Nitreaux

Good question amateur hour and I won’t debate the terms used. Rather I will say what I like in looking at the two pictures is where the channel swings near the point where it reads 20’ in the top picture. That seems to be what Buck Perry would describe as a contact point from deep to shallow water. In the second one I like where the channel swings near the 15’ flat. The channel has a much steeper grade on that side than the one on the right which is far more gradual. I also like where the channel doubles back on itself to form an underwater point where it reads 32 on top and 25 below. That’s what I look for on maps when I believe they are deep in winter or summer. That’s just my opinion and some more experienced angler may have a different view.

Are you talking about the community hole at Housen, Amateur Hour?

One other thing you might check is at the boat show at the LC civic center. There’s often some clubs represented there. It is usually in late January early February.

There are several clubs that I know of in sw La. though I can only think of the names of a couple, the Reel Fisherman and the Lake Area Bass Club. I belong to the latter and I can't speak for the other one but most of our tournaments are on Toledo Bend with an occasional one on Sam Rayburn. There used to be dog fight type tournaments on the Calcasieu on Wednesday pm if they are still around. Check out the ALBC (Assoc. of Louisiana Bass Clubs) for other clubs in the area.

I like a 5.x:1 for my deep cranking. Those big billed large crankbaits have a lot of drag and the lower geared reels don’t tire me out as quickly. For lures that I move with my rod and only take up slack with the reel I like the 7.x:1. I have an 8.x:1 only for fishing a lure that I want to burn. If I had to limit myself to two it would be a 6 and a 7.

Amateur Hour, check out "Don Dickson Fishing" on you tube. He's a former student of Buck Perry and gives lessons on Buck's strategies for finding fish offshore.

Catt, my answer to your question is they would follow the schools of shad. The next question is which creek would the shad go into? My guess is Lowes from the west side of Tn bay. I would start looking there first.

I'm understanding that game is Sunday evening.

I've fished it twice in my life. First time more than 40 years ago. Most recently about 4 years ago. No fish on the recent trip and probably none back then either because nothing comes to mind in regards to catching anything. If I was going to make another trip I think I would start with downsized line and lures hearing that the water is that clear and the bass seen are small. I'd rather get bit on a beetle spin than throw a crankbait all day without a bite.

@Catt yes sir, that's the hump I was talking about. Here is what it looks like on Navionics app.

Not the one in the boat lane which is actually the southeast end of a big ridge running northwest to southeast. However just south of the boat lane is better looking hump with steep slope toward a channel. Once I was prefishing for a club tourn. and caught a 3# on a dropshot there. Decided to leave it alone. As per my luck next day for the tourn. winds nearly 20 mph from the south discouraged me from trying that spot. Have tried it since without success. The BASS elite tournament in June 2012 was won by Brent Chapman near the point on the south side of Negreet. Cliff Pace was second in that tournament and was fishing that same hump mentioned above dragging c-rigs. Having fished there before I recognized where he was with the buoys behind him and cypress bend in the background.

That hump is in the main boat lane where it runs east to west south of Tn. Bay and before it turns back to the north. According to the navionics chart it is 10’ deep at pool. At 168 that would make it 6’ and with a transducer sitting about a foot below the surface you would read 5’. If you’re traveling 60-70 mph in a boat seeing the reading coming up that fast and high can be a bit stressful. At 166 or less I would careful and if the navionics chart is accurate stay near the south buoys as it slopes down from the hump by the north buoys.

My favorite way to fish in a 10 to 15 mph wind is on the back deck of someone else’s boat, lol. But yes when you have the ultrex it’s better than fishing in someone else’s boat. I held off buying one because I had a notion of trading in my boat on a new one this spring and was gonna order it with the ultrex but they low balled my trade in and I decided to keep mine and just upgrade it with the ultrex. Besides the spotlock you can program them to follow contour lines on lakemaster map cards or retrace your trails. Even deploy my talons. That is if I’m smart enough to figure all that stuff out when all I really need to do is fish.

I fish solo often Jason. I wouldn’t mind having you to fish with me though it won’t be soon. I need to get a trip or two with my nephew before school starts. I’m hoping to encourage him to get on a high school team. Then I’ll probably have to get a surgery done that I’ve been putting off that will have me sidelined for 6-8 weeks.

“The wind is your friend” says the pros. I say with friends like that who needs enemies! Actually wind makes bass more active adding more oxygen to the water, reducing light penetration, allowing more stealth from the angler, and moving baitfish. The negatives are all on the angler who has to fight boat control, gets more backlash, loses feel for lures due to bows in his line, and loses bass due to poor hook sets. A rod tip can travel only so far on a hook set and when you don’t have a direct line between your rod tip and the lure due to bows in the line you can’t drive a hook home the way it needs to be. My choice is to fish spinnerbaits and swim jigs which keep the line taut. To minimize backlash I cast underhand or at angles rather than into the wind. I have tried just drifting and dragging a C-rig as the wind moves my boat across a point or a flat. Just something to try before looking for places out of the wind where most everybody else is.