Fish aren’t huge, but numbers of bites provide plenty of action
Think catching dozens of bass in a day sounds fun? Don’t want to make long boat runs to do it? Then you need to launch your boat at Bob’s Bayou Black Marina. Now.
“Last Sunday (Aug. 13), we caught 104 bass,” Prairieville angler Adam Cook said. “This Saturday, we caught 86.”
And he and his uncle Kurt Cook of Prairieville don’t burn a lot of gas doing it.
“Honestly, a lot of boats are running past us,” Adam Cook said. “A lot of people say, ‘Bayou Black,’ and they’re quick to run, run, run. We’re not going far, putting the trolling motor down and catching fish.”
He said areas like the Shell Cuts, Turtle Bayou and Toilet Bowl are some productive areas.
“Some people are going into pipelines and trying to sneak into the marshes, but you don’t have to do that,” Cook said.
The keys to their success include moving moving water and heavy structure, he said.
“It’s hard to pass up a cypress tree because they’re on every one right now,” Cook said. “The only way for a bass to get cool (in the summer heat) is to get in the shade.”
He said he and his uncle have been working down the banks, probing every tree in 2 to 4 feet of water with Zoom Brush Hogs and Ultra Vibe Speed Craws.
“The topwater bite is on early, but right around 8:30 (a.m.), the topwater bite dies,” Cook said.
They rig their soft plastics beneath 1/8-ounce pegged weights.
“You kind of hop it off the bottom and they can’t hardly resist it,” Cook explained. “I’ve been using P-Line fluorocarbon, and it’s a little heavier and helps (the lure) sink faster.”
While Cook caught a 5-pounder during a recent trip, that was an anomaly. Most of the bass weigh less than 3 pounds.
But the action is frenetic, with large numbers of bites being the norm.
Cook said he believes the fish are around the trees prepping for an early spawn — and he’s not talking about the spring of 2018.
“Last year, the bass (in Bayou Black) spawned in December,” he said. “I think the fish are eating and getting ready for another early spawn.”
