Herald-Guide Outdoor Report with Bruce McDonald

Duck hunting opener crowded, reds still biting in Bayou Couba

Last Tuesday was a historical day in our Nations history. For many outdoorsmen, as for myself, it was a day off to take care of hunting and fishing needs, too. The weather was clear, cool, with light winds. It was a perfect day to be off.

After voting early in the morning, I made my way to Churchill Hunting Club in Avondale to put in a feeder and tidy-up my shooting lanes. The primitive arms season, black power, opened Saturday, Nov. 8 and runs until Nov.14 in Area 6.

Small branches and miniature talo trees blocked my view while sitting in the stand. Not wanting to take a chance on one of these small obstacles, I cleared the shooting lanes and put up a corn feeder. While walking the shooting lane, I found two trails crossing the shooting lane and made mental notes.

There were deer tracks on both side of the shooting lanes and found a good size rub. If you ride your shooting lanes, sometimes you will miss a game trail. I like to walk and find these hot spots.

Before I departed, the deer stand was cleaned and ready for use Saturday morning. My preparations were final and all I had to do was show up, open the windows, and hunt.

Stopping at Pier 90, Courtney Mongrue informed me, they are open again. They have worms, minnows, and ice for fishermen wanting to go out. Ms. Carol told me the speckled trout were at the mouth of Bayou Couba in Lake Salvador.

According to HHS sophomore Jason Noto and senior Jordan Unger who hunted Salvador WMA opening morning, an incredible amount of duck hunters showed up. The area had plenty of ducks, they said, but hunting was hard because of the amount of shooting in the area.

After getting home I went through the ritual of calling people who tell me, “Call me when you need someone to go with” Ten to twelve calls later, without any response; the decision was made to go alone.

Back at the Pier 90 boat launch for 2 p.m., Ms. Carol informed me, someone had just picked-up and had caught 45 beautiful sac-a-laits at the dead end of the Gulf Canal in the Management area. They were using the black and chartreuse mini jig, fishing in the middle of the canal.

Trying to come up with a game plan on where to fish, I remembered last week Rusty Tardo and Captain Mike Daigle had been catching specs and reds at the Christmas Tree line. So with three options, I headed towards the mouth of Bayou Couba for option one. option two would be in the Gulf Canal for sac-a-laits, and option three would be the Christmas tree line for specs and reds. When I reached the mouth of Bayou Couba there were no boats. I dropped anchor and began fishing. But after 15 minutes of throwing a blue and chrome Rattle Trap and the 2-inch chartreuse and glow sparkle beetle, my game plan was staying with option one. After catching 15 speckle trout and three redfish, it was time to head home to clean and cook.

Duck season open in the West Zone

The first split for the West Zone opened Saturday morning, Nov. 8 and will run until Nov. 30. The second split will re-open Dec. 13 to Jan. 18. Rick Jones from the LWF commented, “The youth hunt in Lake Salvador went well last weekend. Good numbers of gray ducks, teal, and coots were killed. But on opening morning and after a mild cold front, fewer grays, teal and coots were killed.