Keith Lusher Mike Jones of Covington is no stranger to catching big fish. He’s fished the Tchefuncte River for years running trot-lines for catfish and has numerous catches over 25 lbs. But Mike admits that his resume for catching big bass isn’t a long one. “This area isn’t really known for catching big bass so my biggest bass was around 5 lbs. I’d have to say,” Mike claims. That would change after a fishing trip to the Rice Field Canal just off the Tchefuncte River.
Mike Jones catches a 30 lb. catfish on a trot-line Mike decided to make an afternoon trip to try and catch a few perch. “I started out fishing the entrance of the damn with 2 poles, one with live crickets and the other with live worms, both under a cork,” Jones says. He fished this way without a bite for over a half hour and then decided to switch things up due to the surface action he was observing. “I kept seeing huge explosions on the top of the water. I mean really big blow-ups!” he says. Mike switched over to a Big Bite blue and white curly tail jig but still came up empty. “I then decided on another bait change. I tied on a Mighty Bite jig head like you would for a small perch or bass and threaded on a small silver Zoom Fluke,” says Jones. Mike started casting into the rice field pond just past the opening of the dam but still hadn’t received any taps on his line. As the sun slowly disappeared over the power-lines that parallel the horizon, Mike contemplating packing it up and heading home. “It was that moment where you say one more cast, one more cast,” Mike jokes. Mike’s inner voice proved right when suddenly he hooked onto something. “Just as the sun had almost disappeared I felt a very strong WACK on the end of my rod! The line immediately dove to the bottom and started stripping drag,” Jones says. Being familiar with reeling in big catfish on the Tchefuncte River, Mike immediately thought that it was a catfish. “I thought I had hooked into a big catfish! We battled back and forth and my medium action rod with 15 lb. test was being pushed to the limits,” he says. The fish stopped and remained still on the bottom. Perplexed by what was on the end of his lined, Mike thoughts scrolled through a Rolodex of fish in his head. “I thought, maybe it is a garfish? So I worked it back closer to the boat pulling the pole up and reeling in the slack like you see on the TV show Wicked Tuna,” he says.
Mike Jones is all smiles with his 26 lb. Tchefuncte River Striper Mike’s arms were tiring but he soon muscled the fish near the surface. “As I got the fish near the boat the water boiled. I tried to lift it to the surface and it took off like a rocket on another long run pulling my line back out even further than before. The run was so fast and strong I thought maybe I had hooked into a big bull red,” Mike contemplated. Mike’s arms started to burn from the fight and the embattled fisherman soon found himself fighting the mosquitoes as the son disappeared over the horizon and darkness set in. Those who fish this canal will tell you that the pylons that line the duck pond has served as involuntary catch and release instruments for numerous anglers. As the line moved towards one of the pylons, Mike feared the fish would get wrapped around one of them. “I continued my battle and worked it back to the boat but the lined was wrapped around a piling at the mouth of the rice field and the fish was trying to wrap itself around to break free. I lifted my rod high to try and direct it away from the piling and my rod bent in the shape of a ‘U’ like you would see in the Ugly Stick commercials,” Mike jokes. As the fish tired, Mike reeled it to the surface near the boat. “I could not believe what was on the end of my pole, I kept the pressure on the line and frantically looked around my boat for the net. Usually I don’t bring a net with me but I sure was glad I had one on this occasion,” says Mike. The nervous angler frantically scooped up the fish and hauled it over the side of his boat. Mike stopped and stared at a 26 lb. Gulf Strain Striped Bass. “My heart was pounding out of my chest! I saw down in the front of my boat and just looked in amazement,” Jones says.
