Bass Fishing Forum

Went to the Calcasieu River this past Monday to get a little prefishing in for the Big Bass Bonanza coming up in two weeks. The river is stained but it's fishable. Caught one dink and had several good bites on a buzz bait. Hope they biting better for the tournament.

I don't know much about that area but have heard quite a bit about it. Let us know how the tourney goes.

Mike, It's a pretty good fishery but big fish are hard to come by. The tournament I'm fishing is one of the biggest in the State. Last year they had over 750 entries which was down from the year before which was over 800. They are paying 6 places an hour this year with a guarantee of 5 places over all. They normally pay way more than that though, in 2001 they paid 115 places over all, thats not counting the hourly places.  I'll let yall know how it turns out.

Rattle,

Whats it cost to get into the tourney and what usually takes big bass per hour? Just wondering cant make it this year but it might be a fun and exciting way to learn the water next year

The past few years the winning over all fish has been just under 5 lbs. Hourly big fish vary. I've taken a first place bass of the hour with a 2 lb fish and have seen smaller take 1st place bass of the hour. But in general it normally take something over 3 lbs to get 1st in bass of the hour. On the same hand if you have a 2 lb fish you will be in the money.  They pay 6 places an hour so depending on how good the fishing is if you have a decent keeper fish you could win some money. Learn to play the hourly game and you could come home with several checks. The entry fee is $38 a day per person or $65 for two days. E-mail me you address and I mail you a pamplet so you can check it out.

Well the 16th annual Big Bass Bonanza is over and it was a tough one. A 5.81 lb bass took 1st place with a 4.7 lb  bass taking 2nd. I didn't get the total number of anglers fishing but I heard it was close to what it was last year which I believe was 775. Fishing was good over all but getting size was a problem. I heard reports from several different anglers which were pretty consistant, lots of fish but no size. I had a problem hooking up, they were biting but I was missing. I missed a real good fish Saturday and a couple of other decent fish that could have put me in the money. The only problem with that is they don't give checks for missed fish.  Oh well there's always next year.

Rattle, is this tourney the same time every year? I would like to forcast some time off from work and check this thing out sounds like alot of fun and a great way to learn new water

Mike, the tourny is always the first weekend of August. The guy that puts the tournaments on is Ron Castille. He also puts on weekday tournaments every week on different lakes and rivers. These tournaments are call " The Afternoon Dog Fights".  These tournaments start sometime in April and go all the way through August. If you qualify in one of these tournaments you get to fish the regional tournament , I think that's what it's called, on that body of water which you qualified. If you qualify in the regional tournament you get to fish the superbass tournament, again not sure if the name is right, which is on Toledo Bend.  I hope to see you next year at the Bonanza, it is a fun tournament. If you want any more information on the Bonanza or the Dog Fights e-mail me your home address and I will send you some info.

Went to the river last Friday and had a beautiful day. The fish didn't cooperate to much but we had a good time. We ended up catching 4 bass but only three would keep. The South wind was blowing which was keeping the water from moving real good. The river should be getting better as the the cold fronts start coming in. As crazy as this may sound the first couple of days after the cold front comes through is the best time to be fishing the Calcasieu River. Bluebird with a strong north wind is deadly.  ;)

Your fishing report goes here....

I heard the bass are starting to bite good on the river. Looks like it's going to be a pretty weekend so I'm going to take the family camping and do a little fishing.

Well, everything got messed up this weekend. Started out with every campground on the Calcasieu River being filled up. I don't know what was going on but there wasn't anything available. I thought no problem I'll just go to Indian Creek. Well they had ample space but I had a little trouble getting there. My hitch on my camper for my boat gave way about 10 miles into the trip. Thank God it didn't break off but it bent pretty bad. I had to turn around and bring the boat back home. Well after that hour delay we were back on the road and headed for the creek. We got there with no more complications. The only thing now is it's pouring down raining. Try setting a camper up in the rain with a 6yr. old and 2 yr. old. My wife was working so she got to miss all of this fun. I don't know if I'm going to be able to make it to church enough to save me after everthing I was spouting out. Finally got set up, the kids are full of mud and all of their shoes and rubber boats are wet and full of water, and the rain stops. My wife shows up about two hours later and several beers have been downed so everything starts getting better. All and all we had a great weekend  and I met a new friend who ended up taking me out to fish a little while Sunday. Well it's time to get back to the grind and look at that stupid hitch on my camper, cause I can't deal with not having my boat while I'm camping.

Had a pretty good day on the river today. I caught 11, and had some nice fish in that creel.  The bite came on a spinner bait early in the morning than switched to a baby brushhog by mid morning. The water temp is still in the mid 60s but it is muddy right now. You have to fish slow but they will bite.

I heard the Calcasieu River is clearing up a little at the white oak section.  A report given to me is saying that the west fork is very pretty and the fish want to eat a pearl brushhog.

Anyone fishing the  temple tourn. this weekend.

"Temple" is that a club or organization? Or just and open invitational?

Mike, I believe Temple is the company putting on the tournament. I believe it's a charity tournament and it is an open tournament.

cool I was just curious as I had never heard the name before thanks

Just went boat riding Monday afternoon on the river. The river is still a little high with good current.  The water is starting to clear up.

My brother and myself went to the river on Saturday.  We caught 12 with 7 keepers.  My brother caught a 31/2 lb. bass which is really nice for the Calcasieu.  Most of the fish bit on muscadine baby brush hogs.

Glad to see the fish are biting again. I take it the water is back down to normal. I guess I'm going to have to fish a dog fight over there soon. Any news on the dog fights?

