Are we about to have the wool pulled over our eyes? Have we been bamboozled by
Mother Nature? Are these dogwood and wisteria blossoms figments of my imagination?

I mean it’s the first days of March and already we’re seeing things we should be seeing a month from now. Even so, I’ll take what I can get and enjoy it while I can even if it all gets blistered by a cold snap a few days or weeks down the road.

Spring is the time of year I have always loved. Even as a lad, when green started showing up in the yard and flowers started showing, it was time to do something my mama frowned on. I’d slip off my shoes and socks and let the tender green grass tickle my yet tender toes. Later in the year, I could walk down the gravel road in front of the house barefoot and never feel the rocks beneath my feet. I’ve even done the macho thing of striking a match on the bottom of my leather-tough bare foot in July but it’s the first shedding of shoes in spring I remember most.

Growing up, spring meant watching daddy plow up the garden spot behind the house. I can now close my eyes and smell the aroma of freshly turned earth where later peas, corn and potatoes would grow. If you grew up in the country like I did, I’ll bet you remember what that smelled like. The plow exposed the dark damp soil beneath the surface that gave up an aroma that’s hard to describe.

Spring also meant it was time to go out to the cowbarn with a shovel and tin can. You
didn’t have to dig deep, it was a simple task to flip over the dried cow patties there to expose the hiding place of earthworms and it didn’t take long to uncover enough to handle the task that lay ahead.

Half a mile through the woods behind our home lay twin ribbons of steel where the old L&A steam locomotive pulling a string of box cars as it struggled and chugged up Oskosh hill. Crossing the tracks and stepping down through a thicket to an enchanted place where beeches and oaks shaded Molido, a clear winding stream invited me, my brother and cousins to dangle hooks skewered with red wigglers to entice the interest of what lurked beneath these cool dark waters.

We didn’t catch bluegills or chinquapins or crappie in Molido’s dark holes. We caught
goggle eyes, red perch, jackfish and an occasional mud cat. Bluegills and chinquapins lived in the lake but Molido was reserved for the “creek” fish we caught.

Once the weather warmed enough for us, but not for our mamas, we’d sneak off, strip
down to bare skin and go swimming in one particular deep hole in the little creek. After a swim, it was necessary before we made the walk back home where we would feign innocence so our mamas wouldn’t know we had broken their rules about swimming too early, we made sure our hair had time to dry out. Otherwise, we knew we had been caught and a stern lecture sometimes accompanied by a thin limber switch from the hedge outside the door would be waiting.

That was yesterday. No more cow patties to overturn, cane fishing poles and earthworms and the aroma of freshly turned garden earth. Sneaking off to go barefoot on fresh green grass or swimming in the creek are obviously no longer part of my life but I would take absolutely nothing for the memories of these special things I experienced while growing up out on the rural route decades ago.

Now if Mother Nature would only cooperate and keep those cold fronts at bay for the rest of this spring, things would be just fine.

FISHING REPORT

CANEY LAKE –Bass are beginning to move into the coves and pockets and are hitting soft plastics, jigs and crank baits. Several double digit fish were reported this week with John Harris landing one near 10 pounds. Carolina rigs are picking up some nice bass fishing underwater humps and drop-offs. A good many buck bass to around 4 pounds are hitting with big females on the verge of moving in. Crappie are still in fairly deep water around brush and hitting shiners or jigs. No report on bream or catfish.. For information contact Caney Lake Landing at 259-6649, Hooks Marina at 249-2347, Terzia Tackle at 278-4498 or the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
BLACK BAYOU – Crappie have moved up and fishing is good around the trees on shiners or jigs. Bass are improved with spinner baits working around the trees. No report bream. Contact Honey Hole Tackle Shop 323-8707 for latest information.
BUSSEY BRAKE – Big bass are continuing to be caught mostly flipping creature baits around the trees. Several over 10 were reported this week. Crappie are scattered and fair. For latest information, contact the Honey Hole at 323-8707.
OUACHITA RIVER – The water is still high and few very anglers have been going out. For latest information, contact the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
LAKE D’ARBONNE – Bass fishing has been good with spinners, crank baits and Carolina rigs fishing on the points producing bass up to 4 pounds. Crappie fishing has been good with best catches made on the flats on shiners or jigs. Bream are not yet ready but lots of catfish were caught fishing cold worms and night crawlers off the banks. For latest information, call Anderson Sport Center at 368-9669 or Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
LAKE CLAIBORNE – Bass are starting to move toward the shallow spawning areas with some nice fish caught on soft plastics, topwater lures and crank baits. Crappie are still best fishing around brush with jigs and shiners picking up some fish. Stripers are beginning to show up and hitting shad imitations. No report on bream or catfish. For latest information, call Kel’s Cove at 927-2264 or Terzia Tackle at 278-4498. 
LAKE POVERTY POINT – Catfishing is good. Crappie are moving to the banks with one headed for the record books at 3.76 pounds as the second largest white crappie on record. Bass are improving with one around 10 pounds caught. No report on bream. For latest reports, call Poverty Point Marina at 318/878-0101.
LAKE YUCATAN – The water is high and over the road. No fishermen this week. For
information, call Surplus City Landing at 318/467-2259.

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