With summer right around the corner, there’s only one place, really, that one veteran, accomplished bass fisherman from Branch wants to fish for bass in May.
“I really like Henderson. It’s a good time to fish over there. I always catch in May,” Neal Meche said about Henderson Lake.
Meche, who celebrated his 60th birthday on April 9, has been partial to the lake west of Breaux Bridge at this time of year for several decades, mostly because the best of the early season bite usually quits in March or early April over at Miller’s Lake.
“It’s pretty much my home lake,” Meche said. “I’ve been fishing over there a long time. I used to catch 15, 20, especially coming up here in May.”
For some reason, he said, Henderson Lake’s “been in a bind,” a little off or down as far as consistent bass fishing success the past few years. He is hopeful the water level will be high when May rolls around and that bassin’ is back as he knows it.
“If Henderson’s too bad, I go to Chicot,” he said. “I’ve been fishing Chicot a long time.”
Favorite spot
Meche, who owns Neal Meche Welding Corp., has no doubt where he’ll head first when he goes to Henderson Lake.
“Atoytoy. That’s my favorite spot. That’s where it (water) settles out fastest, those woods right there,” he said about Lake Atoytoy.
His No.1 artificial lure is a jig, either the longtime favorite Stanley Jig or some of the newer brands such as Strike King Hack Attack Jig or Sixth Sense Jig. As long as it’s 5/8-ounce and, preferably, black-and-blue (followed by black/brown or black/amber), that’s what’s on the business end of his fishing rod.
He tries to target lily pads and other vegetation piled around cypress trees and punch a jig through them.
His other go-to bait in that area on the western side of the lake just south of Interstate 10 is a Texas-rigged Strike King Rage Craw or a SK Rage Bug. The California Craw color is No.1 for flippin’, pitchin’ and punchin’ that prime cover, according to Meche, whose son, Travis Meche Sr., and grandson, Travis Meche Jr., are accomplished bass anglers at Henderson Lake, Chicot Lake and Miller’s Lake.
“I like a jig best,” he said. “I might get whipped with a (plastic) frog (in a bass tournament), but I like a jig … where the lilies bunch up around trees, bushes. The first couple times in May, I go there and usually catch them.”
Another option
He also likes to offer bass in Lake Atoytoy a black/blue 6-inch soft plastic crawworm from Gene Larew Lures.
“It’s a good bait when they’ve got bass big enough to eat it,” he said.
If Lake Atoytoy’s bass are uncooperative in May, Meche looks for clear water on the west side of the north flats. As the water clears, he travels to the east, where he throws mainly the same artificial lures.
If the water level’s below the bottom limbs of trees, he’ll add a bladed jig or spinnerbait to his selection.
He’ll also throw a Spro plastic frog this time of year on the north flats, a whitish colored model on overcast days and a darker plastic frog on sunny days. He said, yes, that’s opposite of the accepted strategy, but it’s often a successful one for him.
Meche, who graduated from bass fishing in farm ponds around his home when he was younger to bass clubs in the 1980s and later to other tournaments, such as Fishers of Men, can’t wait for the May Days.
