It’s no secret that the Lump hasn’t lived up to hype this year. In fact, several guides aren’t even fishing it unless they have a direct request because it’s essentially been dead from the get-go, except for a couple good weeks back in January. Captain Daryl Carpenter with Real Screamers Guide Service (225-937-6288) said anglers just have to look elsewhere.
“We’ve found better fish leaving out of Grand Isle,” Carpenter said. “The farther away you can venture from the crowd the better fishing you’re going to find. And there are much better fish in deeper water.”
Carpenter recommends that offshore anglers target a mixed bag of tuna and Wahoo by running deep and trolling on the way out to the Canyon. Hit the rigs in 200 to 300 feet of water and work south in a zigzag pattern to hit all the platforms.
“Covering that much ground takes some time,” Carpenter said, “And it’s on that troll out that we make the decision to stick with the Wahoo or head on out to the Canyon for the tuna. If the Wahoo bite isn’t that great, we pack up and finish the run. If it’s on fire, we stay with the Wahoo.”
A few boats going out of Grand Isle are staying short in 30 to 80 feet of water where they are finding a few mangroves starting to show up. There are also enough big white trout in this range to sink a boat.
“The main thing in close is if you go out another 20 feet deeper,” Carpenter said, “you’re going to get into nothing but red snappers. There are so many that you can hardly get a bait below them.”
In fact, one boat stopped short recently to gather some hard tails on Sabiki rigs, and they got torn up so bad they thought it must have been Kings, Spanish Mackerels or blue fish. It turned out to be a giant school of red snapper that followed the first caught fish to the top.