They are running the dogfights out of Sam Houston on Wednesday afternoons.  Not sure of the starting time though.  Probably safe to check in by 4:30 pm.

I made a little two hour trip this afternoon when I got off work. I caught 5, missed quite a few, and dropped ( this is the story of my life) a drag puller. All in all I had a good time. It looks like it's finally getting good again after all this rain we've been having. The current is still moving pretty good by White Oak and the water is stained but it's not too bad. I caught everything on a buzzbait.

We fished the Westfork Saturday morning and caught six.  Only two keepers in the bunch.  Water was pretty good on the Westfork.  Met another boat who had caught 20.  They had two over three pounds.

I seen that rattle posted buzz baits are working. What kind of plastics do you throw down there on the river?

Trying to get the secrets already huh. ;D I throw purple and green little baby gorilla killers, I don't know about anyone else. >:D Really all kinds of plastics work but probably the most popular right now are the t-rig baby brush hog and a 4inch wacky worm. Shallow to medium diving crank baits and spinnerbaits do real well also. 

Just trying to get the fish tails going so I have time to decifer the code PoPo

Thanks Rattle

I heard the Roland Martin endorsed "helicopter lure" is HOT.

I pull out all the stops  and throw the elusive Dance's Ill. ;D

You know I think I have a couple of those

Anything wood works.  Actually brush hawgs and flukes are the only baits I have been having luck lately with.

Brush hog where you been? I haven't seen you post in a while.

I was told last Wednesday that there would be no Big Bass Bonaza(sp?) this year.   They said the parish would not let them use a public launch to hold it.  So is it on or off?

Been messing with my boat.  My aerator is out and my trailer lights keep shorting.  Going to rewire all the trailer lights this weekend.  Still haven't got the Vernon damage repaired.  Gonna try to make the Toledo night tournament.  Will have to use a stringer. My boat is one year old and I purchased an extended warranty.  My dealer shut down three months later.  I am now up the river without a paddle.  The closest Nitro dealer is Jasper, Texas.  Don't mean to b_tch too much but it sure is frustrating. 

Wildcat the Bonanza has been changed to a team tournament on July 31.  You can launch anywhere and weigh in will be at White Oak Park.  $3000 guaranteed first place with 100 teams entered.  $75 per boat including big bass.  After July 28 fee is $80.   Registration sites are Lake Charles Tackle and Five Star Quick Stop.  If you need an application contact Ron Castille at .

After our poor showing at the Toledo night tournament Jimmy Brown and myself drove back to Lake Charles and slept at the Parkside parking lot.  At 6 am we put in at Sam Houston.  We caught a total of 12 bass with 7 keepers.  Had to try and redeem ourselves from another poor tournament showing.  Bass hit watermelon seed baby brush hawgs and watermelon red flukes. Was so tired when I got home, I could barely speak English to my wife. 

Glad to see you caught something Brush Hawg, after a night like we had at Toledo you have to do something to redeem yourself. I sure hope our next tournament is better than the last one.

My partner and I are fishing the Big Bass.  I noticed the sign-in sheet mentioned a five bass limit. Is this just a big bass tournament or will stringers also count for money?

I prefished the Calcasieu Sunday.  Caught about 7 but only 2 keepers. It was slow and hard work.  Caught on spinners, buzz and plastic.  Only common denominator seemed to be they were in the shade.  Of course that might have been because I tried to stay in the shade.  Only caught one small keeper from my honey hole.

Wildcat, the BBB team tournament is a heavy stringer tournament, There is a five fish per team limit. Your entry fee also covers the big bass fee. If I'm not mistaken there will only be one place for big bass. The format for this tournament is not anything like the one for the original Big Bass Bonanza. Ron had to cancel the Big Bass Bonanza because there was several problems that came about this year. There was problems with the original site for the tournament which forced Ron to look at other sites. He had it set to be held at Ward 8 park but ran into some problems there. From what I understand the police jury told him that the way the tournament was formatted it was like he was running a business on public property. They told him they do not allow people to run any type of business there but they gave him a chance to appeal that decission. The only problem with the appeal is it would have been a week before the set date for the tournament which would not have given him enough time to promote it. Don't take all this as quotes or exactly what has taken place this is just what I understand happened. Now he is having this team tournament out of Ward 8 and they are allowing it because he is not accepting money or selling anything at that location. It's a crazy world out there and I know Ron's taking a beating over it. I have to commend him on getting something going for that weekend instead of just calling it quits.

Well for the first time in 16 years we didn't have a Big Bass Bonanza, however Ron Castille was able to put a tournament together for this weekend. The Calcasieu Big Bass Bonanza " Team Tournament" was held today out of Ward 8 park. There was some nice fish weighed today unfortunately Chad and I wasn't the one weighing them in. Congratulations to Sean and Josh Richard ( Members of the Lock Jaw Bass Club ) for taking 6th place in the tournament. Josh also took 4th place big bass  for the tournament.  Chad and I caught 16 fish but couldn't get any size to help us out. I heard several other anglers having the same problem, but as always someone finds them. Congrats to all that did well in the tournament.

Fished an open tournament on the river this past Saturday and it was tough. 29 anglers fished the 4 hr. tourny and not many weighed in fish. Coach should have the results and if he gets the time I'm sure he will post them.

Im sure that was just a fluke by the time we get there we will have to beat them out of the boat ~mcc~

I am looking forward to the results, I hope that he posts them. I am so excited about the up comming trip down there. I know that even if we dont catch a lot of fish it is going to be a blast!

