The Mississippi’s Massive Catfish, Tasty Drums & Bountiful Crabs: Video Compilation

November 7, 2024

See what happened when TRCP brought a group of talented river anglers with prominent online followings to check off a multitude of fishing wish-list items

TRCP recently hosted several well-known, river-savvy angling influencers on a two-day fishing and crabbing excursion on the Mississippi River, to talk about the importance of restoring the functionality of the river, throughout the basin from the Gulf of Mexico to Minnesota. The video-makers got an up-close look at freshwater and sediment diversions to see firsthand how effective they are at improving productivity and rebuilding land being lost to subsidence, rising seas, and battering from hurricanes.

Particularly near the river’s confluence with Neptune Pass, the group got into a bevy of black drum, sheepshead, catfish, redfish, speckled trout, and blue crabs. Chris Macaluso, TRCP’s director of marine fisheries, said that he was impressed by how everyone who attended was already aware of how important a naturally flowing river is for the best angling opportunities.

“Buras, Louisiana, in the fall can be one of the most incredible places in the world to fish because the Mississippi River and its passes and connected marshes are teeming with fresh and saltwater fish, ducks, alligators, crabs, and shrimp,” Macaluso said. “For some, it was their first chance to fish in the river where it meets the Gulf of Mexico and catch redfish and giant catfish with massive ocean-going ships passing by and migrating ducks landing all around. While they hadn’t seen the river at that scale and talked about connecting that much water and sediment into coastal wetlands, all had a story about some of their home waters and how much better the fishing is in rivers that continue to interact with floodplains and support wetland habitats.”

Check out the resulting videos below.

Cole & Jay

Cole and Jay Harken, based in Arkansas, are a husband/wife duo with a passion for wildlife, nature, and fishing in particular who post weekly outdoor content that focuses on freshwater angling as well as interesting wildlife encounters and traditional Southern sporting endeavors like frog gigging.

Marsh Man Masson

Todd Masson is and outdoor writer and lifelong fisherman who travels Louisiana’s Gulf Coast and beyond seeking speckled trout, redfish, flounder, bass, and other sportfish and panfish. His videos offer techniques and locations to help other anglers mimic his success and introduce viewers to local guides. With a mind for conservation, Masson also has been featured in several collaborations with TRCP.

Outside the Levees

This YouTube channel, hosted by Jared Serignè, features hunting and fishing adventures in South Louisiana “outside the levees” of the Mississippi River. The channel offers many videos focusing on targeting invasive species and cultural traditions like shrimping, crabbing, and alligator hunting, with an emphasis on the catch-and-cook mentality.

River Certified

Based in Iowa, Spencer Bauer’s posts on River Certified are mostly about fishing for giant catfish, bass, walleyes, and other Midwestern fish, from kayak, boat, and shore. He also offers angling tips and tricks, and posts on camping and general outdoor fun, with a new video posted every Monday and Thursday afternoon. While in Louisiana with TRCP, Bauer made a number of videos because of all the action he found, including some on landing monster blue catfish.

TRCP is working to improve Louisiana’s coastal wetlands and fish habitat, and enhance recreational fishing opportunities, by restoring more natural flows from the Mississippi River. Click the video below to learn more.

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by: Chris Macaluso

posted in: Recreational Fisheries

October 29, 2024

Mississippi River Diversion Builds Land, Enhances Fishing Opportunities

Southern Louisiana’s Neptune Pass, which formed naturally during higher river flows since 2018, provides a real-world example of the benefits of sediment diversions for a healthy delta

Neptune Pass didn’t even exist six years ago.

Today, the newest connection between the Mississippi River and its fish and wildlife-generating marshes moves enough water by volume into Breton Sound that it dwarfs all but about 15 other rivers in the world—and it’s a living laboratory for how a healthy, properly functioning Mississippi River is supposed to work.

