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In October, bass fishing on both sides the Atchafalaya Basin levee at Stephensville turns on. And these veteran anglers know how to translate that into hefty stringers.
Stepping aboard the bass boat at Doiron’s Landing last October, I noticed the smiles on the faces of my two hosts. They appeared more than confident, and they insisted the game plan was certain.
“We’re on some fish,” 42-year-old Winston Michel said.
Bass-fishing reports had been inconsistent, and there was more than a slight stain to the waters surrounding the boat. But I remained optimistic, since Pierre Part’s Michel is not only an avid bass tournament angler but also Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement agent.
Although his work assignments and locations vary day to day, Michel stays on the bass on both sides of the Atchafalaya Basin guide levee as much as he can.
And so does his teammate, 51-year-old Sandy Gaudet of Belle Rose.
These anglers are pretty tough on the Fishers of Men’s Louisiana South Team Division — they ranked No. 2 on that circuit last year, which allowed Michel and Gaudet to compete in the Fishers of Men National Championship on the Harris Chain in Leesburg, Fla., back in March.
These anglers have fished together for a long time — 20 years spent as a team chasing the largemouths around their home towns.
Trolling into one of the canals near Bayou Cheramie just east of Grassy Lake, Michel picked up a rod rigged with a white, flat-bodied puff of plastic with twin tails.
He cast the Mister Twister Jerk Rat near a laydown, letting the lure fall slowly before twitching it a bit. It didn’t take long before the angler hooked up on the first fish of the day — a 14-inch bass.
Michel hooked up again near a submerged stump.This time, though, a 4-pounder worked the drag a bit.
Gaudet was pitching a Texas-rigged Mister Twister Red River Special Hang 10 worm, and he finally scored.
“The bass are in these laydowns and timber almost in the middle of the canal,” Gaudet said. “But notice (that) we’re only catching them where the shade stretches into the canal.”
Water also was coming out of a few runouts, and the anglers knew schools of shad were in the mix.
Moving the boat a little closer to the bank opposite from one of the runouts, Gaudet began a series of casts with a Texas-rigged, black/blue tail Phenom worm, targeting where the canal water was mixing.
That added another bass to the livewell — the fourth of the morning.
A little later, Michel was working a black neon Poc’it Hawg Raiser in the same location and came up with another 4-pounder.
With approximately 11 pounds of fish already in the boat, the fishing got a bit tougher, as sunlight chased away the shadows from most of the canal.
That’s when Michel picked up a spinning rod and tossed out a chartreuse/pepper-red Poc’it Shake’R on a drop-shot rig.
He worked the rig toward the edge of a grass mat on the outer rim of a runout, edging it down a ledge dropping into the middle of the canal.
And with a quick upward thrust, Michel set the hook on another chunky bass.
Not to be outdone, Gaudet pitched a Mister Twister Poc’it Fry out and hooked into another good fish.
From October through the fall, Michel and Gaudet find this kind of success by targeting the Union Oil Field canals off of Bayou Cheramie and the Oxy Field canals on the Lake Verret side of the levee.
“We fish the points first, where we will throw ½-ounce, chrome/blue back and chrome/black back Rat-L-Traps,” Michel said. “We also find bass on those points using ¼-ounce, white/blue/chartreuse Humdinger double willow-leaf spinnerbaits and buzzbaits.
“In October of last year, we were able to call them out on those buzzbaits early in the morning near grass patches and lilies.”
But the key to after the morning bite slows is to pull out plastic lures and slow down.
“Later in the day when the sun is up, we will be pitching near laydowns, and punching grass mats and hyacinths with Poc’it Craws and Flip’N OUTs,” Gaudet said. “Some of the better fish come from under the mats and the lilies.”
The anglers Texas-rig these baits, using 1- or 1 ½-ounce tungsten weights pegged with sinker stoppers to break through lily patches and grass mats.
Cover thickness dictates how heavy the weight should be.
The beauty of Stephensville is that it offers easy access to not only the Lake Verret system to the east but to the fertile waters of the Atchaflaya Basin proper to the west.
Prime fishing areas inside the Basin’s guide levees include Flat Lake and the Shell oil field.
When they head to those locations, Michel’s and Gaudet’s arsenal of lures remains pretty much the same — but water movement dictates how they fish.
“We want the Morgan City gauge to be as close to 3 feet as possible,” Michel said. “And when the river is dropping slowly, the fishing is usually better.”
When those conditions are met, getting on bass involves finding bait.
“In the fall, the shad are starting to move to the mouths of those canals from the deep main channels of the lakes,” Michel said. “They’ll be finding their way back to the backs of the canals for the winter.
“The bass will be following them and ambushing them from points, laydowns and grass mats in these areas.”
Gaudet said that, when clouds obscure the sun, fish move to points with little to no grass and fall for ChatterBaits with Poc’it Craw trailers.
“I’ve taken some good bass with ChatterBaits,” Gaudet said.