Tight Lines,
~cf
Laurie

It was an afternoon tournament and the water was falling out so the fish had pulled off the banks and suspended. Needless to say not a good situation. I don't think we are going to have a problem when September comes around. Last week there was a big tournament on the river and the catches were excellent. Hopefully we will have good weekend.

I still think I read somewhere that you "guaranteed" a lot of CATCHING. ;D

I know better than that ;) I would never guarantee a lot of catching aa

Coach and I fished North on the river today and did pretty good. We caught 16 and had some decent fish, nothing large but some good ones. Caught msot on a spinnerbait and jig.

Jigs - now your talking  :o . Mmmm I love jigs

Spinnerbaits...now you are talking the right language  ;D

Jigs....darn, the exploding smiley is not here....oh well, make a rule to outlaw jigs.

I fished mid river yesterday.  Caught 17 bass and three bowfin. Biggest bass was 14 inches.  Numbers but no real size.  Kept just enougt for supper.  Caught most on spinners, did catch some on worm mostly as a follow up bait. Threw a couple of cranks with zero results.

I bet the bowfins were big though. They will give you a heart attack when they hit a spinnerbait or buzzbait.

Buzz baits Mmmmm I like buzz baits  >:D

Still looking good for the tourney, only a few more weeks

Yep, throw a crank bait, spinnerbait, plastic worm, jig, buzzbait, fluke, frog, or a wacky worm and you should do OK.  ;D Mike I hope I narrowed it down enough for yall. >:D

If they will hit a jig and buzz bait I am all gooooooood  ;D

You guys from the Shreveport area should throw nothing but scum frogs on the Calcasieu.  Ya'll do real good. Probably win the tournament.
heeheeehee!

We have a frog expert...he will probably throw it some.  I'll stick to spinnerbaits, topwater, and worms.  If crankbaits and jigs are the key to success...I fail.

Just wanted to let the other Lockjaw members know that Lake Charles Tackle got in the order of Lil Georges and Snagless Salley's that we had asked them to order.  Better snatch them up before September 25th. 8)

I ain't jumpin' off that bridge....  I do have 2 snagless sally's in my boat, never been opened...just have them to say I have them.

Brush Hawg stop giving away all our secrets. They did get in that special order we requested though.

Thats okay guys....we are bringing a very, very large supply of elmerp's "works everytime" M-80's.  ~bu

The LJBC just held it's final tournament of the year on the Calcasieu this past weekend and some decent fish were brought to the scales. Big bass for the tournamnet went a little better than 3lbs. Josh Richard brought in a spotted bass that almost went 3lbs. I think the exact weight was 2.7lbs. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place stringers all came from up North. Crank baits and plastics is what was reported catching the fish.

Hey Mike Cork,
Looks like we better get busy on that buzz bait for sure now, if only cranks & plastic's caught the fish! :'(  But I got faith we will buzz them to death until they jump in our boats!!!!!!!! :)


Ricky

Oh yeah, I love to hear no one else is throwing one, I will be all over it. We need to put our pre fish together and come up with the right combination  ;)

Yeah, I got Mike's cell #, I will call him next Thur. night and see how things are. We will be over Fri morning to pre-fish and check a few spots. Plus we are going over this Sat. morning and run north and look for some spots, Maybe Rattle will tell us of a spot or two to try or look for! ;)

Ricky

I hope your boat has a big tank. The North part of the river I'm refering to is waaaay up there. I'm not even going to attempt to go there from where we are launching.

I'm not necessarily hoping for a spot but more of what type of cover and structure to fish this time of year down there. Once I have a clue we will catch them  ;)

Depends on what area of the river you plan on fishing. Just remember bays down South and stronger current with lots of lay downs up North. This river offers alot of variations for pattern changes.

What about grass lines or any other vegetation up north?

No Rattle,

not that far North, I'm afraid I will be looking for gas,  :'(  At least the current will float us down river until we see the cut through. ;D

I was thinking about the bays & arms after the split to the left were English Bayou goes to the right, I think!!!!! :-\

Ricky

Oh yeah you are still way South. Mike there are some lilly pads up North but no grass.

I heard the shad have move up big time and the fish are schooling all over the place. Catching numbers are not a problem but getting size is, I have heard of a few good stringers though.

Do you usually find the schoolers in the typical areas, river bends and points?

Pretty much but when the sgad are balled up and everywhere it is not unusual to see them schooloin in the middle of the river or just about anywhere.

Were are my little George's when you need one!!!!!!

Ricky

You see Mike thought I was joking when I suggested bring the Little Georges.

Oh no, I take a little george very seriously. Now the helicopeter lure, I am sure there is some hidden truth in that one.

What? You don't believe in the mighty helicopter lure. Next you will tell me that the Dances ill and the flying lures were no good. lo lo lo

I've tried them all and I can tell you that if you are in water that bass have not seen a lure they work great.
But I am still questioning the hidden motive here  8) is it a trick or is it a trick to make us think it's a trick, man I wish I had Ranger375's head voices to help me out on this one.

You guys remind me to tell you the story about the Dance's Ell's OK! Talk about rags to rich'es to rags!!!!! :'( :'( :'(

I always keep little George's in my boat or bag, also I have a plastic shad lure that Tom Mann made years ago that works well on the schoolers, but now, all I see is swin baits all over the place, maybe Tom was a few years ahead of his self!!!!!!!!!

Ricky

I just got word on what they are biting on and even the exact color, of course I can't disclose that information at this time. >:D

On a different note you would not believe what I came across a couple of months ago. Yep the trusty Dances Ill. I bought 3 of them, I gave 2 away and kept the last one as a collectors item. I got them for a dollar a piece. I don't think I've met a bass fisherman that hasn't owned one. On the same note I don't think I 've met a bass fisherman that's caught fish on them either. lo lo

Fishing was tough this weekend. We had hurricane Ivan redevelop in south Louisiana Thursday and Friday which put a ton of rain on us and muddied up the river a bit.

