|
Sac-a-lait on Green Shiners
 Keith Lusher
In the world of sac-a-liat fishing, it seems fishermen are always trying to improve their strategy whether it’s new techniques, tools, or lures. John Guillot of Kiln, Miss. is one of those anglers who never stops trying to figure out how he can catch more crappie.
Guillot’s latest attempt to try something new came when he wanted to figure out a way to add a certain color to live shiners without killing them. Fortunately for me, I was invited along on a trip to experiment with the minnows. I arrived at Guillot’s shop in Kiln early around 5 a.m. and we began the process. The product is called High Octane Fire Dye. Guillot poured a bottle of chartreuse colored dye into a plastic milk jug that was cut in half. The jug had a tube running into it with air pumping out of a stone. He added a scoop of shiners from his holding tank and we monitored the minnows to gauge whether or not the dye was setting in. The instructions called for a 20-minute soaking period but after the prescribed time the shiners looked about the same with maybe a slight green tint. So far the experiment was a failure. 
The sun was starting to come up and we had to decide whether or not to give up on the experiment or double down. Then, Guillot came up with an idea. “Let’s transfer the dye into the bait bucket in the boat and that will give them more time to soak,” he said. We loaded up the shiners into the boat and headed down to the Pearl River Navigational Canal in Pearl River. We started fishing the canal with jigs and although it was a slow start, the crappie turned on around 10 a.m.
Then we decided to net a few shiners in the bait bucket to see if the dye was working. What came out of the bucket shocked both of us. These shiners were bright chartreuse and we excitedly put them on our hooks and casted out. The green shiners caught fish and we continued to add sac-a-lait to the live well using the green minnows. 
We were using slip corks pegged about three feet from the hook with a split-shot pegged in between the hook and the cork. The pattern was simple; find fallen trees and fish over the submerged treetops. Each spot produced around five fish so we were forced to move often but steadily put crappie in the boat.
At the end of the day, Guillot and I had 32 keep sac-a-lait that were no smaller than eight inches. Our largest fish measured 14 inches and was caught on a chewed-up green shiner. Guilloit has a theory on why bigger fish hit wounded baitfish. “The bigger fish aren’t going to expend too much energy hunting down lively shad so when they see a banged-up shiner, they take advantage of the easy meal,” he said. As far as the green shiners go, the High Octane Fire Dye ended up working but be warned that it takes hours of soaking instead of the prescribed 20 minutes. In the end, the green shiners add a viable option for sac-a-lait anglers who are looking to gain the upper hand on these delectable freshwater fish. 
Tournament Results
It was a busy day filled with boat traffic as the Bass Assassins fished the Tchefuncte River on Sunday. Anglers fished a falling tide all morning. Ron Garic bested the field of 17 with a beautiful limit weighing 15.46 pounds. Garic also had the big fish of the day; a 4.75-pound kicker. Josh Enman took home second with a 10.07-pound 5-fish limit. Jimmy Dorris ended up in third with a limit totaling 8.19 pounds. The conditions were perfect on the East Pearl River as 17 anglers blasted off to fish the event. Everyone had high expectations because of the conditions however the fishing proved to be tough all morning. Mike Marodis came in first place as he managed a 3-fish bag that weighed 5.776 pounds. Jerry Bullock came in second place with 3 fish weighing 5.225 pounds Bullock also won the big bass pot with a bass that weighed 2.877 pounds. Joe Picone placed third with a 3-fish tournament limit weighing 4.570 pounds. |
 Keith Lusher
I created NFR.com in the spring of 2012. Since then it has helped link Northshore fishermen to valuable information and has filled the void of absent information on the web about fishing on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Northshore Fishing Report has morphed into a brand name and can be found not only on the web, but on radio and newspaper. As NFR grows I will continue to work hard at keeping NFR local focusing on local anglers, reports, seminars, and fishing tournaments in St. Tammany and Tangipahoa Parish. I hope you enjoy the website and If you have any questions please email me at: Keith@NorthshoreFishingReport.com
Look for the Northshore Fishing Report publication every Thursday in The Slidell Independent Weekly Newspaper!
|
|
Ron Hindman of Slidell joins the NFR Studio to talk about his 11-pound trophy bass he caught in the West Pearl River
|
