Bayou Liberty Bass
It’s a good thing when the bass are biting in Bayou Liberty. It’s even better when they’re eight minutes from your house. Taylor Deiz of Slidell made an afternoon trip and was fishing after a 3-minute boat ride from the launch.
Deiz started fishing in the main bayou after spotting baitfish on the surface. “I was 3 minutes from the launch and as soon as I pulled up, I saw some bass working baitfish,” he said. Only a few casts in, Deiz had a bass hit his White Humdinger spinnerbait.
He started reeling, but the fish came off after only a few turns of the reel handle. Deiz tossed out again to the same spot and once again got a strike. The fish hit so close to the boat that the fight only lasted five seconds. “That was a nice bass. I don’t know if it was the same one that I lost the cast before, but I’ll take it,” he said.
The bass weighed two pounds and was a sign of what kind of afternoon he was in store for. “I had a good feeling about the day. I knew the three days of 80-degree temperatures would have them fired up,” he said. Deiz moved into a small bayou with a few docks and proceeded to catch four more bass in the dead-end canal.
Deiz moved to another dead-end canal and picked up a few more bass. Then he decided to change lures. I started seeing a lot of blowups on the surface— then a guy in a kayak paddled by and told me that he was getting a lot of hits on his frog,” Deiz said.
As the sun was going down, he tied on a green and yellow Spro-frog and began casting to a patch of lilies. After working the frog underneath an overhanging bush, Deiz got what he came for—an explosion on topwater. He set the hook, and boat flipped the fish into his flatboat. “What a fish! That was about a 3-pounder,” he said. “He had a face full of frog when I unhooked it.”
Deiz said there’s just something about catching a big bass on a frog. “I was shaking after that fish. I always get excited when I can catch a big bass on topwater. It’s like magic.” Deiz said he’s excited about the next few weeks of fishing on Bayou Liberty. “The next few weeks are going to be exciting with highs in the 80s. It’s going to get wild,” he said.
Tchefuncte River Sac-a-lait
With the sac-a-lait spawn over, anglers are stuck trying to figure out the post-spawn pattern. Billy Adams of Madisonville and Toby Bean of Springfield made a trip to the Tchefuncte River on a warm morning with air temperatures in the 80s.
Adams’ first keeper of the day came when he was fishing underneath a dock. “We found one nice fish under a dock early, and that set our focus on docks for the rest of the morning. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any luck with that,” he said.
The team started fishing deeper, and that’s where they found the fish. Adams caught his fish on a black and chartreuse hand-tied jig. They continued to put fish in the ice chest, but as is usual with the Tchefuncte, they were interrupted by the boat traffic on the main river. “Around 10 a.m., we had about 15, but then the boat traffic came and made the challenge of staying on the fish next to impossible,” he said.
Tournament Results
The FPBA fished their fourth event of the season at the Foggy Waters Marina on April 13th. Ten boats showed up to compete for bragging rights and a cash pot. Anglers were greeted by a chilly full moon morning with clear skies and low tide conditions on an already low bayou due to a couple of days of north winds.
As the day warmed up, most anglers spent at least part of the day looking for the last spawners that had moved up.
Dock talk had most of the bass in a post-spawn pattern with a few still on beds. Most of the grass that Bonfouca is known for was almost on the bank due to the low water conditions. In the end, it was Skip Rayburn who came in first place with five fish weighing 9.30 pounds.
In second place was the team of Bishop Gehegan and Karla Lee who totaled 9.16 pounds with five fish. Chad Babin came in third place with five alive for 8.29 pounds.
Just out of the money were Patrick Engerran and Troy Conklin with five fish for 7.05 pounds, followed by John Segers in fifth place with 4 fish weighing 6.70 pounds.
The Double Nickel Bass Club held its tournament despite forecasted rain. Fortunately, the weather cooperated, and anglers stayed dry throughout the morning. A total of 23 boats participated in the event.
Water levels were high with an outgoing tide during the first part of the morning, and water clarity was mixed throughout the fishing areas.
At the weigh-in, Tommy Watkins claimed first place with a weight of 6.23 pounds. Watkins also took home the big bass prize with a 4.22-pound catch. Guy Stegall secured second place with a total weight of 5.98 pounds.
In third place was Ralph Dunn with 5.69 pounds, who also claimed second place in the big bass division with a 2.61-pound bass.
Upcoming Tournaments
Pearl River Team Trails will hold its next tournament at Crawford Landing on May 10. For more information, please call Charles Dauzat at 985-960-3260.
FBPA is holding its next tournament at Lock #1 on May 10. For more information, please visit www.facebook.com/fpbassanglers.
The Double Nickel Bass Club will hold its next tournament at the East Pearl River on May 6. The club is for those who are above the age of 55. For more information, please call Dwain Crumby at 985-502-6006.
(Keith Lusher Jr. writes a weekly column. For more info, visit NorthshoreFishingReport.com. Contact Keith at keith@northshorefishingreport.com.)