Bayou Black provides steady catches of sac-a-lait

Angler heads to area after local waterways prove fruitless

For many years I have fished bass, bream and sac-a-lait in local waters and had a lot of success, but recently freshwater fishing has dropped off drastically.

So Tim Bye, of Luling, joined me on a trip to Bayou Black in Houma. Bye fishes the area and has had plenty of success catching sac-a-lait this summer. Bye began fishing Bayou Black after striking out in Des Allemands, Lake Salvador and Lake Cataouatche.

“This is the first summer I have fished the Bayou Black area,” Bye said. “I can fish around home and catch a few sac-a-lait, but in Bayou Black it has been constant.”

We reached the Bayou Black boat launch at 5:30 a.m. Bye headed into the Intracoastal Canal, made some turns and I was lost.

Even though Bye is a friend of mine, he would not tell me the names of the canals we fished so that I wouldn’t give away his secret spots.

On the corner of a canal, we found a big grass bed with a lot of fish activity. I quickly put five sac-a-lait in the boat to Bye’s one. I could tell he didn’t like me catching more than him, but I knew he was going to catch-up and pass me. We worked the banks and, sure enough, Bye started catching more sac-a-lait.

To catch sac-a-lait, Bye uses a 7 and a half-foot rod with an Ultralite reel. He uses 8-pound test line on his reel and has a very small cork.

“When a sac-a-lait hits my bait, the fish has no resistance. My cork goes under and I set the hook,” Bye said.

Bye moved to several locations and I had no clue where we were. The entire morning was calm and slightly overcast, but the water kept coming into the canals.

“Whenever I catch a lot of sac-a-lait, water is always falling.” Bye said.

During the morning we both caught a lot of bream and bass, which we threw back. But we were after the summer sac-a-lait and we managed to catch 30 keepers and two catfish. Though the trip was a success by my standards, Bye was disappointed.

“This is my worst fishing trip to Bayou Black this summer,” he said.

I advise anyone wanting to fish the Bayou Black area to make sure they have a GPS device or go fishing with someone who knows the area. If you don’t, you may catch a lot of fish but you will get lost.