Good incoming tide trumps muddy water; trio bags 70 nice specks Thursday morning
Thursday was an 8 out of 10 on the fishing scale Cabot Corso consults when planning his trips, and even more importantly, the marine forecast called for only 1- to 2-foot seas — ideal conditions for the Destrehan angler to head down to Elmer’s Island and target speckled trout in the surf.
But the longtime angler wasn’t overly impressed when he anchored his Skeeter a couple hundred yards off Elmer’s Island Point and waded out into Caminada Pass around 6:15 Thursday morning with buddies Ronnie Trosclair and Glenn Hennig.
“The water was muddy — I mean muddy,” Corso said. “It was pretty dirty actually.
“You couldn’t see a foot down — but the fish were in there.”
Talk about.
The trio busted 70 quality specks and a lone redfish in just three hours using a red-and-white MirrOlure suspending jerkbait.
“That’s the only bait we caught them on,” he said. “We didn’t have any 4s or 5s (pounders), but we had a few 20s (inches) and a bunch of 17s and 18s.
“But I’d say the average was 16 to 18.”
A strong incoming tide with almost a foot of movement was probably another key in their banner day, he said — not to mention that weekend conditions don’t look all that promising, so Corso figured there was no better time than the present.
“It was an 8 today on the fish scale. Friday is a 5 and Saturday is a 4. We’re getting further and further away from the full moon, right in the middle between the full moon and the new,” he said. “As you get too far away from the full moon, the tide starts dropping off. Friday the movement drops to a half a foot — I think they base some of that fish scale on the tides.”
On days with good tidal movement like Thursday, Corso said he likes to basically position himself in the Gulf, close to Caminada Pass.
“That’s where all your bait is coming in and out on the tide movement,” he said. “We didn’t have to go out too far today. It seems like every time we’ve been out there this year, you’re before or in that first trough.”
With highs hitting 90 degrees lately, water temperature is really starting to warm up now — which always brings some unwanted visitors in the surf.
Later in the morning Thursday, two men hooked up with specks, only to reel in just the trouts’ heads. Shortly thereafter, Corso said a sand shark hit Trosclair’s stringer loaded with specks, and the men decided to call it a day.
“About that time, we decided it wasn’t worth catching five more fish and losing half our stringers in the process,” he said with a chuckle.
Corso said the trout action in Elmer’s surf typically starts winding down early next month, and dealing with unwanted bites only increases.
“The ladyfish will start moving in there, and the sharks will start moving in,” he said. “You’ll be able to go out there and catch a lot of smaller trout. But April, May and June are the three prime months. They’re probably there in March, too — it’s just kind of frigid to go out there and do it.”