I found one little stretch of bank line in the outside bend of the channel just north of the 171 bridge. This bank had a shallow shelf to it that came out anywhere from 10-20 feet toward the river. The shelf ranged from 1-3 ft and then dropped off to as much as 32 ft. The shelf had Lilly pads and scattered cypress trees. We caught fish on a weighless watermelon french fry and a watermelon red baby brush hog pitched to the back side of the pads and worked to the drop off. Fish position was slightly scattered but most of the time they were in the pads them selves.

On a side note: This was the first time I fished this area and it is absolutely beautiful to look at and I thought I should get bit on every cast. I have been told there are days like that, but the weather screwed it up for this past weekend....

I can honestly say this was one of the toughest weekends I have ever had on the Calcasieu River. 21 people fishing 2 days and only bringing 24 fish to the weigh-in should say it all.

Trey and I found a little bit of a pattern Fri when we were looking.
Our fish came from very small pockets usually 20 to 30 yards in diameter off of the main river, we thought maybe the current was less in the pockets and the current in the river and was maybe bringing bugs and stuff by therefore holding a few baitfish.
We caught 9 bass Sat. and 6 Sun. other than the 1 frog fish they all came on small plastics. we also looked for the pockets that had a little color, and that may have been the key.
The river was the most beautiful area I have ever fished, and probably cost me a fish or two because I was looking sometimes when I should have been fishing. ;D

papa 8)

I talked to Todd Credeur today and he told me they had some decent weights at the Big Bass Bonanza Team tournament today. The winning stringer was 5 fish that went 11.69 lbs. Todd and his partner took 5th place with 7.89 lbs. He told me big bass for the tournament was a little better than 5lbs. there was 23 boats that entered the tournament.

Do you know where the majority of the fish came from? I.E. the main river or in one of the arms? Just curious

I know several of the top places including 1 st place came from up North and those would be main river.

Up North, I imagine that would be farther than any of us traveled north. I would be interested in fishing some of the waters your club talked about that were so far north that we could care enough gas. They also mentioned a smaller boat was a necessity

Mike up North is above White Oak park generally in the area of Hecker. Now extremely North where some of us fish is around Kinder and above Hwy 190, in these places you need a small boat.

cool, thanks for the info  :)

I would really like to fish some of those area's up north also, seems that we only fished a small part of that nice waterway....... ;)

Any hints of area's north of White Oak to try or look for.??????

Ricky aa

I caught the (GIANT) a good ways north of White Oak landing. lo

papa :{_

Had to go check some equipment at one of our far flung schools(44 miles) yesterday.  So instead of returning to the office I just went to the river, seemed like the thing to do.  Fished 3.5 hours in the White Oak area and caught 17 bass.  Missed about half that many.  No bigs ones but a a lot of fun.  About half were keepers.  Cranks and spinners.  They were hitting 12 to 15 feet off the banks.

It should be getting good. Sounds Like you had a good time Wildcat.

Sure sounds like you made the right choice..... ~shhh ~shhh wildcat,  bet that was a fun time indeed......

Ricky aa

I was able to get out on the river for a few hours yesterday afternoon.
Water was high and dirty from big rains early in the week.  Tried fishing cleaner bays and cuts first with no luck.  Found some in the dirtier water in the main channel.  Caught eight, four keepers with a couple over two pounds and one almost two.  Shallow running cranks.

Not bad, in fact real good for the river being as high as it is.

Todd was also fishing, did not recognize his partner. He said they caught about the same number but no keepers.

I wish I actually had a report but my day didn't go as palnned. I work up took it easy for a while, drank a cup of coffee and then hooked up to the boat. Got to the launch unhooked the front strap, went to trim up the motor and nothing. I looked over at my console and saw I had left the main power swithch on from the last time I went fishing. :shocking: >:( :'( Normally I plug in my boat the night before i go but I didn't do it this time and I payed for it. Man it was a perfect day too, overcast with a slight North wind. The water looked a bit muddy and it was a little high but I think I would have done some good if I could have actually fished. Oh well, got the battery charging now and made sure all my switches were off. I guess I will get them next  ;D

Well Johnathon and I hit the Calcasieu River yesterday and found things to be a little tough. We fished for about 4 hours and caught 3 fish. The water was muddy but the water temperature was 52 degrees. All three fish were caught on a 1/4 oz. spinnerbait. We fished Noth of ward 8 and then we went north of Hecker. Nothing great to spek of but I did talk to someone later in the dat that said they did pretty good south of ward 8. If we can stop getting these crazy 3 day cold fronts things may start picking up.

There is so much water there, it's neat to see that if really is like fishing two separate bodies of water. Guess it makes it hard to figure which way to go though lo

You know there is a lot of water and I heard the west fork is clear and pretty. We fished some bays and cuts where the water is warmer but that didn't pan out. Todd told me they caught in the back of the cuts where feeder creeks came into the cuts. He said they caught most their fish on jigs.

Fished from 2 to 5 Friday afternoon.  Fished the watermelon bay area. Caught two dinks a 1 1/2 and a 2 1/2.  The 2 1/2 was bowed up and fought like a tiger went all around the boat.  All were caught on spinners.

It's tough right now I talked to several people that caught nothing or only a few. I have only talked to one guy that had a decent trip.

