A buddy of mine put me on some sacalait last year in NE LA, and I'd like try to catch some back home. I've fished around the Morgan City area all my life, but never for sacalait. Any tips for a beginner on catching sacalait would be greatly appreciated. Not looking for spots, just for tips/tactics to find/catch fish - water clarity, temperature depth, structure, and even equipment and lures. Again, I'm not asking where to catch sacs, instead I'd like pointers on how.

Bait hoop net wit dog food.

what is a sacalait?

You think duck hunters are secretive. Sacalait fishermen won't tell you the time of day.

any brush piles, docks, or downed trees, bridges ect ect

and as far as dept its kind of hit or miss...

shiners are good for bait as well as white and blue jigs or black and yellow.

i like these the most


I'd try to go get a feel far it in the bayou teche back of Patterson. I am more of a bass fisherman and sacalait sometimes aggrivate me b/c they can be very picky and hard to catch... but usually when its on they on.

Grass shrimp, bayou cheramie, tree tops. Crakerhead has been good too.

We'e got the crappie pretty thick here on our WMA. White perch is a different fish -

Minnows work best, or small beetlespins/ mepps spinners, anything small and flashy they seem to love, and white more than black for me for some reason. When you find one, seems to always be a bunch more right there, like clusters.

Throw da castnet close to all the grass. . Helps if ya punch holes in some wet dogfood cans and throw dem in tha water a couple days before.

Whistlingwings.. Hit me up when you are off,
we will go catch some.. I got a few spots around stephensville.. We will fish with Shinners..

I always find them on hard edged marsh with a sharp dropoff, right against the grass, and around structure where it's a little deeper, like in a hole. Pretty much like bass I reckon.

i fish them in saline-larto out of waders in inches of water

light line does help. esp. when its cold and the fish are skiddish. everybody ahs agve you some good basic info on them. most around my parts fish them late fall thru spring. Some of the old timers will catch them in the summer but they fish deep cooler water. One tip i aint saw is that if you are catchin some and do get hung up in a brush top or dock etc, lay the rod down or easily break your line. If you make a big commotion or whip ya rod alot it will scare those fish off.

Few years back we caught 10 in a few minutes out of a spot no bigger than a washtub. My buddy got hung up and started acting stupid tryin to get his 10 cent jig and spooked the fish off. the ones we caught were anywhere from 13" and the biggest was 15 3/4 long. I wanted to feed him his teeth. You can also try under bridges, I have had alot of luck there also. depth is a big factor. Earl stated about spider riggin. I aint done it much but what I do know is all rods will be at different depths and whichever rods gets bit first, the rest of them will be set at that same depth.

They are in creek channels right now, cast onto the edge into the creek and fish near the bottom... shiners.

biggest one I ever caught was 17" fishin for catfish with chicken liver...

weird I know....

creekwader Im not a real tall person but from your picture you cant wade in much more than a few inchs of water... Nice fish....

Mudskiff was right about the spider rigging.... Its something you and your has to be set up for.. It will look kinda like a small shrimp boat coming across the lake.... Not sure if yall do much of it down that way.... You can also troll with a crank bait... This works best as summer heats up and the fish go deep.... Crappie fishing is a big deal and money maker here on Kentucky and Reelfoot lake.

A really good trick I was taught, is to shoot a possum, coon, or what ever and hang it by a piece of rope from a tree branch that is extended over the water, about 20 yards back in a shallow run off with fast moving water. A few days later return and fish the spot where the run off empties out. The dead critter we be full of maggots which will fall in the water and attract da sac a lait.

Ya'll gonna go tying up dead stuff like christmas ornaments to get some fish.



Wouldn't a gator get in in yall's neck of the woods?

Never heard of doing stuff like that for Crappie, but have heard of sinking a bucket or sack of bad cheese for cats.... I was told it works...

I don't fish sacalait too much in the fall or winter, but usually around late spring and throughout the summer once it gets pretty hot outside I can get on them. Try different spots around boatsheds, underneath wharfs, and camps. Anything that creates a cooler shady spot, they usually congregate.

Patience and persistence is the key. You might throw underneath a wharf ten times and nothing. Then one will bite and you can catch 10,20 or 30. Vary your depths anywhere from 8 inches to two feet. With this setup I like a slip bobber and a blue and white jig. The little Berkeley power nibblets do seem to make a diffference on the jig.

http://www.actionfishingtrips.com/habitat.htm
Few ideas for some brush piles.