Where the river broke into multiple small channels only inches deep, he never checked the speed of the boat to keep it on plane. It’s fixin’ ta get ugly,” he shouted in one tight spot, while grinning in obvious delight. Keeping a firm grip on the outboard motor’s tiller handle, he artfully dodged logjams and treetops that in some places extended almost bank to bank. It looked like wading water, or maybe kayaking at best.īut Crochet soon had the boat skimming over beautiful, swiftly-flowing, clear green water. To call it skinny water is less than accurate.
Then he sliced open the bottom of the boat and installed a homemade “tunnel.” Without the tunnel, the boat would displace enough water as it moved to prevent the engine’s propeller from having water to grab.Ī look at the river explained the need for the modifications.
He installed a homemade jack plate to elevate the 25 horsepower motor enough so that its propeller was barely submerged. Crochet, a self-employed boat mechanic, had drastically modified the rig. The next morning found us launching his modified 14-foot bateau, or flatboat as some would call it, off an unimproved sand bar into the river. “I catch these fish even when the weather is bad,” he declared self-confidently. But Crochet wouldn’t hear of cancelling the trip. Even though it was summer, ugly weather was predicted, including rain and cooler weather. The day before the trip, things were looking bad. His excitement was contagious, even over the phone, and I accepted a trip with the self-proclaimed river rat. He was happy about the brobdingnagian white bass alright, but I couldn’t get him to shut up about his first love - spotted bass fishing on the Amite River, which is where he caught his record fish. So I found out when I called him to get the scoop on his new world-record white bass of 6.81 pounds. His is also caused by being bitten by a bug - specifically the fishing bug for spotted bass. In Greenwell Springs, Corey Crochet also suffers from river fever.
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