When it’s cold, it’s gold
Fishing action slows down over the long, hot summer. The heat takes a toll on areas that you’d expect to hold fish. Even the water gets ugly, and anglers often come back with little to show for their efforts.
But everything changes in the fall. The cold fronts finally begin to push through. The humidity lessens; the air has a better, crisper feel to it; and the water itself seems to undergo a transformation.
Shrimp and baitfish flow in with the currents spread out into the interior waters — and speckled trout show up to greet them.
Finally, the Sulfur Mine and Catfish Lake wake up after the long, dormant summer, and anglers know that when it’s cold, it’s gold.
Capt. Mike Guidry (985-637-4292) said these inside waters will be the ticket throughout the fall and winter — even into March.
“The main canals are already holding shrimp, and not just a few of them,” Guidry said. “The canals are full of shrimp, and the trout are all fattening up on them.
“I’ll fish them with shrimp-imitation plastics — mostly H&H sparkle beetles under a cork for trout — or if I’m targeting reds I’ll fish with market shrimp under a cork or spinnerbaits or gold spoons. I’ll target drains into the bayous, and any of the bays and bayous that have oyster bottoms.”
He just trolls the shorelines to find success.
“Fish shallow for the reds,” Guidry explained. “Set your cork at 12 inches, or even a little less. Fish the points with current, and don’t pop your cork too much when you fish for reds. It spooks them in the shallow water.
But he generally stays out of the ponds.
“Respect the duck hunters and stay out of the ponds,” Guidry said. “There’s plenty reds in the canals, bayous and lakes.”
Redfish aren’t the only fish on the menu, though.
“For trout, I’ll fish the more-prominent points in Catfish Lake and at the mouths of the various bayous into it,” Guidry said. “The tides are generally falling in the morning and that’s what you want at the mouths: a falling tide.
“I look for current, and cast my baits under a cork and tight-lined. Try both ways, see what they hit and then give them what they want.”
As for colors, Guidry likes the H&H beetles in avocado/red fleck, smoke, glow or glow/chartreuse
“You’ll find the same kind of action in Grey Duck, the Sulfur Mine, Catfish Lake and Bayou Blue,” he said. “Like I said: When its cold, its gold.”