Keith Lusher 08.30.24
September is a month eagerly anticipated by many in South Louisiana for a number of causes. It brings the return of quieter properties as youngsters head again to highschool, and it alerts the start of soccer season. However maybe probably the most thrilling a part of September is the arrival of the primary chilly entrance of the season.
For Chris Basey of Covington, nonetheless, September holds a particular significance.
“That is the month when the shad begin shifting again into these small cuts and canals off the primary river,” he explains, referring to Bayou Bonfouca. Basey spends the yr concentrating on the rivers and bayous on the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain. September offers him the chance to transition from the primary river to shallower waters.
“Oh man, I really like this tim of yr!” he says. “When the baitfish begin piling into the cuts, I do know the bass received’t be far behind.”
On his newest journey to Bayou Bonfouca in Slidell, LA, Basey ventured right into a canal close to Palm Bayou. The shoreline was lush with vegetation, and the floor teemed with exercise.
“I knew it was going to be an excellent thrip once I entered that canal. Not a second glided by that I didn’t see shad skipping or wakes being thrown,” he recollects.
It was early within the morning, and Basey reached for his rod with a frog lure tied on.
“I really like to begin the day with a frog,” he says. “I often catch my heaviest fish through the early morning hours utilizing a hollow-body frog.”
After recognizing a disturbance between some lilies and the marsh line, he forged the frog onto the shoreline and labored it into the water.
“is was a line of salvinia grass that I threw into. I noticed a wake push in direction of the bait and the fish exploded on it,” he recounts.
Basey waited a second earlier than setting the hook, then the battle started.
“All I saved pondering was, ‘Please don’t come off, please don’t come off,’” he says. Fastidiously, he maneuvered the fish by the lilies and ultimately boat-flipped it. He kicked off his day with a five-pound bass and went on to catch a number of extra within the two to four-pound vary.
Whereas Basey begins his morning with a frog alongside the shoreline, he quickly switches to a spinnerbait. His go-to is a 3/8-ounce white spinnerbait with an Indiana blade, adjusting the blade colour primarily based on the water.
“When the water’s stained like a root beer colour, I’ll use a gold blade,” he says. “When the water is clear, I swap over to silver.”
Basey ties his spinnerbait onto a 7-foot medium rod with a average tip, permitting the bass to completely take the fast-moving bait with out it being pulled out prematurely. “There’s a ton of forgiveness in that rod, which helps land extra fish once I use a spinnerbait,” he stated.
From the northernmost level the place Bonfouca begins to the southernmost part the place it empties into Lake Pontchartrain, there are 44 canals that present anglers with an escape from the primary bayou. Discovering a canal to fish isn’t troublesome. When selecting the place to forged, Basey gives a number of pointers.
“Search for canals with loads of grass alongside the shoreline,” he advises. “Additionally, take note of wharfs, bulkheads, and different constructions that break up the shoreline.”
Basey sometimes begins on the mouth of the canal the place it meets the primary bayou and works his approach again. The farther the canal extends, the higher, he says. He explores your entire size, establishing a sample that guides him to fish in different canals.
With shad beginning to transfer into the cuts this month, you’ll be able to count on them to stay there by winter, till they head out once more after the spring spawn.
