Cold weather bassin' on Bayou Bonfouca
Keith Lusher Jr Ask any knowledgeable bass fisherman on the Northshore what areas are good to catch bass in the winter and he will probably launch into his standard speal about targeting drop-offs and deep water. With this being the holiday season he may have a few drinks in him and even let slip on or two of his coveted hot-spots. But when it comes to bass fishing the Northshore’s rivers and bayous in the winter, all you need to know are two words: Bayou Bonfouca. Bayou Bonfouca has been lights out this month and the great bass fishing those anglers are experiencing looks to extend well into January. Anglers are routinely finding limits of quality fish along the grass-lines and deep channels that branch off from the main bayou.
Daniel Sissac and his father, Roger Sissac has been fishing Bayou Bonfouca heavily this winter and it all started a Roger noticed an all too familiar site for those who fish the bayou with any regularity. “We began fishing the lake and surrounding bayous last year and my dad started going to Heritage Park to fish for bream and bass along the bank. He was there one day and saw a big school of menhaden. That intrigued him, but what really got him excited was when he saw bass literally jumping out the water while attacking the menhaden. He told me about it and we made our first trip to Bonfouca soon after.” Roger says on their first trip to Bayou Bonfouca they limited out on bass and they were hooked. On their most recent fishing trip to Bonfouca, Daniel says he picked up on something from a previous trip that helped him figure out what the bass where feeding on. “I remembered from last week's excursion that a couple bream were spat up by some bass, so I swapped my crank bait for a bream-colored spinner bait. Apparently, that was sound thinking because I boated a nice bass on the first cast! We kept working our way down the right shoreline and found our limit there.” His father, Roger talks about some things he has learned from fishing Bayou Bonfouca in December, “I find that the fish have pulled away from the shorelines and have moved to deeper water. They will move to shallower water if it's a sunny, warm day, but when it's cold, I generally concentrate in locations with deeper water.” Deep water is easy to find on Bayou Bonfouca because of all of the man-made canals that wind in and out of the subdivisions constructed along the bayou. Some of these subdivisions have channels with drop-offs that are taylor-made for bass looking to escape the ice cold surface water.
Daniel says that the boat traffic on the bayou is drastically reduced during the winter months and that only sweetens the deal as far as they are concerned. “It's funny, because it seems like a lot of people stop fishing during the winter months. We've only fished Bonfouca last December and once so far this December, but it seems there are fewer boats. During the summer there are many days when it's hard to find a parking spot at Heritage Park, but during December and other winter months, there are times when we are the only vehicle there.”
In the few years that Daniel and his father have been fishing Bayou Bonfouca they have built up tons of confidence in the area and Daniel says that he is trying to get his father to try some other rivers and bayous but has been unsuccessful so far “There's no doubt that Bonfouca quickly became our favorite bayou to fish. Most of the time, we don't even have to discuss where we will be fishing because it's a given that we'll be going to Bonfouca. I am trying to get my dad to try some other locations like Bayou Liberty and Bayou Lacombe, but with the success we've had on Bonfouca, I certainly can understand why we keep going there. I guess there's a reason he calls Bonfouca our "sure thing",” Daniel said.
Daniel Sissac and his father, Roger Sissac has been fishing Bayou Bonfouca heavily this winter and it all started a Roger noticed an all too familiar site for those who fish the bayou with any regularity. “We began fishing the lake and surrounding bayous last year and my dad started going to Heritage Park to fish for bream and bass along the bank. He was there one day and saw a big school of menhaden. That intrigued him, but what really got him excited was when he saw bass literally jumping out the water while attacking the menhaden. He told me about it and we made our first trip to Bonfouca soon after.” Roger says on their first trip to Bayou Bonfouca they limited out on bass and they were hooked. On their most recent fishing trip to Bonfouca, Daniel says he picked up on something from a previous trip that helped him figure out what the bass where feeding on. “I remembered from last week's excursion that a couple bream were spat up by some bass, so I swapped my crank bait for a bream-colored spinner bait. Apparently, that was sound thinking because I boated a nice bass on the first cast! We kept working our way down the right shoreline and found our limit there.” His father, Roger talks about some things he has learned from fishing Bayou Bonfouca in December, “I find that the fish have pulled away from the shorelines and have moved to deeper water. They will move to shallower water if it's a sunny, warm day, but when it's cold, I generally concentrate in locations with deeper water.” Deep water is easy to find on Bayou Bonfouca because of all of the man-made canals that wind in and out of the subdivisions constructed along the bayou. Some of these subdivisions have channels with drop-offs that are taylor-made for bass looking to escape the ice cold surface water.
Daniel says that the boat traffic on the bayou is drastically reduced during the winter months and that only sweetens the deal as far as they are concerned. “It's funny, because it seems like a lot of people stop fishing during the winter months. We've only fished Bonfouca last December and once so far this December, but it seems there are fewer boats. During the summer there are many days when it's hard to find a parking spot at Heritage Park, but during December and other winter months, there are times when we are the only vehicle there.”
In the few years that Daniel and his father have been fishing Bayou Bonfouca they have built up tons of confidence in the area and Daniel says that he is trying to get his father to try some other rivers and bayous but has been unsuccessful so far “There's no doubt that Bonfouca quickly became our favorite bayou to fish. Most of the time, we don't even have to discuss where we will be fishing because it's a given that we'll be going to Bonfouca. I am trying to get my dad to try some other locations like Bayou Liberty and Bayou Lacombe, but with the success we've had on Bonfouca, I certainly can understand why we keep going there. I guess there's a reason he calls Bonfouca our "sure thing",” Daniel said.
Upcoming Tournaments
The RP3 Bass King Tournament will be help on Saturday, January 4th on Bayou Bonfouca. Weigh in will be held at Heritage park in Slidell at 1:30. For more information please call Ronald at 985-991-3681.
The Tchefuncte River Winter Series will be holding its next tournament on the Tchefuncte River on Sunday, December 29th. Blast-off will be at safelight and weigh-in will be held at 3:00 pm at the 4th Street launch in Covington. For more info please call Scott at 504-450-9556
The Tchefuncte River Winter Series will be holding its next tournament on the Tchefuncte River on Sunday, December 29th. Blast-off will be at safelight and weigh-in will be held at 3:00 pm at the 4th Street launch in Covington. For more info please call Scott at 504-450-9556
