When it comes to bass fishing, the Mississippi River isn’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind for most fishermen. The river’s cold, muddy water and intense currents make for challenging conditions year-round. However, the mighty Mississippi is exactly where Nick Liebel of Belle Chasse learned to bass fish.
Liebel has a 30-year track record of bass fishing in Venice.
“Sawdust Bend, Raphael Pass, 3X Canal, Delta Duck — oh yeah — that’s my territory right there,” he said.
It all started in 1991, when a gentleman named Farley Olivier introduced Liebel to the river.
“He was the Mercury man,” Liebel said. “Everybody on the Westbank knew him.”
At 19 years old, Liebel was getting into bass fishing and was working on a used 19-foot Ricky Green Special with a 150 Mercury he bought for $3,000.
“I bought that boat from a widow who was looking to get rid of it,” he said.
Olivier was working on his motor and struck up a conversation about bass fishing. He told Liebel how he was catching over 50 bass an afternoon fishing the river and invited him on a trip.
“That trip destroyed me,” Liebel said. “We went downriver to 3X Canal in the back of Pass-a-Loutre and he introduced me to a new realm of bass fishing where you could catch 50 to 60 bass in 5 hours.
“We caught 60 bass in one afternoon throwing ¾-ounce Stanley Jigs with Uncle Josh Pork Rind trailers and Texas-rigged red Culprit worms — these were 2-pound footballs.”
The trip profoundly affected Liebel, so he continued to fish the area on his own for the next year. He then joined a bass club called Backlash, where he learned how to read the river and the tides.
Acquiring a mudboat
As the years passed, Liebel realized that if he was to continue fishing in Venice, he was going to need a mudboat.
“I remember a time when this gentleman showed me a spot off of Northshore Bay,” Leibel said. “I followed this guy right up to a wall of roseaus. Suddenly, he points the bow of his bass boat into the cane and starts pushing through!”
Liebel followed through a 12-foot stretch of roseau cane, which opened up into a big, beautiful pond with clean water. After discovering a few ponds off Raphael Pass on a later trip, Liebel decided to purchase a 20-foot GatorTail Extreme with two 35 HP mud motors.
“The ponds off of Raphael Pass have some of the most beautiful water, but you can’t get to it with a regular boat,” he said. “Unless you grind and grind and overheat your motor, you’re not getting back there — you’re just not.”
What to look for in August
While Liebel fishes the ponds when the river water is high and muddy, August marks the beginning of prime-time bass fishing. This month, Liebel said to look for the river to go down. When the river level is at 4 feet or under, the water will be clean enough to get out of the ponds and fish the passes.
“The back of Mary Bowers, Tauphine Pass, Delta Duck, even Main Pass — you’ll catch fish,” he said. “There will be boats running all over the place, and I’ll sit there and fish the drains off Main Pass and smoke the bass.”
Liebel recommends finding ditches with black water spilling out.
“That’s good, clean water,” he said. “It looks black or clean green.”
Setup
Liebel fishes with a 7-foot G. Loomis rod with 30-pound PowerPro Super Slick braid. For a leader, he ties on a 3-foot, 30-pound piece of Frenzy fluorocarbon.
“I’m a firm believer in using a fluorocarbon leader,” he said. I’ve fished alongside guys who tied braid straight to the lure, and I’ve caught five fish to their one, so I know it affects the bite.”
As for reels, he alternates between his Shimano Chronarch and Daiwa Coastal baitcaster.
“I’ve got about five or six of each reel,” he said.
Liebel’s confidence lure in August is a Watermelon Red Magic Speed Craw on an Owner hook. He uses a 3/16-ounce worm weight.
“Some guys like ¼-ounce, but I prefer 3/16 because I can feel it sinking to the bottom,” he said.
Fish the tides
It’s no secret that a falling tide is the most appealing tide to fish. However, Liebel said there is a trick to fishing a falling tide in Venice. The Mississippi River Delta is mainly made up of roseau cane. When the water rises, the bass move back into the cane, making them hard to reach.
“Let’s say the tide starts falling at 8 a.m. and there’s a 1.4 tidal range,” he said. “You want to fish the back half of the falling tide, so you’ll start fishing around 11 a.m. The lower the water falls, the more these fish are forced to the edge of the cane. That’s when it gets stupid!”
Barring any unforeseen rainstorms or hurricanes, the river should remain under 5 feet this month. Liebel said the fantastic bass fishing should continue into November when the hard cold fronts start to blow through.