Had a good day on the river on monday. We caught 10 fish and kept 7 with the 5 fish weight of 7.13 lbs. Big fish weighed 3.7. The conditions were not good, we faced very low water and boy it was muddy. The day started slow but progressed in the afternoon hours. Water temps were from 57 to 64 degrees.



Thanks for holding the horses, but I still can't get the picture for yall.

Well don't hold back  ;) Tell us all about it  ~c~

 ~c~ ;D :)

Now that is a problem I wish I had more often ~c~ Ok if it's worth the wait  ~mcc~

Made a morning trip to the Calcasieu and did alright considering it is very muddy. I caught 5 bass and had 3 keepers. The water temp is 67 degrees and if you fish North of Serpant Bayou you will have about 1 ft of visibiltiy. South of Serpant Bayou is horrible, zero visibility. I did catch two fish in that muddy mess down south but I had more hits North. I caught two fish on a spinnerbait, two on a tube and one on a baby brush hawg. The current is also very strong right now from all the water coming down from the North. Hopefully the water will clear up in the next couple of weeks.

     The river was horrible today at white oak. With the water on the rise and not to mention the mud, I dropped a good 2 to 2/12 lb fish on a buzzbait right off the bat. After 3 hours of perch bites I caught 2 dinks on a junebug wacky worm. I threw a jig, tube, brush hog, crank bait, wacky worm and a buzzbait.


                                             

That was rough. Hopefully it will clear up soon.

Made an afternoon trip to white oak today and managed to catch a few. We had 5 keppers and caught 7 fish total. The water seems to be getting a little better north of bayou serpant. The fish we caught were holding tight to cover.  8)

Made an aftnoon trip to the river today at hwy 190. The afternoon was fairly slow but we were able pick off a couple nice ones. We caught two fish near the three pound mark with one being a 2.13 kentucky  ~c~. We caught eight fish total. We caught on a wacky worm and a buzz bait.

Here is a picture of of Johnathon with two of the bigger fish they caught this afternoon. http://ultimatebass.com/bass-fishing-gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=0&pos=2

That is one heck of a spotted bass for Louisiana  ~c~ ~c~ ~c~

Thanks Mike,

Yeh boy!  that was a nice one those are few and far between. Went again this morning and caught a nother nice large mouth that weighed 3.4 on a wacky worm. All I caught was five or so but they were all very small.
                                                                               ~c~ ~c~

Hi Zuk,

What does the water look like South towards the State Park? do you have any idea?
just checking for maybe a Sat. morning trip if the old back is better.....

Thanks,

Ricky

Rickoos, it's muddy near the park but they are catching fish. They are spawning right now on the Calcasieu.

Thank you Rattle,

for the info, I really don't know whether to go try Henderson or try the Calcasieu, both or about 1 hr. away from home....Calcasieu being a little farther, but its so nice over there........

I'm trying to stay close to home in case the back goes to hurting.

Ricky

No problem. Our club had a tournament a week ago on henderson, they caught some fish but the 14 inch size limit hurt them. I had a decent trip on the river about a week ago and i've been getting good reports all week. Kevin just called me with a report and he said they caught 9 this morning with biggest right at 4lbs.

Good deal Rattle,

Seems Kevin was onto them good this morning.....was he farther up north around White Oak? We haven't been much farther north than the big bridge......

Ricky

He fished near white oak park. If you go a little North of the park, past bayou serpant, the water clears up a little.

Rickoos, If your planning on fishing the park area "beware"  >:D  of the jet skier's and joy riders they can make the fishing quiet rough. I'd suggest putting in at white oak and going north you can catch a few in the bay's.

Haven't fished in several weeks and its been a rough couple weeks at work.  So yesterday about 2PM I headed up the river above White Oaks.  Was not seriously fishing, took some beer, the dog and just went to relax.  Got a bit excited on a huge strike on a buzz bait which turned out to be a 7 lb swamp bass.  Had a good time with plastic crawfish. Caught a lot of huge-huge goggleye on it.  I think they were on beds. Water was much to dirty to see a bed.  But my goal was achieved - a relaxing afternoon.

By the way the water has not cleared up any, got to be rice field run off messing it up like that. 

Sounds like a good trip to me Wildcat. That mud is from the water leveling in the rice fields. It should start clearing up because I think everyone is done with water leveling and have planted their rice.

Jimmy Brown and myself fished the river late yesterday afternoon.  We caught 8 bass with 4 keepers.  The largest about 2 lbs.  They were hitting black wacky worms.  Caution to anybody who likes to fish the high lines north of White Oak Park:  Use the south cut to the four corners or don't go at all.  We got high centered coming in from the east entrance way.  The ditch is about 3 or four feet lower than normal.  Jimmy had to get out of the boat this time.

Is it still muddy?

Quote from: Wildcat26 on April 29, 2005, 08:22:07 AM
Haven't fished in several weeks and its been a rough couple weeks at work.  So yesterday about 2PM I headed up the river above White Oaks.  Was not seriously fishing, took some beer, the dog and just went to relax.  Got a bit excited on a huge strike on a buzz bait which turned out to be a 7 lb swamp bass.  Had a good time with plastic crawfish. Caught a lot of huge-huge goggleye on it.  I think they were on beds. Water was much to dirty to see a bed.  But my goal was achieved - a relaxing afternoon.

By the way the water has not cleared up any, got to be rice field run off messing it up like that. 

OK wildcat I will bite if no one else will, what is a "swamp bass"? I am guessing it is a "grinnel" :'(
papa :roll2:

Yeah, the river is still muddy.  Of course North of White Oak is better than South. The Bayou Serpent continues to pump in chocolate milk (mud) at 50,000,000 gallons per second. For all you goo fisherman forgot to say that Jimmy caught a 5 lb goo on a black crankbait with a red eye.

