New bass strain found in D’Arbonne

Last week I wrote about a group of some of my old buddies that refer to each other as the SUMOs. One of the traits that one must exhibit to be part of the group is to be fairly large and be willing to try and eat almost anything that doesn’t eat you first.

Well, it seems that we are having an influence on the fish at Lake D’Arbonne, too.

This week, while fishing along the channel near the Highway 2 bridge, Don Hogan of Ruston, saw something strange swimming just below the water’s surface. He trolled over to it and saw what appears to be a new strain of bass in Lake D’Arbonne — SUMO bass.  Okay, a quick check with the LDWF showed that there is no such official biological “strain” of bass, but this bass is obviously a SUMO. It may not be a Florida bass, but you can bet it is part Cajun, too. What can I say?

At least the bass has good taste. Nothing better than a couple of fresh crappie filets for lunch. Don picked up the two fish, which were both still alive. And of course, he stole the bass’ lunch and made it part of his own. Now Don is a fine upstanding Christian guy and a member of the D’Arbonne Lake Commission, but as a semi-retired journalist, I was required professionally to ask him two questions: “Do you drink while you fish?” and “Were there any witnesses?”.

The answer to both was NO, of course.  But I had to ask.

Thanks to Don for sharing the fish story and the picture! Pretty unusual stuff…another day of life on the lake.