The last cold front that blew through Southeast Louisiana scattered muddy water from Lafitte to Grand Isle, and it scattered the speckled trout just as far. Capt. Mike Daigle with Cast-It Charters (504-915-9480 or 985-331-8548) is still catching a few fish, but he said he’s having to fish 20 places just to catch 20 trout.
“We’ve got to get the fronts to slow down,” said Daigle. “Before this last front, we limited out two days in a row; right after it, we couldn’t do a thing. Those 25- to 30-knot winds had the water muddy from the top of Lafitte to the bottom.”
Daigle said all it’s going to take to set Lafitte on fire again is a wind shift from the north to the south. That will bring in clear water in places like Manila Village and Little Lake, where the trout have been gorging on shrimp.
“The fish we’ve been cleaning, they’re full of 50-count shrimp,” he said. “Most of our bites have been on glow/chartreuse Old Bayside Mud Minnows and Gene Larew High Tides under a Speckulizer. The split-tail beetles are also working well.
“While the cork is working best for me, you can also pick up some fish on a tightline.”
Daigle expects things to get back to normal after a two- to three-day break in the weather. If that happens, he recommended fishing all the typical transition spots around Manila Village and Little Lake. If it doesn’t, head over toward Port Sulphur to try to find a little bit clearer water.
There are also lots of redfish biting in the ponds. Daigle said to try spinners rigged with purple/white plastics. The reds have also been a safe back up in case the trout are too messed up from the muddy water. However, the second the wind dies down, make sure to rig up that popping cork and hit the trout hard because they are going to be on fire.