The St Tammany Bass Club held it's November tournament on Saturday, 11/1 out of the Main Street launch on Bayou Lacombe. Weather forecasts through the week proved to be right on target, as once again a strong cold front blew in on Friday, reinforcing the cooler air mass that had settled in earlier in the week. This forced several members to scramble around their trucks and boats looking for any extra layers of clothing to wear for that first run to primary areas. Surface water temps were hovering around 60 degrees at first light, and only managed to rise into the mid 60's by the 1pm weigh in. Gale force Northerly winds were also forecasted, and they showed up with a vengeance, making boat positioning extremely challenging, casting accuracy all but impossible, and water falling out at an unbelieveable pace.
As the 12 anglers lined up just outside the launch area, talk turned to all of the above factors and whether the fish would bite or take the day off. There were a couple of reports here on Northshore Fishing Report that said a day of fishing on both Thursday and Friday resulted in goose eggs, which was a good indication that the marsh bass had a severe case of lockjaw. Members reported seeing a lot of shad activity, but very few bass around them. Most of the chasing occured in very small areas, and the fish were keyed in on really small minnows as opposed to the abundant shad. If you happened to be lucky enough to have a school come up in casting distance, you could usually catch one, but they were running on the small side and only stayed on the surface for a few seconds. About every 4th or 5th fish would barely touch the 12 inch mark on the golden rule, then it became a waiting game to see if the school would surface again anywhere close to casting range.
As the 12 anglers lined up just outside the launch area, talk turned to all of the above factors and whether the fish would bite or take the day off. There were a couple of reports here on Northshore Fishing Report that said a day of fishing on both Thursday and Friday resulted in goose eggs, which was a good indication that the marsh bass had a severe case of lockjaw. Members reported seeing a lot of shad activity, but very few bass around them. Most of the chasing occured in very small areas, and the fish were keyed in on really small minnows as opposed to the abundant shad. If you happened to be lucky enough to have a school come up in casting distance, you could usually catch one, but they were running on the small side and only stayed on the surface for a few seconds. About every 4th or 5th fish would barely touch the 12 inch mark on the golden rule, then it became a waiting game to see if the school would surface again anywhere close to casting range.
As usual, somebody always figures out a way to catch them, and Saturday was no different. The biggest surprise was that only 2 members had fish to weigh in, those results listed below: 1st Place- James Clairain 5 fish 5.49 lbs 2nd Place- Kevin Williams 4 fish 3.63 lbs Big Bass honors went to James Clairain with a 2.38 lb fish. |