Top-water Vudu
Having been born and raised in south Louisiana it never ceases to amaze me how we can take what seems to be a perfectly good product, and with a little Cajun ingenuity, make it perform better.
Corey LaBostrie made a trip to the marsh near the mouth of Bayou Lacombe in search of bass. The Lacombe resident pulled his truck over on the side of Lake Road and put his canoe in just past the boat launch. He paddled to a canal on the east side of the bayou and as he neared, he noticed shrimp being chased by bass on the surface of the water.
As he processed the situation, he figured out a way to match the bait and present his lure in the strike zone of the bass. LaBostrie quickly dug through his tackle and knew exactly how to target the bass in the canal. “I removed the weighted hook out of a Vudu Shrimp and fed a drop-shot hook through the chin of the lure,” he said.
LaBostrie began casting and retrieving, keeping the shrimp near the surface. “The shrimp were popping all along the surface, so I needed to figure out a way to keep the shrimp near the surface,” he said. “That weightless Vudu was the ticket to keeping the bait right under the surface of the water.”
Within 30 minutes, LaBostrie put 4 bass into his canoe, and he knew he was onto something. “When I took that weight out of the VuDu Shrimp it became more buoyant which allowed me to reel it in and keep it right below the surface,” he said.
LaBostrie paddled farther into the canal and into a duckpond. That’s where he finished off his limit. The seasoned veteran was excited to see the results of his new creation and hopes to add it to his arsenal of tackle options moving forward. “I’m catching fish like crazy with this rig,” LaBostrie said.
Fishing near Lake Pontchartrain often poses a problem because of the number of ladyfish in the area this time of month. LaBostrie said this rig is perfect for weeding through those fish. “Most of the time your first few hits are going to be those ladyfish trying to eat the lure. But with this rig, the hook is in front of the shrimp, so those ladyfish just bump the tail and aren’t able to get the hook in their mouth while the bass and trout inhale the whole thing,” said LaBostrie.
Tournament Results
Bass Assassins held their tournament at the West Pearl River. The 23 anglers that showed up to do battle were greeted with a fast-rising river. So fast that the graph on NOAA website made a one foot jump overnight. This wasn’t an ideal situation for the anglers. But like every area on the Northshore, there are fishermen who know how to fish a certain river and it’s those anglers who come out on top.
As the boat numbers were called one by one, anglers raced to the north and to the south. The busy launch soon became quiet, so much so that you could hear the water rushing through the trees along the shoreline.
When noon rolled around the launch came to life again as everyone came in and started picking up their boats. After the scales closed Eric Ciko ended up on top with his 9 lb. 3 oz. 5-fish limit.
Following close behind in second place was a well-known Pearl River angler, Steve Hadley, who brought in a limit totaling 8 lbs. 14 oz.
Devin Artigue placed third with 4 fish that weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. Artigue also caught the big fish of the day; a bass that weighed 4 lbs. 11 oz.
Shark Season
The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission passed a notice of intent at their meeting recently to remove the shark closed season for recreational and commercial fishermen.
Currently, shark season is closed for three months from April to June for recreational and commercial possession. The proposed regulations would remove the closed season. Removal of the closed season will allow both recreational and commercial fishermen additional harvest opportunity for sharks, especially those with healthy stocks.
To submit comments contact Jason Adriance at 504.284.2032 or jadriance@wlf.la.gov.
Upcoming
Tournaments
The Double Nickel Bass Club is holding their next tournament at the East Pearl River on Tuesday, Sep 6. For more information, please contact Joe Picone at 985-630-4170.
The Bayou Lacombe Big Bass Tournament is holding their next event on Friday, Sep 2. Biggest bass wins. $10 per person entry fee. Blast-off is at 5 p.m. at the Main St. Launch in Lacombe.
Pearl River Team Trails is holding their next tournament at the East Pearl River on September 10. For more information, please contact Charles Dauzat at 985-960-3260.
Florida Parishes bass anglers will be holding their next tournament at the Tangipahoa River at Lee’s Landing on September 11. For more information, please call 225-278-5849.
Liars and Lunkers is holding their next tournament at the East Pearl River on Sep 25. For more information, please contact Chad Hartzog at 985-502-3217.
(Keith Lusher Jr. writes a weekly column. For more info, visit NorthshoreFishingReport.com.Contact Keith at keith@northshorefishingreport.com.)