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.

I bought one at Toledo Tackle a few years back. If Keith's don't have them call Toledo tackle and ask if they still have them.

UPDATE on map cards...I just came across another card compatible with Lowrance electronics. It is the Fishing Hot Spots Pro USA Chip 2018. Check it out on Tackle Warehouse. I don’t know how it compares with Navionics but it is another option for Lowrance users.

Wow, that’s quite a treasure Catt. I’m guessing it helps to know what log piles look like on a sonar when you know where they are located plus knowing where timber lines are now that most the trees are broke off above the water.

I have both. The boat lane one shows where the boat lanes are and I have found it handy when there are missing buoys and I can glance at my sonar to see if I am still following the boat lane. Just be mindful of water levels when running even in marked lanes. Tommy’s card shows original channels, bridges and culverts and flooded roadbeds which aid in finding where bass could be. Neither one actually shows contour lines. You just load these into your unit and the info will be there until deleted. Their info overlays on whatever map card you have.

Scot....I agree with Lil Joe in that Navionics is the only option for Lowrance units. I use Lakemaster but it is compatible only with Humminbird so I won't go in detail about it. I haven't used Navionics in a while but I do use their app on my phone and their free web app at Navionics webapp. From my observation the Lakemaster seems to be more accurate compared to navionics but Navionics is constantly updating. In fact when you buy their card you get free updates for a year. I guess after that you pay a small fee yearly. At least that's how it works on my smart phone for me to get the updated version. These updates apparently come from users who turn in readings to navionics who then add the new detail to their maps. Humminbird actually hired boaters to scan the topo that they used for their maps. The disadvantage there for me is that there are several smaller lakes I like to fish due to less pressure that Lakemaster doesn't have on their card while Navionics does. As far as their apps you can scout contours at home or work as though you were looking at paper maps. I also mark details on them that I want to investigate on the waterPerhaps someone can clue you in on the options that the different versions of Navionics offers such as seeing your contour in 3D. I don't really know if that is more a function of the card or the actual unit it is used in.

I'm seriously considering getting the Ultrex for my boat especially since I run humminbird units that can be paired with it to run on designated contour lines. When I marshaled in the elite tournament last April my pro had one and he "anchored" out in deeper water and stayed on his spot. My problem is what to do with my 101# thrust 36 volts trolling motor I have now. It's too much for my smaller boat and I likely wouldn't get much for it by selling. Though it works well it is 10 years old and I surely couldn't get much for it.

Can't wait to hear the story behind this.

Redseal, I live in Lake Charles but grew up in Elton. If you see a Nitro with red/silver trim and a pair of talons on TB you might be looking at me.

My experience as a marshal on day two, that pro also started in shallow water and probably only about a quarter mile from where my first day pro had started. After a couple of hours with only one bass in the well he ran out to a deep spot too. He told me that he thought the bass would show up later because on the previous day (day one) he managed to get his limit late in the day. He added a couple of keepers out deep and returned to the shallow area for the remainder of the day where he filled his limit and culled a couple of times. I saw a number of other pros in the area, one was throwing a chatterbait style jig near us and the others were out further on the flat and it appeared they were fishing jerkbaits.

I was able to watch the Elite tournament at Toledo Bend from the back deck of a couple of pros as I was fortunate enough to finally get chosen to marshal. Both pros I was paired with spent the majority of their day fishing less than 5 fow. They also ran out to deep spots but for different reasons. The pro I was with the first day simply couldn't get bit shallow though he told me the previous day in practice he had enough bites for a limit. He finally bagged a couple late. He had a fantastic day on day 2 on that same deep spot with close to 20#. I was able to talk to him and he said the difference was due to the wind laying down on day 2 that enabled him to fish the spot like he needed to.