Bass anglers can access a host of fishy waters through the backdown ramps at Bayou Segnette State Park.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the ninth installment of a 12-part series exploring the best bass-fishing areas in the Bayou State.Like most other bayous in South Louisiana, Bayou Segnette is more a means to an end than it is an actual fishing hole. In fact, bass anglers who launch at the Bayou Segnette State Park in Westwego often travel as far away as Delacroix.
More often than not, though, anglers launching at Bayou Segnette stick to the west side of the Mississippi River. From the launch, anglers can reach the top end of the Wagon Wheel in Venice in just over an hour. Closer still are productive areas like Lafitte, Des Allemands, Lake Salvador and Lake Cataouatche.
Try as I might, I can’t keep from comparing Bayou Segnette in terms of pre-Katrina and post-Katrina.
Before the storm, Bayou Segnette had the reputation as a good place to go during the spring to catch a bunch of bass. It wasn’t uncommon to catch anywhere from 40 to 70, each looking exactly like the others. Five of these cookie-cutter fish would likely tip the scales to a whopping 8 pounds.
The Bayou Segnette area also had the reputation as being a good place to go try a technique that veteran bass anglers know as “punching.” Punching is simply dropping a heavy jig or soft plastic down to bass hiding under thick mats of grass. It was hot, tedious work, but it often produced large fish during the toughest of times.
Today, things are different, but it’s not the different that you might expect. Rather than being torn to shreds by Katrina’s winds and surge, the Bayou Segnette area not only survived nearly unscathed, it’s actually flourishing.
On the rebound
Wanting to see how the Bayou Segnette area was faring, I convinced Covington bass pro Jason Pittman to take me for a ride, and to see if we could stick a fish or two. It was immediately apparent after stopping at Lake Cataouatche that bass fishermen don’t have much to worry about.
The area was full of lush, green hydrilla that showed promising signs of life. The water was a little tinged from a late-afternoon thunderstorm, but we could tell that the grass was full of bait and bass.
LDWF biologist Howard Rogillio said the grass is the key to the area rebounding from whatever setbacks it suffered due to Katrina.
“Stuff on the west side of the river didn’t suffer near as bad as the east side,” he said. “There was a group out of Baton Rouge that did some sampling at Cataouatche not too long ago, and they discovered a lot of small spawn-type bass along with several larger bass in the grass. The grass will help because it gives bass a place to spawn and hide while they’re growing.”
Salty situation
Other than there being more grass in the area than ever before, there are a couple more changes that will affect where anglers locate bass. In fact, Pittman said the area is looking more and more like it’s going to be a Delacroix kind of situation, where bass and redfish have learned to coexist.
“Since the storm, bass fishermen will catch redfish if they fish long enough,” said Pittman. “It’s very similar to what we see in Delacroix and Carnavron. Of course, that’s not a bad thing if you want something pulling on your line, but the reds will give you fits if you’re looking for bass during a tournament.”
Like other inland areas along the coast, the Bayou Segnette area has seen the salt line move north after the storm, and it has stayed there longer than normal. Adding to the influx of salt water was the extended drought for eight months after Katrina. This combination of factors created a salty situation in an area that relies mainly on rain for a good flushing of fresh water.
“There’s really no huge freshwater influence except for rain directly into the system and the rainwater coming from pump stations that surround the area,” said Pittman. “Other than that, the only option would be to open the Davis Pond diversion. You’re basically looking at a bunch of brackish water that is filtered by the grass and hydrilla.”
Pittman compared the salt line situation to a ball being moved on a football field with a saltwater end zone and a freshwater end zone. The salt line starts out at the 50-yard line and moves toward the freshwater end zone with the rising tide. It hits the 40-yard line and stops before the tide starts falling.
As the tide goes back out, taking the salt line back toward the 50, it will eventually stop. But, it will stop on the 45 rather than the 50. The salt stays a little farther in than last time. It gained 5 yards. The cycle continues until the freshwater starts battling back through rain or a diversion.
“In years past,” Pittman added, “the salt line might get to the middle of Lake Salvador one year and never even get to Salvador the next. It’s all influenced by a south wind pushing water into the marsh and a good tide range. The best bass fishing happens when the freshwater is pushing back.”
Tidal influence
Fishing a rising or falling tide is like fishing any other current situation. Moving water trumps all other variables. Bass in current don’t have much of a choice where they position on a piece of cover.
They also don’t have much choice on whether they’re going to eat something washing toward them. If they don’t eat it, it’s gone. Therefore, bass positioned in current don’t waste time thinking — they bite now and ask questions later.
Although moving water will affect fish position year around, it is most important at Bayou Segnette during the summer. And it doesn’t really matter if it’s rising or falling. As long as it’s moving, it will help you catch more fish.
“Take a grass point for instance,” said Pittman. “Bass will position on the downcurrent side of the point whether it’s rising or falling. They’ll get in that slack water and wait on a crab to come their way. It’s easy pickings because their food is coming to them. When the tide switches, bass will simply move around to the other side of the point.”
Pittman believes one of the most important tide factors to pay attention to is the range. A small range means less water movement, while a large range means more movement.
