Tank Ponds holding bass

Redfish in Salvador

On two separate fishing trips – one to Lake Cataouatche and one to Lake Salvador, we managed to catch plenty of bass and redfish.

Todd Downs, of Luling, and I reached the Tank Ponds in Cataouatche and started fishing around the lily pads in two feet of water. I was throwing the watermelon/pearl Ribbit Frog and Downs threw a white/chartreuse spinner bait. On my first cast, I had a blow-up on the frog.

Downs witnessed the frog landing near the lilies and with several twitches the blow-up occurred.

“It’s going to be a good afternoon!” he said.

We worked the edge of the lily pads catching bass on watermelon/red, junebug baby brush hogs, watermelon red/pearl Ribbit Frogs, white/chartreuse spinner baits and watermelon/red flukes.

Several times we cranked the motor up to leave because of big thunderstorms. After we moved 200 yards, we stopped to fish again hoping the thunderstorms would give us a break.

While the sky was cloudy, the winds pushed the boat across the Tank Ponds, which made the conditions ideal for bass. We made the best of it.

The next day, my son Hunter and I fished Lake Salvador and had similar success – this time with both bass and redfish.

We started at Grosse Point and worked along the shelled shoreline back to Temple Bay. Hunter caught a nice 24-inch redfish on a quarter ounce black/chrome rattletrap. I was throwing a junebug baby brush hog rigged Texas style and working it on the bottom.

Bass were picking up the bait.

Hunter began throwing a black/silver Badonk-A-Donk on the edge of the grass beds and bass were blowing it up.

“This is exciting to watch these fish hit top water,” Hunter said.

I told him to put a Ribbit Frog on if he wanted top water action. He switched over to a solid white Ribbit Frog and worked over the pocket on openings in the grass. I could feel the boat shake when he would set the hook.

“I like this!” Hunter said.

The Ribbit Frog can be worked two ways. One way is the simple cast and retrieve. This makes the legs wobble in the water and a gurgling sound is produced. The second way is to twitch and retrieve like a wounded frog trying to get away and find safety. We kept five legal redfish and threw the bass back for another day.

The best spots in Lake Salvador for redfish have been Grosse Point, Little Catahoula Bay and the island in the Harvey cut. The best baits to use have been the quarter ounce black/chrome rattletrap, quarter ounce gold spoon and the tuxedo/black cocahoe rigged on a gold spinner.

For bass, the best spots have been the rocks along the northwest corner of the lake, Gheens /Company Canal, the Fontenot Canal, the Mecom Canal, Baie Des Cabanage, the Fence and 100 bass point. The best baits have been the Ribbit Frog, any white crank bait, watermelon/red, junebug baby brush hogs and flukes. Any of these locations can produce bream and sac-a-lait.