Brother, nephew sample good food, bassin’ in low Basin on enjoyable visit
Published 1:00 am Sunday, November 6, 2022
My brother, Keith Shoopman of Belton, Missouri, brought four older, trusty fishing rod and reel combos down here recently to fish our favorite waters.
Those are all he needed to catch more bass than anyone else in the Ranger RT198P each of the four days we went to either Lake Fausse Pointe or the Atchafalaya Basin. Four rods, by the way, usually are at least half, or, even, one-third the number taken on board per bass fishing enthusiast on any given day.
Keith, a Kansas City, Missouri, native, traveled here with his youngest son, Corey Shoopman, also of Belton, as they started doing every two years in 2016. It continues a tradition that began when Keith and our brother, Bill Shoopman of Archie, Missouri, formerly of Kansas City, made the trip south together a few decades ago to fish every two or so years around here and at Toledo Bend.
That Keith was here again is a blessing. Family and friends thank the Lord he survived a massive cardiac arrest that nearly took his life in late October 2016, then underwent a triple-bypass surgery a month later at age 55.
He has continued working into his 43rd year as an auto parts counterman at Cable-Dahmer Cadillac and its previous owners in Kansas City. Keith is counting the days to a planned retirement next March and relocating with his wife, Valerie, to their lake home built a few decades ago in the hilly countryside near Truman Lake.
Keith appreciates this area, its people, the sights, so much. And, oh, yeah, he still loves to fish for bass, although he wets a line less frequently than he did as a younger man.
Keith trusted his instincts and, as they say these days, history in his artificial lure selection Oct. 24 with Corey and me in Lake Fausse Pointe. After that Monday trip, my youngest son, Jacob Shoopman of New Iberia, joined the three of us in our 19 ½-foot long aluminum bass boat powered by a 150-h.p. Mercury ProXS on a trip Tuesday to Myette Point in the Atchafalaya Basin.
On Wednesday my brother and nephew fished with me out of Bayou Benoit Boat Landing in the Atchafalaya Basin, then the three of us returned Thursday to Myette Point Boat Landing.
They were able to see the nation’s last great overflow swamp at its lowest level in several years. The Atchafalaya River stage readings at Butte La Rose fluctuated from around 4.2- to 4.8 feet those four days.
Tidal influences and a fairly weak cold front Tuesday also contributed to low-water conditions. Getting to some choice spots was a real challenge.
Keith hooked and boated five bass the first day, a tough one at the lake, eight bass the second day around Myette Point, eight bass the third day around Bayou Benoit, and 13 bass the fourth day back in the Myette Point area for a four-day total of 34 bass, at least half of them in the 1 ½- to 2 ½-pound range.
The four-day total — three days with three in the boat, one day with four — was 75 bass, two gaspergoo, several big goggle-eye, a few choupiques and a couple gar.
All the fish were released alive.
Keith got hot over the last two days with an orange crush-colored Bandit crank bait, a june bug/pink Berkley curl tail plastic worm and a Delta Lures double-bladed spinnerbait with an orange Colorado. You read that right: June bug/pink plastic worm, about 3 inches of june bug, 4 inches of pink curl tail. He also alternated a Superbait buzz bait and Delta Lures Thunder Jig.
The Missourians always look forward to eating some of the best dishes this area has to offer on every visit. They weren’t disappointed.
My wife, June Boutte Shoopman juggled her ad composition job at The Daily Iberian, helping care for her mother, Irene Boutte, coaching ISA soccer and housework to cook chicken and sausage gumbo on Sunday, crawfish etouffee on Monday, red beans and rice on Tuesday, sausage jambalaya on Wednesday and white beans and rice on Thursday. Empty pots and pans after each meal were a testament to how much the food was lip-smacking good.
Keith said, “Although we couldn’t be there with normal water levels, the fishing was still pretty good. But the fishing is not the best part of the trip. It’s the quality time spent with family and friends.
“And as far as eating, we feasted like kings for five nights with Miss June’s fabulous Cajun cooking, which she prepared after a long day of work.”
Corey, a 41-year-old network technician for T-Mobile, said the drive from Belton to New Iberia has become very familiar after four round trips since 2016. He enjoyed the latest visit immensely.
“The Basin didn’t look quite as familiar with the water so low. We still got in to fish some of the places, and still got the boat stuck, per usual. The fishing was good, the scenery beautiful and wildlife incredible. I saw the most alligators ever and for the first time roseate spoonbills,” he wrote in a text.
Their stay was way too short and didn’t include a field trip for the first time in four years. In 2018, my good friend Danny Bulliard of St. Martinville, plant manager at Cajun Chef, showed them around the hot sauce factory. In 2020, John Hebert of Breaux Bridge, LaSuCa sugar mill agriculture division manager and spokesman for the co-op, gave us a guided comprehensive tour.
Keith and Corey planned to stay one less day this trip and opted for four days of fishing. We were in heaven.
It was too short, as usual. Already looking forward to 2024.
DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.