So the fall-winter hunting seasons come to a close Sunday, March 7.
That means three things: first, daylight saving time is near (it begins next Sunday); second, hunters need only to wait about a month for the spring turkey season to open; and, third, and maybe the most important — IT’S FISHING TIME!
The action across south Louisiana busted wide open during the past seven days.
Beginning Tuesday — and coming after rains then days of bright sunshine — first-rate catches of speckled trout, redfish and bass came from the marshes where water temperatures responded and climbed from the low-50s just two weeks ago to the mid-to-upper 60s.
Reports mentioned a variety of artificials, even hard plastics like MirrOdines and MirrOlures along with some topwater action.
For the most part, the weather will give another boost this week.
The unknowns here are the effects of Friday night’s rain, a push of north winds and another cold front — and a push to an extra-high, bite-killing 30.53 inches in barometric pressure Monday.
The good news is those effects will be short-lived with a slowly falling barometer and sunny, warm days (pushing to the upper-70s) through Saturday morning when, forecasters predict, will be our next chance of rain.
Even better for the marshes is the push of southerly winds which will push cleaner water into the marshes and eliminate the effects of low-water conditions across the area.
Those south winds are important now. Movement of brown shrimp begin on this change from predominately northerly winds to a more southerly flow, and it’s that wind change, along with warmer water temperatures, that trigger the brown shrimp migration into our marshes.
It’s that migration combined with warmer and more normal water levels that begin speckled trout movement from the interior marshes out in more open-water areas in the major coastal basins.
One problem to note is the continued push of water through the Pearl River system and into the eastern sections of the lower Pontchartrain Basin.
Freshwater
OK, so the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers are on a rise, but we’re not facing the extraordinarily high water we’ve seen three of the past four years at this time of year.
It’s no deep, dark secret about the push of hard-core sac-a-lait fishermen to get out in the Atchafalaya and Verret basins, and other notable sac-a-lait holes, to take advantage of this species early push in the spawning cycle.
The biological info is important here: Sac-a-lait are the first in the sunfish family — at least in these here parts — to spawn. Water temperatures at 59-62 degrees is enough for sac-a-lait to begin the ages-old process of making babies.
To continue, our bass species here are next, and largemouth and spotted bass will spawn when water temperatures hit 62-65 degrees and our white bass are somewhere in that range, too.
After that come bluegill and other smaller sunfishes, and finally, the chinquapin (redear sunfish) get their spawn on when water temperatures reach the low 70s.
It’s also important to know moon phases. The next new moon comes March 13 and the next full moon is March 28. It’s more than an old fisherman’s tale that freshwater species spawn on a full moon depending, of course, on water temperatures and constant water levels.
Before mid-February’s Arctic blast, sac-a-lait were in latter stages of prespawn activity (males picking out and preparing the best spawning areas), but the bitterly cold temperatures and days of cloudy conditions, put the quietus on that movement.
Sac-a-lait in south Louisiana have responded to more moderate conditions and there’s plenty of evidence that they’re feeding again and ready to spawn. Catches picked up this week and likely will continue for the rest of the month.
Reports from places like False River has largemouth bass moving into the usual spawning areas in the feeder canals and bayous. To a lesser extent that’s happening in the Verret Basin, in the Des Allemands area, and it’s an even stronger prespawn push in the freshwater and brackish-water marshes south of U.S. 90.
Bass also will react to the shad spawn. These small forage fish move by the tens of thousands into the shallows to deposit millions of eggs in the late winter and this concentration of food brings most every predator species, large and small (catfish included), to feed on this congregation. The predators’ feeding sprees can last up to two hours after sunrise, and it’s a sight to behold.
It’s a time when adapting lures to the color and size of a predator’s quarry that determines success or lack thereof in bringing something home for supper.
So, depending on water clarity, here are lure choices.
For sac-a-lait, 2-inch long tube jigs on a 1/16-ounce jighead. In clear water, black/chartreuse and blue/clear sparkle colors. In murky water, blue/white and pink/white, and try orange/brown if there’s small crawfish. There are some minnow imitations, and black/pearl, black/clear sparkle and blue/clear sparkle and June bug/sparkle work, too. Put them 14-18 inches under a cork and look for likely spawning areas, like places with heavy brush and grassbeds just under the water. Moving water helps, too, as long as it’s not moving too fast.
For bass, small spinnerbaits, small white jigs, tubes, small soft plastics like 4-6 inch lizards, and small topwaters can attract strikes.
Use nightcrawlers and small pieces of cut fish for catfish under a cork.
The rivers
The Mississippi River is on a hard rise. Look for the current 28.8-foot reading at Baton Rouge to get to a projected March 22 crest of 34 feet with a fall predicted to 26.6 feet April 1. On the New Orleans gauge, Monday’s 7.5-foot reading will reach a predicted 13-foot mark March 22 with a fall to 9 feet by April 1.
The Atchafalaya River is predicted to remain below flood stage with the current 3.28-foot reading heading up to the 4-foot mark during the middle of this week.
On False River
The Boomie Chustz circuit began its 2021 run with a late February run at False River. While Wayne Major and Shannon Fairchild won with a 14.32-pound total, the overall catch was disappointing. It took 9 pounds to make the top five.
Most times in late winter it takes 18-20 pounds to win and near 16-18 pounds to make the top five.
The lack of action was blamed on the freeze and lingering cold water.
Unless there’s a repeat something of the mid-February freeze, this oxbow lake should be ready to produce hefty stringers when the Kiwanis of Pointe Coupee Bass Tournament comes around March 21.
Kenneth St. Romain has organized this first-rate event for years and said its the “primary fundraiser supporting programs such as Teacher Grant, Christmas Families, scholarships, and many other youth based programs.”
When it began, the club used (and still does) the funds to installs and maintains the No Wake buoys on the oxbow lake, a program that helped with boating safety, and continues to hold the Blessing of the Boats on Memorial Day.
St. Romain said its new push will be working with the parish council to begin a replica program for big bass caught on False River.
To enter, call at St. Romain (225) 718-1319.
Elmer’s Island
For all the work and words it took to reopen Elmer’s Island years ago to the public and the recent years of restricted access, and the more recent closure caused by Hurricane Zeta in 2020, it was good news to learn Wildlife and Fisheries reopened this fishing beach last week.
The area is off La. 1 south of Port Fourchon but north of Grand Isle.
The agency announced repairs to the main road along with other enhancement projects are done with the focus on improving “recreational access to the refuge.”
Improvements included adding four culverts, building kayak launches off the access road, trash removal, and, most importantly, beginning a beach shuttle service.
Noted in the announcement was the project nearing completion of an observation deck in the marshes.
The beach shuttle service will operate open to close Fridays through Sundays during March, April, and May, then daily beginning in June and running through Labor Day, then back to a Fridays-through-Sundays schedule until Nov. 30.
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Hunting's done: It's fishing time; catches have rebounded from February freeze - The Advocate
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