Fish biting despite low temps

Otis Taylor holds up a good bass he caught on a Ultravide Speed Craw.

The low water conditions this past weekend did not help if you were trying to get a limit of bass, sac-a-laits, bream or catfish.

Last year at this time, we had warm 70-degree temperatures. We were catching crabs in Lake Pontchartrain. This year, we are about a month behind in temperatures. 

Water temperatures are still in the mid 50's, but we decided to fish on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

On Friday, I fished with Otis Taylor and Hubert "Doc" Cazentre on Lake Cataouatche.  We fished the usual locations starting at the mouth of the Umbrella Canal, the Tank Ponds, the Netherlands Cut, and the Louisiana Cypress Canal. 

We were fishing for sac-a-laits without any success. We located clear water on the corner of the West Canal and the La. Cypress Canal. We tried for sac-a-laits without success and quickly switched over to fishing bass with the Ultravibe Speed Craw watermelon red super salt plus. 

Within minutes, I missed two good bass and caught the third.  

Otis switched over to the Speed Craw and asked how he should fish with it. After tying on bait, I asked him to put the rod in his hand and close his eyes. I tapped the end if his rod lightly. "Did you feel that?" I asked.  "Yes!" Otis replied. 

I then told him to set the hook as hard has he could.
Within five minutes, he caught one. Doc continued to fish for sac-a-laits.  After Otis and I caught five fish, Doc couldn't take it anymore and asked, "Can I have a Speed Craw?” So we Texas rigged one for him and we continued to catch bass. They ranged in the 1 to 4 pound class. 

This was Otis and Doc's first-ever fishing trip to Lake Cataouatche.  I informed them that the fishing trip was a lucky one because of the cold temperatures and very low water conditions.  We finished with 10 fish for the afternoon and Otis and Doc were very pleased!

"We shall return! If this is a bad day, I can't wait for a good day!" Otis said.

Saturday, Hunter McDonald and Thomas Sailor made a return trip with me to Lake Cataouatche.  Again, we fished the usual spot looking for sac-a-laits. Using the red/white/chartreuse mini jig under a cork about 14 to 18 inches, we did not locate any sac-a-laits.  The water dropped more than Friday and was still cold.

We decided to rig the Speed Craw and fish for bass around the pilings in the Tank Ponds.  We managed to catch five good bass releasing all of them. 

Sunday, Hunter and Thomas wanted to make another trip for sac-a-laits. A few fishermen at the Pier 90 boat launch said the fish were biting in the Gulf Canal in the management area. 

We left the launch around 1:30 p.m. and headed for the Salvador Management Area. We found clear water around the 100 Bass Point. 

We started fishing the edge of the grass beds and fallen tree tops with the mini jigs. We started picking up sac-a-laits a few at a time.  In the Fence Canal we found a few stumps and located several more sac-a-laits.  The grass beds were the key.

We caught fish at any structure with grass around. By 5 p.m. we were back at the launch and glad we had caught a few sac-a-laits.

 

Upcoming week!  

The fishing action will continue to be hot in the Lake Des Allemands, Lake Cataouatche, and Lake Salvador area. 

Good numbers of big bass are being caught on black/blue, watermelon, and dark purple plastic worms.  White spinner baits and crawfish colored crank baits produced good numbers of bass.  Sac-a-laits are still being caught in the Dead End Canal along the grass lines, fallen tree tops, and stumps in the Lake Des Allemands, Lake Cataouatche, and Salvador Management Area. 

Best mini jigs have been the red/white/chartreuse, black/chartreuse, and the blue/white. 

Bream have not begun to school and catfish have slowed a little.

This week water in the area lakes will start to rise again because of the south winds. Temperatures will also start to rise.  

Anyone wanting to check the flow of the Davis Pond Diversion go to: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/la/nwis/uv/?site_no=295501090190400.  Recently, the Corp has been running the diversion around 1,200 cubic feet per second.  This is 12 percent of its normal capacity.