Bayou Black dodged destruction when Hurricane Rita grazed the coast, and there are big stringers of bass waiting to be caught this spring.
The Turtle Bayou canal was pretty much devoid of structure, with the only change in the water coming from occasional clusters of grass and even more infrequent willow trees blown down during Hurricane Rita’s fury. Ricky Naquin worked the canal bank feverishly with a spinnerbait, making sure he put the shiny lure everywhere a bass might be hunkered down. Always, he kept an eye on the laydowns.
“Fish will lay next to those trees to warm up,” the Thibodaux tournament angler said. “They’ll sun themselves to warm up before moving up to spawn.”
The 44-year-old Nitro State Team member knows the Bayou Black marshes well, having fished the area competitively since the age of 18. Naquin has won numerous area tournaments over the years, including the 2003 Eric T. Andolsek Memorial event in which he and partner Tony Taylor of Louisiana Sportsman weighed in 22 1/2 pounds.
Bayou Black bass are some of the first in the state to begin their spawn, thanks to the shallow water and proliferation of canals that warm up quickly under the South Louisiana sun.
Anglers held their breath earlier this year, however, when Rita swiped the area with high-salinity water all the way to the upper reaches of the fertile marsh system. Sightings of dead freshwater species like bream and carp resulted in predictions of doom for the bass fishery.
However, Naquin heard reports of good catches in late December, and was out to confirm the fishery’s health.
“I have some friends who fished a little club tournament recently, and they said it took 16 pounds to win,” he said.
Naquin had missed a couple of bites early in the morning, but he so far hadn’t been able to put a fish in the boat.
“I think they’re just slapping at it,” he said. “But they’ll bite at some point during the day. You just have to be there when it happens.”
The angler’s spinnerbait streaked out to a nearby willow top, and Naquin worked it around the tips of the submerged limbs. He then cast the contraption toward the bank, pulling the bait along the main trunk of the fallen tree.
An explosion erupted as a bass sucked in the bait and dove for cover.
Naquin set the hook instinctively, whooping as the bass pulled hard. Soon, however, the fish was flopping at the side of the boat.
The fish tipped the scales at 4 pounds, and Naquin was overjoyed.
“That fish must have been laying right on the side of that tree,” he said, struggling to calm his breathing. “He didn’t nip at it like those other fish did. He almost pulled the rod out of my hand.”
That re-energized Naquin, and, by 2 p.m., the angler had racked up about 15 pounds of bass, including another 4-pounder. He also had missed a number of fish.
That proved to Naquin that there still were plenty of bass in the system, even after the ravages of the hurricane.
But it’s this month when the system will really be tested, as bass move right up on the banks to spawn, and become more susceptible to anglers.
“People don’t believe it, but there’s actually two spawns down here,” Naquin said. “I’ve seen some fish spawning as early as December, and in February and March there’ll be another group of fish move up.”
He said the bass are driven to fulfill their parental duties by the weather.
“Fish go by temperature,” Naquin said. “When you get (water temperatures) to 55 or 60 degrees, they get ready.
“When it gets above 60 degrees, they’re going to do it, if it stays that warm.”
Naquin said he will be stalking bedding bass in canal systems throughout the Bayou Black marsh, since that’s where the fish will find water warming up the quickest.
“You need pockets, protected areas, preferably without trenasses because with trenasses you have more water movement,” he said. “Fish don’t like a lot of water movement during the spawn.
“You’ve got to have that current break.”
He said areas like Orange Grove, Turtle Bayou, the School Board Canal, Copasaw Bayou and 70-mile Canal are ripe with deadends in which bass congregate to procreate.
But water clarity plays a tremendous role in the spawn, with clearer water warming up faster.
That being said, Naquin normally ignores the canals holding the clearest water.
“Fish will spawn in that clear water, but they’re harder to catch,” he said.
That means Naquin searches out stained water that still has good clarity.
“I look for clear brown or clear green water,” he said.
A good rule of thumb is that your bait should be visible in about 2 feet of water.
