Thread: Article: Da Bayou Spawn Is Under Way

Good job. Thanks for sharing

The water temp on this trip was 53 F down about 10 degrees from the previous week due to rain, colder weather and the north winds pushing out 2 feet of water. The water clarity on da bayou is typically like clear dark ice tea due to tannins. This trip however the water was not clear but full of debris and pollen along with some silt. Instead of seeing a foot or two into the water the cloudy conditions and debris on top and in the water made the clarity drop to 6 to 12 inches. I am not saying it was muddy like the Funky or Pearl Rivers get after a rain event just murkier than normal. The black jigs that seemed to work best are pictured below. I am not sure why darker seemed to work better on this day. Natural colors typically are the color of choice on the bayou. I do like to throw several different colors and I will occasionally throw a bright colored jig like hot pink or chartreuse on the first cast because the biggest most aggressive fish will attack it violently sometimes. However, after that first bigger aggressive fish is landed the remaining fish seem to shy away from the bright colors and using a more natural color usually catches a few more before the school realizes their friends are disappearing. I like using 1 1/2 " plastic during the colder months and do slow things down because the fish are lazy due to the cold water temps. The other important point is that these fish were not schooled up trying to get in the shade because it was a very cloudy day with rain threatening all day. These fish were suspended or swimming in 6 to 8 feet of water in sea;;level groups of 3 to 6 fish. They were caught not by jigging but by casting out and reeling in the 1/32 oz jig slowly at the right depth. Like one of my mentors, ROJO, says fishing sacalait is not checkers Bud. It's a chess game, a thinking mans game. What I love about targeting sacalait is that each and every trip is unique and challenging.

Bon Temps!!