Finned footballs bring excellent marsh action
Published: Thursday, March 20, 2003 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 at 11:00 p.m.
Marshes constitute some of the most fertile fisheries habitats in North America. In a good marsh, anglers can catch scores of bass in a day. Most fall in the 2-pound or less range, but anglers land occasional lunkers.
Louisiana marshes generally fall into three categories ó tidal, river delta, landlocked or impounded. Some river delta marshes also become tidal.
In many tidal marshes, such as those below Lafitte or at Caernarvon, fresh and salty water mixes into a brackish gumbo.
Surprisingly tolerant of salt, bass may feed with redfish, speckled trout, flounder and many other species in the same spot. Aggressive and opportunistic predators, football-shaped marsh bass in this tidal stew gorge themselves on crabs, shrimp, frogs, crawfish, minnows, mullets, shad, sunfish and other aquatic or marine morsels.
Tides or river currents position fish and spark activity. Bass lurk behind current breaks facing upstream. When currents wash something tempting toward them, they rush out to gulp it then retreat behind their current breaks.
Strong winds frequently override tides and sometimes river current. North winds push water towards the Gulf of Mexico. South winds bring high, salty tides, chasing bass farther inland or into inaccessible pockets.
"When tides fall, many shallow areas drain," said Sam Swett, a professional bass angler from Covington. "Baitfish get in shallow areas to hide from predators. When tides drop, falling water flushes baitfish and other creatures into deeper channels. Bass wait in the mouths of ditches to eat whatever they can grab. It's like a fish funnel."
In non-tidal or landlocked marshes, winds dictate current. Winds can drive baitfish against a shoreline or push them into open water, putting bass into a feeding frenzy.
Without tide or current, bass may pull off the banks and suspend in slightly deeper water. They become inactive until the next tidal flow stimulates them again. Anglers may search considerable water and throw reaction lures such as spinnerbaits or crankbaits to find them.
Grass forms the dominant cover in most marshes. Sometimes, anglers cannot tell where shorelines end and floating vegetation begins. Thick vegetation creates a wet jungle of perfect bass habitat. When thick cover hampers topwater baits, anglers may rip spinnerbaits or buzzbaits over submerged weed tops. They cover considerable territory, provoke reaction strikes and work effectively in broken or scattered weed patches. Anglers often run spinnerbaits just below the surface with a steady retrieve or "helicopter" them up and down.
"In grass, nothing beats a spinnerbait on the right day," said Larry Nixon, a former Bassmaster Classic champion. "I like a tandem spinnerbait with two Colorado blades or a Colorado in front of a willow-leaf blade."
Not entirely weedless, even slim willow-leaf blades won't cut through solid vegetable mats. However, in broken weed patches, they easily slip through small openings.
"Cast ahead of the target zone and pull it downstream," Nixon said. "Pull it so that the current brings it close to cover. Either bump cover or rip the bait through cover and ėkill' it by letting it flutter a bit. Frequently, an erratic movement like that will trigger a bass into striking."
Buzzbaits sputter and pop over the surface and across thick weeds. Bass rise to smack them, probably more out of aggravation than hunger. Sometimes, even spinnerbaits and buzzbaits snag in thick grass.
Weedless spoons dance over grass tops. Sweetened with twin-tailed pork chunks or plastic trailers, they make tempting morsels, especially where bass feed heavily on frogs. Many anglers use 1/4- to 3/4-ounce weedless spoons to tempt lunker bass. When fishing especially dense vegetation or dingy water, use larger spoons. In extremely clear, water or thin vegetation, use smaller spoons.
Anglers work spoons in several ways. Bounce them over grass mats like topwaters or buzzbaits with long steady retrieves. Spoons wobble along the surface and over vegetation or lily pads.
In really dense vegetation, retrieve slowly. In sparse weeds, burn them through quickly. Add a quick popping motion to resemble a struggling baitfish. In patchy weeds, let spoons sink a foot or two into holes or pockets. Let them flutter a moment before pulling them out. Sometimes, bass smash sinking spoons.
Anglers can retrieve floating plastics similar to spoons. Light and lifelike, Texas-rigged lizards, frogs, slugs, shads or similar lures skitter across nearly impenetrable salads and inaccessible thickets like natural forage. They combine attributes of fast topwater action, fish-finding abilities of buzzbaits and weedless enticement.
When bass won't rise to temptations, anglers may need to knock on their doors. In thick cover, anglers punch through the canopies with heavy jigs or worms.
"In matted grass, bass sit under cover," Nixon said. "A big jig punches through the roof, but tends to catch on grass. When pulling it out, it might mess up a section. I use a Texas-rigged worm with a small bullet weight that slips easily through cover and doesn't mess it up or scare fish."
With long rod, place temptations with pinpoint accuracy next to cover or in tiny pockets. Work slowly along weedy edges, probing specific grass clumps or individual lily pads. After the bait hits bottom, bounce it a few times. If nothing hits, drop it into the next open pocket.
John N. Felsher can be reached at Outdoors, American Press, P.O. Box 2893, 4900 Highway 90 East, Lake Charles, La 70602, or at Jfelsher@americanpress.com.
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