Rare Fish Makes Appearance in South Louisiana
Keith Lusher 05.16.23
South Louisiana is home to many species of fish. From crappie to catfish, the deep winding rivers offers anglers a variety of fish to catch. Logan Gautreaux of Folsom, La. has been fishing the rivers along the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain all his life but on his latest trip he caught a fish that he’s never seen before.
“I was walking in the Bogue Chitto River and casting a small micro jig when I caught a fish that I’ve never seen before in all my years of fishing,” he said. The fish jogged his memory back to a time when he lived in Pennsylvania. “The camouflage pattern and red eyes made me think that it was a rock bass,” Gautreaux said. After returning home, Gautreaux did some research and found it to actually be something called a Shadow Bass. The reason he had never caught one before was that they are more prominent in northern states because they prefer moving water over substrate that is silt free. The substrate in South Louisiana rivers and bayous is often more mud than sand. The label of “bass” can be misleading as they are actually in the sunfish family. Gautreaux caught the fish on a small jig in a shallow stream that feeds into the river.
Having spent more than three decades fishing in South Louisiana, Todd Oalman was surprised when he caught one of these fish on his latest trip.
Oalman described it as resembling a sac-a-lait but distinguished by its bright red eyes and patches of black on the fin tips, akin to a goggle eye. Initially, he believed it might be a hybrid of a sac-a-lait and a goggle eye. Unable to find any information about the fish online, he resorted to consulting a friend employed at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. “He informed me that it was, in fact, a Shadow Bass, which was a fist for me. i have never seen one of these fish and I’ve been fishing for over 40 years,” Oalman said. The future will unveil whether these fish are making their way southward, as numerous anglers are reporting catches in previously uncharted territories.