Located about 70 river miles south of New Orleans and directly across from the world-renowned fishing destination of Buras, La., Neptune Pass was previously a narrow cut, known as a crevasse, in the Mississippi River’s east bank back in 2018, barely wide enough to pass a 24-foot bay boat through. A series of annual floods, especially a record-setting inundation in 2019, forced the river to find and exploit weaknesses in its banks along its lower east bank – an area where the river isn’t hemmed in by flood protection levees and so dozens of other cuts and crevasses exist.

Aerial view of Neptune Pass (center left) flowing off the Mississippi (top). Credit: Restore the Mississippi River Delta

What was a relative trickle of about 5,000 cubic feet per second in 2018 became a major pass by 2023, capturing nearly 120,000 cubic feet of water per second, or more than 15 percent of the total volume of the Mississippi during spring flooding. Almost immediately after its widening, Neptune Pass began delivering enough suspended sediment from river water to begin shallowing and filling in bays and open ponds along its path and at its mouth in Quarantine Bay.

A Natural Process

The Mississippi River was simply replicating the same processes at Neptune Pass that it had employed hundreds, if not thousands, of times over the last several millennia. It utilized a weakness in its bank as an easier way to move its abundant water and sediment toward the Gulf of Mexico. If not for that natural process, most of Louisiana and a large part of Mississippi wouldn’t exist. Preventing that natural process by blocking the river’s connection to its delta with levees is the primary reason more than 2,000 square miles of Louisiana’s delta has already sunk and eroded into the Gulf.

Increased Flows Mean More Fish

The TRCP recently hosted several river-savvy anglers on a two-day fishing and crabbing excursion in the Mississippi River, largely focused on the junction with Neptune Pass. Our goal was to talk about the importance of restoring the functionality of the river, in terms of water and sediment diversions, and see firsthand how effective they are at improving productivity and rebuilding land being lost to rising seas and storms. Regaining more historic flow patterns can occur naturally, as seen at Neptune Pass, or man-made, as TRCP and partners have worked for years to achieve with the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion. This project is designed to breathe life back into the Barataria Basin by reconnecting the Mississippi River to the marshes, bayous, and islands it originally built, but through a gate on the river that can be regulated to optimize sediment and water flows.

If not for the sediment delivered by the Mississippi River, most of Louisiana and a large part of Mississippi wouldn’t exist.

Whether a natural or dredged river diversion, the results are the same. More oxygenated water, more nutrients, more land-building sediment, and more fish and wildlife. The anglers we hosted earlier this month – representing YouTube channels Outside the Levees, Cole & Jay, Marsh Man Masson, and River Certified – reaped the benefits as they hauled in boatloads of redfish, black drum, catfish, and blue crabs.

The Pass Today

Ducks Unlimited and state and federal agencies have worked with local fishing and duck hunting guide Capt. Ryan Lambert to build terraces in Quarantine Bay and adjacent Bay Denesse. The linear earthen berms act as speed bumps, slowing the water coming from the pass and allowing the sediment to more quickly deposit and form mud and sand flats. As the water shallows, vegetation takes root and marsh emerges, forming perfect habitat for migrating waterfowl and other birds, shrimp and crabs, and a host of sought-after sportfish and gamefish like redfish, black drum and largemouth bass.

The rapid widening and deepening of Neptune Pass quickly became a concern for the Army Corps of Engineers, who worried the changes in river currents would lead to sandbars forming in the main navigation channel of the Mississippi River and even steer ocean-going ships off course. There was talk of efforts to try and completely close Neptune in 2022 – a move that angling, hunting, and conservation groups, including the TRCP, roundly opposed.

After weighing all options and taking into consideration the remarkable habitat-creating capacity of Neptune Pass, the Corps has recommended stabilizing the pass with rocks to try and prevent it from growing larger while still allowing water and sediment to flow through into Quarantine Bay. The land-building capacity would be further enhanced by more terraces, building upon the groundwork laid by Lambert and Ducks Unlimited.

