Bass in the brine

Down near the Gulf Coast, you’ll find fewer creeks and more bayous, ditches and sloughs branching off rivers like the Pearl, Biloxi, Jordan and Pascagoula. It’s a little different from the inland sweet waters, but there’s an often overlooked bass-fishing opportunity awaiting those who would seek it.

Alan Hults of Gauthier looks for fall bass on backwaters of the Pascagoula River. In these tidal waters, white shrimp, which move up into those brackish tributaries, replace shad as the main forage.

“As long as we don’t have a lot of rain, the shrimp will move as far as 10 miles up the river,” Hults said. “Typically, your best fishing is on the falling tide with moving water. You’re looking for some type of grass or boat dock — something that the shrimp will hang around — and the bass will migrate with the shrimp.

“You want clear water, not muddy water, because muddy water gets too fresh and that will push the shrimp out into the bays.”

Hults said he’ll keep watch for brackish bass busting shrimp just like largemouths hitting creek shad. However, because the tidal bass form smaller groups of five to 10, actual “schooling” activity is much less common.

Hults said a good undercut bank — preferably with some of that shrimp-attracting structure — is always a good bet for bass, along with a few of their marine counterparts.

“You won’t just catch bass (in these waters) that time of year,” he said. “You might catch redfish, speckled trout, flounder or sheepshead. You might go down a stretch of bank and catch all of these species, along with bass.

“There are a lot of opportunities there, and that’s what makes it fun.”

Not surprisingly, imitation shrimp like the DOA is one of the top offerings for Southern Mississippi’s tidal bass. Free-lining the artificial bait with no cork is best for achieving the accurate casts you’ll need.

When bass are busting shrimp at the surface, Hults throws small topwaters like the Rebel Pop-R.

Cold fronts affect the tidal fisheries, as they do those farther inland. The difference here is that the fishing tends to improve after the weather change: Hults said that’s because the strong north winds of a passing front push out the tide and leave bass grouped more tightly in smaller areas where feeding competition ensures a good bite.

Heavy rains associated with fall cold fronts will muddy up the backwaters, lower the salinity and shoo away the shrimp. During these times, bass turn their attention to crabs, so pull out a Rat-L-Trap or shallow-running crankbait and get back to hauling in fall bass.