Still Working With My “A, B, C’s”

I’ve been out of school for so long it’s hard to remember things I learned at Goldonna High School and Northwestern State. The years have erased or toned down much of the “book learning” I was exposed to way back then.

There is one thing, however, that as a writer, I keep at the forefront of my mind and that’s working with my A, B, Cs. More specifically, I’m talking about writing Articles, Books and Columns.

I recently did an article for this publication about my 53-year career in writing columns for newspapers. That’s where my journalistic endeavors began. Later, I started dabbling into writing articles for magazines and thankfully have experienced some success in convincing magazines that I could produce material their publication could use.

I look forward to this time of year for the past dozen or so years when LA Sportsman magazine asked me to locate, interview and write articles about big impressive bucks that deer hunters take around the state.

This has been, frankly, a bunch of fun. Someone informs me about a big buck taken, I contact them and in most cases, they are anxious to get their story told. I find out the hunter’s name and contact number, schedule the interview and then write the story. My main source of locating such hunters has been the Internet as I daily scroll the pages of Facebook searching for successful hunters who are proud to post photos of the big buck they got.

Two years ago, I decided I wanted to complete my ABCs and decided to try my hand at writing books and here’s how that got started.

For a year, my daughter had asked me questions every month about my life – how I grew up, how I got into writing and such and unknown to me, had my answers published in a publication she gave me for Christmas. This triggered something in me that I could take what I had told her, add some stories to it and the end result was my book, “Bamboozled by a Bobcat” that was released two years ago.

With good results from this book, it occurred to me that I had 53 years of newspaper columns sitting dormant and I thought about turning some of these favorite columns into a book, and as a result, “Fathers, Sons and Old Guns” became a reality.

For the past several years, I had contributed to an on-line topic called “E-thoughts”, where I wrote daily devotionals with scriptural references to things related to the outdoors. Again, another light came on in my brain as over the years, I had saved the devotionals I had written and thought why not put what I had written into a book. The result was my newest book, “Seasons – Connecting with God through the Year in His Great Outdoors.”

I still write weekly columns for several newspapers and during deer season, I am kept busy chasing down big bucks for LA Sportsman magazine. The fun thing for me now is promoting and selling my books, all of which are available at Amazon.com.
I suppose you’re never too old to get excited about still getting good use of what I learned early on in school, and that was my A, B, Cs.

FISHING REPORT

CANEY LAKE – Bass fishing has been best early morning around the grass on topwater lures. Crank baits are picking up some as well. Crappie are best along the channel edges on shiners and jigs. 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.
BUSSEY BRAKE – Crappie fishing has been good fishing jigs or shiners near the bottom. Bass fishing has been best fishing topwater lures early and pitching jigs around brush later. Some double digit fish are being caught. For best.information, contact the Honey Hole at 323-8707.
OUACHITA RIVER – The water is still quite low because of lock and dam problems down stream. Bass are best fishing shad imitation in he run-outs; crappie are around the tops in the river in 14 foot water with some big slabs caught on shiners and jigs. For latest information, contact the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
LAKE D’ARBONNE – Bass are best early mornings along the banks on topwaters and spinners. Later in the day, look for them over deeper water in the channels. Jigs and crank baits are picking up some. Crappie are around the channel edges next to deep water and are best on jigs and shiners. Catfish are good fishing off the banks. For latest information, call Anderson Sport Center at 368-9669 or Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
LAKE CLAIBORNE – Crappie are along channel drops with shiners and jigs picking up some nice fish. Bass are around the banks and hitting topwaters early while later hitting crank baits and soft plastics in deeper water. For latest information, call Kel’s Cove at 927-2264 or Terzia Tackle at 278-4498.
LAKE POVERTY POINT – Catfish are good while crappie have improved fishing around the with jigs and shiners on the south end. Bass are slow. For information, contact the marina at 318/878-0101.
LAKE YUCATAN – The lake level is low. Catfishing is good, buffalo are being caught in nets while bass and crappie are slow. For info call Surplus City Landing at 318/467-2259.