Balancing the needs of navigation, flood control, and the incredibly productive, but dwindling, coastal wetlands in the Mississippi River Delta is something wildlife and fisheries advocates have been demanding from the Corps for decades. Neptune Pass gives hope those pleas are being heard and appreciated.

Aerial Neptune Pass image credit: Restore the Mississippi River Delta; all other images credit Chris Macaluso, TRCP

by: Ryan Lockwood

posted in: Recreational Fisheries

October 23, 2024

In The Arena: Capt. Paul Dixon

TRCP’s “In the Arena” series highlights the individual voices of hunters and anglers who, as Theodore Roosevelt so famously said, strive valiantly in the worthy cause of conservation.

Paul Dixon

Hometown: East Hampton, N.Y.
Occupation: Saltwater fly fishing guide who owns Dixon’s To The Point Charters, offering fly fishing for stripers and bluefish off Montauk, N.Y., and for bonefish, permit, and tarpon in the Florida Keys.
Conservation credentials: Dixon is a past board member and current Advisory Council member of the conservation nonprofit Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT) – a TRCP partner – and is responsible for helping to raise millions of dollars for marine conservation efforts. He has long been a vocal champion for striped bass conservation.

Captain Paul Dixon is nothing less than a star in the guiding space in Montauk, off the east end of Long Island, and in the Florida Keys. He essentially wrote the book on sight fishing for striped bass in the Northeastern U.S. and is the main character in author Peter Kaminsky’s celebrated 2002 book The Moon Pulled Up an Acre of Bass. Dixon has been featured on ESPN’s fishing shows Guide House: Montauk, The Walker’s Cay Chronicles and Spanish Fly; in the Millhouse Podcast; and in articles in The New York Times, Outdoor Life, The Miami Herald, New York (Magazine), Salt Water Sportsman, and Field and Stream. Dixon’s client list has included such celebrity anglers as Roger Waters (the bassist for Pink Floyd) and renowned Florida fisherman Flip Pallot. He’s Orvis-endorsed and named among the top 50 charter captains by Salt Water Sportsman. Perhaps most importantly, he’s used his considerable influence in angling circles to forward fish conservation efforts. In 2021 he was given the Izaak Walton Award from the American Museum of Fly Fishing, and in 2022, BTT bestowed him the Lefty Kreh Award for Lifetime Achievement in Conservation.

Here is his story.

Dixon poling as an angler releases a striper. Credit: The Anglers Lens

My mother put me on a dock with a dropline on Balboa Island in California when I was three years old. Almost every weekend I spent on a head boat in Southern California or in a duck blind.

My whole family was steeped in hunting and fishing. As a lieutenant in the Air Force, my father was stationed in Alaska. His job was to open up fishing camps for the officers stationed on the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line [of Cold War radar stations] in 1952. He opened up the first camps in the Brooks Range on the Nac Nac River. My grandfather was a member of the Catalina Island Tuna Club in the 1930s and had his own duck club in Palmdale, Calif. He fished with author Zane Grey and singer Bing Crosby. So I grew up with great stories of outdoor adventures and dreamed of creating my own.

When I graduated from high school I was offered a job at the Wild Rose Ranch on Henry’s Lake in Idaho. Upon arrival the old timers told me, “We don’t spin fish here, kid. We fly fish,” and so the passion began. I had no nearby rivers or lakes so I began fly fishing in saltwater. I moved east in the mid-80s with the dream of opening my own fly fishing business and began Dixon’s Sporting Life, a fly fishing store in East Hampton, N.Y. I bought a flats skiff and began chasing striped bass.

“My biggest concern currently is that striped bass, again, are being depleted from all the commercial and recreational overfishing of the last 20 years.”

I have so many great memories of outdoor adventures with my father and family, but the most recent memories with my own sons come to mind. Notably, my son Andrew’s first tarpon, after 30 minutes and 10 jumps, came off, and Andrew says, “Damn they’re strong. I’m sort of glad he came off.” Recently, my oldest son, Austen, came striper fishing with me, and he caught 10 fish by 8:30 a.m., all of them over 30 pounds — a truly biblical morning.

