
Alicia LaFont, alicial@lasmag.com
ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER
Desiree P. Lewis
ART DIRECTOR
Kevin Orgeron
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
Jeff Cashio, Alissa Zeringue
DIGITAL MARKETING DIRECTOR
Anna Gourgues, annag@lasmag.com
SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER
Theresa Peltier, terip@lasmag.com
ADVERTISING SALES
Mark Hilzim (National Sales), Asa Faulkner,
Jonathan Menard, Bradley Hulin and Mitch Eby
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR
Mitch Eby 919.602.3862, mitchebync@gmail.com
CONTROLLER
Juanita Guidry
LEGAL ADVISOR
Dean Church
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Bryan Beatty, John L. Brown Jr., Brian Cope,
Darren Digby, John N. Felsher, John Flores,
Kinny Haddox, Glynn Harris, Chris Holmes,
Adam Jaynes, Nick Judice, Keith Lusher Jr.,
Chris Macaluso, Joe Macaluso, John E. Manion IV,
Joel Masson, Todd Masson, Jon Miller,
David Moreland, Pete Rogers, Don Shoopman,
Rusty Tardo, Jason Thornton and Nick Vaccaro
ADVERTISING INQUIRIES:
sales@lasmag.com
985.758.7217
CIRCULATION INQUIRIES:
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Louisiana Sportsman is published monthly by
LOUISIANA PUBLISHING INC.
FOUNDER
Allen J. Lottinger
FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS
OR SUBSCRIPTION ISSUES,
CALL 1.800.538.4355
Monday thru Thursday, 8 am to 4:30 pm
or email subscription@lasmag.com
66
BOAT DOCK
BASS
40
THE BIG
TROUT
BITE
Louisiana Sportsman | April 2024
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Louisiana Sportsman| April 2024
10
A GOOD DAY
TODAY’S
▶ Kinny Haddox
ecently, I realized that
Louisiana Sportsman maga-
zine has apparently missed
something very important.
We may be the very last media outlet in
America — make that the world — to
pick up on it.
As the editor, I take full responsibility
and take corrective action here. It seems
that we are the only magazine, newspa-
per, Facebook page or bathroom wall
that hasn’t written something about or
shared a photo of…
Taylor Swift.
So here it is. Taylor Swift gets her word
count in Louisiana Sportsman!
I know nothing about her. I’ve never
heard a complete song she sang. I have
only caught glimpses of her on TV
watching grown men play football in
something called the NFL. And that’s
how long I watched: Not For Long.
I’m just hoping not too many teen-
age girls read this or I’ll be in trouble.
But hey, she made the magazine. I sent
her a Facebook private message and
invited her to the one-and-only original
Louisiana Sportsman Show, but appar-
ently she was booked to sing for a few
hundred thousand folks on a little island
called Singapore for the March 1-3
weekend.
You may be wondering why this is in
an outdoor magazine. But, with all due
respect and credit to ESPN’s Lee Corso,
“Not so fast!"
SHE MUST LOVE THE
OUTDOORS
I did a little research and, by golly, I
think she must be a fisherman or out-
doors person. Some of her outfits' color
schemes would make great crankbait
colors. And, I mean, today’s a good day to
look at these six popular hit songs of hers
and what I have determined to be their
secret outdoor meanings:
“Cruel Summer” - Obviously she knows
the pains of locating and catching big
bass in the heat of June, July and August!
“Blank Space” - I know that feeling. I’ve
looked in my livewell many, many times
and seen it. Blank space. By the way,
there really is a cool, albeit a few years
old, fishing parody video on this one that
you have to watch
(www.youtube.com/
watch?v=abmKbONzXqg).
“Shake it Off” - What better theme song
for a big old bass trying to get loose from
the back set of treble hooks on a crankbait,
or a leaping sailfish trying to get loose
from a Yoto fake squid trolling lure?
“You Belong With Me” - How many
deer hunters haven’t sung that as they
WE’RE KINDA SLOW, BUT WE
FINALLY CAUGHT UP WITH THE
REST OF THE WORLD
Kinny Haddox has been
writing magazine and
newspaper articles about
the outdoors in Louisiana for
47 years. He and his wife,
DiAnne, live in West Monroe.