Went to the river this morning and caught 7. I had 3 nice keepers and the other four were dinks. Going hit the Sabine tomorrow.

Oh Papa, a swamp bass is a cypress trout or as you put it a grinnel. I caught one of those today too, it was about 5lbs.

Ran as far north up the river as I get in a bass boat Sunday afternoon. Ran til I got to some logs I could not get by.  Water was dirty even up that high.    Only caught on keeper and a number of small fish with a lot of strikes from small fish.  Used spinners.  Tried plastics but the current was to fast to fish them well.

Ive been fishin the Calcasieu pretty hard since the middle of march.  Been doin well even though the water is muddy.  Cuts and sloughs have been having better water. Most fish are comin off of spinnerbaits and buzzbaits.  But slow fishing plastics are working well also.  Most of my fishing is north of White Oak.

Made a morning trip to white oak today. We caught about 15 and had 8 keepers. Our five biggest fish weighed in at 7.9lbs with a nice large mouth that weighed 2.15 lbs. The majority of the fish were caught after 9:00 a.m. We caught a few early on buzz baits and then finished up on a junbug wacky worm. We fished a few cuts but most of the fish were on the main river.
                                                              ~c~

Ran into Zuk on the river Saturday. Unfortunely for me I did not get out till about 2PM and the bite had really slowed down.  Broke my transducer off on a stump got irriatated and left early.

Friday evening caught 10 on topwater, mostly Kentucky's but there were a couple of nice largemouth. Above Serpent, by the way the water clarity was much better down to the park, did not go south of the park.

Could have been worse Wildcat, I heard some guy lost his boat at the launch on Saturday and had to wait for it to come back to shore.

What kind of fool would do a think like that?  If the wind had been blowing the other direction he would have been swimming.

Fished an afternoon tournament on the river today and getting a keeper fish was tough for me. i caught 5 fish but only one keeper. Congratulations to Shannon Thibodeaux and Chris Chanler for taking first place. They had five fish that went 5lbs and some change. Two highschool kids whipped our old butts and took second with 4 fish that went 3 lbs and some change, and finally Mike and Jimmy brown took third with 4 fish weighing 3lbs and some change. Mike Brown also took big bass with one going 1lb. 8oz. As you can see it was a typical river tournament with the size fish being weighed in but everyone enjoyed themselves and for a 3 1/2 hr. tournament there were quite a few fish caught.

I  fished the other dogfight Wednesday.  Unfortunely I did not place.  Fourth place was 7lb 8oz and first place was 11lb 3oz.  Nice river stringers.

Fished the river Sunday morning.  Caught 8 with the big one an even 2lbs.

I hooked him and thought I had a hog.  Then he got hung up, I gave him some slack he swam off to the left then the fight was on again and he got hung up again.  Three times I gave him slack, three times he swam free and three times he hung up.
So I moved the boat around to get on the other side of the "log".  I then fought the fish to the surface but could not lift him. Now that felt really weird. Close inspection showed that the hook had gone through the side his mouth and snagged on a trout line. The fish was just sliding up and down the line.  The fish would swim off with the line each time, I would fight him and the weight of the trout line till I got in the slack and then feel the hang up. 

I bet you thought that was a hawg. I was out there Sunday as well but I was bream fishing with my daughter. We must have caught 50 or more bream but we only had 14 worth keeping.

There was a club having a tournament our of White Oaks.  I pulled out while they were setting up to weight.  The stringers I say were few and small.  But I did not hang around and watch.

I saw bass hitting the surface all morning. I figured they would be ripping them but I talked to a couple of guys that said they were only catching small ones and keeper were hard to come by.

Once a month I will put a report here to let everyone Know what's happening and what to expect on the Calcasieu. Here is the one for June:
With the lack of rain we've experienced for the past three weeks the river is low but clearing up. Good reports on quanity of bass have been coming from North of Ward 8 while quality fish are being caught on the West Fork and southern portions of the river. Buzzbaits are hot right now and should be good throughout the next couple of months. Shallow diving crankbaits and wacky worms are picking up the numbers. If you have young ones right now is the time to take them bream fishing on the river. Look in the coves for bedding bream. Worms are always a good choice for bream on the river and if your bite slows down take your cork off and slowley drag the worm on the bottom. White perch have slowed down and there hasn't been many reports on them but with the heat you will need to find deeper structure and use small tubes jigs. Jig patiently around deeper cover and limbs hanging over deeper water.

Quote from: Wildcat26 on May 23, 2005, 09:54:40 AM
Fished the river Sunday morning.  Caught 8 with the big one an even 2lbs.

I hooked him and thought I had a hog.  Then he got hung up, I gave him some slack he swam off to the left then the fight was on again and he got hung up again.  Three times I gave him slack, three times he swam free and three times he hung up.
So I moved the boat around to get on the other side of the "log".  I then fought the fish to the surface but could not lift him. Now that felt really weird. Close inspection showed that the hook had gone through the side his mouth and snagged on a trout line. The fish was just sliding up and down the line.  The fish would swim off with the line each time, I would fight him and the weight of the trout line till I got in the slack and then feel the hang up. 

Wild cat I fought a trout line (without a fish) in a tourney one time and would have argued with you that I had a fish one, sure felt like one ;D thank god I was fishing by myself :)
papa

Fished last Wednesday afternoon north of 171. I was to late to enter the dogfight.  Fishing was slow, had caught one when the thunder started getting closer so I left. Got wet on the ride to the landing.

