Hands off our nonprofits, Mr. Candidate
November 5, 2015
Ryan Friedlander’s Week 9 Power ratings
November 5, 2015
Armed with his weapon of choice, the sportsman cautiously approached a tangled mass of wood, creating an ideal hiding spot that might conceal his quarry. Preparing to shoot, he looked through a slight opening in the wood. The sportsman fired through a hole just inches across, hitting his target squarely.
“Got a big one,” he shouted moments later. “This one’s putting up a good fight. I got him good, but I may need help with this one. It’s a monster!”
No, the sportsman didn’t chase a bear into a thicket. He fished docks for slab crappie, better known as sac-a-lait in south Louisiana. On almost any lake or river, a multitude of docks, fishing piers, boathouses and other manmade structures jut from shorelines. These wood, steel, concrete and plastic objects create excellent places for big fish to hide. With multiple pilings bracing decks, these overhead structures conceal fish from roving fish-eating birds looking to snatch a meal.
Many anglers troll around dock edges or cast toward outside pilings, but the biggest fish frequently stay hunkered down in seemingly unreachable cover. In their protective lairs, big sac-a-lait may never see lures as they grow fat slurping hapless baitfish that swim too close. To catch slabs that few others dare tempt, try “shooting the docks.”
“I love shooting docks,” explained Wally “Mr. Crappie” Marshall, a professional crappie angler. “Sometimes, I catch three or four crappie from under one dock. Sometimes, I catch more than 50 from under one dock.”
Good docks can hold big sac-a-lait all year long. Older docks with crusty pilings typically offer the best fishing since they’ve been in the water so long. A creek channel or ditch near a dock offers fish easy access to deeper or shallower water.
Also, look for secondary cover. Many dock owners establish brush piles within casting distance of their piers. They drop Christmas trees, branches or other material to create fish habitat. These reefs attract minnows, shad and small sunfish, all excellent food sources for hungry sac-a-lait.
“A brush pile near a dock helps,” recommended Randy Pope, a champion professional crappie angler. “To me, the ideal dock would be a floater in 20 feet of water with brush on it and some shade. When fishing brush piles, we swim jigs over the tops of them instead of putting them down into the pile.”
Any dock with rod holders at
tached to the rails and lights positioned to shine over the water probably faces a good brush pile or two. In addition, dock owners frequently toss leftover bait, fish carcasses or food scraps into the water. These morsels attract sunfish, shiners, shad and other forage species. Big sac-a-lait come looking for a meal. Don’t overlook boats tied to docks or in boathouses. Sometimes, moored boats sit unused for long periods. Algae may grow on the hulls, lines, trim tabs and lower units. That growth feeds minnows, attracting more sac-a-lait.
“There is no universal pattern,” Pope advised. “Some docks look good with everything a crappie needs, but they don’t hold fish. Some docks hold fish all year long, regardless of conditions. Crappie can be anywhere around a dock at any particular time. Just search the dock to see where the fish want to bite. A few days later, they might hold at an entirely different spot.”
For shooting docks, use light flexible spinning rods about five to seven feet long. Most people shoot the docks with 1/64-to 1/8-ounce jigheads tipped with plastic trailers. Some anglers use Road Runner jighead spinners or other lures. Just about any sac-a-lait temptation may work. A bobber and live minnow can also work.
Grab the lure and bend the rod tip to build up energy as if preparing to launch an arrow from a bow. When released, the bending rod propels small lures where few other anglers attempt to fish. A skilled dock shooter can hurl a small bait way under entangling cover with remarkable accuracy. When targeting openings between vertical objects, such as pilings or boats tied to the dock, hold the rod vertically. When shooting into a space between the bottom of the dock and the water surface, bend the rod parallel to the water and shoot horizontally.
“Load the rod up like a bow and arrow,” Marshall advised. “Flip the bail and grab the line with your index finger. Then, grab the lure by the head, not the hook. Keep the line parallel to the water, depending upon how much room is under the dock. It might be only three or four inches of space between the bottom of the dock and the surface of the water. Release the jig and catapult it under the dock as far as possible.”
After launching a bait into a sweet spot, anglers can work it several ways. Sometimes, fish hit jigs on the fall. Sac-a-lait generally prefer tiny slow-sinking baits. At times, fish want baits hopped along the bottom. Sometimes, the biggest fish hover on the edges, but more often, they bury themselves into the thickest, most entangling cover they can find. Throw assorted baits from different angles and experiment with various depths and retrieves to determine the best patterns each day.
Anglers can try this technique in any waters that hold sac-a-lait hanging around overhead cover. While most anglers shoot docks, boathouses, bridge pilings, culverts and other manmade structures, this technique can also work around overhanging trees. Skilled anglers can even use this method to propel small baits between thick cypress knees, stumps and other shoreline objects.
Cajun sportsmen can find sac-a-lait in practically every freshwater system in Louisiana. Sac-a-lait don’t like salty water, but rivers or bayous that flow into brackish water can hold good sac-a-lait populations in the fresher portions.
In the southern portion of the state, try fishing the Atchafalaya Basin. Practically any of the lakes, canals and bayous in the Atchafalaya Basin can offer good sac-a-lait fishing. Lake Verret connects to Lake Palourde and Grassy Lake near Morgan City. The system can produce sac-a-lait in the 2-to 3-pound range with many fish in the 11 to 13-inch range.
Lake Henderson near Breaux Bridge can also produce good catches. Chicot Lake inside Chicot State Park near Ville Platte also ranks among the great sac-a-lait destinations in the state.
Northeast of Houma, the Lac des Allemands area probably offers some of the best sac-a-lait fishing in south Louisiana. Lac des Allemands spreads across 14,720 acres of St. John the Baptist Parish. It connects to Lake Salvador and Lake Cataouatche through myriad canals, bayous and swamps off the Intracoastal Waterway.
Several rivers on the northern or western side of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin can also produce excellent numbers, although not as many giant fish. Some better streams include the Pearl River system near Slidell, Tickfaw River near Ponchatoula and the Amite River on the western shoreline of Lake Maurepas and their associated tributaries.
Anglers can master this technique with a little practice.
‘I love shooting docks. Somethings, I catch three or four crappie from under one dock. Sometimes I catch more than 50 from under one dock.’
Wally Marshall
Longtime angler
Autumn is most known for hunting season. But John Felsher said that there are plenty crappie that can be had in the state’s waters. The fish are abundant in the Houma-Thibodaux area.
Roger Thomas shows off a couple crappie he caught in Louisiana waters. The cold weather months are a good time to catch the fish in our state.
