Conditions poor next several days

There aren’t many of them during the year, but this is one weekend when the best decision you could make would be to stay home.

Thunderstorms are in the forecast from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning. Combine that with Wednesday’s heavy rains, moderate southeast winds through Friday night and rising water levels in the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers, and we’re looking at a lot of high, dirty water across south Louisiana for most of the next five days.

And the cold rainwater likely will push water temperatures down to add another factor into a not-too-nice outlook.

The push of a cold front’s north winds Sunday should give us a chance of getting in on some falling-water action early next week.

All this comes just about the time when some bass-fishing folks were predicting a mad rush to the banks for the first round of spawning on Tuesday’s full moon.

The effects of the rain, cooler water and a rising barometer should put the quietus on that until water levels stabilize and sunlight returns to warm the water.

Freshwater

Word coming from the canals in the marshes and off main bayous near Lake Verret is that bass are holding in the first 50-70 yards of the intersection where canals meet deeper water.

That was the report through Monday. It’s an obvious indication that bass are in the prespawn stage.

Similar reports came from the canals, bayous and rivers off Lake Pontchartrain’s north and south shores.

A wide variety of baits worked: White/chartreuse spinnerbaits and gold jerkbaits were the best for locating bass. Think about using blue/chrome or black/chrome jerkbaits on sunny days. After locating concentrations of fish, floating worms, lipless crankbaits (gold or blue/chrome Rat-L-Traps) and black/pearl or pearl/chartreuse swimbaits took larger bass.

The key was to find off-the-bank structure. Pilings, grassbeds and brushtops seemed to hold more and bigger fish than the bass hanging on ledges.

Deep-running crankbaits worked on logs and other deep-water structure near the mouths of the canals.

Canals in the Bayou DuLarge and Lake De Cade areas held bass, too.

The coast

Trout and redfish catches dropped off this week despite reports that action around the Lake Pontchartrain bridges picked up during the last 10 days. The railroad trestle was the best area for on-the-bottom trout.

A report that water temperatures there was up to 64 last week was one reason for the increased activity.

When winds lay and water clears, Lake De Cade is a consistent producer of small specks on soft plastics under a cork. The specks are schooling across the flats. Redfish are taking the same lures along the shallow edges of the lake.

Though there is some action, trout catches have dropped off around the Sulfur Mine Lake and west into the Montegut area.