Dixon’s son, Austen, with a Long Island striped bass. Credit: Paul Dixon

I have fished in many wonderful places all over the world, but I have not yet fished in Alaska. After hearing throughout my young life of fishing in Alaska from my father, I have harbored the dream of going there myself, with my own sons, and now have planned a trip for August 2025.

Dixon releasing a tarpon in the Florida Keys. Credit: Paul Dixon

I got involved with conservation when I moved east and realized that my dream fish, the striped bass, had been fished out. By the time that I opened my store in the early ’90s, the striped bass came roaring back after a 10-year fishing moratorium, one of the greatest conservation success stories in America. In a short period of time, however, the regulations started changing and, slowly but surely, you could see the effects on the fishery. I started going to fishery hearings to voice my concern about the fate of stripers and have been fighting the battle ever since. My ongoing conservation efforts are a way of preserving the fishery that has brought so much pleasure and excitement to my life for so many decades.

Dixon holding stripers for clients. Credit: Paul Dixon

For a long time, the biggest conservation challenge in our area was the restoration of the menhaden, which were being decimated by the factory ships. To deal the problem, the ships were outlawed from fishing in New York’s state waters. The recovery of menhaden was quickly evident from the abundance of whales, sharks, bass, and dolphin that were now feeding on menhaden up and down the coast. My biggest concern currently is that striped bass, again, are being depleted from all the commercial and recreational overfishing of the last 20 years.

Dixon with a bonefish on the flats in the Keys. Credit: Paul Dixon

It’s imperative for those of us who really love to hunt and fish to become involved in the preservation of the natural world. When I was 15 years old, I went with my father on a long-range fishing trip in search of albacore, 100 miles offshore. Leaving the harbor, my father said, “I remember when I used to catch albacore right off that jetty.”

I never want to say to my kids, “I remember when,” with fishing and hunting.

by: Ryan Lockwood

posted in: Recreational Fisheries

October 16, 2024

Louisiana No-Fishing Buffer May Be Preventing Fish Spills

Fully 1 million fewer pogies were spilled in 2024 season compared to the annual average, based on Department of Wildlife and Fisheries data

(BATON ROUGE, La.)—An analysis of more than a decade of fisheries data by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership indicates that recently created near-shore, no-fishing buffers in Louisiana may be reducing the number of pogies spilled from the industrial harvest of this ecologically valuable baitfish – to a mere quarter of the historical average.

Fish spill incidents have generated a significant amount of controversy in the state in recent years due to millions of wasted fish, fouled beaches, and thousands of redfish lost as bycatch, which resulted in regulatory changes enacted in the spring. The likelihood of net tears and spills, due to gear interactions with the seafloor, is higher in shallower waters near shore than when vessels work in deeper waters.

Millions of fewer pogies were spilled by the industrial fishery in 2024, after a buffer was enforced.

In February 2024, before the commercial pogy fishing season began on April 15, the state’s Wildlife and Fisheries Commission approved a half-mile coastwide buffer prohibiting pogy boats from netting in near-shore Louisiana waters, with the buffer extended to 1 and 3 miles in some areas. The same Notice of Intent (NOI) that created the buffer also increased fish spill penalties. A major reason for the NOI was an attempt to reduce the number of fish spilled and spill incidents, in which pogy boat net tears and net abandonments have released an estimated 14.8 million dead pogies – officially known as Gulf menhaden – into state waters over the last decade alone. Other reasons included efforts to reduce bycatch of redfish and other important sportfish, reduce conflicts between commercial and recreational users, and protect sensitive bottom habitat.

To determine if the buffer may be working, TRCP examined publicly available records for fish spills in Louisiana kept by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, which are available from 2013 onwards. The state agency has records of all reported or otherwise validated spill events caused by the two industrial menhaden harvesters, Omega Protein and Daybrook Fisheries.