“You want a little color to it, but you’ve got to have some clarity,” he explained.
Once a protected canal with clean water is found, the key is to know where to focus attention, Naquin said.
“A lot of people see fish move right against the bank and say, ‘Wow, look at that fish. That’s a big fish.’ But it’s not,” he said. “The big, mature fish spawn farther away from the bank. Those fish moving right on the bank in that really shallow water are small fish.
“They just look big because they’re not in any water depth.”
Naquin explained that mature fish have learned that the marsh is too dangerous a place for their eggs if they fan out beds in extremely shallow water.
“This marsh is too unpredictable,” he said. “If there’s a big tide and a front blows through, those shallows dry out. If that happens, that’s it for those eggs.
“Your mature fish rarely spawn in less than 2 feet of water.”
He therefore works water that is between 2 and 4 feet deep, which provides plenty of depth to keep the beds covered even if a hard north wind blows after a front.
It’s also important to pay attention to how the banks are structured.
Naquin said he skips those stretches in which the bank slowly slopes toward the middle of the canal.
“There’s just not enough water there,” he said.
What he likes are banks that slope into the water and then drop off sharply.
“You want a bank that’s going to slope to a couple of feet (deep) and then drop off to 3 or 4 feet of water,” he said. “The fish can sort of sit there (in the deeper water), and then move up into that shallow water to spawn.”
The composition of the bottom soil also is important.
“I like a hard bottom,” Naquin said. “Fish don’t like to lay eggs on mucky bottom.”
That’s a tall order in much of Bayou Black, with most of the hard bottom soil being north of the Intracoastal Waterway. That’s why Orange Grove’s complex of canals holds so many fish during the spring.
But even in the soggier wetlands south of the Intracoastal, there will be heavy fish dropping eggs.
“They’re going to spawn down here; they don’t have a choice,” Naquin said.
These bass simply have to spend a lot more time preparing.
“When people see fish fanning (beds) down here, the fish will fan for three or four days,” Naquin explained. “The fish are trying to give the beds enough size so that the muck doesn’t just close in on the eggs.”
That provides anglers ample opportunities to target big spawners, he said.
“You’ll see them moving,” Naquin said. “You’ll see fish fanning.”
He pays particular attention to stretches of bank that have marsh grass, cattails or canes extending into the water.
“If there’s enough water, the fish will get right up in that grass and fan out beds,” he said. “I always make sure I hit those stretches.”
The angler said he’s also learned over the years that bass will use the same stretches of bank year after year because they find the perfect spawning conditions.
“Memory has been important to my success,” Naquin said. “I’ll fish an area and remember that I caught a fish off that stump or laydown, and I’ll make sure I work it hard.
“If I catch a good fish off of it during a tournament, another one will move in to take its place. I can go right back there and catch another fish.”
However, there’s another tactic he frequently uses to pluck big fish out of the marshes.
“You’ll also see fish sunning. You can actually see them,” he said. “I catch a lot of spawning fish sunning. They’ll come up and sit, and warm up before spawning.
“They’ll come up to catch those rays because they’re cold-blooded animals.”
Tree tops and vegetation are great locations for bass to warm up.
“Those trees and grass soak up the warmth of the sun, so the fish will get right next to that wood or vegetation,” Naquin said. “I’m always looking while I’m fishing, trying to see the shape of that fish.”
When he locates a bass, he softly pitches a lure in and puts it in front of the fish.
Of course, targeting spawning fish calls for a very light touch, and Naquin said that’s when he pulls out his pistol-gripped rods.
“You’ll get out-fished by someone with a pistol-gripped rod if you’re using a long-handled rod,” he said. “I can finesse the lure into places I can’t with that long-handled rod.
“Especially in the spring, if you can’t get the bait in where the fish is, and do it quietly, you won’t catch many fish.”
He said it all has to do with the freedom of movement the shorter handle provides.
