Sac-a-lait go crazy for garlic-scented mini jigs

On a recent trip to Lake Cataouatche and the Salvador Management Area, Chris Loupe and I managed to catch 42 nice sac-a-lait.

Most of my success was due to the fact that I dipped my mini jigs in garlic scent.

We launched out of Pier 90 around 9 a.m. and made the run to the lake. Loupe had been tipped off by a friend that plenty of sac-a-lait could be found in the La. Cypress Canal.

Our goal was to find clear water, and we did just that at the corner of the West Canal.

Finding sac-a-lait has been tough due to the unique weather we have had in recent months.

“This has been a strange fishing season due to the late spring cold fronts coming through the state. We get three days of cold weather and then it warms up for three days and the cycle starts over again,” Loupe said. “The sac-a-lait are confused when to spawn.”

Reaching the corner of the La. Cypress Canal and West Canal, Loupe turned left down the West Canal to the first cut on the right. We stopped 50 yards before the cut and Loupe began throwing a 1/8-ounce orange/red flea fly under a cork.

I was using the 1/32-ounce blue/chartreuse under a cork. We caught a few small bream and decided to head for  the second cut on the left, which opens up to the Tank Pond.

“This is the prettiest water I’ve found this year,” Loupe said upon reaching the cut. “The conditions are right because the water is up and clear. The water temperature is 71 degrees, we have overcast skies and the air temperature is in the 70s. We are going to catch a few.”

Loupe made a cast inside the cut near a willow branch and his cork disappeared as soon as it hit the water. He reeled in a 1-pound sac-a-lait.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” he said.

I threw and had the same result, reeling in a nice sac-a-lait. The action slowed after catching six fish, so Loupe cranked up the motor and headed for the North Canal in the Salvador Management Area.

Clear water was everywhere. Halfway through the canal there was a tank barge and we began fishing along the grass beds. We started catching sac-a-lait on the outer edge of the grass bed, which paralleled the banks.

Any structure we fished produced one or two sac-a-lait as we fished along the bank.

From time to time I switched colors, but blue/chartreuse worked the best on a 1/32-ounce jig head under a cork. At one stretch of bank, I caught four sac-a-lait and Loupe asked me what I was using.

I rigged a blue/chartreuse mini jig for him. I buy all my mini jigs in black/white, blue/white or red/white, then dip each white part of the mini jig in Spike-it chartreuse garlic-scented Dip-N-Glo. With the color and scent, it’s hard for a sac-a-lait to resist.

We finished the day with 42 nice sac-a-lait and made our way home with a full cooler.

 

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