|
Sac-a-lait on Shrimp
 Keith Lusher
It’s not every day that I get to fish for sac-a-lait with a shrimp lure. In fact, there’s never been a day that I have fished for sac-a-lait with a shrimp lure for sac-a-lait. But on my latest trip to the marsh at the southern end of the East Pearl River, I did it for the first time.
Kyle Metzger has been fishing the East Pearl River since 2009 when he would travel from his home in Ocean Springs to fish tournaments. Back then he was using more typical lures for bass fishing. “I used to use something called a Stogie, made by Wyze Guyze Tackle,” Metzger said. “It was 5 inches, and I would use it for everything: flipping, wacky rig, Texas rig, and fluke style.” But he soon learned that the bass were eating shrimp more than they were eating his lures. So, Metzger switched over to using artificial shrimp lures. The change made a huge difference as Metzger started winning tournaments using the shrimp. As he was winning tournaments, he noticed that he would pick up two or three sac-a-lait using TKO shrimp.”I would catch a few crappie each trip so I decided to make a trip to target crappie specifically,” he said. Metzger stopped in at Gus’ Tackle and scanned the wall for a small shrimp lure. He spotted something called the Iddy Biddy Shrimp made by The Crappie Psychic and bought a few packs. On his next trip, he tried it out and came back with a box of sac-a-lait. 
I made a trip with Metzger and had the chance to try out the shrimp. We were on the Mississippi side of the East Pearl in the marsh. The water was falling hard, and it was very clean. As we formulated a plan, I tasted the water, and there was some saltiness to it; I’d say it was 2 PPT, which is considered brackish. Now, I know sac-a-lait don’t tolerate saltwater very well, so I was a bit worried that our trip would turn into a bass fishing trip shortly.
Metzger positioned his boat away from the shoreline about 10 feet and we began to lower our micro shrimp down. It only took a few minutes before Metzger put the first fish in the boat. It was a 12-inch slab he caught on the outside of a stretch of alligator grass.
I watched exactly where Metzger caught the fish and duplicated his technique. After dropping my shrimp down twice, I was able to set the hook on a slab after watching my line twitch. The fish was 11 inches, and I added it to the box. From there, we started patterning the fish. The fish were in 10 feet of water and positioned in some of the strongest current I’ve ever experienced. 
The Iddy Biddy Shrimp worked perfectly as I was able to let it flow with the current until a fish jumped on it. We ended our day in the marsh with 21 fish, but more importantly, I added a new weapon to my arsenal of sac-a-lait baits - The Iddy Biddy Shrimp!
|
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!
|
