Utilizing a Texas Rig for High Water Bass

As the bass comes to an end here in South Louisiana fishermen are a bit perplexed as they are left trying to figure out the confusing post-spawn pattern. As the bass make their way off of the beds and back into their more normal confines, the transition there is a challenge. Add to it the barometer pressure shifts and temperature swings and it’s no wonder so many bass anglers struggle in May. 

Daniel Sissac has been fishing a waterway called Bayou Bonfouca. The name “Bonfouca” is French for good people and originates with the Bonfouca Indian tribe that once populated this area that is located in Slidell, LA. The freshwater bayou acts more like a saltwater marshlined canal because of its lack of trees and brackish water from Lake Pontchartrain. 

Sissac made a bass fishing trip with his friend, Dat Tran. On the trip, the friends figured out a method of using a Texas Rig in an unconventional way.  “We tried casting over the grass line with a Texas-rigged plastic worm,” he said. “Instead of letting it sink, we were burning it across the grass on the surface of the water.”

In Bayou Bonfouca, there is a line of submerged grass that grows about 10 feet from the shoreline. Sissac said the bass have been reacting well to the fast action and the bullet weight works the same way it does when fishing on the bottom.” The shape of the worm weight is used to pull the bait through structure without it getting hung up on the wood or grass,” Sissac said. “The weight works the same way on the surface as it cuts through the floating grass.” 

As summer nears, the Louisiana heat often sends bass into deeper water, but Sissac said these fish are still in the shallows and still reacting to colors that typically work during the spawn. “I like to use crawfish imitating lures during the spawn. Crawfish-colored worms usually work for me during the spawn but this year the crawfish colors are still working into May,” he said. 

For those fishing Bayou Bonfouca this month, Sissac recommends targeting areas that have produced fish during the spawn.  “After the female bass drop their eggs, they’ll need to eat and replenish their energy lost during the spawn,” he said.  “Right now they are still biting in the same spots they did during the spawn so there’s no need to look anywhere else.”

Keith Lusher

Keith Lusher is an award winning outdoor journalist that resides in Covington, Louisiana. He owns and operates NorthshoreFishingReport.com and writes a weekly outdoor column for the Slidell Independent Newspaper. He also writes for the St.Tammany Parish Tourism Commission’s VisitTheNorthshore.com. He is the former host of The Northshore Fishing Report Radio Show and is on the board of the Louisiana Outdoor Writers Association. Keith contributes to numerous publications both online and in print and prides himself on promoting South Louisiana’s unique fishery. To contact Keith email: [email protected]