You probably won’t be able to catch a 10-pounder off the dock like Brennen Ramsey, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of the fall largemouth bass bite on Lake D’Arbonne this month.
Ramsey, a 16-year-old from Union Parish, landed a 10-pound, 2-ounce bass off a friend’s dock just two months ago.
This month, he’s expecting to catch more fish — but maybe not as big.
“That is definitely an unusual catch,” the D’Arbonne Woods High School Bass Team member said. “This month, to catch fish you will have to slow down with your presentation and cover the water a little more thoroughly than in the hot months. But the good news is there should be more fish biting.”
To take advantage of that bite, Ramsey recommended taking advantage of the cooler temps to find bass chasing shad, then going after them with spinnerbaits, a Carolina rig or a jig. And definitely slowing things down.
“Even if it is still warm weather, which it often is this time of year, you need to fish that spinnerbait a bit slower and even with a buzzbait, don’t rip it across the water. It makes enough noise by just keeping it on the surface,” he said. “Look for edges of weed beds or lily pad fields, or along stump rows.”
The fish also start moving up in creeks for a final feed before the winter months, when they usually head out to structure in a little deeper water.
That’s another advantage to this month’s bite — you will generally see some activity on the water, and that’s where you need to go look for bass.
One of the creek’s that Ramsey loves is the popular Stowe Creek area, which is protected from wind and has a public ramp at the bridge. The creek has a lot of different depths of water, and good structure from flats to cypress trees and weed beds. Other areas he likes are around Boatright Creek and Gill’s Ferry, plus the Cypress Island area.
And don’t forget the topwater bite early in the morning, either. Frogs and lures like the Tiny Torpedo will work, as well small Zara Spooks.
A tip for getting more strikes is to cast the lure out and not move it until all the ripples have disappeared — that’s a trick his grandpa taught him years ago.
Then, if you don’t get a hit, move it twice and repeat the same technique.
You can tell Ramsey is already a serious bass fishermen. He doesn’t mind sharing tips and techniques, but when you ask him where he caught the 10-pounder, his answer is “Up the lake a ways.”
