John K. Flores: February doesn't have to keep you indoors

When it comes to February, particularly late February, it often feels like I should be fishing when I’m still hunting, so the way I figure it, why not do both?
Starting with hunting, there are still two full weekends left to hunt rabbits in the marsh and there is no better time than right now to go.
The recent cold weather pounded the coastline with the overnight temperatures dipping into the 20s for more than a couple of weeks. And, nothing knocks the grass down in the marsh like frosty cold.
Typically following those cold cracking northers, where the water is pushed out of the marsh leaving mudflats everywhere, the wind always swings back out of the south. When this occurs, the southerly wind subsequently pushes the water up over the marsh. As a result, rabbits have no other choice but to find higher ground to keep their cotton tail dry. In the marsh, that higher ground is typically bayou and location canal banks.
With most of the vegetation dead from the winter weather, it forces rabbits to hide in much smaller patches of cover such as briar patches and knee-high grasses. As a result, a few guys willing to put in some effort can walk the canal banks and jump hiding rabbits.
By contrast, the hunter who happens to own a few beagles can leave the work to the hounds and let them give chase. All you have to do is wait for rabbits to circle back around.
Whichever way you choose to hunt rabbits in the marsh, February is the best month, in my opinion, to give chase to these critters. What’s more, if you’re going to walk them up, then there are a few things to consider.
One is to wear the toughest pair of jeans you’ve got and hip waders if you have them instead of knee boots. I’ve been known to pull festered briar stickers out of my knee cap months after the sound of my last shotgun blast has faded. The little stickers can be a curse, so protect yourself.
It’s also important to bring a few bottles of water. When the wind shifts out of the south, temperatures in February typically reach the lower 70s and even 80s on some days. It doesn’t take long to work up a sweat stomping around on canal banks, where before you know it, you’re dehydrated.
When it comes to ammunition, I like to use high brass cartridges with at least 1-1/8 ounce of number 6 shot. Though rabbits aren’t hard to kill, they didn’t survive millions of years by standing out in the wide open. They know how to use cover and it takes a good load of pellets to penetrate it.
February is also the time of year that sac-a-lait start to bite. This past week I have received a couple messages with pictures showing ice chests full of crappie. With the warmer weather and water temperatures rising, the spawn is on.
New Iberia resident Frank Garacci fished sac-a-lait earlier this week and did well.
Garacci said, “Bank fishing for sac-a-lait is upon us. The water temperature is in the upper 60s and I think with this warm weather coming up and when the water temperature hits about 70 degrees it will be drop your eggs time. You can’t beat fishing with shiners, although during the spawn besides shiners they will hit jigs and just about anything that invades their space.
“The good thing right now,” Garacci continued, “is you can go to just about any large drainage ditch or small canal and catch a few sac-a-lait. In another week or so, I believe it will be crazy.”
Houma resident and fishing guide Bill Lake, for the past couple of weeks, has been fishing sac-a-lait in the Bayou Black marsh where he duck hunts each year. Lake says with the warmer weather the bite had really turned on, but as quickly as it started it slowed down as temperatures cooled at night causing the water temperatures to drop a bit.
Lake said, “We were fishing close to the canal banks in 12 to 14 inches of water and the water temperature was 65 to 67 degrees. When the water temperature hit 65 degrees it just exploded. The ones we caught were full of eggs. When the water cooled a few days later we were catching them in 3 to 4 feet of water. But then it got to where we weren’t catching any and I think the fish in our marsh did their thing and spawned out.”
Lake said he and his wife Jean were using 1/16-ounce jigs with various combinations of black and chartreuse, pink and chartreuse, and blue and chartreuse.
Lake sent several pictures of his fishing trips, with one of the pictures being a bald eagle sitting on a nest with a recently hatched chick, which is another February thing all together.
February is prime time for nature lovers to observe bald eagles in the wild around these parts. There is no Eagle Expo locally this year, but there are outfitters like Captain Caviar Swamp Tours who can show you plenty of nests.
You can also jump in your own personal watercraft and launch in Amelia and head east towards Gibson along the Intracoastal Canal where you’ll see plenty of eagles.
There are nests also located in Lake Palourde eastern bank. Be sure to run slow for two reasons. One, so as not to disturb the eagles, but also to be careful of underwater obstructions such as cypress knees.
February around these parts doesn’t only have to be that time of year where you’re fertilizing pecan and fruit trees, which it is. It’s also a pretty special time to get outdoors and wrap up the small game season, catch a few fish, and watch an eagle or two. But, whatever you decide, y’all have fun.
John Flores is the Morgan City Review’s outdoor writer. He can be contacted at gowiththeflo@cox.net.