Went back Friday morning and went up river from White Oak. Caught 7 nothing over 1 1/4 lbs.  Lot of misses. Fish were very concentrated. Long stretchs with nothing then several hits in the same area.

Yesteday, Sunday June 5th I had a great river trip.

Launched at White Oaks and was above the high lines before first light. Fished the cuts in that area without a bite till daylight. I then decided to run north.  Ran north for 45 minutes, far above Barnes Creek, had to work over logs and past sandbars. The river really is beautiful up there, deer tracks on all the sandbars and squirrels everywhere. 

I could not get my back running light unplugged and I did not want to break it off going under a tree. So I went to the only other boat I saw up there to barrow a pair of pliers.  In the boat was a three tooth woman running catfish lines.  She was baiting them with home made soap.  Scenes from Deliverence kept flashing through my head. She turned out to be nice and let my use her pliers.

Started fishing at seven and caught the first fish at 8, it was a carp.  From 8 to 9 I had three undersized bass and two perch.

At nine I was fishing some slack water when a stike almost ripped the rod out of my hands.  I just knew it was a swamp bass but was enjoying the drag pulling fight when this largemouth pokes his head out of the water and looks me over.  The fight was really on then.  I managed to land the 4lb 13oz fish and immediately went Ike.  For those of you that do not know that is a huge river bass.  Thats as rare as 11 pounds on Toledo.

I continued fishing and by 11:30 I had a total of 2 carp, 4 perch, and 12 bass. Of the bass I had the one kicker and three 12 to 13 inch keepers.  I stopped to eat lunch and decided I would fish until I had five keepers.

Soon after I caught my fifth keeper, another 13 inch fish.  I cranked up and started in but decided to stop and fish one more lenght of the bank.   After about 70 yards it started raining and lightning was striking to the west.  I was about to give up when I got a tremendous strike. The fish immediately jumped and I saw it was  hogette. Despite him pulling drag I managed to keep her away from the log jam and after a great fight I landed the fish and did a double Ike.  This bruiser weighted in a 5 pounds.

The current had moved me down the river a ways so I trolled back to the spot the big fish hit at and cast some more, on the fifth cast into the spot I got another hit.  I got this fish, which I estimated to be 3 lbs, to the boat but as I lifted his head out to the water to lip him the hook pulled out. The lightening was getting serious so I headed for the house. Ended up stopping at a houseboat to wait out the storm. 

The five best weighted in at 13 lbs 4 ozs.  A weight that would win any river tournament.

The pictures are the first on a roll so it may be a while but I will post them when they are developed.

White spinner bait.

Man that is awesome for the river, way to go. ~c~ Now if you can do that in our club tournament in August look out. Better yet if you can do it for the Big Bass Bonanza you would be in high cotton. A 5lber and a 4lb fish in one trip on the river is awesome and quite an achievement, I'm sure you are still pumped.

Yes I am.  I have been wishing it was it a tournament.

Way to go Wildcat ~c~ That is a pretty good string wherever you are ;D
papa ~sun

Hey Wildcat,

That's great, what a day for you....... ~c~ ~c~ ~c~

I got the 2 battery set up done in my boat and man does it work well. Also got one of the new props by Kipawa Propellers in yesterday for the trolling motor. I think this is the best set up yet. Now if only me & you can sell the idea to Tracker, we'll be rich & can fish all the time..... :-* :-* :-* ~c~ ~c~ ~c~ :roll2:

Ricky aa

Went up river from White Oaks Monday.  Water was up a couple of feet from all the rain to the north this weekend. Jet ski's and party boats everywhere. Ran up to Barnes Creek area to get away from some of the traffic. Water was even higher and dirtier. Fishing was terrible, I did not catch a fish. 

wildcat,

did you try a frog........ :roll2:

Ricky >:D

We picked up over 3 inches of rain Sunday morning, so I can imagine the river was muddy up North.

Did not try a frog. Probably could have caught some on a biscuit but I ate them all.

Poor you, :-*  but then there is nothing wrong with having a full belly if the bass aren't biting........ ;)

as the case with merila & I sunday afternoon in the swamp........ after the storms blew through....... ~rain

Ricky

Here's the July outlook for the Calcasieu River,

June was tough on the river, not many good reports but I will attribute that to the recent drought. We started getting afternoon rain showers toward the end of the month with some very heavy rains up North. Those rains muddied things up on the Northern end but if we don't get any more 3 inch rain falls it will clear up pretty quick. With the afternoon showers here and there the fishing should really pick up. Crankbaits and buzz baits will do well this month just about anywhere on the river. On the South end and the west fork top water baits can pick up some early in the morning. Rattle traps on points can also do some good. If conditions get tough fish the outside deep bends with a texas rigged plastic worm. Jigs can be good on structure right off the dropoffs.
For bream try fishing 5ft or deeper. You will be able to catch some up shallow but most of those will be small. Night crawlers are always a good choice for bream on the river. You can pick some up on beatle spins or little tube jigs around the lilly pads and cypress trees.
White perch fishing will slow down considerably this month. Go deep and fish slow. Fish tube jigs in deep water cover. Shiners will work but keeping them alive may be a chore.

Made a trip to the Calcasieu River and ten seemed to be the magic number. We caught 10 bass and I caught a 10lb3oz stipped bass. The trip was good until I got back to my truck only to find some jerk broke in a stole my radio. Other than that incident Zuk and I had a great trip.

Where did you catch the strip and where did you park?

Caught the stripped bass in Dan's Bay. I parked at the public launch out of Moss Bluff.

That upsets me.  A few years ago I launched there and when I returned to my truck I found someone had stripped all the chrome off of my truck.  They had all so cracked a window in an attempt to get in but must have been scared off before they got into the truck. I know how mad I was at the time, I am sure you would like to shoot someone.

