Conditions and fish are constantly feeding clues to observant bass anglers.
Kelli Batten lives in West Monroe, and she wants to learn how to catch bass well enough to be able to fish tournaments in the future. Her only problem is that the bass-fishing learning curve has become so steep that it’s almost impossible to climb it by herself.
Wondering what would happen if she got an on-the-water crash course on basic bass fishing, West Monroe tournament angler Kenny Covington volunteered to be her instructor.
Having known Covington for several years, I can say he is one of the best anglers I’ve ever met when it comes to quickly discovering a pattern on the water. If Batten could quickly pick up on some of his insights, she would be well on her way to the weigh-in line.
Covington selected Bayou DeSiard in Monroe as our classroom, and we all met at the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries boat ramp at 7 a.m. Covington and Batten were already surveying the situation when I arrived ready to record their day on the water.
Our goal was to record with images and words what happened throughout the day. As I greeted both anglers, a confident Covington proclaimed that if Batten was able to learn anything from him this day, anybody who read the story could learn the same things.
As we idled away from the ramp, Covington couldn’t help but make keen observations.
“The first thing that struck me this morning is just how clear the water is,” he said. “This is unusual for this time of year, and I wasn’t expecting it. We’ve got upwards of 3 feet of visibility with 58-degree water. That means we’re going to have to sit down and change baits before we even begin fishing.”
Covington explained that he had tied on several brightly colored lures the night before — a firetiger spinnerbait and chartreuse crankbaits. All were bright and gaudy.
“I tied those on because I was expecting stained water,” he explained. “The problem is that those colors are overpowering in clear water, where bass feed more by sight than by any of their other senses. We’ve got to tie on more natural-looking colors like shad or crawfish patterns.”
Based on his initial observations, Covington felt our best bite would be based on sight, and because of the spring season, he expected that our bite would get better later in the morning.
Click here to read the rest of this story, which first appeared in the April 2008 issue of Louisiana Sportsman