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Keith Lusher 09.20.23
With the cooler climate right here, bass anglers are beginning to modify to a very new sample. Gone are the times of focusing on bass deep in the primary rivers and reservoirs. In September, it’s all in regards to the shad! I made a visit with bass angler Chris Basey of Covington LA to study extra about this fall transition. “In September the shad transfer up into the shallows so I wish to get into these small cuts and canals off of the primary river,” he stated.
Basey is a year-round bass fisherman and Primarily fishes the rivers and bayous in Southeast Louisiana. “Oh I like it!” he stated. “When the shad begin piling into the cuts — I do know the bass will probably be proper behind.”
Our journey began early within the morning. The latest cool entrance made for a scenic experience down the bayou as the nice and cozy water blended with the cool air to type fog on the water. After a 5-minute experience down Bayou Liberty, simply north of Lake Pontchartrain, Basey was a small canal and dropped his trolling motor as he started whipping out a hollow-bodied frog. Basey identified the entire motion on the highest of the water. “That’s all shad again in right here. A month in the past these baitfish had been nowhere to be seen,” he stated.
As I scanned the water’s floor I don’t suppose there was a 5-second span that glided by that I didn’t see floor motion. There have been shad skimming throughout the floor with bass in scorching pursuit.
Basey held his left hand on the deal with of the trolling motor and in his proper hand was his rod. Then an enormous explosion had us each bounce and switch to the left. Basey tossed his frog within the spot the place there have been nonetheless ripples within the water from the bow-up. I watched as a bass plunged the floor of the water inhaling his frog. He set the hook and battled his first fish of the day: a 4.5-pound largemouth bass. Because the bass flopped on the bow of the boat it spit out just a few chewed up shad that it had been feeding on previous to Basey catching it. “This isn’t an unfamiliar sight for September,” he stated. “These fish are feeding closely on shad proper now.”
Basey quickly converted to his go-to lure for September: A white 3/8-ounce spinnerbait with an Indiana blade. He adjusts the colour of the blade to the colour of the water.
“When the water is stained like root beer, I wish to go along with a gold blade,” he stated. “When it’s gin-clear, I’ll use a silver.”
Basey used a 7-foot medium rod with a average tip. he stated the flexibleness of the rid permits the bass to seize the fast-moving spinnerbait with out it being ripped out.
Because the day rolled on, we had been in a position to put over 20 bass within the boat all caught within the shallows the place there have been shad current. Basey’s routine was to tug right into a canal and use his trolling motor to stealthily work his technique to the again of the canal. “If I don’t see any shad again there I transfer on to the following minimize,” he stated. Luckily for us, there have been quite a few alternatives to search out the shad since there have been over 20 canals off the primary bayou.
“Search for cuts and creeks with plenty of vegetation alongside the shoreline,” he stated. “Additionally docks, bulkheads, and different transitions that divide the shoreline.”
Whereas the again ends of the small cuts had been productive on at the present time, Basey stated generally you don’t have to return that far because the bass will probably be busting on shad within the mouths of the cuts. Nonetheless, as we go deeper into fall and the cooler temperatures begin to dip extra, the shad will transfer additional again and the bass will probably be following after. It’s the proper scenario for these bass as a result of the shad is thick and likewise these bass are fattening up for when these exhausting chilly fronts cross by way of. Basey stated the shad transfer again into the shallows to make the most of the late plankton and algae bloom.
“The water again in there often stays hotter longer through the fall. The solar penetrates these shallow areas and permits plankton and algae to bloom yet one more time earlier than winter, giving shad the vitamins they should develop,” he stated. Typically the bass will work as a group pushing the baitfish again into the coves the place they’re simple pickings as soon as they’re cornered.
September is really a particular month not solely as a result of it spells the tip of a brutally scorching summer time, but it surely means longer days on the water and bass turning into extra energetic. Basey stated this would be the sample to stay with by way of the autumn. “With the shad beginning to transfer again into the cuts this month, you possibly can count on them to stay there all through the winter till they transfer out after the spawn within the spring,” he stated.
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