That stinks Jared.  Glad you caught fish at least.  I parked there last week myself.  Guess I was lucky.  I had my golf clubs in my truck too.

Just got back from fishing the Calcasieu River Big Bass Bonanza. It wasn't quite as big as it has been in the past few years, there were only a little over 500 anglers this year. Fishing was tough, I boated two fish on Saturday but one of them took a 2nd place bass of the hour and 21st place over all. I caught more fish today but none of them were big enough to score me any cash. Several members from the Lock Jaw Bass club did well. Sean Richard, Charles Lemons, and Brityn Meche all took some money home for placing in the bass of the hour and Brityn also took 18th over all. It took a fish a little bigger than four lbs to win the whole thing and the top five places were close with all of them having fish a little better than 4lbs.

Fished the Calcasieu tournament yesterday and it was tough.  We caught five keepers by 10 am and then just a couple of dinks.  I caught my fish on a watermelon red craw worm and baitfish colored fluke.  Jimmy caught his on watermelon red fluke and a chrome and blue crankbait.  We only brought in 4.5 lbs to the scales but it was enough to win.  We fished the Indian Bayou area hoping to capitalize on the released fish from last week's Bonanza.  We didn't catch any of those good fish but did just good enought to win.  LOCKJAW!!! :roll2: :roll2: :roll2:

LOCKJAW Way to go guys!
The more tourneys you guys win the better TCTC looks when we kick your BUTTS again >:D
papa

Fishing was aweful on the river this past weekend. I fished the Lock Jaw Club tournament this weekend and it was tough for everybody. Johnathon and I caught 10 fish and out of that I had zero keepers and Johnathon had three. The weights for the tournament were low and not many fish were brought to the scale. Brush Hawg posted the results under the Lock Jaw page.

With all the heat I did not think the fish would be active but I had a couple of hours so I launched at(6:00PM) Saturday(20th) at White Oak an ran north. As I was running about a mile north of Bayou Serpent when I noticed what looked like a dark cloud in the water. I pulled over and found about a hundred yard area that was filled with bait fish.  Had to be a million or more of them.  Every few minutes bass would bust them.  I started chunking a crank bait. Got a few hits but no hook-up. Changed to a Torpedo and starting catching.  I saw fish up to 2' 1/2 lbs busting the bait fish but I could only hook the small ones. From 6 to 12 inches.  After an hour it started slowing down so I decided to hit a few favorite spots and head for the house.   First two spots I did not even get a hit. At the third spot I got a hook up. It felt like a decent fish, pound or so, I was reeling it in when all of a sudden it dove deep and bent my rod over, the fight was on.  Fish would run deep and go under the boat I would work it out and it would do it again. Great fight.

Finally got it up to the surface to find not one but two bass on my crank bait.  One a large Kentucky(1 1/2lb) and a slightly larger largemouth.  Let me tell you two fish fight harder than one fish of the same weight. I guess more surface are to push water with.

A couple fishing near by came over and took pictures with my camera of the two fish hanging from the same bait.  If I ever finish this roll and get it developed I will post the pictures.

Tried the hole again and caught a 12 incher then had to head for the house, granddaughers where spending the night.

Not a bad afternoon trip Wildcat. I've been seeing large groups of shad on the river for the past month. Down South they have been schooling pretty good. Most of these schoolers are small but fun to catch.

Fishing schoolies are fun.  But I have not caught a decent bass out of a school in years.

Brought the flag to the Calcasieu River this past Sunday. Zuk and I fished from about 3pm to dark. We caught 5 bass and 1 goggle eye. All the fish came on soft plastics. The water on the river is low and clear right now, but the water temps were still in the upper 80s. When that temp gets down to the 70s the fishing should pick up.

I went to the lower, below 171, river last Thursday evening.  Found a strong incoming tide and knew the fishing would be lousy.  Fished for 1 hr and 15 min without a bite so I quit. 

We went North of Stack Pole and there was no current up there. Normally you have to fight the current way up there. I guess with drought we have been in there is no water moving from up north to make a current.

Where is Stack Pole?

It is a couple of bends up from Hecker. The river makes a turn to the left but if you stay straight you will be in Stack Pole bay.

Got it.  The river is about as clear as you will ever see it and darn low.  This weekend should take care of both situations.

Had to take a break from the hurricane clean up and see how the river did.
There are a lot of trees down but more fell away form the river than into it. However there still are plenty of new trees down in the river. Lots of knew hiding places, should make fishing better in a year or two.

A lot the cuts off the river that you use to be able to get boats up are not passable any more.

Lot of camp and house boat damage, saw a couple of big boats people moved up the river for safety that were sunk.  I hope all that mess gets cleaned up.

Went to check out the river yesterday, see how it is recovering from Rita. 

Good news is the black water is gone and the river color has retuned to normal.  There was good visiablity for the river and a good current. Great for flushing storm trash out. 

I did see a few gar rolling: figures that would be the first fish to recover.  Fished from White Oaks up a good way above the narrows.
Did not get a bump from bass or perch.  I know Wildlife and Fisheries say the fish will move down from the north but how long will that take.

When running the river this time of year you usually jump a few ducks, usually wood ducks.  Yesterday I bet I jumped at least 100 ducks.  A lot of Mallards and even some Pintail.

Fishing is going to be tough on the river for a while. It figures there would be a ton of ducks after the season closes.

I am afraid it will be a couple of years before the rive is close to normal again.  The salt water killed a lot of the grasses in the marshes.  Thats why there are so many big ducks on the river.