LAFAYETTE — The Crappie Psychic’s coming to town. So is the son of the maker of the highly popular Salter’s Jiggin’ Pole. And a professional crappie fishing guide who relies on marine electronics to put slabs in the boat at Toledo Bend, his home away from home, will be there, too.

They are the three instructors for the return of Crappie University to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The lineup for the one-day session should appeal to sac-a-lait fishermen in and around Acadiana, Babs Dees said Friday morning from her Sales and Program Developer, Department of Continuing Education office at UL Lafayette.

Dees, a Loreauville native who lives along the Bayou Teche in rural Iberia Parish, is excited about this year’s Crappie University scheduled to be held Feb. 23 at ULL’s Light Center, the state-of-the-art theater on Cajundome Boulevard right behind the Cajundome. She has been working with Crappie University president Gary Dollohon of Tulsa, Oklahoma, on bringing the course here for the second straight year.

Dees, who is from a hard-fishing family, including her sister, Renetta Judice of Loreauville, and her son, Ray Dees of Loreauville, an all-around outdoorsman who played baseball at ULL, believes attendance will exceed that of the inaugural Crappie University on campus one night a week for four weeks (Jan. 6 and Feb. 6, 20 and 27) in 2018. Ninety-two “students” attended those two-hour sessions, she said.

Why higher expectations? Because, Dees said, Dollohon listened to evaluations from last year’s participants who indicated a one-day course would be better and that lining up instructors who are from the region, or who know about fishing with marine electronics, would enhance the learning experience.

“We had people drive from Denham Springs for the 7:30 to 9:30 classes. It’s difficult to drive back and go to work the next morning,” Dees said, noting there were quite a few students who drove 60 miles or more one way.

Also, students indicated they wanted to hear from “local” fishermen, instructors who understood the nature of fishing this part of the Sportsman’s Paradise, she said.

Registration for the upcoming Crappie University begins at 8:30 a.m. the day of the course and “classwork” starts at 9 a.m., the ULL official said. The registration fee, which can be paid in advance, is $99.

A lunch will be served.

This year’s instructors for ULL’s Crappie University are Clyde Folse, a charter boat captain from Raceland known for his Crappie Psychic Lures, including Crappie Ammo; Blaine Salter Jr. of Erwinville, the son of J.B. Salter of Salter’s Jiggin’ Pole & Bait Co., and Ed Terry of New Orleans, a crappie fishing veteran who owns Sac-A-Lait Slab Hunter Guide Service and guides on Toledo Bend from February through October.

“I think we’re going to be right on track for what seems to be what participants in these classes wanted,” Dollohon said Friday afternoon from his Tulsa office. 

 “You’ve got the guys who are really good with a jig fishing pole. We’re kind of covering all the information crappie anglers need and are hungry for. I think it’s going to be a tremendous value to attendees.”

That Terry fishes open water successfully with the help of marine electronics is a plus, he said, adding, “As you know, that’s changing almost daily. New electronics can be intimidating to old-timers like me.”

There is one other Crappie University course scheduled for this year in Louisiana. It will be held Jan. 26 at Bossier Parish Community College in Bossier City. Slade Dougherty of Alba, Texas, who owns Lake Fork Electronics Training Guide, Terry Richard of West Monroe, a professional crappie fisherman who won a Crappie Masters Louisiana State Championship in February 2016, and Folse are the instructors for that one-day event.

Folse and his products are widely known in this region. A veteran angler for three-plus decades, he  and his family started his business in July 2014 and it has grown.

The 55-year-old outdoorsman said he welcomes the opportunity to speak as an instructor.

“ ‘Catch More Crappie’ is the name of my seminar,” Folse said Saturday morning, noting it’s about where to go, when to go, what to use, etc. He talks about baits, lines, leadheads, rods and reels and touches on how to find the fish with and without marine electronics, noting he doesn’t rely on marine electronics, so he shares his expertise on how to read the water.

He also likes to get his audience involved,  he said, including a question-and-answer period.

“I believe in my heart I do a very good seminar. I’ve been doing them quite a while and people enjoy them,” he said.

“I think it’s going to be big for our company. It’s going to be a lot of exposure.”

Dees knows how beneficial Crappie University can be. She attended every one last year at ULL.

So did her sister, Renetta Judice, and Gayle Gilbert, who also live along the Bayou Teche in rural Iberia Parish. Judice and Gilbert are avid sac-a-lait fisherwomen who mostly fish out of Baldwin.

They were under the impression that sac-a-lait fishing is seasonal until they were enlightened by one of the instructors, Steve Danna of Farmerville, who shared his knowledge on how to catch slabs 24/7, Dees said. Armed with that information, Judice and Gilbert went out often and have more than enough sac-a-lait fillets for this year’s annual family fish fry on Palm Sunday, she said.

“We had excellent feedback,” Dees said.