It’s jacket-wearing time — OK it’s for mornings only — and the weekend holds promise for the most comfortable trips we’ve had in months. And if you head to the right places, the trips could be rewarding.
Hurricane Isaac-caused fish kills have hit the Verret Basin hard, but the Atchafalaya Spillway and Old River hold promise for bass and panfish anglers.
With light winds and calm seas, the coast holds the promise of the best trout and redfish catches in a month, and the calm seas mean the offshore folks can get to mangrove snapper, amberjack and the run on yellowfin and blackfin tuna near trawlers and around the deep-water platforms.
Cooler air will reinforce Tuesday’s cold front and give us 5-10 knot easterly winds and near calm nearshore and offshore conditions. Expect morning lows in the upper-50s and lower-60s here and mid-60s along the coast with warm afternoons into next week.
For the Venice-area fishermen, the Mississippi River is at the 3-foot mark at New Orleans. Spillway fishermen should take note that Atchafalaya River levels are predicted to be at 3.2 feet at Butte LaRose and 3.6 feet at Morgan City.
Black, low-oxygen water prevails in Belle River and in the Verret area. Small bass and a few sac-a-lait were taken in the Palourde area.
“Throw-back” bass were the rule in the Spillway. Big Bayou Pigeon held lots of small bass. Grand Lake had larger fish (spinnerbaits, some topwaters and soft plastics) and sac-a-lait were taking black/chartreuse tubes under a cork or jigged around structure.
Lower Bayou Sorrel was giving up a mixed bag, small bass and goggle-eye, around run-outs and off points. Small soft-plastics and small bream- and Louisiana shad-colored crankbaits worked Monday and Tuesday.
At Old River, sac-a-lait moved to the piers and like black/chartreuse tubes and shiners worked 8-11 feet deep (go shallower in lower light conditions). Bluegill continue to hang deep under the houseboats on the island side. Crankbaits are taking bass on outside cypresses on the island side.
Maybe the calm conditions will allow trout to school up under mullet rafts and schools of pogeys along the beaches. Otherwise, head to the reefs behind the islands. It’s transition time for trout and the smaller ones appear to be on the move to inside areas. Trout have been showing up in the Terrebonne Parish marshes.
Redfish are providing lots of action in Fourchon, Leeville, Cocodrie, Dulac and Theriot areas. Work marshy shorelines with plastics under a cork, or plastics on a jighead in run-outs and off points where you can find clean, moving water.
Some specks, drum and a few flounder are showing up at Pontchartrain bridges, and trout have resumed living and eating around the platforms in Lake Borgne.
Areas east of the Mississippi River face Isaac’s lingering effects and last week’s strong east winds.
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