“If you don’t have the huge tide range, bass may not be as aggressive,” he said. “Anything over a foot is decent. That means you’re going to have some strong current for a while.”
Seasonal patterns
• Spring — Spring conditions can prevail around Bayou Segnette anytime from January through April. And, unlike a reservoir that may have only two good bass spawns, bass here will spawn the first four months of the year.
“It’s a neat deal because we’ll have prespawn, spawn and postspawn all at the same time,” Pittman said. “I’ve caught fish off the same bed two months apart that were totally different fish.”
The primary spring pattern is to get in the dead-end canals and beat on them until they bite. The unique thing about fishing spawning bass in the canals is that there are going to be fish in them all spring long. You can’t say that the fish have moved out of a canal because they’re all done spawning because there are just as many moving in to spawn as there are finished and moving out.
Pittman said grass sprouts in patches this time of year, and the grass is a great place for plucking off bass with a spinnerbait.
“They use these patches as ambush points,” he said. “It can get so good that you expect to catch a bass off every patch you fish. Another good pattern is to do what we call blind bed fishing by casting a green-pumpkin or watermelon-red lizard to any little movement you see in the water. Don’t get caught up thinking that you’re just watching a spooked mullet because it’s just as likely a spawning bass.”
Pittman suggested that the farther away from the tidal influence anglers get in the spring the better. Bass are looking for a stable place to spawn, and they aren’t going to get stuck in some canal that’s going to fall out on them at some point.
“I like the canals a little farther west toward Des Allemands and those off the east side of Bayou Segnette,” he said. “Those are good areas for pitching and flipping with a black/blue/purple jig with a blue-sapphire Zoom Super Chunk.”
• Summer — Pittman said he believes an angler could effectively fish around Bayou Segnette during the summer with just two rods. One with a plastic frog bait like a Stanley Ribbit, and one rigged up with braid and a jig or soft plastic.
“It’s a simple deal, really,” he said. “I fish the Ribbit from daybreak to about 8 or 9 a.m. Once the sun starts beating down, the fish will head to the shady areas. That’s when I grab my 7 1/2-foot flipping stick and go to punching.”
Braided line is an important component of punching grass for two important reasons. Some anglers may not think about barnacles that are on laydowns but can’t be seen, and a fish that bites deep in the grass has to be removed as quickly as possible.
“Braid will help you get a fish out because it doesn’t have any stretch, so you can move a fish out of the grass fast,” Pittman said. “It also cuts through grass rather than getting bogged down in it like mono. Braid also won’t fray on the barnacles or shells.”
As mentioned earlier, the real key to catching fish during the summer is to fish moving water. The water temperature can get in the middle 90s, and you need current if you’re looking to catch shallow fish.
• Fall — Bass start bunching in the fall once the water cools a little. One of their favorite places to gang up is on the points along the west side of Lake Salvador and along the shoreline of Catahoula Bay on the south end of Lake Salvador. It’s almost as if they have a sense of the approaching winter, so they’re going to feed up while they can.
“Look for points that have deep water nearby,” Pittman suggested. “You’re always going to have resident fish in the canals, but there should be a lot of fish moving into the canals from the bays, and they’re going to stop on the points.”
The best thing about fall fishing is that bass can’t seem to get their fill of topwater baits. The typical early and late bite is strong, but there are some days when they will eat a topwater all day long.
“One of the things I like to do is cover water with a moving bait like a white buzz bait or a Ribbit-style bait,” Pittman said. “If they eat those, great. If they swirl and miss, though, I’ll have an orange-belly Chug Bug ready to toss back on them.”
Pittman also relies on a brightly colored floating worm to take fall bass. He fishes the bright colors so he can see them, and he tries to keep the worm working high enough in the water for him to keep a constant eye on it.
“This is almost like the buzz bait/chugger deal on top,” he said. “I throw the floating worm to find fish. If they flash on it but don’t take it, I’ll follow up with a plastic like a Baby Brush Hog.”
• Winter — The bass that moved into the canals during the fall will stick around throughout the winter. They will move deeper, though, and a slower presentation is required.
“They bury up in the grass and around the laydowns,” said Pittman. “They won’t be right up on the bank, but you’ve got to go in after them in the thick stuff by flipping a jig or a Brush Hog. Slow rolling a spinnerbait can also be effective in the deeper water.”
Something winter anglers should always be on the lookout far, though, is the sun popping out and warming the water. If the water temperature is rising about a degree an hour, Pittman said the bass would begin heading to the bank.
“They’ve got that urge to start scouting out spawning spots,” he said. “The main difference on these kind of days is boat position. Whereas you’d normally be fishing a good cast off the bank, you should move in tighter and start working on a flipping or spinnerbait bite.”
Pittman pointed to the Tank Pond at the north end of Cataouatche as being a good winter spot because of the deep ditches in the area. However, he also mentioned that there might be some private-property issues in that area, so he cautioned anglers to be aware of where they are.
The Bayou Segnette boat launch is a gateway to untold acres of bass fishing waters. Breaking down the water close to the launch into bite-sized pieces and learning how to fish according to the season is the best way for anglers to take advantage of the bass bite right at the back door of New Orleans.
