While anglers hunting big bass head up D’Arbonne Bayou, many anglers are content to fish the river to get in on the fast action with schooling bass. There will be some good fish in the river lakes just off the river, but the best place to find schooling fish is at the mouths of the cuts that lead back into the backwater lakes.
These mouths are characterized by two main points on either side of the cut and a drop-off somewhere between those two points. Bass corral shad up against the points and slash into them with an aggressive fury.
However, this surface action won’t last very long.
“They eat and go back down to the bottom,” said E.K. Koserog. “When they’re up, you can catch them on whatever you want to throw. But when they stop feeding, you’re going to have to switch gears and throw something on the bottom because that’s where the fish go when they stop eating.”
Look for bass to either move deeper on the points or back out on the ledges when they stop schooling on the surface. Both spots are great for throwing Carolina-rigged soft plastics. Cotton candy, junebug and watermelon centipedes, finesse worms and creature baits should get lots of bites.
“But don’t forget about the jig,” Koserog added. “If you’ll crawl a jig in the same spots you drag the Carolina rig, you just might wind up with some bigger fish. And a deep-diving crankbait could also work if you can bump the bottom with it.”
Editor’s Note: This story appears as part of a feature in Louisiana Sportsman’s November issue. To ensure you don’t miss any information-packed issues, click here to have each magazine delivered right to your mail box.
