Wind, seas improving for weekend

The wind continues to blow across south Louisiana waters, but a high-pressure system settling over the Gulf of Mexico should make this weekend more bearable than the past two.

By Saturday afternoon, the forecast of 5-knot southeast winds will give us the break we’ve needed for the past seven days to get after trout and redfish moving to the lower bays out to the barrier islands and reefs.

Problem is, you’ll have to wait until Saturday: 15-knot southeast winds and 2-4 foot waves are uncomfortable and makes finding clear-enough, fishable-enough waters difficult.

Bluegill catches are up across the state, and the Atchafalaya Spillway bass have turned on.

Weather

Comfortable, especially when winds die and seas calm. Expect morning lows in the mid-60s and highs in the 80s with a slight chance of afternoon showers beginning late Saturday and running well into next week.

The Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers are on a slight rise (south winds and water from up north) but are at fishable levels.

Saltwater

No secret here: Get the right conditions and you can load the boat with limits of speckled trout, redfish and throw in a couple of black drum, flounder and sheepshead to top off the ice chest.

Live shrimp and minnows are available at most marinas and bait shops, but live croaker are in short supply.

Laughing gulls are diving on shrimp and schools of small minnows and pogeys in most bays. If you’re unsure about getting to the beaches, then use light tackle and follow the diving birds to catch smaller trout. The bigger trout are moving to the beaches and into the passes and require using heavier tackle.

H&H smoke- and watermelon-colored soft plastics are working along the Central Coast, while tight-lining or putting under a cork blue moon, chartreuse/black and the new Dudley Slammin’ Sammy color is the trick on the east side of the Mississippi River.

Action lingers in the marshes between Golden Meadow and Montegut and in the Biloxi Marsh.

Word from the Pontchartrain bridges is that afternoons have been more productive than the morning bite. Most of the trout at The Causeway and the southern bridges are running two pounds. Bigger trout are coming on larger soft-plastic artificials on a 3⁄8-1/2 ounce jigheads worked on the bottom.

Tuna-wahoo fishermen report the species continue to live at the Midnight Lumps and around deep-water rigs.

Freshwater

Chartruese/white spinnerbaits, frogs and dark-colored crawfish imitations are attracting strikes from Spillway bass. Most of the water is out of the woods, and bass are feeding in and around run-outs. Look for green water, and stay away from the “black” water.

Bluegill and goggle-eye are feeding on smaller crawfish.

Crawfish-colored tubes and Beetle Spins are best.