Capt. John Aucoin with Hawkeye Charters (985-632-6988) had been smoking the trout and redfish around Golden Meadow before the deluge started on Thursday. All that freshwater turned off the bite a bit, but Aucoin said that the fish should turn back on in a few days after things settle down. “The fish moved back into the open bays during that warm spell we had the past couple of weeks,” Aucoin said. “It seemed like any little lake or bay was holding fish. The tide was way up, and we had an awesome bite before we got all the rain.”
Aucoin reported that he has been catching redfish and trout in places like Catfish Lake, Sulphur Mine and Little Lake. The trout have been running from 1 1/2 to 3 pounds with a really nice fish or two every now and then. The reds have been anywhere from 3 to 12 pounds.
“The key to finding the fish has been looking for the current lines,” Aucoin said. “Anything with some moving water has been the ticket. What you throw hasn’t been nearly as important as finding a good concentration of fish. Once you find them, though, you can throw just about anything you want on them.”
Aucoin has been catching the redfish on plastics and live cocahoes. Plastic color doesn’t seem to matter as he has gone through just about every color in his box and caught fish on nearly all of them. The plastics and live bait have been productive under a cork or tightlined.
“The trout are pretty much eating the same stuff,” Aucoin added. “I’ve had my best success on the trout with smoke, avocado red glitter, glow/chartreuse and purple/chartreuse. I’ve been fishing them under a cork and tightlining them just to see which one they prefer.”
It’s going to take a few days for this kind of action to return, though. Aucoin said the fish ran away from the pumps that are pumping millions of gallons of fresh water. In fact, the rain got so bad along LA 1 that it was closed at one point because of flooding.
“They’ll turn on again once we get all this out of the system,” Aucoin concluded. “If it stays warm, they should bite in the open lakes and bays again. If it turns cold, you’ll do better in the deeper water.”
