These tasty fish are on fire throughout the region.
Across much of the nation, crappie are springtime fish, biting when dogwoods are in bloom and baseballs are popping leather mitts. In South Louisiana, however, where the fish are known as sac-a-lait, slab crappie make their spawning run when winter still refuses to release its chilly grip.
February is the month for the best action, and Marsh Man Masson never lets the opportunity pass without fishing micro-jigs on an ultralight. He beat some rain showers last week for the first slabs of the season, and had a feast on the delectable fillets the next day.
Terminal tackle included kryptonite-colored Matrix Minis on 1/32-ounce micro-jigs 24 to 30 inches under tiny corks. Masson fished the rig on 6-pound-test monofilament.
His rod-and-reel combo was a 5-foot, 6-inch Berkley Cherrywood teamed with a Shimano Sedona 500.
Popular and productive areas for sac-a-lait in South Louisiana include the Pearl River system, the Gulf Canal near Lake Cataouatche, Bayou Gauche, Des Allemands, Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge and canals near Manchac. Shallow-water fishing for sac-a-lait is in its prime right now, but usually tails off in mid-March throughout the region.
Like the video? Be sure to give it a thumbs-up, and please subscribe to Marsh Man Masson on YouTube. Also, leave a comment below or on the YouTube channel. We want to know your techniques for catching crappie this time of year. Do you fish them year-round, or are you simply a spawning-season angler? How heavy was your biggest slab?
