The pied-billed grebe is a rather nondescript water bird most of us have never heard of. However, when you mention “di-dipper”, eyebrows raise in recognition. They’re one and the same. Just about every country boy who spent anytime around a lake while growing up has encountered these shy little critters that are there on the surface one minute; gone the next. They’re still around because today, I see them often at the Lincoln Parish Park lake.

According to George Lowery’s “Louisiana Birds”, the most remarkable feature of these birds is their ability to submerge instantaneously, thus their French name of sac-a-plomb, which means “sack of lead”. Lowery also noted that it is virtually impossible to shoot a grebe because “at the flash from the muzzle, the bird submerges and is gone before the pellets arrive.” With all due respect, George, I beg to differ. Read on….

My first encounter with a grebe was down on Chee Chee Bay in Natchitoches Parish. I was in my early teens when I went to spend the night with a friend from school with the idea of going duck hunting the next morning. My friend, Arthur, lived near the lake, which made it convenient for us to be at the lakeside at first light, hoping to get some pass-shooting at a duck or two.

Arthur went one way; I went another as I waited in the cold dampness for a crack at a duck. While hunkering down behind some button willows next to the shoreline, I waited for what seemed an hour without a single duck flying my way. Then I spotted something moving on the water just up the lake from where I was. In my mind’s eye, it was a duck.

I formulated a plan to outsmart that duck and at least have something to show for my efforts that morning. By using the row of button willows as a shield, I belly-crawled through the cold mud for 100 yards until I had sneaked within shotgun range of the little brown “duck”.

When I’d gotten close enough, I eased to one knee, raised my gun, took aim, and fired. The “duck” rolled over, dead as a…..well, you know. Then I encountered a problem. The wind was blowing out and my prize was floating away toward the big lake.

Luck was on my side, though, because I spotted an old wooden boat somebody had beached just up from where I was. There was no paddle in the boat but I found a plank nearby that would serve as my paddle.

The boat was made of wood, it was big and very heavy. It took all the strength I could muster but I finally pushed and pulled; grunted and strained until I had the boat in the water. As you might expect, a boat such as this would never have been abandoned if it were still sea-worthy. It leaked; not too bad but enough that I figured I had to paddle fast to reach my duck and then get back to shore before it sank.

Flailing the water with the one-by-six plank, I was finally able to catch up with my “duck”. It was not until I had lifted it from the water that I realized my mistake. It was no duck; it was a di-dipper. I had little time to browbeat myself because the boat was sinking. I had to fight the wind and paddle with all my might to get the boat back to shore. I just barely made it before the creaky old craft filled with water. I left it in the shallows and walked ashore, wet and muddy, with my di-dipper.

For the uninformed, the pied-billed grebe is described as a “ducklike water bird closely related to LOONS.” After this hunt, I felt I may have been that grebe’s cousin.

FISHING REPORT 

CANEY LAKE – Bream fishing for chinquapins and bluegills has been good around shallow bedding areas. Big oversized plastic worms and crank baits are picking up some good sized bass in deeper water around the secondary points. Crappie are best fishing jigs or shiners around submerged tops. 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 –Bream are bedded and biting crickets and worms around the trees fished over the grass. Crappie are around the trees and are fair on shiners and jigs. Bass are fair on spinners. Contact Honey Hole Tackle Shop 323-8707 for latest information.
BUSSEY BRAKE – Some big bass are still being caught flipping soft plastics around brush. Some big crappie are being caught on the flats on shiners and jigs. Bream are on the beds and hitting worms and crickets. For latest information, contact the Honey Hole at 323-8707.
OUACHITA RIVER – The water is still high. Bream are beginning to bed in the backwaters. No report on bass and crappie. For latest information, contact the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
LAKE D’ARBONNE – Bass have been good with some over 7 caught on buzz baits, jerk baits and soft plastics. Crappie are good on the flats and are hitting shiners and jigs fished 8 feet deep in 12-14 foot water. Bream are on the beds and taking crickets or worms. Catfishing is good fishing cold worms off the banks. For latest information, call Anderson Sport Center at 368-9669 or Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
LAKE CLAIBORNE – The water is high and rising and not many are fishing right now. There have been some good reports of stripers starting to school and hitting shad imitation lures. No report on bass or crappie. Bream should still be around shallow bedding areas and hitting worms and crickets. For latest information, call Kel’s Cove at 927-2264 or Terzia Tackle at 278-4498.
LAKE POVERTY POINT – Catfishing is good and the bream are on the beds. No report on crappie or bass. For latest reports, call Poverty Point Marina at 318/878-0101.
LAKE YUCATAN – The water is rising again and the road is under water to the landing. No fishing reports this week. For information, call Surplus City Landing at 318/467-2259.