FLW preview: Rise of the swamp rats

Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Ouachita River, March 9-12

The ribbon of blue showing the Ouachita River on a map falls well short of conveying the true vastness of the fishery that Wal-Mart FLW Tour anglers will face when they descend on West Monroe, La., this week.

The Ouachita, while a conventionally managed river in the traditional sense, will fish much bigger than any blue line on a map might indicate. Since this tournament is in Louisiana, the waterway is not so much a channel of water running downhill but rather a network of interconnected bayous, backwaters and flooded flatland forest stretching for miles that would leave many a conventional bass angler wondering where to start fishing.

Add to that above-normal water levels and a tricky time of year for bass fishing on the river and this one could get interesting, if not a little baffling.

But it’s conditions like these that allow the tour’s swamp rats to strut their stuff.

Atchafalaya redux?

While smaller than its bigger, swampy cousin to the south, the Ouachita fishery resembles the Atchafalaya Basin – an FLW site the last two years – in a number of key ways. Countless feeder creeks, lakes and bayous feed the main Ouachita River channel at, above and below West Monroe and provide a seemingly mind-numbing array of options for anglers to choose.

However, tour pros tend to point out two key areas for this week’s tournament. Bayou D’Arbonne, a roughly 26-mile stretch of creeks, bayous and flooded timber, lies just to the northwest of West Monroe and has provided tournament-winning stringers of bass in the past.

“I fished two tournaments out of Monroe and both of them have been won on Bayou D’Arbonne,” said Greg Hackney, a Louisiana pro and avowed swamp rat who is considered by many as the favorite for this week’s FLW event. “It’s nice and close, but there’s a ton of backwater in it with cypress trees and wood. It really holds a lot of fish.”

“When you’re back in the woods, there’s water for 20 miles in every direction,” pro Dave Lefebre said. “From what I’ve heard, the whole field could fish in there and not run into each other.”

Another destination will be Felsenthal Wildlife Refuge, which lies about 40 miles upriver on the other side of the Arkansas state line. Anglers fishing there will have to lock through into big Lake Jack Lee, which is fed by both the Ouachita and Saline rivers, but it could be worth the trip if the conditions are right.

“Probably half the field will lock up into Arkansas,” Lefebre said, “but it really doesn’t matter because there’s so much water here.”

The big difference between Ouachita and Atchafalaya, however, is that there’s no tidal water to worry about at this year’s tourney.

Louisiana’s Sam Swett, who worked the tide into a win at Atchafalaya last year, said: “Yeah, this is a different animal altogether.”

Making the milk run

The nature of the Ouachita beast at the moment is high water, which only serves to increase the size of the already ample fishery. Last week water levels were some 5 to 6 feet above normal pool in the Monroe section of the river, pushing water far back into the cypress trees, buckbrush and other various cover.

“It’s high and muddy,” Lefebre said. “It’s similar to Atchafalaya that way. It’s just way up in the trees.”

Still, the water has been falling for a few weeks, and that has several pros’ spirits rising.

“It’s perfect because the water’s coming down,” Lefebre said. “I like it because this is jig water.”

“A lot of it depends on the rainfall, but over the last two weeks I think the water’s fallen something like 3 feet,” Hackney said. “That actually ought to help. While there’ll be some really good places that’ll get shut off, a lot of places in the woods will see fish start to bunch up in there.”

The falling water will have a downside for some, as well.

“A lot of the fish are coming out of the backwoods and into the current, so a lot of areas where guys were finding fish in practice could be high and dry by tournament time,” Swett said. “Being able to stay on fish is going to be a real headache for some people.”

Hackney agreed: “The water’s been high for so long, the fish will be moving on the fall. It’s probably going to be different every day. It’s really going to be a changing tournament.”

With the ability to adapt to moving fish defining this event, there likely won’t be one key bait or pattern dominating the tournament. Jigs, soft plastics, spinnerbaits and crankbaits all look to play key roles, depending on the conditions.

“It’s just going to be standard fishing; it’s not going to be anything crazy,” Hackney said. “It will really just come down to who finds them.”

“I think it’s going to be a run-and-gun, milk-run situation,” Swett said. “But if you can find the mother lode one day, you’ll do well.”

Most don’t expect any record stringers to come out of the Ouachita, especially this part of the season, which Hackney said is an off time for bass fishing there.

“If it was May or June, this place would be phenomenal,” he said. “But this tournament’s at kind of a weird time of year, and a lot of guys could be hurt by that. It’s definitely going to be a spot-fishing tournament, not a pattern deal. You’ve just got to hope that you come down on the right spot.”

“I think 13 or 14 pounds a day will make the cut,” Lefebre said, “but, with 200 guys fishing, somebody’s also liable to bust a 20-pound sack one day.

“Obviously, Hackney’s going to be a favorite. He’s a swamp rat, and he’s probably salivating right now.”

Weather forecast

Temperatures should reach highs in the mid-60s and lows in the 40s, with improving conditions throughout the week. The forecast is calling for showers in the West Monroe area Wednesday, but little precipitation the rest of the tournament. That means the water level should continue falling, and the Ouachita’s largemouth population will likely stay on the move.