Target Sabine River bass

Ron Castille holds a chunky bass caught during a January trip on the Sabine River. His fishin’ buddy, Glenn Granger, is in the seat on the front deck.

Hit deadfalls on the outside bends of the river

Sabine River bass fishing runs the gamut from fair to real good this time of year.

No one knows that better than Ron Castille of Lake Charles, who has been putting bass in the boat for many years from one of three public launches along the length of the river in western Louisiana and eastern Texas.

Niblett’s Bluff Park west of Vinton in western Calcasieu Parish is one of three popular public access points to put in and chase bass. Generally, its moving water appeals to bass anglers who like fishing moving water.

Castille, a deputy sheriff who works as a bailiff in the courtroom of Judge Mitchell Redd in the 14th Judicial District Court, samples the bass population in that stretch on both sides of the boat ramp as often as possible, even in January. He talked about it recently while noting the river’s bass fishing success was “on fire” at the time. He expects it to be even better in January.

Out of Niblett’s Bluff Park he typically heads south, but knows firshand how good the bass fishing can be by pointing the bow of a small boat north. Jo-boats with 25s are hard to beat as the river narrows upriver, he said, noting bass anglers generally catch “lots of Kentuckys” as well as black bass.

What’s the most effective way to target the bass north of the park? Castille advised fishermen to find fallen trees still connected to the shoreline with the tree trunk angled downstream. Such deadfalls usually are on the outside bends of the river.

Go with green

Target the narrowest part of the “V” the deadfall makes as it angles all the way to the shoreline. Sometimes Castille and a fishing buddy catch three or four bass in that triangular corner up against the dirt and tree, he said. Mostly, bass hit a small profile spinnerbait, which his preference is his own homemade model, mostly a 3/16-ounce spinnerbait, although there are times a ¼- or, even, ½-ounce spinnerbait work. He also suggested a Stanley Compact Spinnerbait.

What color?

“Anything with green (including chartreuse) in it,” he said.

He’ll throw the spinnerbait, or a shad-colored crankbait that dives 2- to 3-feet deep, as far up into the V as possible. Other artificials that bass pounce on are small dark-colored jigs with matching soft plastic craw worms for trailers, topwaters and spinnerbaits.

When Castille, a former television fishing show host, and others venture south of Niblett’s Bluff Park, they catch bass on shad-colored crankbaits and soft plastics with color dictated by the water color — watermelon/red for clearer water and June bug or pumpkin/magic for stained or muddy conditions. Deadfalls and drains produce many of the fish but some hidden gems are sandbars that often hold bass.

Mostly, Castille launches and fishes the river out of the Orange, Texas, Boat Ramp 13.8 miles southwest of Niblett’s Bluff Park. The city’s four-lane launch, approximately one mile south of Interstate 10, is well-lit, he said.

His third access point is a public boat ramp at the old Burnt Out Bridge at the end of the Old Highway 90 Road. Bass anglers can fish the many cuts coming out of the private marsh but must stay in the main canals. Underwater vegetation provides beaucoup habitat for bass and other species, including speckled trout and redfish, water conditions permitting.

About Don Shoopman 591 Articles
Don Shoopman fishes for freshwater and saltwater species mostly in and around the Atchafalaya Basin and Vermilion Bay. He moved to the Sportsman’s Paradise in 1976, and he and his wife June live in New Iberia. They have two grown sons.