By: TONY MARKS
Associate Editor
In the Ville Platte area that is steeped in tradition, every male (and sometimes an occasional female) is given a nickname that stays with him for his entire life. The male, then, becomes better known to friends and strangers alike by this nickname than by his Christian name.
While some nicknames are given at birth, others are given at an older age. Such is the case for Michael Fontenot, who got the nickname “Pickle” when he was 12-years-old.
“All my cousins would get together, and we started naming each other different nicknames,” Fontenot said. “One of them said Michael sounds like mickel, and then another one said pickle. That’s where it started, and it just went like that. Ever since then, my nickname was “Pickle.”
Since that time, Fontenot discovered a passion of fishing out on Chicot Lake. “My dad passed away when I was nine, so I really didn’t have anybody to take me out here to Chicot,” he said. “I started fishing out here when the lake reopened in 1987 or 1989 when I got back from the military.”
Fontenot spends most of his time at Chicot fishing for bass. He described it as very challenging because “you have to make a fish eat something that’s not real.”
Despite the challenges, Fontenot was able to catch some big bass in the lake including three over 10-pounds and eight or nine over nine pounds. He found that the bass react better to jigs, crank baits, chug bugs, and buzz baits.
According to Fontenot; though, the key to bass fishing is not in the bait. “I don’t think there’s a major secret to catching bass,” he expressed. “It’s just time and patience.”
While he does not always catch a bass, Fontenot still enjoys being out on the water at Chicot. “Even though the fish don’t bite sometimes, it’s still awesome to be on the lake,” he said. “A lot of times I see deer, squirrels, and pigs. It’s not just about the fishing. It’s just enjoying what God put in front of us.”
For the last 25 years, Fontenot has also been competing in the weekly dog fight fishing tournaments on Chicot Lake. “I fish a lot of the dog fights on Tuesdays,” he said, “and we’ve been doing that for years. It’s fun and gives us a three hour deal where we can compete against each other.”
Fontenot said that, at times, there as many as 25 boats fishing in a dog fight. Prizes are given for the best three bass in total weight and for the biggest bass. Placing first this week were Dennis Jones and Aaron LaFleur with 7.03 pounds, placing second were Adam Roberie and Josh Fontenot with 6.03, coming out third were Tommy Daire and Jacob Reed at 3.95 pounds, and placing fourth was Chance Rider with 1.57 pounds. The biggest bass prize went to Daire and Reed at 2.61 pounds.
Fontenot has also turned his love of fishing into a way of helping other people. One of the ways is through his guide service. “I guide some out at Toledo Bend and some over here at Chicot,” he stated. “I could bring them to Miller’s Lake, but it’s wherever they want to go around here. It’s all bass, though. I had calls for white perch and everything else, but I’m not old enough yet. I want to get a little older. Fishing for white perch is a slower game.”
He compared what it is like fishing for bass at Toledo Bend to what it is like at Chicot. “There’s no shade (at Toledo Bend),” Fontenot said. “You can catch more fish at Toledo because it’s such a bigger place, and there’s just a lot more fish.”
“I still like to come back to my roots,” he continued. “I still love Chicot even though sometimes it’s tough.”
Most appealing for Fontenot about Chicot are the trees in the water even though the moss “affects your bait when it hits it.”
He added, “You got Tupelo gum trees, cypress trees, and lay downs. That’s what you have to fish. Not every cypress tree is built the same. You can go to some cypress trees time after time and catch fish on them. You can go to other cypress trees and never catch a fish. It’s like the docks at Toledo. Some docks are better than other docks.”
Having his guide service also allowed Fontenot to obtain a new appreciation for Chicot Lake while the movie Free State of Jones was being filmed. “The people with the movie were coming in from all over,” he said. “When they saw the lake for the first time, they all said this was a beautiful place. We take it for granted because we see it all the time. I guess the biggest thing is that when you sit down long enough and look at place then you see that it’s a beautiful place.”
Fontenot’s role in the movie began with director Gary Ross. “He came in and wanted me to take him around to see where they were going to put the stage because I knew the lake so well,” Fontenot said. “We went to the Conservation Lodge because it has access to roads to come in and out.”
His job was taking Matthew McConaughey back-and-forth across the lake, and he also was involved with filming a scene of the movie. “They were doing a scene where Matthew was sitting between two cypress trees and was fishing hand-over-hand like they did back in the day,” said Fontenot. “I had a big bass and a few small ones with me. The hook he had wasn’t that good, so I put the big bass on the hook and gave it to him. He piddled around, and it came off. So, I gave him a small one. He asked why I gave him a small one, and I told him because he dropped the big one that he had on. He got a kick out of that.”
“I was almost like a paw-paw to Matthew’s kids,” continued Fontenot. “His wife would keep calling me saying, ‘Hey, Pickle, they want to fish.’ I would take them on the boat, and they would fish bream. It was a show, but it was very nice and an experience.”
Another way Fontenot helps people through his fishing is being involved with the fishing team at Sacred Heart. He said that is way for him to learn patience. “They fish, and they run the trolling motor,” he said. “All I do is drive to the spots. That’s patience sitting there all day long. It was very rewarding because I got a chance to teach them things that they didn’t know. I thought it was pretty cool.
All of Fontenot’s fishing adventures in the dog fight tournaments, as a guide, and as a fishing coach would not be possible without the support of his wife Shanie, who likes to bream fish. Fontenot said, “That’s the only time I bream fish. She’ll come out here to Chicot sometimes with me, but most of the time is at Toledo by my camp. We can go and catch a bunch. She enjoys that.”
Fontenot concluded that his time on the water is a blessing. “When I’m on the lake, I don’t think of anything else but trying to catch a fish. I look around and see the trees and the birds, but my thoughts are on nothing but trying to catch fish. I get away from reality like that.”