After the half-mile buffer was enacted, 2024 saw the second-lowest number of fish spilled since records were made available.

The results indicated that, on average, the number of pogies spilled per year from 2013 to 2023 was more than 1.3 million fish, and that there has been a significant upward trend in the number of fish spilled per year. However, after the half-mile buffer was enacted this year, 2024 saw the second-lowest number of fish spilled since records were made available, with only 2013 having fewer estimated losses. Of note is that the number of pogies landed was on par with the past 10 years, even with the buffer zones in place. Further, this year’s estimated number of fish spilled to date is only 350,000, or 26 percent of the annual average, and only 12 percent of the 2.8 million fish lost annually, when averaged over the last two seasons (2022 and 2023).

Dead menhaden from a fish kill event in Maryland. Credit: Steve Droter/Chesapeake Bay Program

“This data indicates that the efforts to move the industrial pogy boats into deeper waters to protect nearshore, shallow habitat is paying off,” said Chris Macaluso, director of the Center for Marine Fisheries for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “Few things anger and disgust anglers and beachgoers in Louisiana more than seeing rafts of dead pogies and other fish left by the menhaden reduction industry floating nearshore or washed up on beaches. This year, we have seen far fewer of these spills and anglers have also noted an increase in nearshore forage like pogies, mullet and other fish.”

Gulf menhaden are a critical food source for iconic Louisiana sportfish like redfish and speckled trout. Approximately 1 billion pounds of pogies are harvested by the industrial Gulf of Mexico menhaden fishery each year, mainly from Louisiana waters. Until 2024, pogy boats were allowed to fish closer than 500 yards from Louisiana’s shorelines, where the boats often make contact with the water bottom. With this new buffer reducing the likelihood of negative gear interactions with the shallow seafloor, there has also been less disturbance of potential spawning grounds for redfish and other sportfish.

A tailing redfish. Credit: Pat Ford Photography

“Louisianans were fed up with our resources being wasted and shorelines being fouled as a result of these spills, so it is refreshing to see this progress,” said David Cresson, CEO of the Coastal Conservation Association Louisiana. “Thanks to Governor Landry, our Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, and the actions of a handful of brave legislators like Representative Joe Orgeron, we now have more reasonable buffers across our coast. These buffers, along with other important measures, have clearly contributed to the drastic reduction in fish spills.”

A coalition of recreational fishing, wildlife and habitat conservation, and boating organizations led by CCA Louisiana and TRCP has worked for more than five years to increase public awareness about the impacts of Louisiana’s industrial menhaden fishery and advocate for some basic conservation measures, such as the ones included in the Notice of Intent. In 2021, State Rep. Joe Orgeron (R-54) first introduced a bill in the Louisiana Legislature which proposed a nearly identical buffer to the one approved earlier this year, but due to industry opposition, the bill ultimately did not pass.

“This is a great example of the state putting effort into making sure it does what is best for all citizens,” said Angler Action Foundation Executive Director Brett Fitzgerald. “A triple win of decreased bycatch, a reduction of user conflict and maybe, most importantly, less destruction of habitats, is a recipe for continued success.”

TRCP and its partners note that while this fishing season is coming to a close, more spill events could still occur, but that the vast majority of previously recorded spills occurred before October – the last month commercial pogy fishing is allowed in Louisiana each year.

Gulf Menhaden Coalition members include the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), CCA Louisiana, CCA Mississippi, CCA Alabama, CCA Texas, CCA Florida, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Louisiana Charter Boat Association, American Sportfishing Association, National Marine Manufacturers Association, Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, International Game Fish Association, Angler Action Foundation, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Audubon Delta, Guy Harvey Foundation, Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, Mississippi Wildlife Federation, and Wildlife Mississippi.

