The Florida Parishes Bass Anglers Club held it's second March tournament on Sunday, 3/28 at Delacroix. Launch site was on the Caernarvon side, next to the freshwater diversion facility.
Once again, a cold front rolled in the day before tournament weekend, the FPBA is jinxed when it comes to weather, we just can't seem to break the pattern. Maybe if we stop talking about it, April's tournament won't be held under post frontal conditions, it won't hurt my feelings to leave the heavy clothing at home for the rest of this year.
Those who have fished or hunted on the west bank of the Mississippi River know what a couple of days of hard North winds do to the waters around Delacroix Island. Talk around the sign up table was not only about the unseasonably cold weather, it was also about whether there would be any clean water to be found in the area. When safelight arrived and the 17 anglers made their way to their destinations, that question was answered. Not only was the water muddy, there were mud flats showing in places that held over a foot of water earlier in the week. This forced anglers to adjust their plans and begin searching for fishable water. A few of the guys that know the area well said they ran over 100 round trip miles only to find the same conditions and very few bass willing to bite. By the end of the day, most boats were crowded into community holes along the deeper canals that line the marshes around the diversion. It looked like Toledo Bend on a windy spring day with boats lined up single file pounding the same stretches of banks. Those fortunate enough to get the bigger bites fared well at the scales, results below.
Once again, a cold front rolled in the day before tournament weekend, the FPBA is jinxed when it comes to weather, we just can't seem to break the pattern. Maybe if we stop talking about it, April's tournament won't be held under post frontal conditions, it won't hurt my feelings to leave the heavy clothing at home for the rest of this year.
Those who have fished or hunted on the west bank of the Mississippi River know what a couple of days of hard North winds do to the waters around Delacroix Island. Talk around the sign up table was not only about the unseasonably cold weather, it was also about whether there would be any clean water to be found in the area. When safelight arrived and the 17 anglers made their way to their destinations, that question was answered. Not only was the water muddy, there were mud flats showing in places that held over a foot of water earlier in the week. This forced anglers to adjust their plans and begin searching for fishable water. A few of the guys that know the area well said they ran over 100 round trip miles only to find the same conditions and very few bass willing to bite. By the end of the day, most boats were crowded into community holes along the deeper canals that line the marshes around the diversion. It looked like Toledo Bend on a windy spring day with boats lined up single file pounding the same stretches of banks. Those fortunate enough to get the bigger bites fared well at the scales, results below.
1st Place: Steve Ruschmeier- 5 fish 9.81 lbs 2nd Place: Richard Bennett - 5 fish 9.68 lbs 3rd Place: Ryan Soto- 5 fish 8.50 lbs The Mister Twister Big Bass award goes to Ryan Soto with a 2.86 lb fish, which narrowly beat a 2.85 lb fish in Ruschmeier's bag. Congratulations to all the winners. |
The award for worst/best/worst luck of the day goes to Brian Jones and Jordan Major. These guys broke a hub on their trailer on the way down to Delacroix, it happened in Meraux about a block from the only store for miles that's open at 5am, the bait shop on Judge Perez Hwy. Luck was on their side as the spindle was not damaged and believe it or not, the bait shop had a hub assembly that fit their trailer. Unfortunately for them, their good luck was used up there, they made the repairs and got to the launch just before blast off. After running around and fishing most of the day, their outboard quit running and they had to run the trolling motor for the last couple of miles back to the launch. They had a few fish, but missed the 3pm weigh in by about an hour. Then, they blew out a tire on the way home and the spare didn't fit, so they had to make some creative modifications to get the spare to work. They left home around 3am and got back home around 10pm, that's a long day!
Our next tournament will be on Sunday, April 12th on the Tchefuncte River. Launch site will be Menetre Park on 4th Street in Covington, located behind the hospital, safelight to 3pm. Hope to see everyone there. For info about FPBA, contact Kevin Williams (985) 502-6146, email mkalw1990@gmail.com or Patrick Engerran (985) 474-6112, email pengerran@yahoo.com Also, please see our website at fpbassanglers.com and like us on Facebook at Florida Parishes Bass Anglers.