“You can feather the rod, twist it, to get the lure right where you want without making a lot of noise,” Naquin said. “It’s all in the wrist, and that long handle prevents you from using your wrist as much.”
Exactly which baits he fishes and how far off the bank he concentrates depends greatly on the weather conditions.
On clear, windy days, Naquin sticks with his favored Fat Rat spinnerbait because plastics are more difficult to work accurately.
“That wind makes it real hard to fish like you need to,” he said.
Of course, blades really shine under those conditions.
“A spinnerbait is real versatile,” he said. “You can slow-roll it. You can jig it.”
His preference is a ¼-ounce lure with a Colorado blade backed by a No. 4 willowleaf blade.
“A willowleaf is all you need down here in the marshes,” Naquin said. “But with that Colorado blade, I can fish the bait higher, but I can also slow-roll it along the bottom if I need to.”
However, if Naquin happens to find an area protected from the wind by willows or tall marsh grass, he doesn’t hesitate to pull out a slower bait.
“If you hit a wind break, you can fish a lizard or jig,” he said.
When he turns to jigs, he doesn’t use the standard 3/8-ounce models found in most anglers’ boxes.
Instead, he most often goes with a ¼- to 1/8-ounce Falcon jig.
“You normally want smaller baits in the marsh,” he explained.
If the wind lays and the skies remain clear to bluebird, Naquin trades in his spinnerbait for a jig or V&M Super Finesse Worm.
Jigs can be worked a lot quicker, but they have their limitations in much of the marsh.
“If I’m working a bank where a jig is just going to sink down in the muck, I’m going to fish a trick worm,” Naquin said.
The worms are fished weightless and maddeningly slowly.
“I throw it out, and let it sink and sit,” he said. “After a few seconds, I give it a hard bump and let it flutter down again.
“When you do that about three or four times, just reel in and throw it out again.”
These natural-looking baits are particularly effective around structure.
Naquin said some weight can be added to help with casting if a breeze kicks up.
“You can put a swivel 12 to 18 inches above the hook to give it some casting weight,” he said. “The more wind you have, the shorter the leader.”
If the wind blows too much, however, the bait will not work properly.
When clouds obscure the sun, Naquin goes back to blades to provide more visibility to his lures. If wind joins the clouds, he’ll even venture into gin-clear water.
“The wind helps keep the fish from seeing you,” he said.
Although spinnerbaits work well under both calm and windy conditions on a cloudy day, they aren’t his only option.
“That’s one of the few times I’ll fish a buzz bait for spawning fish,” Naquin said. “It’s one of the few times during the spawn when you’ll get a reaction bite.”
These are only general rules, however. Naquin said he never shies away from trying something new if conditions dictate.
“The fish have already decided where they are going to spawn, and you’ve got to find something that lets you catch the fish,” he explained. “If it’s heavy grass, you’ve got to use something you can fish through the grass.”
Fortunately, bass are still fairly predictable even in such a situation.
“Generally, they’ll be in the holes of the grass, unless the water is deep enough to have some depth inside the grass line,” Naquin said. “Then they’ll be right on the inside of the grass line.”
Of course, fronts are a given this time of year, and Naquin knows that has a dramatic effect on bass.
“A front means (barometric) pressure and cold temperatures — two things bass don’t like,” he said. “It’ll chill the water, and the barometric pressure shoots up.”
When that happens, bass move out of the shallows until the pressure drops and temperatures rise.
Naquin simply adjusts to where he expects the bass to move.
“They’re either going to go deeper or they’re going to go into the grass to get under something,” he said.
When he’s searching deep water, Naquin falls back on his spinnerbaits and puts it right on the bottom.
“I slow roll a spinnerbait way off the bank — sometimes even in the middle of the canal,” he said.
If he’s forced to probe grass beds, a lizard often works well.
“It comes through that grass easier than a jig,” Naquin said.
As conditions begin to stabilize, Naquin works his way back to the bank.
“If you can find those transition areas where they have some structure in deeper water and can move up on the bank quickly, you’ll catch fish,” he said.
