Go!
With river levels low and getting lower and the winds lighter than any time in the past three weeks, freshwater and saltwater spots across south Louisiana are loaded with hungry fish.
The only advisory is that the spring inshore shrimp season (dates will be decided during the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission meeting) will open sooner than later and anglers will have to share landings and water with shrimpers. Good news is that the bait-shrimp season opened Tuesday and if live shrimp is your best bait choice, then you should have lots of first-quality bait.
Expect 5-10 knot south then southwest winds through Sunday with 1-2 foot seas along the coast and a light chop for inside waters. Look for morning lows in the upper 60s with afternoon highs in the upper 80s in an early welcome to summertime conditions.
Offshore conditions will calm Wednesday’s 5-7 foot seas to more fishable 1-2 footers by late Saturday.
The Atchafalaya Spillway is hot and getting hotter. The Pigeon area, Grand Lake and, when the tide is falling, the southern waters are alive with bass, sac-a-lait, bluegill and goggle-eye.
With the Atchafalaya River falling, all these species are moving, which means places where you find fish today might not be where you find them tomorrow.
One hint is to try to pattern all these species by moving from deeper drop-offs to the shallow “breaks” off the banks until you find the depths and structure the fish prefer that day.
Bass are working spinnerbaits over pretty hard. Use chartreuse/white in clear-green water. Add a touch of blue to the bait’s skirt in murky water areas.
Add watermelon “creature” baits and black/blue or black neon crawfish imitations in when bass stop on spinnerbaits. Frogs are working over heavy grass, too.
Big sac-a-lait and goggle-eye are taking spinnerbaits, but shiners and blue/white and black/chartreuse tubes under corks are working for small-to-medium size fish.
Crickets are working for bluegills and catfish.
Venice, Des Allemands, Delacroix and Lafitte are solid bass spots, too.
Bluegill are showing up in the big Florida Parishes rivers. Use crickets.
Speckled trout dominate the nearshore news. Action is solid from the Pontchartrain bridges south into Lake Borgne, waters near the MRGO, south into California and Blind bays, then across to Four Bayous, Grand Isle (and bays), to Elmer’s Island, The Fourchon, islands and reefs in the Timbalier and Terrebonne bays areas, then west into Caillou Boca.
Topwaters are working even in a 1-foot chop to the beaches and a wide variety of soft-plastics colors and lures are taking fish throughout these systems.
Netting pogeys and keeping them alive has proven to be the hottest trick for taking big trout near The Fourchon and the Belle Pass jetties.
Copyright © 2011, Capital City Press LLC • 7290 Bluebonnet Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70810 • All Rights Reserved
Print article