Guide says Lake Mechant, Sister Lake providing lots of action
A Dularge fishing guide said speckled trout and redfish are plentiful in and around Lake Mechant and Sister Lake.
“It’s been really good the last few days,” said Capt. Chris Venable, with Topline Fishing Charters. “The fish are in full fall swing.
“There is lots of bird activity and lots of bait. If you want to catch plenty of fish, that’s the way to do it.”
Venable also said he’s begun catching some nice fish on the oyster reefs, especially on the Lake Mechant side.
“The fish are starting to stack up in the reefs,” he said. “They have some pretty nice fish, some 14- to 16- to 18-inch specks, and that’s a lot better than fighting with the birds and the smaller trout.
“The reefs in Sister Lake have been a little tougher because they have lots of oyster boat traffic right now. They’re kind of muddying up that side, so we’ve been staying north on the Lake Mechant side.”
Venable has been using plastics under a popping cork exclusively, with the brown Vudu shrimp and the Matrix shad in shrimp creole and green hornet leading the way.
“The action’s really good on the Vudu,” he said. “The trout are tearing it up.”
He also throws any color Matrix shad double-rigged in a variety of situations.
“The trout are finicky. Some days they want it bounced off the bottom, and some days they want just a slow steady retrieve,” he said. “It just depends where they are in the water column.
“You can bounce it off the bottom, or jig it in some of the deeper cuts and runouts. In the birds, we throw double rigs with a steady retrieve.”
For redfish, Venable likes to mix it up with either a ½-ounce gold spoon or a single-blade spinnerbait tipped with a Vortex shad in kamikaze, or the Matrix shad in avocado or shrimp creole.
“The ponds off Sister Lake and Lake Mechant have both been good,” Venable said. “A lot of sight casting, fishing any of the points with moving water, and grass beds have all been working pretty well for reds.”
