Port Allen’s Brent Bonadona earned his tournament chops fishing in the Atchafalaya Basin, and in October his boat will be found in the middle to lower portions of the huge swamp.
Bonadona, whose favored fall locales include Flat, Grand and Duck lakes, last October eased into some oil field canals that were chock full of hyacinth mats and emergent hydrilla.
“There have been some bass in here,” he said, pointing to a line of mixed hydrilla, hyacinths and duckweed lining the banks.
The 42-year-old angler punched his way through the area with two lures: a Poc’it Craw and a Flip’n OUT.
And when he reached a duck blind, the angler made sure to flip it thoroughly.
“I find these bass will hold tight to where I can find good, moving water and breaking points where the grass mats and lilies meet,” Bonadona said.
The water as slightly stained, so Bonadona punched Flip’N OUTs and black/blue Poc’it Craws pegged below 1 ½-ounce tungsten sinkers with sinker stoppers.
“When it’s clearer, I’ll use more-natural colors, including watermelon-red and hematoma,” he said.
The Flip’N OUT, punched through a line of lilies and duckweed along the banks, produced some decent bass.
“In the early morning, I’ll take them here on points and along the edges on 3/8-ounce Delta Lures spinnerbaits with the No. 5 Colorado blades — sometimes with a fluorescent red blade,” Bonadona said. “And I prefer the chartreuse/white/blue skirts. I’ll run (spinnerbaits) and buzzbaits on the edges of the breaks in the lilies.”
“But when that sun is fully on the water, I’ll be punching.”
Bonadona also recommended Spro Frogs worked over duckweed patches early — especially when water is moving out.