For more information about the key role pogies and other forage fish play in marine ecosystems, visit TRCP’s forage fish recovery page.

by: Jaclyn Higgins

posted in: Recreational Fisheries

October 4, 2024

Anglers Cheer Reintroduction of Forage Fish Conservation Act

This legislation, introduced in the U.S. House, aims to ensure that species at the foundation of the marine food chain are plentiful enough to sustain sportfish populations

As all anglers know, where you find the bait, you find the fish. Forage fish like herring, sardines, and shad are an essential part of marine ecosystems, serving as a nutrient-rich superfood for larger fish, marine mammals, and seabirds. These bait fish support the diets of humpback whales, ospreys, striped bass, Alaska pollock, and bluefin tuna, to name a few. Forage fish are key to America’s fishing economy, supporting it directly when sold as raw material or bait, and indirectly as prey for other marine species.

Recognizing forage fish’ importance to coastal ecosystems and economies, the TRCP has been engaged in the push for better forage fish management; including supporting the bipartisan introduction of the Forage Fish Conservation Act in the House and Senate in 2021. But the act had remained in limbo since.

Humpback whale lunge feeding on anchovies, Monterey, Calif. Photo credit: Robin Gwen Agarwal

Last week, the bipartisan Forage Fish Conservation Act was reintroduced in the House by Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Brian Mast (R-FL). This legislation seeks to fill existing gaps in forage fish management by building on the achievements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which has been vital in combating overfishing and preserving fish stocks for anglers over the past five decades.

This legislation would improve federal fishery management by requiring managers to evaluate the importance of forage fish to the ecosystem and the diet needs of predators.

The bill aims to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Act to account for the ecological role of forage fish, moving beyond traditional single-species management to include considerations of ecosystem impacts. This legislation would improve our federal fishery management framework by requiring managers to weigh the impacts of forage fisheries expansion on the ecosystem and evaluate the importance of such forage fish to the ecosystem and the diet needs of predator species.

“Safeguarding fish stocks from further decline is critical to protecting marine ecosystems and strengthening coastal economies,” said Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) in a news release. “This legislation’s science-based conservation framework for forage fish will both help promote sustainable fisheries and preserve marine wildlife for the enjoyment of future generations.”

Shad and river herring in particular once supported some of the largest commercial and recreational fisheries along the Atlantic coast. However, habitat loss due to dam construction and stock depletion from overfishing have caused herring and shad landings to plummet by 96 percent since 1950.

Economic impacts from recreational angling support nearly 700,000 jobs across the United States. Recreational fishing also generates $138 billion in sales impacts, $45.1 billion in income, and $74.9 billion in value-added impacts annually. The sustainability of our recreational angling economy rests on the health of fish populations on the water. Without thriving forage fish populations, the fish we love to catch won’t have enough to eat.

School of alewives. Photo credit: Brandon Keim

“This is important and bipartisan sustainability legislation that will help protect our coastal health, environment, and economy,” said Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) in the release.

This act would ensure that consistent, science-based conservation measures are applied by each regional fishery management council, addressing gaps in current management practices that have led to forage fish overharvest in recent decades, which undermines recreational and commercial fishery productivity. This common-sense, good-governance approach ensures managers responsibly consider the impacts of new commercial harvests on critical ecosystem components, aiming to proactively prevent costly resource failures.

To improve the conservation of forage fish and strengthen the marine ecosystem, the legislation addresses key needs, including:

Requires the Secretary of Commerce to develop a science-based definition for forage fish in federal waters, with advice from the fisheries councils;
Assesses the impact a new commercial forage fish fishery could have on existing fisheries, fishing communities, and the marine ecosystem prior to the fishery being authorized;
Accounts for predator needs in existing management plans for forage fish;
Specifies that managers consider forage fish when establishing research priorities;
Ensures scientific advice sought by fishery managers includes recommendations for forage fish;
Conserves and manages river herring and shad in the ocean; and
Preserves state management of forage fish fisheries that occur within their jurisdiction.

Boosting forage fish populations will enhance sportfish and fishing opportunities. By implementing the Forage Fish Conservation Act, we can improve management strategies and ensure that anglers benefit from thriving coastal ecosystems and economies for generations to come.