Chester Moore Jr.

Louisiana’s nickname “the Sportsman’s Paradise” is a well-earned one.

Our state boasts what’s arguably the best saltwater fishing in the nation in both the inshore and offshore sectors, and has always been consistently productive in freshwater areas.

Each year, anglers wonder what lies ahead for their favorite fisheries, so we put together this calendar to give you the inside scoop on five of the state’s top species from the northern tip of Toledo Bend Reservoir to the Chandeleur Islands.

CRAPPIE
Crappie -- “sac-à-lait,” as many Cajun Country residents call them -- are in good shape going into 2008, with many areas boasting the best fishing seen in many years.

Lake D’Arbonne is a popular crappie producer in the northern part of the state where the fish are sacred -- sacred enough to put a throw into an ice chest and fillet that is.

The best place to look is in the creek channels from April through mid-June. Don’t fool with small, shallow ones. Look for creeks with 10 to 15 feet of water, because crappie will stay in these deeper creeks until the water temperature reaches the high 80s.

During summer, the crappie stage in the deep, cool thermocline of these creeks and then leave to feed on shad, which is their primary prey. Anglers also should be mindful that when temperatures are rising as summer approaches, crappie will migrate out of the creeks onto the main lake. This calls for a change in tactics. Main lake points and deeper areas where creeks enter the main body of the lake are now the important areas to fish.

Locating the thermocline -- the point where the water temperature changes -- in a reservoir is a great way to locate big crappie. All reservoirs stratify to some extent in the summer, and it isn’t unusual to find crappie schooling in shallow water over the deepest parts of the lake, usually near a main river channel. A good rule of thumb is to fish halfway down the water column. If you’re fishing in 40 feet of water, position the bait about 20 feet deep.

Red River is another good crappie area, particularly in locks 3 and 5. The fishing there is a little bit different than one can expect in the rest of the state, but nonetheless, it is productive.

The waters here can be swift, and for baitfish, this can pose a great problem. Smaller baitfish like shad have a difficult time navigating current-laden water, so they often seek refuge -- or simply end up -- in eddies that form in the river. These eddies simply are areas of slack water that might form just downstream of a logjam, in a pool off the main river channel or off a bend in a deep creek. In the past I’ve noted how bass like to prey on these baitfish -- but so do crappie.

Try throwing a white or pink Roadrunner in to see if you get any aggressive response. Make casts right against the bank and work from there. Many of the crappie in these eddies seem to want to hold tight to the banks and feed from there. Some of the best action is on points of the main river channel where anglers can target a variety of structure.

REDFISH
The Louisiana coast hosts perhaps the best redfish action to be found anywhere. Any stop from the Texas border to the Mississippi line south of Interstate 10 has the potential to pose some of the most intense, rod-bending action you have ever experienced.