Unfinished Business
As a husband and a father of two boys with a full-time job it’s not often that Leo Moore of Covington has free time on his hands.
Moore admittedly fishes less than he used to because of his busy schedule, but recently had the opportunity to make a quick afternoon trip to a nearby pond. “I got off of work a little early and when I got home there was nobody there, so I decided to throw the Bass Buggy in the truck and head down to the pond,” he said.
Moore loaded the 10-foot Pelican Bass Raider into his truck and after a quick 5-minute drive backed up to the pond, slid the boat in, and was casting to the shoreline in search of bass in the shallows.
His solitude didn’t last long as his phone rang, “My son Gabe, must have spotted me on 360 (GPS app) and called me to ask if I was fishing,” Moore said. “I told him to come down to the pond and I circled back and picked him up.”
The two fished the shoreline when they came upon a wharf. They were both using a Texas-rigged Zoom Watermelon Craw with a 1/4 oz. bullet weight.
Leo casted in between a piling and the shoreline, then slowly bumped his crawfish on the bottom when his line stopped. “I thought I was hung up so I yanked to try and get it unhooked,” Moore said.
That’s when his line shot across the water along the shoreline. The fish came close to popping the line but luckily Leo was able to lighten the drag and the fight was on. The fish took quite a bit line out because of the over-adjustment but after a few minutes Leo was able to get the fish to the boat.
As he pulled the fish up against the side of the boat, Gabe reached down, lipped the fish and was able to get it into the boat. Moore didn’t have a scale but said it looked to be close to 6 pounds.
After a few celebratory high-fives and pictures, Leo released the fish back into the water and the father-son team continued to fish. They circled the pond and caught a few small bass but as they came back around to the wharf
Moore casted into the same spot and once again his line stopped while he was bumping the crawfish on the bottom. This time Moore didn’t hesitate. “I set the hook right away and sure enough it was another one,” he said. As he set the hook however, his drag was still loose from the adjustment he made while fighting the 5-pounder.
His line once again shot across the water but then pulled loose and came flying through the air back at Leo. All that was left was a hook and weight. “I don’t know if that was the same fish or another one, but I’ll be back soon to settle the score,” he said.
Tournament Results
The Bass Assassins held their tournament at Crawford’s Landing on the West Pearl River. It was a chilly morning, but temperatures warmed up into the 70s as 15 anglers competed.
The river was at 15 feet at the Pearl River gauge and rising slowly during the event. Despite the tough conditions it was a good day of fishing.
At the weigh-in it was Hunter Burkell who came out on top with a 5-fish limit of 12 lbs. 5 oz. Josh Endman came in second place with a 11 lbs. 7 oz. limit of bass. Endman took home big fish honors as well with his 4 lbs. 12 oz. kicker. Blaine Williams won third with 5 fish that weighed 9 lbs. Bowen Williams took home the 12-and-under “Little Tanglers” division. Bowen brought in 4 fish that totaled 4 lbs. 6 oz.
Upcoming Tournaments
The Bayou Lacombe Big Bass Tournament is holding their next event on Wednesday, April 6. Biggest bass wins. $10 per person entry fee. Blast-off is at 5 p.m. at the Main St. Launch in Lacombe.
The Double Nickel Bass Club is holding their next tournament at the East Pearl River on Tuesday, April 5. For more information, please contact Joe Picone at 985-630-4170.
Pearl River Team Trails is holding their next tournament at the East Pearl River on April 9. For more information, please contact Charles Dauzat at 985-960-3260.
Bass Assassins is holding their next tournament at Bayou Bonfouca Landing on April 3. For more information, please contact Chris Basey at 985-707-7857.
Lacombe.
(Keith Lusher Jr. writes a weekly column. For more info, visit NorthshoreFishingReport.com.Contact Keith at keith@northshorefishingreport.com.)